‘Playoff’ May Become A Dirty Word

You’ll recall August, when everytime a Seattle Seahawk spoke during training camp, the word “playoff” came tumbling out.

Seattle’s playoff game is coming all right. The Hawks likely will play off, in effect, against Oakland on Dec. 22 to see who finishes last and next-to-last in the AFC West.

Sunday’s 27-21 loss to the Raiders in the Kingdome leaves Seattle’s record at 5-7. Good enough, perhaps, to make the NHL or NBA playoffs, but not quite up to NFL standards.

The Hawks remain mathematically alive, but any shred of postseason hope depends on four straight additions to the win column and multiples of luck elsewhere. For its part, Seattle only needs to beat the two best teams in the AFC, Denver (11-1) and Buffalo (9-3), win a Raiders rematch in Oakland, Calif., and travel to Florida and whip Jacksonville.

Meanwhile, back here on planet Earth…

At least, the Seahawks have nobody to blame but themselves. Last week’s loss to Detroit? Seattle’s fault. Todd Peterson clanked a game-winning field goal attempt.

Sunday’s loss to Oakland? The guilty parties included Seattle’s offense, defense and its special teams.

“The main thing is we came up short,” center Kevin Mawae said. “One more time and we’re definitely out of the playoff picture. That’s definitely on everyone’s minds.”

This was supposed to be the season the Hawks made it to the playoffs for the first time since 1988, the season they unveiled a more polished Rick Mirer, the season Chris Warren ran wild and the receivers made run-clogging defenses pay.

Instead, the Hawks are struggling to stay afloat and stay together.

“What do we have - four games left?” defensive end Mike Sinclair said. “We can’t give up. If we do, all the weight(lifting) and running was a waste.”

“You go out and play hard,” safety Darryl Williams said. “If you don’t, you’ll get embarrassed out there.”

Wide receiver Joey Galloway was asked if everybody on the team was doing his share. He paused before answering, “Yeah. That’s a tough question, but yeah, I think they are.”

Seattle continues to try to invent ways to get Galloway the ball because of his big-play ability. He is the target of nearly every deep pass and more than his share of the underneath routes. He is used on punt returns and sometimes on reverses - with the hope that he has slipped under enemy radar.

“You wouldn’t believe how many times I come up to the line and they’re yelling, ‘Watch the reverse,’ ” said Galloway, who was stopped for no gain on his only rushing attempt.

Mirer, back in the lineup thanks to John Friesz’s broken leg, dropped to 1-5 as the starter. He is more or less auditioning for other clubs the next month. Friesz, who watched from the sidelines on crutches, signed a two-year contract extension last week and Mirer likely will be traded after the season.

“I thought Rick played well. He made some good throws,” Coach Dennis Erickson said. “We just didn’t finish it in the fourth quarter.”

“We did some decent things,” Mirer concluded. “Sometimes you just come up a little short. Everybody in here (in the locker room) thinks there’s something more they could have done.”

He’s right. And when Mirer and the rest of the Hawks look back on the season, they’ll likely remember Oakland and Detroit as the losses that spiked Seattle’s playoff ambitions. It’ll give the Hawks something to talk about as they watch the playoffs on TV.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo