Seahawks Fall Flat in 24-7 Home Setback to Tampa Bay
Posted by admin | Posted in Sport Line | Posted on 22-12-2009-05-2008
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At the half, they went into the locker room nursing a four-point lead. At the end, they went back in limping after falling flat on their faces and losing the game in the second half to a 12-loss team.
Neither Seattle nor Tampa Bay played strongly in the first half, nearly trading blunder for blunder.
On the first pass play of the game for the Buccaneers (2-12), rookie quarterback Josh Freeman was picked off by Deon Grant.
Bucs kicker Connor Barth bounced a 38-yard field goal off the right upright.
Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck fumbled away a possession for the Seahawks (5-9) and on the team’s next offensive series, a botched snap on what would have been a 21-yard chip shot for kicker Olindo Mare killed a scoring opportunity.
Later in the first half, Hasselbeck tossed an interception.
Despite the miscues and headaches, Seattle took a 7-3 lead into halftime thanks to a 29-yard scoring strike from Hasselbeck to tight end John Carlson with 4:33 to go in the second quarter. The touchdown would end up being Seattle’s last highlight of the game.
In the second half, Seattle couldn’t get anything going on offense nor defense.
The Seahawks’ running game, which had over 100 yards in the first half, died off, as the team fell more and more behind on the scoreboard. No Seattle running back rushed for more than 65 yards in the game.
Matt Hasselbeck, already with one interception on the day, threw three more.
Defensively, the Seahawks gave up 21 second-half points and a total of 24 unanswered for the game. The Bucs’ two touchdowns, passes going to running backs Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward, in the third quarter were the first for team in 11 quarters.
Quarterback Josh Freeman, after his first-quarter interception, grew more confident as the game wore on, finishing with 16 of 26 passes completed, 205 yards through the air and scores.
A major reason Freeman got more comfortable in the pocket was because Seattle couldn’t put much pressure on him, failing to bring down the rookie for a sack.
Seattle looks to rebound from its two-game losing streak next weekend on the road as the Seahawks will head to Green Bay to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Kickoff is scheduled Sunday for 1:00pm Eastern.