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Many Seattle fans grew physically ill watching the Seahawks NFL opener against the Buffalo Bills on the East Coast, and I was one of them. This was no way to start Mike Holmgren's final season in Seattle. Holmgren deserved better.
The Bills won 34-10 while controlling both sides of the line, watching Seattle's running game flounder like a wounded duck, watching the Seahawks' depleted receiving corps drop pass after pass, and watching Seattle's special teams unit miss tackles and give up 24 points. It was a study in ineptitude.
John Donne is his Meditation XVII said "no man is an island" but Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck must have felt like he was on an island isolated without pass protection as he was knocked down more times than 10 pins at a bowling alley. There was little pass protection and, when there was, receivers dropped balls like little leaguers at play.
To add injury to insult, Seattle lost its only healthy, competent wide receiver as Nate Burleson suffered a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his knee and will be lost for the season. Both veteran starters Bobby Engram and Deion Branch are injured and have not played yet this season.
It is not the end of the world (for fans who take these losses seriously and emotionally), but it could be the beginning of the end if the Seahawks do not snap out of it and get control of their game and future.
The Seattle Seahawks do not have modest aspirations this year, they aim to win the Super Bowl and send Mike Holmgren away from Seattle as the only coach to lead two teams to Super Bowl victories. Holmgren won a Super Bowl in Green Bay and has already led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl in 2005.
Seattle has lost its opening game before and done well. In 2005, the Seahawks lost to Jacksonville on the road, returned home to beat Atlanta and then won 12 of 13 games to assure home field advantage in the playoffs.
They went on to win the NFC West Division title and the NFC title before losing to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, a game that shall live in infamy as injuries to the Seahawks' secondary leading up to the Super Bowl cost them the game.
So how bad was the opening-game loss? Well, the mild mannered Mike Holmgren canned a player. Punter Ryan Plackemeier lost his job and place on the team as he was shown the door out of town.
Plackemeier was followed by Jordan Kent (who dropped too many passes) and Justin Forsett to make room for suspended players Rocky Bernard and Jordan Babineaux. The Seahawks immediately signed former Green Bay Packer punter John Ryan to replace Plackemeier.
After Sunday's inept performance, Holmgren could have fired any one of 20 players who underperformed and are overpaid. I'm glad to see Plackemeier hit the road. It puts the other players on notice that the dinky-dorking around is over; they need to start earning their salaries and privileged place in America as professional athletes.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on college football, including:
"East Carolina Smacks West Virginia, Upsets Its 3rd Straight Ranked Team"
"No. 24 Alabama Stuns No. 9 Clemson, East Carolina Upsets No. 17 Virginia Tech"
"College Openers - 6 Teams Rush for 400+ Yards, 5 More Pass for 400+ Yards"
"Only 5 Games Highlight (College Football's) First Week, 29 Others Must Win Their Opener"
"It Is Going to Be a Very Long Season for Washington's Football Program"
"For the Michigan State Spartans, 7 Has Become a Very Uncomfortable Number"
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http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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