Answering the challenge
SEATTLE – Last week, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, a maestro of motivation, challenged his young Seattle defense.
It was a more intrinsic challenge than what the defense faced the previous two weeks, when the New York Giants rolled up 490 yards and San Francisco rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Essentially, Holmgren told his young defenders Philadelphia dynamo Brian Westbook would embarrass them on national television if they didn’t play harder. The coach had thought his youngest players had “hit the wall a little bit.”
“I had one linebacker come up to me after that, and he said, ‘Coach, I didn’t appreciate your comments after practice.’ And I said, ‘That’s too bad. You never played against this young man before.’
“So he said, ‘I guess I have to show you.’ “
The Seahawks did.
The unit with two rookie linebackers among five starters having three years or less of NFL experience produced a 42-0 pounding of Westbrook and his flopping Eagles. It was the largest shutout rout in the 36-season history of “Monday Night Football.” It was also a startling sign that the key to Seattle’s playoff charge was rising at the right time.
So how does Holmgren challenge his 10-2 NFC West champions for today’s home game against lowly San Francisco (2-10), a team they have beaten five straight times?
By focusing on the pursuit of becoming a conference top seed and having full home-field advantage for the first time in the franchise’s 30-year history.
Seattle leads Chicago and Carolina by one game atop the NFC, with unbeaten Indianapolis the only winning team left on its schedule.
The Seahawks are attempting to win their team-record ninth straight game and go undefeated within their division for the first time. But those are mere stepping stones to loftier goals.
“The next goal we want to achieve, if possible, is to get home-field advantage and the first-round bye,” Holmgren said.
Playoff games in Seattle would be a big deal, and not just because there have only been four, none beyond the wild-card round.
The Seahawks are 20-3 at Qwest Field since December 2002. The raucous crowd inside the 67,000-seat, open-air stadium during the last home game contributed to an astounding 11 false-start penalties on the Giants.
“Home-field advantage with our crowd and our crowd noise, it’s going to be hard to stop us,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.
As if the 49ers needed any more difficulties. They have lost 10 of 11 games. They have nine players on injured reserve.
“It’s frustrating,” leading receiver Brandon Lloyd said. “And it’s tiring to say you’re frustrated for 12 weeks now.”
It might get worse.
If the Giants’ veteran offensive line had so much trouble with the Seattle crowd, what could happen to San Francisco’s mishmash while trying to protect rookie quarterback Alex Smith, who will be seeking his first win in his fourth NFL start.
Smith was out with a knee injury Nov. 20 when Ken Dorsey moved the 49ers from 27-12 down in the fourth quarter against the Seahawks to within 27-25. Dorsey’s 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete in the final minute.
“I believe those changes make us better,” first-year coach Mike Nolan said, referring to both the new line and Smith. “One is they are better players than what we had in there. But they are also a movement toward the future and what we want it to look like.”
Their immediate future doesn’t look bright. For now, the Seahawks’ defense is playing better than it has all season.
“We wanted to prove we were a good defense and we could play with anybody. And we did that,” Andre Dyson said after the Philadelphia vicory.
Even with the list of injured defensive players growing. So far, they’ve answered the challenge.