Seattle Intent On Keeping Ryan Quiet Friesz Gets Starting Call For Hawks In First Trip To Land Of Sand, Cards

If bombastic outbursts were bricks, Buddy Ryan would be the Great Wall of China.

If arrogance were water, he’d be the Pacific. With a Great Lake or two tossed in.

But, for the most part, Ryan has been (gasp) relatively quiet this season.

Yes, he’s retained his deep sensitivity, labeling his players “a bunch of dead guys.”

And yes, he derisively tabbed former Washington State defensive tackle Chad Eaton as “Mr. Velcro” because he was unable to peel himself away from opponents’ blocks.

Still, Ryan hasn’t even come close to punching a colleague this season.

Of course, the season isn’t half over.

The reason for the uncharacteristic restraint is simple: Ryan’s Arizona Cardinals team, at 2-5, hasn’t left him with much room to boast.

“Whenever you’re fighting with a short stick, it’s pretty hard to be very creative,” he said. “When you lose five of your (defensive) starters (to injury) it’s pretty hard to scare anybody.”

Except maybe the Seattle Seahawks, who have some problems with stick shortage, as well, coming in to today’s 1 p.m. matchup with an equally spooky 2-5 record and three straight losses.

“It’s pretty darn frustrating because you can’t win without players,” said Ryan, whose team has played much of the season without defensive starters Aeneas Williams, Eric Swann, Lorenzo Lynch, Eric Hill, Jamir Miller and Patrick Hunter, while also losing starting offensive tackles Ernest Dye and Joe Wolf.

But on defense, all but Hunter will be in action against the Seahawks as the Cardinals are coming off a highly necessary bye.

“Having a week off helped our injured players get well,” Ryan said. “We really needed it. The way I see it, the season starts now, regardless of what anybody else thinks.”

That holds true, too, for the Seahawks, who start a “new” season with a new quarterback - John Friesz, who takes over for struggling Rick Mirer.

Although Seattle head coach Dennis Erickson doesn’t say it’s a contributing factor in the change, the propensity for the Cardinals to blitz heavily had to weigh in the decision.

Friesz, a six-year veteran, should be better able to hit short routes under pressure.

On this same turf three seasons ago, however, Friesz suffered a season-ending knee injury when linebacker Ken Harvey late-hit him.

“It almost becomes a coaching nightmare when you play a game like this,” Erickson said of coping with Buddy’s blitzers. “They’re very unconventional with where they come with their blitzes. They can really make you look bad, so you have to be able to get the big play against them.”

Ryan, designer of the “46” defense that took Chicago to its Super Bowl XX win, said the Hawks should not necessarily expect an all-out blitz in all circumstances.

“We don’t really know how much we’re going to blitz or anything else going into the game,” Ryan said. “That’s dictated by how the other team tries to pick up the blitz.”

The Hawks offense, in some regards, must be simplified to allow for maximum pass protection, Erickson said.

“The plan has to be simple because (Ryan) loves to hit the quarterback. He loves to see the quarterback pummeled,” Erickson said. “John’s been around and he’s played against this kind of defense before, so it’s not something he hasn’t seen.”

If Ryan enjoys seeing quarterback carnage, he must have loved last week’s game film, in which the Chargers leveled Mirer seven times.

In his return from knee surgery, meanwhile, Swann applied six quarterback hurries when the Cardinals defeated Washington in their last game.

Ryan labeled Swann as the best defensive tackle in the NFL.

Offensively, the Cardinals may also have the best third-down back in the NFL in Larry Centers, whose 44 catches put him on course to top Roger Craig’s running-back reception record of 92.

Quarterback Dave Krieg, the former Seahawk, has exceeded 300 yards in passing in three of the last four Cardinals games.

And while Erickson has begun lineup shuffling to stem the losing skid, he is not unhappy with the team’s general attitude.

“Our effort in the past four or five games has been really good,” the rookie coach said. “I can’t fault anybody for that. We’ve made mental mistakes or gotten beat on techniques, but the effort has been there.”

But so has an abundant frustration.

“We all have it, myself and the players,” Erickson said. “Those guys want to win as bad as anybody in the world and when you’re not accomplishing that, it becomes very frustrating.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Hawks vs. Cardinals The game: 1 p.m. Sun Devil Stadium. Coaches: Seattle - Dennis Erickson, 2-5, first season. Arizona - Buddy Ryan, 53-48-1, seven seasons. The records: Seattle 2-5. Arizona 2-5. The series: Arizona leads 4-0. Last week: Seattle quarterback Rick Mirer committed four turnovers in a 35-25 loss to San Diego. Arizona had a week off to savor a 24-20 win over Washington. The line: Arizona by 4. On the air Television: NBC with Jim Lampley and Bob Golic. Radio: KXLY (920 AM) with Steve Thomas and Steve Raible.