RENTON — Just as it would have been a knee-jerk reaction to peg the Seahawks for greatness after their season-opening win, it’s premature to declare an SOS — Same Old Seahawks — after Sunday’s 17-point loss in Denver.
In reality, it will be a while before we really know who this team is under new coach Pete Carroll, but the good news for the Seahawks is that, despite another lopsided loss on the road, they weren’t the same Seahawks who routinely had it handed to them away from Qwest Field last season.
So often in blowout losses last year, particularly road losses, the Seahawks simply were outclassed. There was no doubting who the better, more physically dominant team was, and in the locker room after those games, the players’ reactions sometimes indicated that they knew it too.
But in Sunday’s 31-14 loss to Denver, it wasn’t a case of Seattle having no chance against the Broncos. The players weren’t dejected in the visitor’s locker room at Invesco Field, they were frustrated that they let a winnable game slip away. The Seahawks moved the ball well early, but hurt themselves with penalties and turnovers. The defense stuffed the run game, but also hurt itself with penalties and couldn’t get off the field on third down.
Make no mistake, the Broncos were the better team Sunday. They capitalized on Seattle’s many blunders, they executed, and they avoided the same miscues that hurt Seattle. But this wasn’t what we saw last season when, down the stretch in particular, the Seahawks chances of winning seemed to go away about the time they boarded the plane at Sea-Tac.
“I think in a way it’s almost encouraging because the stuff that we did wrong, or that I did wrong, is stuff that we all know we can fix and get fixed,” said quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who threw three interceptions. “So I think in a strange way there’s a lot of optimism after watching the film, because I think we see how good we can be. … There’s a lot to be excited about and I think a lot that can be corrected quickly.”
Cleaning up mistakes obviously is easier said than done, but if Seattle can cut back on the four turnovers and 64 yards of penalties, the road blowouts don’t have to continue.
In Sunday’s loss, Denver outgained Seattle by 30 yards, not a huge amount when you consider that in six of Seattle’s seven road losses — all of which came by double-digit margins — the Seahawks were outgained by 52 or more yards. Things got particularly bad late in the year, when in losses at Minnesota, Houston and Green Bay, the Seahawks were outgained by an average of 171 yards per game.
Sure Seattle made mistakes in those games too — there were nine turnovers compared to two takeaways and significantly more penalty yards assessed to Seattle than the opposing teams — but even without those mistakes, the Seahawks would have had a hard time keeping the games close.
The run game often tells the tale of which team is winning the physical battles. Last season, despite having a solid run defense, Seattle usually lost those battles, particularly on the road. In those final three road blowouts, the disparity was especially strong as Seattle averaged just 2.8 yards per carry compared to 4.1 yards by opponents.
In one of the more encouraging signs of 2010, the Seahawks’ run defense has been exceptionally good, allowing just 2.6 yards per carry against San Francisco and 1.7 against the Broncos. And after struggling to run the ball against the 49ers and in their preseason games, the Seahawks showed considerable improvement in Denver, averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
There are still plenty of concerns, most notably the fact that Seattle went from playing stellar third-down defense against the 49ers (who were 1-for-15) to struggling mightily in that area against the Broncos (14-for-20). Part of the problem on third down was the lack of a pass rush, something that coming into the season was a big concern. But unlike those road losses in 2009, there are things the Seahawks can build off, even in a 17-point defeat.
Carroll is fond of saying that his team will be good when it plays good. Well, the Seahawks didn’t play very well on Sunday, but if they can clean up the mistakes, there is hope that 2010 doesn’t have to play out like a repeat of the past two seasons.
“We really wanted to go out and play a good, clean football game, we really didn’t get that done,” Carroll said. “… We pointed out the mistakes of course, and the errors, but we also pointed out the things that we’re doing well and we want to make sure that we grow and continue to get better. It’s a long, long haul and we have yet to figure out as a team how to play well on the road.
“We’ll figure that out as we go along.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog.
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