Seahawks looking irrelevant

SEATTLE — For a moment, in the second quarter, hope floated. Momentum was shifting. Qwest Field was buzzing. There was life left in the Seahawks’ season.

They converted a daring fourth-and-one. Then, backup-to-the-backup quarterback Charlie Frye coolly dropped a pass into John Carlson’s lap for a touchdown.

The Seahawks were beating the Green Bay Packers 10-3. The stadium was alive, and it felt like 2007 all over again.

For that brief moment, at least, it was as if there still was some magic left in this stadium, in this season. The fans inside Qwest still could rally this team.

On the first play after their kickoff, Hawks defensive end Patrick Kearney threw a shoulder into Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Rodgers’ pass, intended for Donald Driver, wobbled harmlessly incomplete.

Qwest was loud and greedy, wanting more, more, more.

After the previous week’s 44-6 loss in New York, Seattle’s fans still were clinging to hope. Maybe the Hawks, even with their third-string quarterback, could squeeze this win over the discombobulated Packers.

Maybe, if Frye didn’t make any mistakes and if Julius Jones could gain just enough running yards, Seattle could win ugly and keep hope alive.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers clutches the football as he looks for a touchdown call on a quarterback keeper against the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008, in Seattle. Rodgers was first called short of the line, then given the touchdown on review. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Then, maybe next week, starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s knee would be sufficiently healed and he could return against Tampa Bay and begin to find some rhythm with his new pack of receivers.

With eight minutes to go in the second quarter, that’s how this season felt.

The Packers were bothered by the din inside the stadium. Offensive linemen, unable to hear the count, were flinching before the snap like mosquito-pestered campers.

It looked so familiar. This was autumn in Seattle.

But, as the afternoon wore on, the defense couldn’t get off the field. And the pieced-together offense couldn’t convert third downs. And this Sunday began to feel like last Sunday. And this season began to feel uncomfortably like some of those Seahawks seasons from long ago.

The Packers, losers of three in a row, became the team that found its magic. Green Bay stitched together one touchdown drive that lasted seven minutes and nine seconds, and another one that went on and on for almost eight minutes.

Early in the fourth quarter, Green Bay took a 24-10 lead and all the magic and all the hope seeped out of the stadium and out of the season.

“We’re trying to find our way, and it’s hard,” coach Mike Holmgren said after the Hawks had lost for the fourth time in five games, 27-17.

Now there is very little suspense left in this season.

As Yogi would say, “It’s getting late earlier.”

The Hawks no longer can rely on the 65,000 at Qwest Field to lift them when they’re down. They are 1-2 at home.

They no longer can find solace in the fact that their division is the weakest in football. Now the Hawks are one of those weak teams.

“It’s tough right now,” Holmgren said.

For a moment hope floated.

And then it evaporated.

The Hawks committed punishing penalties, like the facemask call on Jordan Babineaux and the holding call on Mike Wahle that wiped out Julius Jones’ 51-yard run.

Frye threw a pair of picks. And the secondary kept surrendering third-down completions along the sidelines.

“It’s rough,” defensive tackle Rocky Bernard said. “I really don’t know what it is. We prepared harder all week. It’s just, in the game, we just don’t get it done.”

Practically a third of the way through the season, the excuses don’t matter any more. The injury toll is just another statistic in a losing season.

The numbers don’t lie. The Hawks’ once-lethal West Coast offense finished with a mere 64 net passing yards. Frye was sacked three times. And the Packers controlled the ball for 37 1/2 minutes.

“We don’t have the ability right now, like we have had in the past, to overcome those things (turnovers, penalties) and score a lot of points,” Holmgren said. “So the game has to fall a certain way right now.”

And circumstances could get worse.

After the game, Holmgren said more tests were needed on Hasselbeck’s injured knee. What if ligament damage is discovered? What if he is out for a month? Out for the season?

This is how it used to be in Seattle, back before Qwest Field, back when the Hawks were one of the league’s most irrelevant teams.

Now, it appears, they are becoming one of the Irrelevants again.

“I don’t think about the future,” safety Deion Branch said. “I live for the moment. When the future gets here, we’ll see.”

But, this season, the moment doesn’t feel comfortable. And, for the first time since 2001, the future looks bleak.