Lambeau Field holds unhappy memories for Seahawks

Seattle jumped out to a double-digit lead last time it played at Lambeau Field, scoring the first two touchdowns of a divisional playoff game against Green Bay in January 2008.

A lot changed that night. The Seahawks gave up more than 40 points amid a blizzard, losing 42-20 to the Packers.

Seattle is still trying to recover.

The Seahawks are 9-21 since that playoff loss, and they're currently stuck in a second year of rediscovering how the other half lives in the NFL.

Seattle's 4-12 record last season wasn't the injury-induced aberration it was described as — it was an omen. Kind of like that playoff loss to Green Bay was, when the snow nullified the speed of Seattle's defense, its biggest strength, and the Seahawks were completely incapable of running the ball.

Sound familiar?

Shaun Alexander played what turned out to be his final game as a Seahawk that night, one of nine Seattle starters in Green Bay no longer with the franchise. Of the 45 players on the active roster for that game, 22 are gone. And more changes undoubtedly are on the way.

In hindsight, were there signs even then that the Seahawks would end up irrelevant for such a long stretch?

"Well, it was to some extent, and it wasn't to some extent," coach Jim Mora said. "I don't think that any of us could've foreseen the fact — well, we could've anticipated — that we'd lose the left side of our offensive line before we even started, and that our quarterback would get hurt early."

Left tackle Walter Jones has not played a down this season, placed on injured reserve after trying to come back from two knee operations in nine months. Left guard Mike Wahle never recovered from offseason shoulder surgery and was cut before training camp. And quarterback Matt Hasselbeck missed 2 ½ games after suffering two broken ribs.

But it takes more than injuries to explain Seattle's eight double-digit losses this season.

Mora has been asked repeatedly to diagnose where this franchise went off track. At the same time, he's trying everything short of electroshock therapy to get his team to show signs of progress in this final month of the season.

"For the next two weeks, we're going to work with the guys we've got," Mora said. "Then we're going to look at it hard, and see what adjustments we have to make, and what adjustments are available to us to try to continue to get better.

"Right now, we are what we are."

Mora said that phrase after last Sunday's 24-7 loss to Tampa Bay. He repeated it during his Wednesday news conference.

"We are what we are," he said.

What the Seahawks are is a long way from where they were two years ago, making their fifth consecutive postseason appearance and playing at Green Bay in the divisional round.

This time around, the 9-5 Packers are headed toward the playoffs, while the 5-9 Seahawks are entering a second consecutive offseason hoping for a rebound.

"We're going to get it right;" Mora said. "We won't rest until we do."

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com

Information in this article, originally published Dec. 26, 2009, was corrected Dec. 26, 2009. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the final score of a game in January 2008. The correct score was 42-20.