Seahawks must overcome culture of losing

RENTON – As if the game-to-game struggles of the Seahawks haven’t been enough to worry about, another concern seems to be creeping into the minds of the team’s leaders and coach.

At some point, does a team get used to losing? And if so how do the Seahawks avoid that pitfall?

It’s one thing to have a bad run of games or even one bad season, but the Seahawks are now 7-19 going back to the start of last season. This season six of the seven losses have been by double-digit deficits, and four of those have come by 17 or more points. For the first and second-year players on the rosters – nearly a third of the current roster – a losing record is all they know.

Perhaps that’s why quarterback Matt Hasselbeck expressed concern following his team’s latest loss, a 35-9 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings.

“We just can’t get used to this,” he said. “We can’t get used to losing.”

Sure the Seahawks playoff hopes may be dead, but that doesn’t mean the team has nothing left to play for. The value of a better draft pick doesn’t outweigh the positives of a strong finish, which is why Jim Mora sees these next six games as crucial, even if a losing record appears inevitable at this point.

Like his quarterback, Mora worries about the Seahawks accepting defeat.

“We’ve struggled a little bit here for the last couple seasons, and that’s a legitimate question,” he said. “I have to rely on the leadership of this team, guys like Matt, guys like Lawyer Milloy – I can name more, but I’ll just focus on those two offensively and defensively – to make sure that our young guys understand that it’s not acceptable to lose. It’s expected (that they) play hard, but that’s not good enough. What’s demanded in this league is that you win.”