Holmgren looks to plug holes in script
FRANK HUGHES; The News Tribune
Published: October 16th, 2007 01:00 AM
KIRKLAND – Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren on Monday hinted that he is likely to make changes with the offense when the Seahawks play the St. Louis Rams on Sunday at Qwest Field.
Unhappy with a unit that has fallen behind in the first half in four of six games, including 21-0 against New Orleans on Sunday and 17-0 against Arizona in Week 2, Holmgren said he will sit down with offensive coordinator Gil Haskell and devise a plan he hopes will restore the team’s effectiveness.
One thing Holmgren might alter is his scripted 15 plays, ostensibly to give the offense, ranked 25th in the league with a 17.3 points per game average, more flexibility to deal with various situations.
Holmgren has seemed insistent upon establishing a run game. However, with the offensive line missing assignments and Shaun Alexander not running well, it has placed the Seahawks in a lot of third-and-long situations, which are more difficult to convert and place additional pressure on quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
“We haven’t started the game the way I would like to start the game, or the way we have started the game in years past,” Holmgren said Monday. “In the past, we have been used to going down and scoring a fair amount of time in our first 15 (plays). It’s not happening now. And so we’re going to look (at changing), that’s one of my projects this week.”
Hasselbeck said Holmgren scripts the first 15 plays in an effort to give the offense an idea of which plays to study in the nights leading up the game. He said Holmgren alters the play-calling depending on the down and distance, estimating that Holmgren uses on average eight of the 15 plays he has scripted.
However, Holmgren said he may try to further simplify the play-calling because he thinks the players are not executing assignments properly. He has already simplified the offense once this season – and is not happy with the lack of results.
“I am hard-pressed to figure it out,” Holmgren said.
The Seahawks should get some help this week with the anticipated return of split end D.J. Hackett, out since the first game with a high ankle sprain.
Hackett is expected to practice Wednesday, and if things go well he could be back in the starting lineup.
Holmgren expressed some displeasure with the receiving corps on Monday, admitting that some receivers were breaking off routes prematurely, leading to incompletions or interceptions.
“It’s something we are looking at right now,” Holmgren said. “And now we have some options. I might juggle the receivers around a little bit to shake things up a little this week.”
A strong possibility is Hackett resuming his starting role at split end and Bobby Engram, who led the Seahawks on Sunday with nine receptions for 120 yards, starting at flanker, with Nate Burleson, who had been starting for Hackett, being used as a third receiver.
Burleson had six receptions, including a touchdown, on Sunday, but he took the blame for Hasselbeck’s interception in the fourth quarter, when he stopped running down the left sideline, giving Josh Bullocks a free shot at the ball.
“I made the assumption that the ball was thrown somewhere else,” Burleson said.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks’ running game continues to flounder. Alexander gained 35 yards on 14 carries a week after gaining 25 yards in Pittsburgh. It adds up to his worst two-game stretch since November 2002, when he had a combined 60 yards in back-to-back games.
Holmgren is loathe to place the blame solely on Alexander, saying the blocking by the line and the fullback are as culpable as the 2005 league MVP, though Holmgren did admit that the cracked bone in Alexander’s left wrist is bothering him more than he is revealing.
Regardless, the inability to run has placed a strain on the rest of the offense, which has converted only 33 percent of its third downs, among the worst in the league.
“We’ve got to stop pressing and just relax,” center Chris Spencer said. “We are all out there trying to make the big block to spring the back. We need to trust each other. It is small things. Nothing major. Take care of the small things and everything else will fall into place.” blogs.thenewstribune.com/seahawks
for DJ.
You da man for Seattle info.I was thinking Engram would be keeping the flanker spot until Branch is back and he would play in 2WR sets with either Hackett or Burleson as the split end. Hass loves him and he sure didn't do anything to lose the spot. Are you saying you think Hackett gets the Branch spot and Engram is back to full-time slot guy?Thanks.
You da man for Seattle info.I was thinking Engram would be keeping the flanker spot until Branch is back and he would play in 2WR sets with either Hackett or Burleson as the split end. Hass loves him and he sure didn't do anything to lose the spot. Are you saying you think Hackett gets the Branch spot and Engram is back to full-time slot guy?Thanks.
