Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/401799_hawk28.html?source=rss

How does this relate to the Seahawks? Jagodinski is a long shot to win the job with the Jets, but reportedly wants back in the NFL and has ties to both Matt Hasselbeck and Jim Mora. Jagodinski coached Hasselbeck during his first stint at Boston College, serving as the offensive coordinator. And he also worked as a tight ends coach and offensive line coach for Mora when he coached at Atlanta. (Source)

Update: SI is reporting the Jagodzinski is indeed gone.

The Seahawks haven’t only been forced to scrape the bottom of their depth chart to field an offensive line, the ongoing maneuvering in all things makeshift has taken them to the bottom of their roster, as well.

Williams. Womack. Vallos. Wrotto. Willis.

It is this quintet that will line up against the New York Jets on Sunday at Qwest Field, in what will be Mike Holmgren’s final home game as coach — and in what is expected to be winter-blast weather conditions.

All are backups. Each is playing because injuries have shelved the entire starting line.

And over the course of the whole season…

In case you’ve lost track, the Seahawks have used four players at right guard, two each at right tackle, center and left guard and Williams will become the third starter at left tackle. (Source)

Some are making the injury issues (all the wide recievers and Matt Hasslebeck) the reason for their decline this season and it has to be a factor.  But lost in this is that their defense has underachieved too.

Rumors/reports/hopes concerning Seahawks assistant Jim Mora persist, complete now with a maybe-Wednesday time element. What I’ve heard is not that the Huskies are trying to steal Mora from the Seahawks, but that university officials are trying to work out a no-hard-feelings agreement with Paul Allen.  (Source)

Either the Washington Huskies are indeed Jim Mora’s dream job or some Husky honks just can’t let the dream die.  My guess is the latter.

From the Seattle times…

For the second time in two weeks, Hasselbeck and the Seahawks had the ball with a chance to win with a touchdown. For the second time in two weeks, Hasselbeck’s final pass of the game was picked off.

A week ago it was Arizona. This week, Washington’s Shawn Springs intercepted a ball Hasselbeck never should have thrown, punctuating a game in which he finished with his fewest passing yards in what projects to be his worst season since coming to Seattle.

“I will definitely look back on this one for a long time,” Hasselbeck said, “and regret it and realize how foolish it was.”

Hasselbeck is hurting. That’s clear just watching the man play. Seattle didn’t have a reception longer than 21 yards Sunday and he completed as many passes to running backs as he did to wide receivers.

But he hasn’t been healthy this whole season. He played all of one half of one exhibition game in August, was diagnosed with a bulging disk before he played a game and missed more than a month because of a nerve condition in his back. (Source)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

So let me get this strait…the Rams are in trouble for their promise to promote Jim Haslett from interim head coach if we wins 6 games.  This is because they did not follow the “Rooney Rule,” a rule requiring NFL teams to interview minority head coach candidates.

But the Seahawks are completely okay in promoting Jim Mora from an assistant coach to head coach after the season is over.  This is because, “if a team has a contractual commitment to promote an assistant coach to the head-coaching position — as the Rams did in 2000 with Mike Martz — then there is no need for additional interviews.”  (Source)

Isn’t this more or less the same thing?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I say not much.  From the Seattle Times…

So much for Mike Holmgren’s quiet motorcycle ride into that self-described “sabbatical” next year.

The exiting coach of the skidding Seattle Seahawks had a chance on Wednesday to slam the door on rumors he is a prime candidate to take over his hometown San Francisco 49ers in 2009.

Instead, he left it partially open.

“When I was at Lincoln High School, and for years, that was my dream job. And it never quite came to fruition,” Holmgren said to members of the San Francisco media in a conference call. “But times change and right now, I think it’s been stated … for the 27th time: the plan for me and Kath (wife Kathy) is to take a year off after this time in Seattle. We’ve been here 10 years, and we love it here, and that’s the plan.

“While I’m flattered – we have a lot of friends in the Bay Area – that’s the plan right now.”  (Source, Italics Added)

Art Thiel of the Seattle P-I says the job is too good for Holmgren to pass on.

The bet here is that Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren is highly unlikely to switch sides before the game Sunday in hometown San Francisco against his old team.

With just about the same assurance, here’s the second wager: He’ll be working for the 49ers next year.

For Holmgren, it’s irresistible. Too good to pass up. Chance of a lifetime. When Mikey Comes Marching Home Again, Tra-La, Tra-La.

Next to the Fetish Festival/Herbal Aurapalooza, Holmgren’s return to rescue the 49ers will be the biggest thing to hit San Francisco in years. He’ll get a higher vote total than the 105 percent scheduled to go to Barack Obama.

And regarding the aforementioned “right now” phrase…

Holmgren goosed along the speculation, presumably inadvertently, by saying nothing had changed. For right now.

In fact, by unofficial count in interviews with reporters here Wednesday and in San Francisco by phone, he used the phrase “right now” 12 times.

As in: “I’ll tell you what I said last week: Right now, the plan is to stay with the plan I told you.”

As in: “I’m not going to burden (Kathy, his wife) with that right now.”

In answer to a question as to whether he could envision a day when he came to the 49ers in some capacity, he said, “Well, you know what, if it’s OK with you guys, I’m going to refrain from commenting on that. I think it would be unfair to a lot of people. … It’s too much of a hypothetical. Things in this crazy business change on a day-to-day basis.”

Things do indeed change day to day. That’s why saying “right now” as a qualifier means he could change his mind today or tomorrow or after the season ends. (Source)

League-wide, home teams have won 57.5 percent of their games since 2003. The Seahawks’ magic number sits at 80.9 percent with a powerful 34-8 record. So the Hawks are way above the trend at home.

On the road, however, the Seahawks are the epitome of average with an 18-24 record in that span, or a 42.9 winning percentage. The league mark is 42.5.

Contrast that with other NFL home powerhouses. New England, one game better at home than Seattle with a 35-7 mark, balances that with a 34-8 record on the road. In other words, the Pats are just plain good wherever they play.

Same with Indianapolis (33-9 home, 32-10 away). Denver combines a 32-11 home mark with a solid 21-21 road effort. Pittsburgh is 31-11 at home, 23-20 away.

more…

“Crowd noise definitely helps the home team, wherever it might be,” Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “But ours is definitely the biggest edge anybody has. We have to have by far the loudest crowd out there.”

Such truth is borne out not just in the symbolic 12th Man flag flying above the south end zone, but the officials’ flags fluttering to the artificial turf at the feet of befuddled opposing linemen. Since 2005, visiting offenses have averaged 2.81 false-start penalties per game in Seattle. The next closest stadium is Minnesota’s Metrodome at 2.42, with Giants Stadium third at 1.93.

That’s numerical proof of something players feel in their hearts — and helmets — every Sunday afternoon.

“The false-start penalties speak for themselves,” defensive end Patrick Kerney said. “That absolutely has to do with the enthusiasm of the fans and the structure, the way it contains the noise at Qwest Field. It all sort of comes together to create a perfect storm.”

Every false-start leads to a 5-yard penalty and further fuels the fans, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Offensive tackles have trouble hearing their quarterback on every play, giving defensive ends an advantage off the corner when the offensive line loses that critical fraction of a second.

If you think the Seahawks defense looks like a different beast at home, it’s no illusion. Seattle has 38 sacks in its past 10 home games, 18 in its past 10 road efforts.  (Source and the rest of the story)

From the Tacoma News Tribune insider…

I wasn’t at the game on Sunday. However, from reading the quotes and watching some of the guys on the sidelines during the game, besides Julius Jones, Hasselbeck and Leroy Hill, it didn’t seem the players looked angry at the end of the game. And I didn’t get a sense of urgency from some of the players after reading the quote sheets afterwards.

You’d hate to think a sense of resignation has set in with the players, with Seattle now 1-3, including two lopsided losses on the road. So it will be interesting to see how a veteran coach like Mike Holmgren attempts to get things back on track in a season where most observers expected Seattle to be a team capable of going deep in the playoffs. Changes should be in order, particularly in the defensive secondary where Seattle repeatedly has been abused in the first four games. (Italics Added)

Hmmm, not exactly making the Mike Holmgren finale look good.