Seattle Seahawks Jim Mora Showing the Right Attitude after Arizona Loss

Seattle head coach Jim Mora has been getting a lot of flack about his attitude since the team’s heartbreaking loss in Arizona to the Cardinals.  This criticism is totally unwarranted.

Mora is, in effect, being told that he shouldn't be so positive after a defeat which, the law of averages will tell you, means there is little hope of making the postseason this year.

While a playoff spot is more than likely out of reach in 2009, it is crazy for him to receive so much negative press for having a glass-half-full mentality.  Is this not what you want from a head coach?

I appreciate that sometimes you need to look at situations with a bit of objectivity, but if I had a choice between playing for a coach who is always down or someone who continues to try and inspire the troops, I would go with the latter every day of the week and twice on a Sunday.

Sports teams are roundly criticised when they have nothing left to play for in a season and effectively ‘mail it in.’ When this happens, the team is not only cheating themselves, but also the fans who pay hard-earned money to go and watch their favourite team in action. 

At least there is no chance of this happening when the Seattle fans’ go to Qwest Field on a Sunday to watch their beloved Seahawks in action.

Despite the circumstances surrounding Sunday’s defeat, it also appears that Mora’s positive vibe has rubbed off on the players.  When interviewed after the game, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck commented, “It was more fun to be out there today.  I felt we were in a zone.” 

He finished off by stating that the team were going to keep fighting, a welcome remark.

Cornerback Marcus Trufant echoed this sentiment, saying, “There’s no quit in this team.  We’ll go back to the drawing board and keep playing.”

T.J. Houshmandzadeh could never be accused of lacking confidence and this proved to be the case again after getting off the plane upon the teams return to Seattle.  Jim Mora said in his press conference on Monday that the first thing T.J. told him was that, "We’re not going to lose another game."

Again, while this could be perceived as false/over-confidence, it sure beats the attitude of "what’s going to go wrong next?"

Following on from coach Mora’s lead, more people could do worse than look at the positives’ with the team from the Emerald City.  Considering that Seattle started off the year enduring a similar injury epidemic to last season, they are still on course to finish with a better record than in 2008.

Of course, a lot of people will say that it isn’t hard to improve on a 4-12 season, but anything in excess of four wins has got to be seen as a positive step.

In fact, even the injuries suffered may well turn out to be good for Seattle in the long run.  Look at the two star players who have been lost for the year, future hall-of-fame left tackle Walter Jones and middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu.

Jones may or may not have played the last game of his stellar career, only time will tell.  Worst-case scenario though, heir-apparent Sean Locklear, just returned from injury himself now has the chance to get some invaluable experience at one of the key positions on a football team.

As for Tatupu, he will be back in 2010.  However, in his absence, David Hawthorne is getting some much-needed reps and has been a real success story this year, leading the team in interceptions and tackles as well as ranking second in sacks. 

This also opens the possibility of moving to a 3-4 defense next season, even if it is just for certain situations and/or teams.  At the very least, Hawthorne will offer some real quality depth at the line-backing position after Tatupu returns.

Another injury which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, is the bruised lung suffered by running back Julius Jones, who will be out for at least the next game against Minnesota.

In Jones’s absence against Arizona, Justin Forsett ran for 123 yards, a career-high, which incidentally was more than Jones has rushed for in any one game this season.

The second-year player also received support from rookie Louis Rankin, who added a further 24 yards on the ground.  By the end of the game, Seattle’s average rushing yards per-game had risen from 84.5 to 93.3.  

A lot of people, myself included, have wanted to see more of Forsett, feeling that Jones is no longer the player he was in his early years at the Dallas Cowboys.  We will all get to find out about Forsett now, one way or another. 

If another worst-case scenario transpires, Seattle then has the opportunity to spend the offseason finding a quality replacement for the running game.

Personally speaking, as far as I'm concerned, with seven games to go, Seattle is not, as yet, mathematically out of the playoffs.  The very least Seahawk fans can do is to carry on cheering the team, until the situation changes.