NFL 2004: Super Bowl for Seattle? Holmgren says let's wait and see

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) — The last time much of America saw — and heard — the Seattle Seahawks, Matt Hasselbeck was barking into the frigid Green Bay air about getting the ball and scoring.

That didn't work out for the Seahawks, but they're eager to try again.

Seattle goes into the 2004 NFL season riding a wave of confidence that coach Mike Holmgren's rebuilding project finally has taken root. The Seahawks even have become a fashionable pick to reach the Super Bowl.

”Everyone else is just now thinking the way we've already been thinking,” running back Shaun Alexander said. ”We've been saying for two years that we've got potential to be the best. Now, everyone else is seeing it, too.”

There are many reasons.

Hasselbeck, one of the league's emerging quarterbacks, threw for a franchise-record 3,841 yards and 26 touchdowns last season. Alexander had a career-high 1,435 yards rushing and 16 TDs.

They were two of Seattle's four offensive players chosen for the Pro Bowl, along with tackle Walter Jones and guard Steve Hutchinson, arguably the best left side of the line anywhere in the NFL.

Alex Bannister, on special teams, was the team's fifth Pro Bowler.

The defense should be better in the second season under coordinator Ray Rhodes, who boosted Seattle from 28th overall in 2002 to 19th last year. The Seahawks improved from last against the run to 14th in 2003.

Seattle won 10 games for the first time in 17 years, then lost an overtime wild-card thriller. Green Bay's Al Harris intercepted a Hasselbeck-to-Bannister hitch pass and returned it 52 yards for the win.

Minutes earlier, Seattle had won the overtime coin flip and Hasselbeck appeared to be boasting on national television when he said: ”We want the ball and we're going to score!”

Hasselbeck said he was simply jawing good-naturedly with pals Ryan Longwell and Ahman Green when the referee's microphone came on. He also said he wanted to show his Seattle teammates he believed they could win.

”You think back to a lot of different plays and games during the season,” Hasselbeck said. ”That's obviously one of them.”

It was a heartbreaking finish for the Seahawks, yet Hasselbeck's confidence spoke volumes about how the club views itself. And that's really where this season begins.

”Unless something beyond normal happens, there's no reason we shouldn't be better and back in the playoffs,” linebacker Anthony Simmons said. ”There's no reason we shouldn't do better than last year.”

Seattle lured free agent defensive end Grant Wistrom from NFC West rival St. Louis, then added a veteran cornerback in free agent Bobby Taylor from Philadelphia.

Some prognosticators say Seattle should be favored to win its division, then the Seahawks would win a few games in the playoffs and line up at the Super Bowl next February in Jacksonville.

It's a rosy scenario, but Holmgren knows such forecasts are worthless.

”We took some steps last year, but this is a new season,” he said. ”We have a tough schedule. You have to do it all over again every year. I like the fact that expectations are high, and I've said that before, but you still have to do it. You've got to win games.”

Every player returns from the NFL's sixth-ranked offense, when the Seahawks averaged 351.7 yards per game.

Hasselbeck can throw to established receivers in Koren Robinson, Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson, who had a career-high 1,137 yards receiving and ranked second in the NFL with a 16.7-yard average per catch. But that trio must eliminate a penchant for drops.

The front office addressed questions on defense, not only by signing Wistrom and Taylor, but by drafting tackle Marcus Tubbs and safety Michael Boulware to go with young secondary standouts Marcus Trufant and Ken Hamlin.

Orlando Huff emerged as the starter at middle linebacker, and Isaiah Kacyvenski will handle strong side linebacker until veteran Chad Brown returns in October from a broken leg.

The Seahawks face a tough opening schedule than last season, with long trips to New Orleans and Tampa Bay before returning to play San Francisco in Seattle — where they went 8-0 last year.

On the flip side, the Seahawks were 2-6 on the road.

”Just play better,” Hasselbeck said when asked how to improve that mark. ”There's nothing magical about playing on the road. … Obviously, people are scratching their heads about what we did.”

The Seahawks have defined mediocrity for a generation of NFL fans, winning between six and nine games every year but one from 1987-2002. They haven't won a playoff game since 1984, but that seems ready to change.

”I like this team,” Holmgren said. ”More than anything, there's a tremendous feeling and attitude in the locker room. Without sounding corny, that helps you. That wins for you.”