Williams didn’t play, and Seahawks can’t run ball

Published on November 29, 2010 by Seahawks.Com News (Feed)

The Seattle Seahawks hoped Mike Williams could play Sunday. The 6-foot-5 receiver missed practice all week with a strained left foot, but coach Pete Carroll thought the rest could allow him to play against the Chiefs.

But Williams did not pass his test with trainers during his pregame workout and missed his first game of the season, taking his team-leading 52 catches for 654 yards and a touchdown to the sideline with him.

“He was good enough to run, but not good enough to play,” Carroll said. “He couldn’t help us out.”

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck held out hope that Williams would be ready after a conversation with him Saturday evening.

“I saw him Saturday night walking around the hotel, I really thought there was a real chance,” Hasselbeck said. “I kind of expected – I probably shouldn’t have let my mind go there – but I expect him a little bit. I saw him go out there for the warm-up. But, that’s a good lesson. You really have to focus on what you can control, and not get caught up in the other stuff.”

Seattle moved the ball OK through the air, finishing with 282 passing yards.

But the Seahawks missed the big-play receiver’s ability to dictate coverage for the rest of the players on the field, along with the running game.

With defenses focusing their attention on Williams, they have been forced to keep a defender or two fewer on the line of scrimmage to defend Seattle’s running game.

But that was not the case Sunday, as Kansas City held the Seahawks to a season-low 20 yards on the ground, the second-worst rushing total for Seattle at Qwest Field. Seattle rushed for a franchise-low 14 yards at Qwest Field last year against Arizona.

“We want to be a balanced offense, but we’re not there, though,” Carroll said. “We’re not able to do that yet. That’s what we’re always striving for. When you’re a championship club, you know how to run the ball as well as throw the football. That’s what we’ll always be working toward, but we have to try to win the games right now and do what we can with what we have.”

Deon Butler, playing in place of Williams, did not have a good day, finishing with two drops and just two catches for nine yards. Butler was targeted a team-high nine times.

“Mike has been a big factor for us,” Carroll said. “And he’s helped Matt out immensely and made a bunch of third down catches with guys hanging all over him that have been huge in the offensive production that last few weeks.

“We didn’t have that. That’s how it goes. You have to go with the guys that you have, and you have to make stuff happen, which we weren’t able to do.”

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Tags: 6 Foot 5, Chiefs, coach pete carroll, Control, first game, Franchise, Kansas City, Left Foot, Line Of Scrimmage, Little Bit, Qwest, Qwest Field Seattle, Running Game, Saturday Evening, Saturday Night, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Sideline, Touchdown, Workout

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