Steve Kelley / Times staff columnist
Hasselbeck falls short of high expectations

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KIRKLAND — This was the season everything was supposed to come together for Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle. He had suffered all the blitzes and blindside hits. He had made the requisite amount of youthful errors.

He had digested all the complicated reads and routes of the ever-evolving West Coast offense, had his first taste of the playoffs and made his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

This was his time. Hasselbeck, 29, was expected to quarterback the Seahawks to an NFC West title and lead them on their long journey toward Jacksonville, Fla., the site of Super Bowl XXXIX.

This season was on him.

But nine games in, we've only seen flashes of Hasselbeck circa 2003 — the three-touchdown game two weeks ago in San Francisco, the first three quarters of the first Rams game.

Hasselbeck is 13th in the NFL in total passing yards, tied for 12th in touchdown passes and 25th in quarterback rating at 73.9, behind the likes of Josh McCown, Billy Volek, Tim Rattay and the recently benched Kurt Warner. And the Seahawks are a disappointing 5-4.

"I'm disappointed in my statistics," said Hasselbeck, who didn't practice yesterday because of a deep, painful bruise in his right quadriceps. "My statistics are nowhere near what I would have expected them to be. But we're still in position to accomplish our goals. And I think I'm still in position to accomplish my goals. It's just been a little bit of a bumpy ride so far.

"But I know if I play well, then our team has a much better chance of having success. If I play poorly, then our chances go way down. Bottom line for me: If I play better — just me, no one else has to do anything — then our chances are better to win. I put it on me, more than anybody."

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren's success here has been symbiotically linked to Hasselbeck's since 2001, when Hasselbeck was traded from Green Bay. It even can be argued that Hasselbeck holds Holmgren's ticket to Canton in his talented right hand.

If Holmgren, who won a Super Bowl in Green Bay, can take two different teams and two very different quarterbacks to the Super Bowl, his place in the coaching pantheon will be assured.
 
But his team and his quarterback haven't lived up to summer's hype.

This season is thick with theories why Hasselbeck hasn't played better. All of them have merit:

• He has lost confidence in his receivers. Koren Robinson's season has been a disaster. Darrell Jackson is having the competitiveness knocked out of him by physical cornerbacks, who are beating on him at the line of scrimmage.

• He has had difficulty shaking off the overtime loss at home to St. Louis.

• He is in the final year of his contract and is facing the natural pressures every athlete feels in a contract year.

• He is pressing.

The state of Matt Hasselbeck consumed probably 80 percent of Holmgren's weekly news conference yesterday.

"I'm not discouraged by him," Holmgren said. "I think what inhibits him sometimes is that he overthinks things at times. At times it's like he almost feels that he has to win the game by himself. That's human nature. He came into this season with a lot of confidence, and sometimes your mind plays tricks a little bit.

"But he's still in the growing and developing process. It's something that he's eventually going to have to grow out of. I have no doubt that the consistency of his play will grow on a year-to-year basis. I have no doubt that he's the right guy for this football team. He will take this team where it needs to go."

But the city, amped with greater expectations, has grown impatient with Hasselbeck's inconsistent season. And there is a low murmur for backup Trent Dilfer from e-mailers and talk-show callers.

"I don't think Matt's struggled that way, yet," Holmgren said. "But as the quarterback, it's always your fault. That's the way it's got to be. Typically the quarterback is paid the most money. He's the leader of your football team.

"I don't want that man to say, 'Hey, it wasn't me. He ran the wrong route.' You can't do that. That's how you become the leader of a team. You take the hit."

In Sunday's loss at St. Louis Holmgren looked almost purple with rage after several fruitless possessions. Hasselbeck, as usual, was the prime target of his anger.

"There were times this preseason when it (Holmgren's temperament) wasn't good," Hasselbeck said. "It was bad. Real, real, real bad. Like the San Diego game in particular was bad. But this year he's been calm with me. Maybe he thinks when he yells at me I don't handle it well.

"At Green Bay (where Hasselbeck was the backup), I saw how he was tough on Brett (Favre). He was tough on (quarterback coach) Andy Reid, and I know that he loved both of those guys very, very much, so I thought, 'I won't take it personal. Those guys didn't take it personal.'

"But it's different when it's you. It is hard sometimes. I know, initially, I did take it personal. But I've kind of grown up. You have no choice. Honestly, I think I know what his expectations are. I know what he's thinking."

Holmgren's thinking what most of Seattle is thinking. The margin for error is gone. The time has come for Hasselbeck to ignore all the distractions and raise his game to the level of everyone's expectations.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com.