Hawks facing 5-game gauntlet

Hawks facing 5-game gauntlet
Getting to 4-4 will be big challenge; road win required
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
P-I REPORTER

RENTON -- The question focused on the Seahawks' post-bye predicament, which has them staring at a five-game stretch against teams with a combined record of 11-4.

Not surprisingly, Mike Holmgren slipped on his prerequisite coaching blinders before answering.

"I'm in Giants mode," he said. "There are no questions that aren't good questions, I realize that, but I'm in Giants mode."

That would be the New York Giants, the Seahawks' next opponent, Oct. 5 at Giants Stadium. Defending Super Bowl champions. Off to a 3-0 start. A team that feels like it owes the Seahawks one -- or even two -- after dropping a winnable game in overtime at Qwest Field in 2005 because Jay Feely suddenly couldn't kick straight, and also a 2006 loss in which a false start fed a 42-30 meltdown.

It is commendable to not look too far ahead, and probably advisable with everything the Seahawks' post-bye opponent is capable of throwing at them. But the game against the Giants -- in a stadium where the Seahawks are 0-4 under Holmgren (two losses each to the Giants and the Jets) -- is just the beginning.

The Seahawks are facing a five-game stretch that will determine whether they will remain a force, simply a factor or become a farce in the NFC West -- a division they have won the past four seasons.

Four of the Seahawks' next five opponents currently rank among the top 10 in the NFL in total offense -- the Giants (No. 3), Eagles (6), Buccaneers (7) and Packers (. The fifth, the 49ers, are No. 11.

Three of those teams are among the top 10 in total defense -- the Eagles (4), Giants (6) and 49ers (9).

Then there's the daunting fact that the games against the Giants and Buccaneers will be played in the Eastern time zone, where the Seahawks are 10-18 under Holmgren -- including a 4-12 record the past five seasons, with five losses in their past six trips after the season-opening 34-10 loss to the Bills in Buffalo.

The Seahawks (1-2) can't simply hold serve during this five-step voyage to midseason, winning the home games against the Packers and Eagles. They must do that, which won't be easy, and also steal a victory on the road against the Giants, Bucs or 49ers.

Reaching midseason at 4-4 should keep them in the division race, only because the NFC West is relatively weak and the co-leading Cardinals and 49ers also have to play the toughies from the NFC East. And also because the Cardinals and 49ers don't exactly qualify for road-warrior status with the Cardinals 2-15 in their past 17 games in the east and the 49ers 7-18 in road games under coach Mike Nolan.

But emerging from this stretch 3-5 would be unacceptable if the Seahawks are to have any shot at winning a fifth consecutive division title.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said last week he still feels the Seahawks can win the NFC West, and that was before their 37-13 victory over the Rams on Sunday.

The Seahawks did look more like themselves in that game, but that pressure defense, power offense and improving performance on special teams came against a winless Rams team that has issues at multiple levels. The Seahawks will have to play at a higher level to emerge from this stretch a game better than even.

The defense did a creditable job against the 49ers' Frank Gore and the Rams' Steven Jackson the past two games. But now comes the Giants' Brandon Jacobs, a big back (264 pounds) capable of wearing out the Seahawks' undersized defensive front; the Packers' Ryan Grant, who gouged the Seahawks for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a blizzard in January; the Bucs' Earnest Graham, who is averaging 6 yards per carry; a rematch with Gore in San Francisco, where he ran for 212 yards against the Seahawks in 2006; and the Eagles' Brian Westbrook, who had 203 all-purpose yards against the Seahawks last season.

A defense that had a difficult time handling Lee Evans (four catches for 102 yards) and Isaac Bruce (four for 153) in the losses to the Bills and 49ers now gets the Packers' Greg Jennings (19 receptions, 19.6-yard average), the Bucs' duo of Ike Hilliard and Antonio Bryant (29 combined receptions), Eagles rookie DeSean Jackson (17 for 15.1) and a rematch with Bruce -- if not the Giants' Plaxico Burress, who was suspended for one game Wednesday.

The short-handed Seahawks' offense seems to have found its legs, with Julius Jones rushing for 267 yards the past two weeks. But the Giants, Packers, Bucs, 49ers and Eagles all have aggressive defenses that blitz against the run as well as the pass.

Seattle's special teams have been susceptible to big returns, ranking last in the league in punt return average (18.5 yards) and 26th in kickoff returns (24.. The next five weeks feature a lineup of some of the top return men in the NFL -- the Giants' Domenik Hixon (13.8-yard average on punt returns) and Bradshaw Ahmad (23.8 on kickoffs), the Packers' Will Blackmon (13.4 on punts), Eagles rookie Quintin Demps (25.1 on kickoffs), the Bucs' Jackson (23.1 on kickoffs) and the 49ers' Allen Rossum (26.5 on kickoffs).

The return from injuries of leading receiver Bobby Engram, right tackle Sean Locklear, running back Maurice Morris and just re-signed split end Koren Robinson -- and possibly flanker Deion Branch -- are definite pluses for the Seahawks. So much so that Holmgren has been pointing to the eventual improved health of his offense after the bye week as a reason for optimism for several weeks.

"I feel like we're getting better, and we're getting healthier," Hasselbeck said. "That's two good things right there."

But will it be enough to carry the team through a difficult five-game stretch that starts with one Giant task?

NEXT UP

The Seahawks' next five opponents have a combined 11-4 record, and of their remaining 13 games, only two (at Miami and at St. Louis) are against teams that currently have a losing record. A look at the next five games:
WHEN OPPONENT W-L
Oct. 5 at New York Giants 3-0
Oct. 12 vs. Green Bay Packers 2-1
Oct. 19 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2-1
Oct. 26 at San Francisco 49ers 2-1
Nov. 2 vs. Philadelphia Eagles




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