It's not often that Seattle Seahawk fans get treated to a game-long Ryan Plackemeier highlight film, but that was the case against Carolina Sunday, Dec. 16. The most memorable aspect of the Hawk 13-10 loss was the Seattle punter thumping on fourth down to end his club's first eight possessions. Old-timers would later say they couldn't recall such futility since they last toted up Liz Taylor's attempts at successful marriages. The punter moved the ball about a quarter mile. The rest of the Hawks (9-5) were good for 280 yards, many of those gathered during a meaningless TD drive as time expired. Going into the fourth quarter's scoreless tie, Seattle had advanced the ball just 34 yards on the ground. At one point, Shaun Alexander had minus three yards after six carries. Then he rumbled for a decent gain, only to squirt it to a Panther, who promptly gave it back. It was the perfect way to display the apparent fact that neither side wanted this game. You could understand the Panthers' rationale, reduced to using their fourth quarterback, a skinny, untested rookie. At 5-8, they were playing out the regular season. The Hawks, of course, clinched the postseason last week so you had to figure the guys on offense would grant themselves permission to take the week off. They either didn't know and/or care that the Green Bay Packers were simultaneously in an unexpected scrap with St. Louis. The possibility existed that Seattle still could advance to the number-two spot in the playoff standings and earn a bye the first round. Or the offense could have simply played because of pride. Same was the case Oct. 14, when the Hawks were down 28-10 at halftime, losing to a Saints team that came to Seattle 0-4. But this offense, still having beaten just one winning team this season, doesn't seem to have much pride. Nor does coach Mike Holmgren have much of a grasp on reality, griping on the sideline about his team's poor performance when – calling for Alexander when it's clear the man can't run the way he used to – he has only himself to blame. Yes, the Hawks had just finished a 5-0 run, but it was against teams with combined records of 23-43 (as of Dec. 14). It doesn't bode well for the playoffs, because it seems likely now that any team Seattle would host the weekend of Jan. 5 and 6 would have a winning record. Here's hoping Ryan Plackemeier's well-rested by then.
A quarter mile's worth of punts
It's not often that Seattle Seahawk fans get treated to a game-long Ryan Plackemeier highlight film, but that was the case against Carolina Sunday, Dec. 16. The most memorable aspect of the Hawk 13-10 loss was the Seattle punter thumping on fourth down to end his club's first eight possessions. Old-timers would later say they couldn't recall such futility since they last toted up Liz Taylor's attempts at successful marriages.
The punter moved the ball about a quarter mile. The rest of the Hawks (9-5) were good for 280 yards, many of those gathered during a meaningless TD drive as time expired.
It's not often that Seattle Seahawk fans get treated to a game-long Ryan Plackemeier highlight film, but that was the case against Carolina Sunday, Dec. 16. The most memorable aspect of the Hawk 13-10 loss was the Seattle punter thumping on fourth down to end his club's first eight possessions. Old-timers would later say they couldn't recall such futility since they last toted up Liz Taylor's attempts at successful marriages.
The punter moved the ball about a quarter mile. The rest of the Hawks (9-5) were good for 280 yards, many of those gathered during a meaningless TD drive as time expired.
