Seahawks Look To End Jinx Seattle Hopes To Pick Up That Winning Attitude

Terry Wooden has worn Seahawks’ blue and Chiefs’ red. The differences between the two teams run far deeper than uniform colors.

“It’s an attitude from the front office, coaches, the scouting department, groundskeepers, custodians; everybody has high expectations here,” said Wooden, who left Seattle for Kansas City last April.

“They expect nothing less than being in the Super Bowl.”

In many ways, Kansas City has what Seattle craves - the tradition, the dominance of AFC West brethren, the perception of a stable organization.

The attitude.

“When I was in Seattle there were some people who had that attitude, but there weren’t enough people around who had the same attitude,” Wooden said. “You had your coaches and a few players and maybe 1 or 2 people in the front office.

“But basically everyone’s attitude was just more happy to be there, just happy to be in the NFL instead of thinking about the big picture, which is the playoffs and the Super Bowl.”

Wooden, a Seahawk from 1990-96, watched Seattle teams lose to Kansas City with mind-numbing regularity.

“We always played Kansas City tough for the first half, run out of juice and they’d pull away from us,” he said.

The Seahawks and Chiefs meet today at Arrowhead Stadium and the teams’ resumes barely need updating. Seattle is a mediocre 2-2, having beaten the AFC East’s worst team, Indianapolis, and the AFC West’s worst, San Diego. The Seahawks need a win over a quality foe to move up the NFL food chain.

Kansas City, despite heavy player turnover from a year ago, is 3-1 and pursuing Denver for the AFC West title.

Wooden, who starts at linebacker, is impressed by his new surroundings.

“This is an impressive team from the coaches down to the players,” he said. “Playing in Arrowhead is a distraction for an opposing team or a big adrenaline rush if you’re the home team.”

Arrowhead’s been a big pain for Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson, who is 0-4 against the Chiefs.

“It’s a hard place to play,” he said. “The fans are very noisy. They play well there and there’s probably a confidence factor because we haven’t won there” since 1990.

The Chiefs reloaded their skill positions by adding quarterback Elvis Grbac and wide receivers Brett Perriman and Andre Rison. Greg Hill gets the majority of handoffs while Marcus Allen watches.

Grbac’s statistics are nearly identical to Seattle’s Warren Moon, except Grbac has a better touchdown-to-interception ratio (6-2 versus 4-5).

“His teammates elected him captain in his first year here,” Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer said of Grbac. “He is competitive and intellectual. He kind of reminds me of Bernie (Kosar), but he’s a better athlete than Bernie.”

Kansas City’s defense relies on the sticky coverage of cornerbacks James Hasty, a former Washington State Cougar, and Dale Carter.

While Seattle recently simplified its scheme to basically four rushers and seven dropping into coverage, the Chiefs crash the backfield. The Chiefs’ playbook includes 55 different blitzes.

“I’m sure they’ll come after (Moon),” Erickson said. “For us to be successful, we’ve got to be a little more balanced (run-pass). If we’re in second-and-long, they can start using their substitution groups and they can create problems for you.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo