Bottom Line Is To Keep The Chains Moving

The Tampa Bay game last year still eats at Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.

It was the one that robbed quarterback Jon Kitna of his confidence and sent Seattle into a tailspin that seemed to linger into the current season. Holmgren regretted his game plan, one that called for Kitna to throw and throw and throw, despite taking a beating from the Bucs.

A rattled Kitna tossed five interceptions. Holmgren later would chastise himself for being too bull-headed.

Perhaps Sunday, in Seattle’s methodical 20-10 victory over New Orleans at Husky Stadium, Holmgren subtly showed the lessons he learned from Tampa Bay. He didn’t ask Kitna to beat the Saints. He merely asked Kitna to contribute.

And Kitna did so with precision, completing 22 of 29 passes for 193 yards.

This wasn’t so much Holmgren’s famed West Coast offense. It was the North-South offense. Ricky Watters ran with determination up the middle and occasionally around end. Kitna threw two patterns: short and shorter. New Orleans’ defense isn’t on the same stage as Tampa Bay’s, but it is one of the NFL’s better units.

“Now, you’re playing to my reputation,” Holmgren grinned, when asked how difficult it is for him to call repeated running plays. “If we’re moving the chains, we’ll stay with what we’re doing. I’ll throw the ball 10 times in a row or I’ll run it six in a row. Whatever it takes.”

Notice the difference in those figures? Holmgren is married to the forward pass, but not to the point that he’ll duplicate the mistakes he made against Tampa Bay.

“I think I’ve matured in that area over the years,” Holmgren said. “Running the ball successfully is really hard, hard work. It takes a great runner. Sometimes it’s easier to pass the ball.”

Sunday’s strategy took enormous pressure off Seattle’s fragile quarterback. While Kitna may not have a golden arm, he has enough savvy to be effective. His throws will never make fans gawk in disbelief, but who cares as long as the first downs pile up?

“When you are running the ball successfully, it makes it easier,” he said. “When you are running the ball on first down and second down and now it’s third-and-7, that doesn’t make it very easy.

“Their front four are great pass rushers, so you don’t want to stand back there in a lot of 5- and 7-step drops. You try to dink and dunk them and move the chains. It does a lot of positive things. It moves the chains, which gets them tired. It also keeps our defense off the field.”

Kitna still fired a couple of passes that left fans cringing. One hit a Saints defensive back in the hands near the 5-yard line, but he dropped the ball. A deep throw intended for Darrell Jackson instead hit cornerback Alex Molden in stride.

But more memorable was Kitna flipping screen passes to Shaun Alexander or dump-offs to Itula Mili and Christian Fauria.

“I worked within the system,” Kitna said. “That’s what coach always says, `Let the system work for you.’ I don’t think there was one time where I really had a mental error. That’s a positive when you play against a defense that’s doing all kinds of stuff.”

Holmgren, of course, took note of the progress Kitna has made the last two weeks. While the coach didn’t have to fret about Kitna’s play, he did hold his breath when two All-Pros, Shawn Springs and Chad Brown, collided in pursuit of a deflected pass in the closing minutes.

“That’s 10 percent of the salary cap laying on the field,” Brown joked later. “That’s gotta be scary for management.”

Springs and Brown were shaken up, but continued to play. Kitna, meanwhile, continued to improve. Seattle had 60 total plays - 31 runs, 29 passes.

“It all works hand in hand,” Kitna said. “If the running game is going well, the passing game should go pretty well, too.”

And that’s just what Holmgren intended when he drew it up.