Spoiler role is something new for Hawks

Squad not used to missing postseason

By Gregg Bell | The Associated Press • Published November 17, 2008

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RENTON – The Seattle Sea-hawks knew this season was going to be unique. They didn't know that for most of them, it would be unprecedented.

Banged-up quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks gathered a day after Arizona effectively ended their four-year reign in the NFC West to hear coach Mike Holmgren tell them the goal for the final six games is to play for personal pride and future employment. It was jarring stuff for a 2-8 team lost in its sudden irrelevance, after five consecutive seasons in the playoffs.

Some Seahawks didn't want to accept Holmgren telling them they are now would-be spoilers, instead of the spoiled.

"It's tough. ... I don't think we feel that way about ourselves," said Hasselbeck, one of seven Seahawks who were with the team when it last missed the playoffs in 2002.

"We feel like we're a better team. But you are what your record is."

Which is to say, not good.

"Yeah, it's difficult to accept," fullback Leonard Weaver said. "You think about the last six or seven or eight years, we have been playoff-bound and contenders for the Super Bowl every year, going deep into the playoffs. It is definitely difficult, but at the same time it is reality."

Indeed, this day felt more like the post-mortems to Seahawks losses in the divisional playoffs in recent Januarys than a somber afternoon 10 days before Thanksgiving.

"I don't have a lot of experience with this," Holmgren said with a rueful smile.

He had never been 2-8 in 17 years as a head coach in Green Bay and Seattle until the Cardinals (7-3) soared into town Sunday. They jumped to a 26-7 lead and hung on for a 26-20 victory, withstanding Seattle's final, desperate tries.

An epidemic of injuries, a porous, underachieving defense and a malfunctioning offense have left Seattle off to its worst start since the 1992 team was 1-9 en route to a franchise-worst 2-14 season.

A repeat of that horrid record isn't out of the question. On Sunday, Seattle hosts Washington, coached by former Seahawks quarterback and assistant Jim Zorn. Thanksgiving brings a game at Dallas, another playoff contender, followed by a home game with AFC contender New England. The only soft game is Dec. 14 at St. Louis. Then comes a game against the first-place New York Jets and the finale at those new NFC West kings, the Cardinals.

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