Friesz More Than An Emergency Solution Seahawks Will Start Ex-Idaho Star Against Oakland On Sunday

Dr. John Friesz misdiagnosed his teammate.

While he helped cure many of the Seattle Seahawks’ ailments in Denver on Sunday, he made one mistake.

He said he was certain that Rick Mirer would be back to quarterback the Seahawks this week against the Oakland Raiders.

Friesz was on target as he deftly led the Hawks to a stunning, come-from-behind 31-27 upset of the Broncos, but he was off base on the Mirer prognosis.

Hawks coach Dennis Erickson reported Monday afternoon that Friesz would be the starter and that Mirer will miss practices because of his separated left shoulder and, at best, serve as a backup on Sunday.

Disregarding the injury to Mirer, Friesz, who completed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, might have won the job anyway.

“I don’t know if you can ask anybody who comes off the bench cold to operate like he did,” Erickson said.

Friesz completed 12 of 23 passes for 157 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Hawks scored the biggest comeback win (trailing 20-0 in the first half) in franchise history.

For years, back in his days at the University of Idaho, and through his six NFL seasons, Friesz has seen his name repeatedly used in headline homophones for “freeze.”

But his coolness is more than name-deep. Which he displayed under heavy pressure on Sunday.

“We only ran six plays in the third quarter and he finally got the feel in the fourth quarter,” Erickson said of Friesz. “He completed that (5-yard touchdown) pass to Joey Galloway in the first drive of the fourth quarter and we kind of let it loose from there and he obviously executed very well.

“When we went to the no-huddle with him, he had tremendous control of what was going on out there,” Erickson said. “He read the blitz, got rid of the football and did things that (only) being a veteran of this league can teach you.”

That calm demeanor was something Erickson saw in Friesz more than a decade ago when he appeared at an Idaho football camp.

“He’s always had a great presence about him,” Erickson said. “And he’s been taught very well in the NFL by the people who have worked with him. He understands coverages, but probably the biggest asset John Friesz has is he gets rid of the football and knows where to throw it.”

The Broncos’ secondary could tell the difference when Friesz replaced Mirer.

“When Friesz came in, he was able to step up in the pocket,” Bronco cornerback Lionel Washington said. “Whereas Rick Mirer couldn’t seem to find his receivers.”

Mirer’s recovery will be monitored, but it appears that he might be destined to serve as a less-than-full-speed backup in the final two games.

It’s not the way Dr. John Friesz diagnosed it.

But if Friesz continues to play as he did Sunday, the speed of Mirer’s recovery may become an insignificant issue.

Stayin’ alive

It’s mid-December and the Seahawks remain in the playoff picture.

They may be slightly out of focus and a bit obscured in the back row, but they’re definitely in the picture.

“Being here in the middle of December with the opportunity of playing for something is one of the goals we set for ourselves at the start of the season,” Erickson said.

“In order for us to have a chance, all I know is we have to win both games,” Erickson said. “All we can worry about is beating Oakland and that will tie us with them and then we go to the next week (at Kansas City).

“The bottom line is we’re in it and we’re playing for it and we’ve got a chance,” he said. “That’s a great feeling for a team, for a coaching staff and probably for a community - that your team has a chance to compete to get into the playoffs.”

Kansas City and Pittsburgh have division titles wrapped up, and 9-5 Buffalo stands atop the AFC East.

That leaves Indianapolis (8-6), and Oakland (8-6) with better records than Seattle. Miami also went to 8-6 by defeating Kansas City on Monday night.

Those three are in the best shape to grab the three AFC wild-card berths.

Denver and San Diego match Seattle’s 7-7 record. The first tie-breaker within the division - such as the Broncos, Chargers and Seahawks - is head-to-head play.

The Chargers swept Seattle, while the Seahawks swept Denver.

So, basically, the Hawks look to be standing about fifth in a race for three spots.

Indy looks like a lock, hosting San Diego and New England. Oakland travels to Seattle and then hosts Denver. Miami is on the road at Buffalo and St. Louis. San Diego is also on the road both games at Indy and the New York Giants.

Hawks notes

Friesz, Eugene Robinson, Robert Blackmon, Antonio Edwards and Mack Strong received game balls after the Denver win.

Strong is the only surprise in the bunch.

Erickson explained: “Due to (fullback) Tracy Johnson’s flu, Mack Strong had to play the whole game, and if there was anything positive on special teams, he was it. He made about every tackle and played well in every aspect of the game for us.”

Erickson was encouraged to hear that 59,000 tickets have been sold for the Oakland game Sunday evening.

“I’ve been in (the Kingdome) when it’s packed and it’s the greatest place in the world to play when you have all those people in there,” Erickson said.

“We’ve been trying to tread water around here and maybe that (Denver win) took us to where we can get to the next step - to get the Raiders in here to a full house.”

How tough was the loss on the Broncos in their final game at Mile High Stadium?

“Since I’ve been coaching, I’ve never had a loss as tough as this one,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.

Linebacker Dave Wyman: “Sorry, I’ve got nothing but profanities to say. You’d just have to bleep everything out.”

Defensive tackle Mike Lodish: “Right now, we’re mentally damaged.”

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