And You Thought the Seahawks Had Already Hit Rock Bottom

In a season of few ups and many downs, Sunday’s home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has to rank as the lowest of the low. And that’s saying something considering some of the blowout losses the Seahawks have suffered this year.

As humiliating as the defeats to the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, and Minnesota Vikings were, at least they were expected. However, no one could have envisioned this result against a Buccaneers team that had won only one game this season.

Combine this with the news that Mike Holmgren will not be returning, this turned out to be a bad weekend for a lot of Seattle fans.

At least everyone within the organisation is no longer under any illusion about the size of the task ahead of them. It is inexcusable to lose to Tampa Bay, especially at Qwest Field with one of the best home-field advantages in the entire NFL.

The one bit of good news is that Seattle has taken another step towards securing a high first round pick for the 2010 draft. You know its bad when this ranks as a silver lining in the Emerald City.

It doesn’t help when one of the city's other professional franchises, the Mariners, have their supporters thinking that Christmas has come early after the recent signings of Chone Figgins and Cliff Lee.

So where does the team go from here? First things first, they just need to get to the end of the current campaign. We assume that the Seahawks will keep fighting to the bitter end, but with a visit to Green Bay and a home game against the red-hot Titans, it is conceivable that they will finish 5-11.

This would, in turn, secure them a first round selection inside the top ten, together with the Denver Broncos pick, (which suddenly looks slightly better after their 20-19 loss to the Raiders). Talent-wise, the 2010 draft class is being touted as one of the richest in recent memory, so it will be up to the Seahawks to scout the players available and make the right choices.

Seattle cannot afford to screw this golden opportunity up. The 12th man will not accept it.

Turning to the Holmgren situation, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that he won't be returning. Seattle has previously stated that they were going to undertake a thorough internal review and consider ten prospective candidates for the GM position.

Holmgren was forcing the franchise to make a quick decision. If the former Super Bowl-winning head coach had accepted the job this early, the Seahawks might have missed out on someone who could ultimately be a better fit. Sometimes, it’s best to leave the past where it is and look forward.

Once the GM position has been filled, a decision will have to be made regarding the current coaching staff. Rightly or wrongly, Jim Mora will most probably be given a second year. To be fair, he did inherit a lot of the current roster. However, don’t expect to see Greg Knapp or Casey Bradley returning in 2010.

No doubt, it’s going to feel like a long road in returning to a position of prominence in the NFL. But Seattle has been here before and they will recover. Ill health or not, Paul Allen will not put up with a mediocre product on the football field.