Holmgren: Super Bowl hangover can be a problem
After playing in the Super Bowl against Pittsburgh two years ago, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren did a little research on how Super Bowl teams fared the following year.
The result? Not good.
Most struggled mightily just to make the playoffs again.
"Most of the time it was injury," said Holmgren, whose team broke that mold last year, falling to the Bears 27-24 at Soldier Field in the NFC playoffs. "In our case last year, we were a very injured team. We lost Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck for a good portion of the middle of the season, and that had an effect on us.
"It wasn't attitude, it wasn't cockiness, it wasn't complacency, it was the injury thing."
That wasn't the case for some of the teams Holmgren studied, however.
"What a couple of teams appeared to have happen to them was they did start to think they arrived because they played in the Super Bowl," he said. "Even though they lost the game, they played in the Super Bowl and so they just thought, 'OK, this can be a yearly occurrence now.' "
Lesser of two: What's tougher on a football team, a short week or some long travel?
That was the question posed to quarterback Matt Hasselback, whose Seahawks played Monday night and host the Bears on Sunday.
"It's going to be tough for us early in the week because we lost a day of practice, and it's going to be tougher on them later in the week because they had to travel," he said. "No matter what happens, though, on Sunday everyone is going to be ready to strap it up and play a football game."
It would be hard to blame the Seahawks if they have little sympathy for teams that have to travel to the Pacific Northwest. By the time this season is over, Seattle will be second behind only San Francisco (34,352) in miles traveled at 33,586.
To put that in perspective, a trip around the world is approximately 25,000 miles.
Familiar face: Since getting cut by the Bears and hooking up with Seattle in 2001, receiver Bobby Engram has been a force for the Seahawks with 310 catches for over 3,800 yards -- with 213 grabs converted for first downs.
"He and I got here in the same year after the Bears cut him, which I think was a surprise to everybody," Matt Hasselbeck said. "I didn't know how to use him effectively -- that was one of the things I learned when I got benched. Trent Dilfer spent a lot of time in Tampa and knew all about Bobby and threw to him all the time."
It didn't take long for Hasselbeck to realize that Engram, who ranks fifth in Seattle history in receptions, is a go-to guy.
"When I got my chance to come back and play, I realized the importance of having Bobby out there," he said. "It's like having a quarterback out there playing receiver."
He said it: Mike Holmgren on injury reports: "Wayne Fontes, when he was coaching Detroit, (running back) Barry Sanders was always doubtful prior to playing us in Green Bay, and then he'd show up and run for 200 yards."
He said it II: Matt Hasselback on the aura surrounding seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones: "A lot of times after games (opponents) will ask for his autograph. It's just not normal. People really respect this guy."