Holmgren’s Temper Costs Hawks End of Half Seconds

If there is one thing about Mike Holmgren that somtimes gets in the way of good decision making, it’s when he gets mad.  That very thing took place Sunday as the Seahawks were getting shutout for the first time in seven years in Pittsburgh by the Steelers.  What many will forget is that the Hawks were only down 7-0 late in the first half, and driving towards what could have been the game-tying touchdown, or at least a field goal.

Holmgren watched though as QB Matt Hasselbeck was sacked after a pass play got them closer to the Steelers end zone.  The sack took place with :40 ticks left in the half and the Hawks with three timeouts.  Instead of calling one of those three, Holmgren got so enraged he basically lost his mind and wits for a minute, costing the Hawks a precious many seconds.  “I could have saved 12 seconds, probably, somewhere in there,” Holmgren said. “He got sacked. Look, I would like to tell you, I got really mad, like I got seeing-red mad. And so I just kind of flamed out for a second there. I came back.”

We all know how the half then ended, with Hasselbeck trying to force a pass that Steelers corner Ike Taylor picked off, ending the last and most serious threat to score on the day.  Back to the coach, Holmgren at least admitted his error, but it was that error that took a bad situation and made it worse.  “Two things were in my mind even when I was ticked off,” Holmgren said. “They had three timeouts left. After a sack I’m kind of reluctant to call a timeout in that situation anyway … but I messed up right there. Even if I’d stayed calm and cool I might have just said, ‘OK, enough’s enough, let’s go in and regroup.’ But it wasn’t my finest moment.”

Maybe next time the coach will think a little straighter when it comes to burning a timeout.  After all, you can’t take them with you.