Success is fleeting, particularly in the NFL. Age and injuries finally have caught up with the Seahawks. For a few weeks, I've heard fans say they only needed time to get it together. But there should be no debate after Sunday night's 20-10 loss at Tampa Bay that dropped Seattle to 1-5.
It's rare that a team reaches the playoffs with less than a 9-7 record. The Seahawks would have to win 80 percent of their remaining games to accomplish that. Winning at that clip is a lot to expect from even the best teams. Considering that a 12-4 season wouldn't hit that mark — a record they only have surpassed once in franchise history — only the most staunch supporter would believe they still could make the playoffs.
So where did this team go wrong? Injuries to the team's top three wide receivers — Deion Branch, Nate Burleson and Bobby Engram — haven't helped, but none of those players are considered elite-level talents, anyway. They're solid, as are running backs Julius Jones and Maurice Morris, nothing more. If the talent level, including the offensive line, is average at best at full health, consider how quickly it falls with each injury.
With quarterback Matt Hasselbeck injured and the problems at wide receiver, the Seahawks rank 31st (out of 32 teams) in passing offense. The running game is better, but not good enough to play smash-mouth football behind a mediocre offensive line.
As for the defense, it doesn't have the injury or talent excuses that have hindered the offense. General manager Tim Ruskell has invested a lot of money and draft picks to rebuild this unit since he was hired in 2005. His first draft yielded linebackers LeRoy Hill and Lofa Tatupu, and he signed another linebacker, Julian Peterson, and defensive end Patrick Kerney to big free-agent contracts. Kerney, Peterson, Tatupu and cornerback Marcus Trufant all have been Pro Bowl selections. There's no excuse for this unit to be ranked 27th in the league.
When Jim Mora succeeds Mike Holmgren in the offseason, he needs to examine the situation on that side of the ball. Given that the production doesn't meet the talent, it makes sense for Mora to bring in new coaches on that side of the ball.
The defense should be fine with some coaching changes in addition to some adjustments in the secondary. Ruskell can use his high draft pick, Seattle sits at No. 3 right now, to find upgrade the offense. And while Hasselbeck is 33 years old, it's not uncommon for quarterbacks to play at a high level beyond 35. Couple that the return to health for Branch and Burleson — Engram likely will leave as a free agent — and there's no reason why Seattle can't be a playoff contender again next year.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
College football in Washington
It's safe to say this season is going nowhere for the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars. Given the struggles of both programs, I wouldn't be surprised to see the winless Huskies head into Pullman for the Apple Cup against the one-win Cougars next month.
So what are the teams doing to get out of this mess? If you're a UW fan, not much. Administration at the school didn't have the courage to fire coach Tyrone Willingham after last season. That decision will have long-ranging repercussions for a program that hasn't posted a winning record or advanced to a bowl game since 2002.
Willingham's first class, which was small and compiled on short notice after Keith Gilbertson's firing, features just six players who will be redshirt seniors next year: defensive end Darrion Jones, kicker Ryan Perkins, offensive lineman Ben Ossai, linebacker Chris Stevens, defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and offensive lineman Morgan Rosborough.
Give Willingham a mulligan on that if you choose, but there's no explanation for his recruiting failures the following year. Despite his "Return of the Dawgs" pitch to recruits, he signed a modestly regarded class that Scout.com ranked 35th in the country. Among his 22 signings in 2006, just 13 players remain.
Those classes would've provided a challenge for any coach to win this season, but the decision to keep Willingham was worse. UW is 0-5 and likely will bring in the lowest-ranked class in the conference because everyone knows Willingham will be fired. And in a pointless attempt to save his position, Willingham has played 12 true freshmen this season. Now, the new UW coach is presented with a 2009 season where the Huskies again will be projected to finish ninth or 10th in the Pac-10, and a future that leaves him with an experienced group in his fourth year.
Contrast that with the situation at WSU. Former coach Bill Doba recruited poorly and progressively hit the junior-college ranks every year in an attempt to cobble together a decent team. It didn't happened after a Holiday Bowl win in 2003, and after a 5-7 record and 3-6 mark in conference last season, athletic director Jim Sterk decided to make a change.
The Cougars have featured little depth in recent years, but with the promise that he'll be given time, new coach Paul Wulff is starting to correct that by redshirting most of his first recruiting class.
It hasn't been easy as Doba left just three redshirt seniors. And the situation won't improve a lot next season when only five fifth-year players will be in the program.
So how does Wulff improve the depth situation? He signed five JC transfers and four are redshirting. That means defensive linemen Jessy Sanchez and Bernard Wolfgramm in addition to offensive lineman Zack Williams essentially fall into the 2006 class, which only has eight members left. The fourth JC signee, Alex Hoffman-Ellis, also is redshirting but has three years of eligibility remaining. Two transfers from the University of California — cornerback Brandon Jones and running back James Montgomery — also fall into the 2006 class in addition to JC defensive tackle Josh Luapo, who's supposed to enroll in January.
That would boost the '06 class to 14 members. Couple that with Doba's best class, which was 2007, and Wulff should have enough experience to compete for a bowl in 2010.
In the win-now world, that's not quick enough for many fans. But both UW and WSU partisans will have to be patient. After all, the fortunes of both programs aren't going to change overnight.
So what are the teams doing to get out of this mess? If you're a UW fan, not much. Administration at the school didn't have the courage to fire coach Tyrone Willingham after last season. That decision will have long-ranging repercussions for a program that hasn't posted a winning record or advanced to a bowl game since 2002.
Willingham's first class, which was small and compiled on short notice after Keith Gilbertson's firing, features just six players who will be redshirt seniors next year: defensive end Darrion Jones, kicker Ryan Perkins, offensive lineman Ben Ossai, linebacker Chris Stevens, defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and offensive lineman Morgan Rosborough.
Give Willingham a mulligan on that if you choose, but there's no explanation for his recruiting failures the following year. Despite his "Return of the Dawgs" pitch to recruits, he signed a modestly regarded class that Scout.com ranked 35th in the country. Among his 22 signings in 2006, just 13 players remain.
Those classes would've provided a challenge for any coach to win this season, but the decision to keep Willingham was worse. UW is 0-5 and likely will bring in the lowest-ranked class in the conference because everyone knows Willingham will be fired. And in a pointless attempt to save his position, Willingham has played 12 true freshmen this season. Now, the new UW coach is presented with a 2009 season where the Huskies again will be projected to finish ninth or 10th in the Pac-10, and a future that leaves him with an experienced group in his fourth year.
Contrast that with the situation at WSU. Former coach Bill Doba recruited poorly and progressively hit the junior-college ranks every year in an attempt to cobble together a decent team. It didn't happened after a Holiday Bowl win in 2003, and after a 5-7 record and 3-6 mark in conference last season, athletic director Jim Sterk decided to make a change.
The Cougars have featured little depth in recent years, but with the promise that he'll be given time, new coach Paul Wulff is starting to correct that by redshirting most of his first recruiting class.
It hasn't been easy as Doba left just three redshirt seniors. And the situation won't improve a lot next season when only five fifth-year players will be in the program.
So how does Wulff improve the depth situation? He signed five JC transfers and four are redshirting. That means defensive linemen Jessy Sanchez and Bernard Wolfgramm in addition to offensive lineman Zack Williams essentially fall into the 2006 class, which only has eight members left. The fourth JC signee, Alex Hoffman-Ellis, also is redshirting but has three years of eligibility remaining. Two transfers from the University of California — cornerback Brandon Jones and running back James Montgomery — also fall into the 2006 class in addition to JC defensive tackle Josh Luapo, who's supposed to enroll in January.
That would boost the '06 class to 14 members. Couple that with Doba's best class, which was 2007, and Wulff should have enough experience to compete for a bowl in 2010.
In the win-now world, that's not quick enough for many fans. But both UW and WSU partisans will have to be patient. After all, the fortunes of both programs aren't going to change overnight.
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