The Seahawks have had first-half stumbles worse than this only twice in franchise history, opening 1-7 in both 1976 (the inaugural year) and 1992.
The schedule offers the most valid grounds for optimism, as five of the final eight games are at home, and two of the three road games are at St. Louis (1-7) and at Arizona (2-6).
But, oh, this glass seems much less than half-full.
“We’ve been struggling through the first half,” Carroll said at his Monday press conference. “We’ve been working to find a continuity and a level of execution that will get us some more wins, but it hasn’t happened like we’d like.”
In the past three games, the Hawks scored only 28 combined points, running well but passing poorly against Dallas, passing well but not running at all against Cincinnati, and doing just about nothing offensively against Cleveland.
All of which has been played out to a background of blowing whistles and flying flags.
Once again, the Hawks proved they could not play by the rules in a 23-13 loss at Dallas, being penalized 10 times for 88 yards. They’ve committed 70 accepted penalties, trailing only the perennial scofflaw Raiders. That’s 23 more penalties than their opponents so far.
How bad is that? The 2007 Mike Holmgren-coached Seahawks had 59 penalties for the entire season.
“(Penalties have) been causing us problems, particularly the last three weeks,” Carroll said. Perhaps that’s to be expected when the stated goal was to get the roster younger and more physical. The logical algebra is that young and physical equals penalties.
Timing and circumstance make some penalties more disheartening to Carroll, and several on special teams in recent games have created huge yardage losses.
“(It) depends on their nature; if they’re really aggressive, hard-hitting penalties, you can understand it,” Carroll said. “But the things you can control, before the snap occurs, those things really get you. And recurring issues, the same guy making the same mistakes, is really hard to tolerate.”
The mistakes of youth should wane as the season progresses. If not, it’s a matter of bad coaching or dense players.
On the upside, back Marshawn Lynch rediscovered some running space, reflecting a good job of the young offensive linemen against a tough Dallas front seven.
But quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is halfway through the season with a subpar 73.2 passer rating. Seahawks quarterbacks have been sacked 29 times compared to the 13 sacks generated by Seattle’s defense.
Big-time free-agent signees Sidney Rice (one touchdown catch) and Zach Miller (11 catches for 99 yards) have produced numbers far below what would have been expected.
As they head into the second half, Carroll said there’s not a lot that can be done in terms of manpower juggling, but “you can emphasize where the ball goes, and things you can emphasize with your calls to accentuate guys’ strengths and minimize their weakness.”
Getting the ball to the tight end Miller, for instance, is a must for the second half.
The fact that San Francisco has raced out to a 7-1 record and put the NFC West Division out of reasonable contention is not a point Carroll discusses with the team, preferring to stress day-to-day improvement.
“We need to gain some momentum,” he said. “We need to feel that the improvements we’ve made now turn into victories. If we can balance out our attack, running the football and mix it up the way we’d like, then we’ll gain some ground on putting it together as we pictured it.”
Carroll stresses finishing strongly, so it’s particularly vexing to him that the Seahawks have so often seen opponents pull away to late wins in games that had been close. Sunday, for instance, the game was tied 6-6 at the half but the Cowboys put up 17 points in the second half and won by 10.
“This team is a young team that is going to be successful and be very, very good,” Carroll said. “I just wish we’d get rid of the stuff that keeps us from demonstrating that. That’s what we’re working to find here.”
OK, if it’s all in the course of rebuilding, it’s easier to swallow. Since it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to “get rid of the stuff” quickly enough to make a run in the final eight games, fans might wish to assume a different perspective.
Maybe they should not look at this as the second half of a painful 2011 season as much as it’s just an extremely early and extraordinarily long pre-season for 2012.
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440 dave.boling@thenewstribune.com
