by: Michael Steffes
The only situation in the modern era of Seahawk Football that this is even remotely close to was in week 17 of 2006. Essentially, with nothing on the line but positive momentum, and the Hawks already missing Marcus Trufant, they proceeded to lose 146 defensive backs in about 5 minutes. Similar... Good players coming back, but not soon enough, no available talent to choose from.
The Hawks had a first year player in Kelly Jennings as their only healthy corner. A fairly in-experienced safety named Jordan Babineaux was on the team. They found Pete Hunter in a mortgage office in Texas. Then they shut down Terrill Owens and Terry Glenn. They almost had enough to beat the eventual NFC Super Bowl Representative Chicago. In fact that was more of an offensive failing, in my opinion.
WHY THESE ARE SIMILAR?
The Hawks only have to get through a couple of games. Bobby and Deion will be back, hopefully in week 5. We do not need a long term solution.
The Hawks had very little to choose from. Once the season begins, all the available players have warts. Better to find guys you believe in, I guess.
Injuries happen. Sometimes they happen in bunches. Whether it be at the beginning or end of a year, a team sometimes has to use band-aids to get by.
WHY THESE ARE DIFFERENT?
Well, at least Kelly Jennings had gained a year of experience, but technically Courtney Taylor has some.
Defensive backs and wide receivers are different. A DB can fight through nerves and knock a ball down, a receiver has to catch it and make a play. Also, the DB position is more reactionary. A WR needs to function in concert with the QB/offense.
The Hawks didn't have to cut two players that the fans fell in love with during the preseason. They were simply replacing injured guys who went on IR.
In reality the Hawks didn't cut Forsett or Kent to make room for the new wide receivers. They cut these players to make room for Babs and Rocky. One thing that I think is interesting, is that they cut a WR and RB. Two positions that suffered injuries on Sunday. What does this tell us? Well maybe, the Hawks planned to release these two players all along, hoping that week 2 is the right time for them to get through to the PS. My bet is that they do. If you read between the lines, Holmgren and co were telling us all preseason that Forsett and Kent wern't ready, despite what we were seeing.
Also, The team needed to fix the imbalance of offensive players to defensive players. We all expected Coutu, and I think that is still to come. This team is still one WR short. And according to Papahawk (hattip) Michael Bumpus is an experienced punt returner. ~END~
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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