Why do Seattle fans hate Jim L. Mora?

By Kshell

This past sunday when the Seattle Seahawks took on the Cleveland Browns there was an interesting choice as the color commentator. The announcer was former Seahawks head coach Jim L.Mora and he actually showed he still loves the city of Seattle. With the Washington Huskies defense still struggling under Nick Holt some fans have suggested Mora take over as coach. Of course some fans are against the move. You see due to the Tyrone Willingham fallout in 2007-2008 Mora to those fans is the most evil coach there is. He's on the same level as Chip Kelly and Rick Neuheisel to this fanbase. In this following post I'll explain why hating Jim L. Mora(he isn't a junior by the way) is simply stupid and I'll explain why some fans hate Mora.

The controversy all began with Mora in December of 2006. Mora two seasons removed from taking the Atlanta Falcons to the NFC championship game was on 950 KJR with Dave "Softy" Mahler and his old college roommate Hugh Millen. On air talking candily with two guys that he considers his friends Mora made mention that the Univeristy of Washington was his dream job. Mahler caught that statement and knew he had gold so he ran with it. To which Mora said "If I'm coaching Super Bowl week I'm quitting my job to be with the Huskies if they offered tomorrow." Those comments made some Husky fans very excited. Those comments also pissed off the Atlanta Falcons fanbase and some Washington Huskies fans as the Huskies had a coach in place in Tyrone Willingham. Willingham who took over a 1-10 mess saw his team go 2-9 in year one but then in year two saw progress going 5-7. The Huskies did lose six games in a row after starting off 4-1 as Willingham rubbed some people the wrong way with his "suddenly senior" game as the Huskies lost 20-3 at home to 0-10 Stanford Cardinal. At the end of the season the Falcons fired Mora after going 7-9 in a season which the Falcons started off 5-2. The Falcons lost three games in a row after Mora made those comments as well. Mora was hired though by the Seattle Seahawks to be the secondary coach and assistent head coach. That move was interesting as Mora would be in Seattle in 2007 which meant he was going to be the first choice if Willingham started to fail.

With Mora already in Seattle that made for an interesting 2007 season which divided up the fan base. You had your pro Willingham guys who defended him no matter what and felt you should never bash on your coach. You also had some fans who wanted Mora to be the coach. The season started off well for Willingham as the Huskies were 2-0 for the first time since 2001 under freshman quarterback Jake Locker. The Huskies then lost six games in a row and the tipping point was the final loss as the Huskies blew a 41-26 lead to the Arizona Wildcats losing 48-41. That is when some fans began to openly demand the Huskies fire Willingham and go with Mora. Mora took a position job for the Seahawks many felt so he can be right there in Seattle. There was some speculation that a secret behind the scenes deal was taking place for Mora to take over for Willingham. There was many arguments on the dawgman boards where it got to a point the Mora fans created their own website which could get pretty vulger at times but the content was generaly the right message.

 The Huskies finished the 2007 season losing the Washington State Cougars 42-35 and then blowing a 21-0 lead only to lose 35-28 to the Hawaii Warriors. This is where the University screwed up they chose to keep Willingham for the 2008 season knowing that an NFL coach was in their backyard in Jim L. Mora. In January of 2008 the Seahawks who had a 10-6 season named Mora the next head coach for when Mike Holmgren retires after the 2008 season. Willingham of course went 0-12 in 2008 and because Mora was already scheduled to be the next NFL head coach he turned down the Huskies out of loyalty to the Seahawks. The Huskies would hire Steve Sarkisian while Mora was fired after just one season for the Seahawks going 5-11 even though he inherited a team that had gone 4-12 the year prior.

Seattle has had plenty of failed coaches before and many who have failed worse than Mora did in only one season. Which is why it is so perplexing that Mora is so hated by so many fans in Seattle. For those who don't know Jim L. Mora's dad is Jim Mora the coach who once had the famous line of "Playoffs?!! I just hope we can win a friggin game" in a very high pitch voice. Well elder Mora earned his stripes as the Huskies defensive coordinator when Don James took over as head coach the first move he made was demoting Jim Lambright from defensive coordinator to linebackers coach. The Huskies won the Rose Bowl during the 1977 upsetting the Michigan Wolverines 27-20. Elder Mora then bolted to the NFL as he was successful for the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts but couldn't ever win the big game.

Younger Mora played for the University of Washington from 1980-1983 as he was a part of two Rose Bowl teams and a graduate assistent on the Orange Bowl team. Younger Mora went on to coach with his dad then later became an up and coming defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers before becoming head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. There is no reason to hate Mora as his dad has a big part of Huskies history and he himself played for the Huskies. He has stated several times that the Huskies job would be his dream and he even coached the Seattle Seahawks. Recently while announcing the Seahawks game he showed that he still loves Seattle as he grew up here, his wife is from here and he still lives in Seattle. If anything fans should root for a guy like Mora who has local connections. Instead, since nobody will ever admit to supporting Willingham the bitterness still remains. Many of the Willingham fans are easily detected as they go out of their way to hate on the "evil" Rick Neuheisel and will bash on Jim L. Mora even though he played for the Huskies.

Now the Mora bashers bring up the fact that why would any college team want him since he failed in the NFL twice? Well let's play a little game coach A won one division title and has a 31-33(.484%) record in the NFL and a 1-1 playoff record. He was given three years at one job where he had some success and at another job was fired after just one season. Coach B won one division title and had a 33-31(.515) record in the NFL and a 1-2 playoff record. He was given three years at one job where he had some success and at another job was fired after just one season. Both coaches were also defensive coordinators on successful 49ers teams. As you can see both coaches are eerily similar so if you haven't guessed by now coach A is Jim L. Mora and coach B is Pete Carroll. Yes the same Carroll who replaced Mora as Seahawks coach and more importantly the same Carroll who won two national championships, four Rose Bowl championships and two Orange Bowl's. Carroll like Mora is an energetic defensive minded coach who had no college head coaching experience at all prior to arriving at USC.

 In fact failing in the NFL doesn't mean much as most failed NFL coaches do quite well in the college game. Former Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson won two national titles at the university of Miami went to the Seahawks where he was 31-33 in four seasons. After being fired went to the Oregon State Beavers who hadn't had a winning season in close to 30 years. While at Oregon State Erickson went 31-17(.646%) including a Fiesta Bowl win.  Erickson went to the 49ers where he was 9-23 only to return to the college game with the Arizona State Sun Devils who are enjoying a 5-2 season as we speak. Steve Spurrier won a ton of games including a national championship at the univeristy of Florida Gators before leaving to the Washington Redskins. With the Redskins Spurrier was a failure going just 12-20 before returning to the college game. At bottom feeder South Carolina Spurrier is 50-34(.595%). Typically failed NFL coaches come down to the college ranks and dominate the college game just like major leaguers dominate triple A.

In conclusion, no fan in Seattle should have any reason to hate Jim L. Mora yet so many want him to fail. Just mentioning that a former NFL head coach should be the Huskies defensive coordinator and some fans will be outraged at the thought of Mora becoming defensive coordinator. You just know if Sarkisian were to be fired or leave and Mora takes over all those Willingham supporters bitterness would come through as they would ride Mora like no other. Facts are Mora was with the Seahawks for one season which isn't enough time to run a franchise into the ground like many portray that he did. Mora also isn't set out for the NFL but as a Huskies fan I fear that someday UCLA, Arizona or California will come in and swoop Mora up. I've never seen Husky fans turn on one of their one in my entire life. Sad that the fans will let an 11-37(.229) coach like Willingham be the reason for turning on a player whose dad coached the Huskies to a Rose Bowl win and a former player who was on a Rose Bowl championship team. Hopefully the animosity towards Mora will finally end as he appears to be a guy who loves this area. This is a guy we should be rooting for not against as there is no reason to root against Mora. If the Huskies are ever at point of searching for a new head coach(hopefully not for decades I might add) I would have no problem with Jim L. Mora being the head coach and neither should you.

Seahawks comeback falls short loses to Falcons 30-28

By Kshell

The Seattle Seahawks(1-3) found themselves trailing 27-7 to the Atlanta Falcons(2-2) in a game at home. The Seahawks stormed back to pull within 30-28 but a 61 yard field goal attempt by Steve Hauschka was wide left as the Seahawks fell just short. The Seahawks offense easily played their best ball of the season in the second half led by Tarvaris Jackson who threw for over 300 yards. He also threw for three touchdowns once again connecting on a deep pass to Sidney Rice. The Seahawks defense couldn't stop Matt Ryan early in the game while Michael Turner scored two touchdowns as well. The Seahawks were torched by the Falcons receiver duo of Julio Jones and Roddy White. The Seahawks will now have to go on the road for the next two weeks after falling to 1-3 their worst start since 2009 when they went 5-11.

The game started off terribly for the Seahawks as they went three and out. The Falcons took over on their own 28 yard line would go on a 12 play 72 yard drive having taken up over seven minutes on the drive. The drive would begin with two straight runs to Turner for nine yards. On third and one Ryan would hit Julio Jones for a five yard gain. After no gain, Ryan would complete a pass to Tony Gonzalez for a gain of nine yards. Turner would rush for three yards to record the first down to the Seahawks 46 yard line. Former Oregon State running back Jacquiz Rodgers would rush for seven yards then follow that up with an 11 yard run to the Seahawks 28 yard line. Ryan would connected on a pass over the middle to White for a gain of 26 yards to the Seahawks one yard line. After the Seahawks stopped Turner on the one yard line the Falcons finally punched the ball through. Ryan on a play action pass threw the ball perfectly over the head of K.J.Wright to Gonzalez for the one yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead. The Falcons would have to wait until the second quarter before they would erupt on the Seahawks.

In the second quarter the Falcons would take advantage of a mistake by the Seahawks. The Seahawks on their own 36 yard saw Tarvaris Jackson throw an interception which was returned to the Seahawks 37 yard line. The boo birds were coming out on Jackson at that point although the Seahawks failures weren't resting just squarely on his shoulders. With the ball deep into Seattle territory didn't take long for the Falcons to score a touchdown. The drive would start off with Ryan hitting Turner with an eight yard completion to the Seahawks 29 yard line. Ryan would follow that up with an eight yard run of his own to the Seahawks 21 yard line. After an incompletion that is when Turner would score on a 21 yard touchdown run to his left. Turner simply out ran the Seahawks secondary for that touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead. The Seahawks were in desperate need to strike back against a team who was 13-3 just a year ago. The Seahawks offense which had showed no signs this season of making this into a game would survive their own fan base on the following drive. As for the Falcons this was just the start to a very big second quarter which saw the Falcons score 17 points.

After a horrible kickoff return the Seahawks began down 14-0 on their own 16 yard line. The drive would start off with a Marshawn Lynch two yard run to the 18 yard line. Jackson would throw an incomplete pass setting up a third and eight on the 18 yard line. That is when Jackson would show the Seahawks 12th man a glimpse of what he is capable of doing. Jackson would hit rookie receiver Doug Baldwin for a 30 yard gain to their own 48 yard line. On the following play Jackson would have a hard count causing the Falcons to jump offsides which meant a free play for the Seahawks offense. Jackson looked to his right and saw his former Minnesota teammate Sidney Rice wide open as he hit him with a perfect pass. Rice would walk into the endzone untouched for the 52 yard touchdown pass by Jackson to cut the lead down to 14-7. The Seahawks were right back in the game. Unfortunately, the Seahawks would have that quick momentum taken away as the defense still couldn't stop the Falcons.

The Falcons would respond by going on an 11 play, 72 yard drive which lasted over six minutes. The drive would begin with Ryan completing a pass to Turner for a gain of 10 yards. Facing a third and 13 from their own 35 yard line Ryan would hit rookie receiver Julio Jones for a gain of 29 yards to the Seahawks 36 yard line. On third and seven from the Seahawks 33 yard line Ryan would hit White for a gain of 15 yards to the Seahawks 18 yard line. Ryan would hit White again for a gain of 16 yards to the Seahawks two yard line. After a short run by Turner to the one yard line, Turner would finish the drive off in style. It had appeared Turner was going to be stopped short but instead he did his best Bo Jackson impression making LeRoy Hill his Brian Bosworth. Turner scored on the touchdown giving the Falcons a 21-7 lead. The Falcons would force a three and out while then going on a nine play drive which accounted for 33 yards. The half would end when Matt Bryant would drill the 47- yard field goal giving the Falcons a commanding 24-7 lead at halftime.

The Falcons would begin the second half with the ball on their own 20 yard line. Ryan would once again hit Jones for a gain of 45 yards to the Seahawks 35 yard line. The Seahawks would stop the Falcons after that forcing a long field goal attempt by Bryant again going into the Hawks Nest. Bryant would drill the 50-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 27-7 lead which had everyone thinking this game was going to get ugly. The Falcons to that point were not being stopped and minus one long pass the Seahawks offense wasn't doing anything. Well that would change as the Seahawks offense would finally wake up to make this into a game again.

The Seahawks would receive a nice 36 yard return from Leon Washington to their own 39 yard line. Lynch would rush for three yards, then catch a pass for five yards setting up a third and two. Justin Forsett would rush for three yards giving the Seahawks a first down at midfield. Jackson would once again hit his rookie receiver Baldwin for a gain of 20 yards to the Falcons 30 yard line. Jackson would dump the ball off to Washington for a gain of four yards to the Falcons 26 yard line to set up a third and six. That is when Jackson would hit a receiver who hasn't been thrown to very much this season. Jackson would connect with Mike Williams for a gain of 19 yards. After a short gain by Washington then an incomplete pass the Seahawks were facing a third and goal. Jackson would connect with Williams for the six yard touchdown to pull the Seahawks within 27-14. For Williams that was his first touchdown reception of the season.

What would transpire next involved plenty of momentum swings. The Seahawks would record a stop on the Falcons. Then  on their own 28 yard line Jackson would complete a 26 yard pass to Lynch to the Falcons 46 yard line. He would then hit Baldwin for a gain of 11 yards. Jackson would complete a pass to Forsett for a gain of 17 yards to the Falcons 18 yard line. Jackson would throw an interception intended for Zach Miller to the Falcons five yard line. Seattle would then force a three and out. Washington would take the punt 33 yards to the Falcons 11 yard line. The Seahawks would waste little time as they handed the ball to Lynch. Lynch would bust the run for 11 yards for the touchdown. That touchdown would close the lead to 27-21 and for Lynch that would be his first touchdown of the season.

taken by Jimmy Hickey

The Falcons would go on a 13 play, 57 yard drive which took up six and a half minutes of clock. The drive would start on their own 20 yard line with Ryan hitting Jones for a gain of four yards. He would hit White for eight yards. On the 30 yard line Ryan would hit Gonzalez for a 22 yard gain to the Seahawks 48 yard line. On third and two from the Seahawks 40 yard line the Seahawks committed a five yard penalty give the Falcons a first down. Facing a third and eight from the Seahawks 33 yard line Ryan would hit Rodgers for a gain of 10 yards to the Seahawks 23 yard line. The Seahawks defense would deny them of the endzone which brought on Bryant again. Bryant would make the 42 yard field goal to give the Falcons a 30-21 lead. Due to a poor kickoff the Seahawks would still have life left in them.



The Seahawks would respond with a nine play, 60 yard touchdown drive to make the game interesting. Lynch would begin the drive with a six yard run to the Seahawks 46 yard line, Jackson would complete a pass to Ben Obomanu for a gain of 12 yards to the Falcons 42 yard line. Jackson would rush up the middle for a gain of 13 yards to the Falcons 29 yard line. Facing a critical third and nine Jackson would connect with Baldwin for a gain of 16 yards to the Falcons 13 yard line. Lynch would rush for two yards then catch a pass for another two yards which set up a critical third and six from the eight yard line. Jackson would scramble around buying time for his receivers to find a way to be open. Then Jackson found Obomanu wide open on the left side of the end zone for the easiest touchdown pass of his career. That would be Jackson's third touchdown pass of the game and more importantly pulled the Seahawks to within 30-28. The Falcons wouldn't score but would go on a 13 play, 37 yard drive while taking up over six minutes. By the time they punted the ball to the Seahawks there was only 1:49 left in the game. The Seahawks were starting from their own 15 yard line with only one timeout left in the game hoping to complete the comeback.

With the odds stacked against them Jackson would start the drive off with a nine yard pass to Forsett to the Seahawks 24 yard line. Forsett would rush up the middle for a gain of eight yards to the Seahawks 32 yard line. Jackson would complete a pass to Forsett for a gain of three yards, then to Baldwin for a gain of seven yards to their own 42 yard line. Jackson would hit Zach Miller for a gain of 13 yards to the Falcons 45 yard line with 22 seconds left. The Seahawks would spike the ball then see Rice be called for a false start pushing the ball back to the 50 yard line. Jackson would hit Miller for a gain of seven yards but would miss his throw on third down. Facing a fourth and eight with one timeout remaining the Seahawks elected to attempt the 61 yard field goal. Hauschka would miss the kick wide left as the Falcons would hang on for the 30-28 win improving to 2-2 while the Seahawks would fall to 1-3.

The Falcons controlled the time of possession for a little over 40 minutes as they put up 412 yards of total offense. The Falcons were led by Matt Ryan who was 28-42(66.7%) passing for 291 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. Ryan also ran for 26 yards as well. Ryan's favorite targets were Julio Jones who had 11 receptions for 127 yards(11.5 YPC) and Roddy White who had six receptions for 78 yards(13.0 YPC). Ryan also hit hit tight end Tony Gonzalez for seven receptions for 56 yards(8.0 YPC) with a touchdown. Michael Turner carried the ball 26 times for 70 yards(2.7 YPC) with two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 18 yards to help the Falcons build an early lead on the Seahawks. The Falcons scored three touchdowns and three long field goals due to Matt Bryant to earn the victory on the road over the Seahawks.

For the Seahawks who saw their comeback effort fall just short they were led by Tarvaris Jackson. Jackson to date had his best game as a Seahawks quarterback completing 25 of his 38 passes(65.8%) for 319 yards(8.4 YPA) with three touchdowns to two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 96.3. Jackson also ran for 16 yards during the game. This game Jackson spread the ball around to his receivers. Doug Baldwin led the team with five receptions for 84 yards(16.8 YPC). He was followed up by Sidney Rice who had three receptions for 79 yards(26.3 YPC) with a touchdown. Mike Williams had three receptions for 36 yards(12.0 YPC) with a touchdown, Justin Forsett had three for 30 yards(10.0 YPC), Ben Obomanu had three for 25 yards with a touchdown. Zach Miller had three receptions for 21 yards while Marshawn Lynch had three for 33 yards.  Lynch also had just 24 yards rushing(3.0 YPC) with a touchdown on the day. The Seahawks fell behind early and couldn't run the ball effectively so they had no choice but to go to the air. Although the Seahawks lost at least for now Jackson quieted his home fan base from booing him after every incomplete pass.

All in all, the Seahawks must find a way to come out better in the first half. This season Pete Carroll has seen his team fall behind 19-0 in week one, 17-0 at halftime in week two, trailing 10-6 at halftime in week three to trailing this week 27-7. The Seahawks went toe to toe with one of the better teams in the NFC but in the NFL you are measured by wins and losses. The Seahawks are 1-3 as they are two games behind the San Francisco 49ers who hold tiebreaker so in reality they are two and a half games back. The Seahawks dropped a golden opportunity to jump into the NFC West race which is currently being held by Alex Smith and his 49ers. For the Seahawks to be successful for the rest of the year they have to match what their opponent is doing in the first half or this is going to be a very long season.

Observations:

- I thought Tarvaris Jackson played his best game as a Seahawks quarterback. He actually played better than any regular season game Matt Hasselbeck played in last season as well. Jackson completed 65.8% of his passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns. Of his two interceptions one wasn't his fault. The reason the Seahawks were back in this game was because Jackson was making plays with his arm. Jackson had seven different receivers with at least three receptions in the game showing he was sharing the wealth.

For the season Jackson has completed 62.2% of his passes for 846 yards(6.3 YPA) with five touchdowns passing and four interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 80.0. Jackson won't make you forget about Hasselbeck but it is time for the fans to give him a chance. If he is playing terrible then yea you can boo him but during today that was getting annoying. Jackson was the only reason the Seahawks even had a chance at the end of the game.

- For Pete Carroll this was a tough loss as the Seahawks fall to 1-3 and he falls to 8-12 as Seahawks head coach. I felt Carroll blew it at the end of the game by attempting the 61 yard field goal. The best chance was to let Jackson complete that fourth and eight pass then call timeout to kick the game winning field goal. Carroll did have his team ready and I will say the Seahawks aren't quitting on him like they did last year when they lost nine games by 15 points or more. The Seahawks have twice this year almost came back from large deficits only to fall short. In the NFL you have complete those comebacks or else you are in for a rough season. The Seahawks are now 1-3 with two east coast games then the bye week. This is the most critical stretch of the season for the Seahawks. Lose both games your season is over. Even a split will put the Seahawks at 2-4 which will make it hard to recover from that.

In conclusion, the Seahawks lost a winnable game today which is going to hurt going forward. If the Seahawks had any chances of being a playoff team they needed to win today's game in my opinion. Like I said for a franchise who hasn't won on the east coast since 2007 playing the New York Giants in New  York will be a tough challenge. The Seahawks can't afford to go 1-4 with another road game. This is critical to see if this season will matter or if the fans will be doing mock drafts by Halloween. For the Seahawks they can't accept close losses anymore they must find ways to win games like today or their season is in danger of being irrelevant.

Seahawks Looking to Make It Two in a Row

By Wyatt Lyles

The Seahawks will be taking on the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow afternoon in Seattle. Coming off of last week's win over the Cardinals, hopefully the Seahawks can use that momentum to make it two in a row. 

Quite frankly, this is just about the best time that we could be facing the Falcons. So far this season, they just haven't looked like the same team that had the best record in the NFC this past season. They're also 1-2, and have played some sloppy football thus far. This is definitely a game that I think the Seahawks can win. 

Last week, the defense went out there and gave another impressive performance. The run defense was firing on all cylinders with Red Bryant back to his old self. The pass rush also did well with Chris Clemons and Leroy Hill knocking guys around left and right to get to the QB. It was an awesome thing to watch. The guys back in the secondary looked great as well. Earl Thomas made several nice plays throughout the game, as did Kam Chancellor, who had the game-sealing interception with about a minute left in the game. Brandon Browner also looked pretty good out there, and performed better than most expected while matched up with Larry Fitzgerald. 

Overall, the defense played very well last and that will be the key to winning again tomorrow. If the defense can play like they did last week, this is a very winnable game. Putting some pressure on Matt Ryan to force to make mistakes and create turnovers will be big. 

While the defense will be able to keep us in the game, the offense needs to pick up the slack. Granted, they did score last week, but it came from an 11-yard run from Tarvaris Jackson. Not that this is a bad thing, but someone else should be scoring touchdowns for this team. And 13 points a week will not get you a win against most teams. 

The run game did vastly improve last week, they need to translate this into touchdowns. We need to see a running back get a rushing touchdown, which has yet to happen thus far. In addition to that, we need to see another passing touchdown from Jackson. He did have two back in week one, but he hasn't had one yet. Hopefully the return and continued presence of Sidney Rice will help on that account. 

Looking at injuries, the Seahawks don't have too many at this point. There is one key injury that could have an impact on tomorrow's game, though. Kam Chancellor is doubtful with a "deep thigh bruise." If he can't go, that means Atari Bigby would most likely get the start in his place. Nothing against Bigby, but I don't think that he'll be as good as Kam has been so far this season. I'm ready to proven wrong, though. Also doubtful is CB Byron Maxwell (ankle). OT Jarriel King (ankle), FB Mike Robinson (ankle), and LB Matt McCoy (shoulder/head) are all probable for the game. 

This is a game that I really believe the Seahawks can win. The Falcons aren't doing all that great so far this season, and while the Seahawks aren't doing amazing, I think they're improving. For them to win this game, the offense needs to continue to get a rhythm going. If they can't do that, they won't win this game. I think that they will, though, so I think the Seahawks win this one and go to .500 on the season. 

Seahawks 20 - Falcons 14

Seahawks lose at home 34-18 to Falcons; possible quarterback controversy

By Kshell

The Seattle Seahawks(6-8) drop a tough game at home to the NFC leading Atlanta Falcons(12-2) 34-18 at Qwest Field. The bigger story in the game could be the possible benching of franchise quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck after turning the ball over on three straight possessions in the third quarter found himself benched in favor of Charlie Whitehurst. Pete Carroll must face his toughest challenge next week at Tampa Bay. He has a struggling team who has now lost six out of eight games and with just two games remaining has a quarterback controversy.



When the game began nobody could see into the future that Hasselbeck would be benched. The Seahawks started the game off running the ball to Marshawn Lynch while Hasselbeck was completing passes. The Seahawks went on a 12 play 80 yard drive which ended with a Lynch one yard touchdown run to give the Seahawks a 7-0 lead. Lynch on the drive carried the ball four times for 30 yards while catching a pass for 17 yards. Hasselbeck was five for five passing for 44 yards passing hitting four different receivers on the drive. The Seahawks made the drive look easy as they faced only one third down the whole drive.

The Atlanta Falcons would respond with a long drive of their own which extended into the second quarter. The Falcons who started at midfield went on a 15 play 51 yard drive which saw two close fourth down spots go their way. Facing a fourth and literally an inch from the Seahawks 18 yard line the Falcons decided to go for it and had Matt Ryan on a quarterback sneak. Ryan was blown up on the play and appeared that he didn't make the first down but the lines judge gave him the first barely. The Seahawks challenged and lost the challenge. Then the Falcons faced a fourth and one from the Seahawks eight yard line and once again appeared Turner was stopped short. The line judge however once again spotted the Falcons a first down. Facing a third and goal from the three Ryan threw a touchdown pass to Jason Snelling to tie up the score at 7-7.

After the Seahawks went three and out the Falcons would have to settle for a field goal from Matt Bryant from 27 yards out to give the Falcons a 10-7 lead. The Falcons had recovered their own fumble twice on that scoring drive. The Seahawks after going three and out again would catch a break finally. The Seahawks Jordan Babineaux would pick off Ryan and run it back 17 yards to set the Seahawks up with good field possession. Babineaux brother plays for the Falcons so his mom was there wearing both of their jerseys. The Seahawks once again couldn't get a first down would settle for an Olindo Mare 38 field goal to tie the score up at 10-10.



The Falcons on their own 20 yard line with 2:05 remaining in the half would proceed to execute the two minute drill to perfection. The Falcons picked up four third down conversations on the drive. Ryan hit Roddy White twice on third down for gains of seven and then for 15 yards on third and 10. On third and six from the Seahawks 24 yard line Ryan hit Michael Jenkins for a 24 yard touchdown pass to give the Falcons a 17-10 lead at halftime.



In the second half is when Hasselbeck fell apart. After the Seahawks forced a Falcons punt for the first time in the game the Falcons Michael Koenen from Western Washington University pinned the Seahawks on their own three yard line. The Seahawks called for a play action pass, Hasselbeck who was outside the pocket saw nobody opened then hung onto the ball in his own endzone. The result was a sack by Jamaal Anderson who forced a Hasselbeck fumble which was recovered by Jonathan Babineaux for the touchdown to give the Falcons a commanding 24-10 lead. Hasselbeck would throw an interception on the next series which resulted in a Bryant 25 yard field goal to give the Falcons a 27-10 lead.

On the next possession Hasselbeck threw another interception which had the crowd booing as Hasselbeck last week turned the ball over five times. The falcons took advantage as Ryan drove down the field and eventually hit White for a five yard touchdown pass to give the Falcons a commanding 34-10 lead. At that point Charlie Whitehurst started to warm up as Hasselbeck was benched for the first time.



Whitehurst looked pretty good on the Seahawks scoring drive. Whitehurst would hit Mike Williams for a gain of 17 yards then he would hit John Carlson for a gain of 31 yards to the Falcons 13 yard line. Facing a fourth and four from the Falcons seven yard line, Whitehurst ran up the middle for a gain of six to get the first down. Then Whitehurst ran in the touchdown from one yard out. On the two point conversation Whitehurst would hit Ben Obomanu on the fade pass to cut the lead to 34-18.

The Seahawks couldn't get any closer unfortunately losing to the Falcons at home. The Falcons after the opening possesion dominated the Seahawks. Matt Ryan ended up 20 of 35 for 174 yards with three touchdowns to just one interception. While Matt Hasselbeck for the third straight game struggled completing 10 of 17 passes for just 71 yards with two interceptions and a fumble. His backup Charlie Whitehurst wasn't much better throwing 8 for 16 for just 83 yards. Now Pete Carroll has a tough decision to make far as what to do with Matt Hasselbeck.

The Seahawks are in a weird situation with two games left to be played. Typically when an old aging quarterback is struggling who is set to be a free agent at the end of the year he is benched. When the team gives up a third round pick, trades 20 spots down in the second round to acquire his backup and the team sits at 6-8 that is a no brain decision Whitehurst plays. Since the NFC West is so terrible the Seahawks at 6-8 are tied for first place in the division. So it's not simply about playing for the future as the Seahawks have a division title to win. Sad to say I think Whitehurst gives the team the best chance at winning at this rate.

Observations:


- Matt Hasselbeck is struggling right now which happened last year. Last season in the last four games last year Hasselbeck threw just four touchdown passes to ten interceptions. This year in the last three games Hasselbeck has thrown just two touchdown passes but eight interceptions and two fumbles. Hasselbeck on the season has thrown 12 touchdown passes to 17 interceptions. The Seahawks were a team who had a shot at winning the division because they featured the "best" quarterback who had the most experience. Instead with the season on the line he might be on the bench.

Since 2008 Hasselbeck has thrown 34 touchdowns but has 42 interceptions in 33 games. That doesn't include him losing seven fumbles and fumbling 17 times in the last two seasons. Hasselbeck is a free agent at the end of the year and sad to say we might have seen his last game as a Seahawks quarterback at Qwest Field.

His backup Charlie Whitehurst hasn't taken the job from Hasselbeck is the problem. Carroll might end up sticking with Hasselbeck because Whitehurst is so inconsistent. Whoever Carroll decides is the starting quarterback he must hang on to the football to give this team a chance.



- Whoever the quarterback is having Mike Williams back is a nice welcome. Williams return today catching eight passes for 66 yards. Williams didn't play in the NFL for two years is the Seahawks best receiver. On the year Williams has 60 receptions for 720 yards. Williams is a big target and the Seahawks need him to stay healthy if they have any chance at the playoffs.

- Marshawn Lynch had a solid game for the Seahawks today rushing for 60 yards on 12 carries(5.0 YPC) with a touchdown while catching a pass for 17 yards. On the first drive Lynch was featured while after that the Seahawks went away from Lynch which was puzzling to me. Lynch didn't receive a rushing attempt the next two series after scoring the touchdown on the opening drive. I felt the Seahawks should have featured Lynch more especially coming off Hasselbeck's disasterous game last week.

- World Series champion and two time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum raised the 12th man flag. Lincecum who was national pitcher of the year while at the University of Washington is from Renton, Washington. As we all know the Seattle Mariners had a chance to draft Lincecum but chose to go a different route. Lincecum has left plenty of Mariners fans asking what if?

Well this week should be interesting who Pete Carroll picks as the starting quarterback. I feel like the quarterback play is excusing a ton of poor play lately. The defense isn't getting enough stops on third downs which is putting the offense behind almost every game. The Seahawks offensive line still isn't protecting the quarterback or giving the running game enough holes to make for big runs. The Seahawks are tied for first place and have a game with the St.Louis Rams in two weeks. The solution to the playoffs is pretty simple for the Seahawks just win and you are in the playoffs. They play at Tampa Bay next week who just lost at home to Detroit today then play the Rams at home who haven't won at Qwest Field since 2004. The Seahawks have two winnable games and must find a way to take care of the ball. Remember who ever Carroll decides is the starting quarterback the other players need to step their game up as well or it won't matter who the quarterback is.