Seattle Seahawks: Questions Remaining After 23-17 Loss to Redskins

Following the Seahawks 23-17 loss yesterday, I find that I can only ask questions of myself and a team that once again proved me wrong.  It's been a long season of ups and downs, and we still have five weeks of football left, folks. 

But for this morning, I find myself at a loss trying to understand some things.

Question No. 1:

Your team has a 10-point lead at home facing Rex Grossman and a Redskins team in the midst of a six-game skid with a little under a quarter of football left to play. 

What should your team do?   

Simple answer: stick to the formula.

Up 17-7, it really seemed simple: avoid giving up any big plays with solid defense and employ a steady dose of the Beast to eat the clock.

It didn't happen. What did happen was downright ridiculous given how it happened and how quickly it all unfolded. 

It was around the time of Roy Helu's 28-yard high hurdle dash just around the 10-minute mark when the bottom started to drop out.  A little over three minutes later, Anthony Armstrong's circus catch over Brandon Browner for all intents and purposes ended the season. 

From there, the Hawks couldn't get off the mat. 

Question No. 2:

So, did you wake up feeling stupid this morning like I did?  Foolish for having the notion that this team might pull off an improbable run for the playoffs?

The Seahawks are a tease. The friend you keep hoping will get their act together only to let you down.  It's sad because our expectations were so low coming into this season, and deep down, we knew better from the start that they'd get five or six wins tops. 

No more, no less for a team that is still another season, perhaps two, away from turning things around. 

After showing several positive signs the past few weeks, it was easy to ignore or forgive the dumb penalties, the dropped passes and the poor clock management, but when it came time to stick to the formula, they came up empty. 

As Steve Kelley at the Seattle Times put it this morning, "The Hawks are 11 games into the season. They've been reading from the same playbook for more than three months. Everyone should be on the same page."

Unfortunately, no. 

Like the Mariners, this team is rebuilding, and more often than not, is unable to get out of their own way. Fortunately, though, we won't have to endure 17 straight losses along the way...at least not in one season.