A Grip on Sports: Seahawks fans stuck in a football purgatory as the Hawks crash again against a top-end team

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s an American cliché for each week this time of year to be defined by how your favorite NFL team did on Sunday. It’s how the Cowboys became America’s team back in the day. We are a frontrunning bunch.

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• With that in mind, one would think Seahawk fans would be pouting as they headed off to work today. But I’m not sure that is the case. Hungover, maybe after a bunch of “what-the-heck-are-they-doing” adult-beverage imbibing. After all, what happened on the Lumen Field turf was hard to swallow, with or without tonic water.

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a tonic available for what ails this team. The 2024 edition of the Hawks just isn’t all that good. Good enough to exist in the dank netherworld of NFL mediocrity, just not good enough to ascend to the heavens and play with the big boys.

Every time they try, they are knocked back down like Lucifer. Mainly, because in the NFL, like life, the devil is in the details. And Mike Macdonald’s first Seattle team is incapable of executing the details consistently on either side of the ball.

The Bills, Sunday’s opponent, may have their flaws, but they can. And did, executing the Hawks 31-10 before a congregation of 68,704, including quite a few folks who were praying Buffalo would win.

If you watched, you saw what Macdonald is up against as he begins the head-coaching part of his football career. It’s eerily familiar to what Pete Carroll faced in the last segment of his long one. No need to repeat the liturgy.

Just remember this as you rest your head tonight. It won’t be an easy climb to the heights. The Hawks are good enough, have just enough talent, to overcome the bad teams. Not near enough to top the good ones. They have the look of an 8-9 or 9-8 finisher. Playoffs? If they can find an upset somewhere, maybe. One game. And done.

Either way, though, they will be drafting in the middle of the pack. Again. They got lucky this year, as a needed defensive lineman, Byron Murphy III, fell to them. But luck is no strategy to build a roster. Neither is drafting in the middle of the first-round. The Jayden Daniels of the world are gone by then.

All that is left are players who can help a good roster but rarely lift a bad one.

The entire Seahawk flock realizes by this point their team is the latter.

• Washington State once again is a ranked college football school. The Associated Press poll, released Sunday, had the Cougars at No. 22. Perfect.

The ranking has been earned. This team, while flawed, has found a way to end up with at least one or two more points than its opponents each Saturday. Seven of eight times. Few college football teams can boast that.

Some, like Oregon and Georgia and, well that’s about the sum total of schools who have dominating rosters right now. Possibly Penn State. Texas. Maybe – I can’t believe I am writing this – Indiana. But even the near-best of the best have roster flaws. Heck, Ohio State, with an NIL budget somewhere near Elon Musk territory, is searching for answers on its beat-up offensive line.

The Cougars are winning with a roster of players who are in Pullman because, at this moment in time, they want to be. And that’s important. Their heads, as the coaches say, are where their feet are.

They are playing for each other. This year, that’s enough. It shows in the latter part of tight games. The figure out a way – even when they do what college kids have done since the 11th Century, make mistakes.

John Mateer made one Saturday night. Went down a little soon and almost didn’t pick up a needed first down, though replay got it right. Jake Dickert could be seen on the broadcast ripping his quarterback. Even without sound it was loud.

Mateer stood and listened. And knew it wouldn’t be for the last time.

Heck, when emergency-turned-all-time punter Dean Janikowski turned himself into a social media meme, squaring up with the Fresno State player whose attempt to block Janikowski’s final punt turned into a roughing penalty, he also felt Dickert’s wrath.

Look, if you asked Dickert point blank, and he answered truthfully, he might list Mateer and Janikowski as his two favorite players. But that’s not going to stop him from helping them learn. On a loud football field in the heat of a tight game at the wire, that sometimes has to be done forcefully. Quickly. And then it’s over.

It may rankle at the time, but it’s part of the reason why this team is 7-1. And, finally, ranked.

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WSU: Of course Greg Woods has a story on the Cougars’ ranking. … He also has his usual look back at Saturday’s game. The interior of the Washington State defensive line overpowered San Diego State’s offensive line as the game wore on. It played a huge role in the comeback. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, I have a story for you to read, if you can. The Washington Post’s Chuck Culpepper writes about the retirement home that hosts Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy’s weekly radio show. The story is a great read. … Jon Wilner has his weekly Best of the West rankings. WSU is fifth. … John Canzano has his thoughts about the weekend. … Washington lost at Indiana. The folks that cover the Huskies have their thoughts about that. … Oregon State, coming off a rout at California, knows the time of its San Jose State game Nov. 9. … Oregon, coming off a rout of then-No. 20 Illinois, is favored by two touchdowns over host Michigan this week. … Colorado is also ranked this week. Has a Heisman contender. And should have two. … Do not expect Utah to go to a bowl game. … What a bad month for Arizona. … In the Mountain West, San Diego State is still figuring out what happened in the loss to WSU. … Same for New Mexico and the loss to Colorado State…. San Jose State has quarterback questions. … And volleyball questions. … Wyoming football coach Jay Sawvel had questions about the officiating in the Cowboy loss to Utah State. It cost him. … The win over UNLV helped Boise State move up in the rankings. … In basketball news, the Arizona State men were overwhelmed by Duke in North Carolina.

Gonzaga: The exhibition game against USC on Saturday night allowed Mark Few to put different rotations on the floor. To see how groups played with each other. How the new parts fit. All without any recriminations on the Zags’ record. Jim Meehan talked with Few about it afterward and shared Few’s obvious thoughts. Who plays with whom will change throughout the season.

EWU: The Eagles have to win out to avoid a certain ignominy. Without four consecutive wins, they will post their third consecutive losing season. Dan Thompson delves into that as he looks back at Saturday’s Idaho loss. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Colorado did not put up much of a fight against Montana.

Idaho: The Vandals have a rosy outlook, despite how tough this injury-filled season has felt. Peter Harriman also looks back at Saturday’s game, and notes what is ahead for UI over the last four weeks. You know, the close loss at Oregon, in which Idaho was at full strength for about three quarters, is looking better and better. … Christian Elliss had his second consecutive dominating game for New England in the Patriots’ upset of the Jets. That news leads off Ethan Myers’ weekly look at local NFL players.  

Zephyr: The USL Super League schedule for Spokane is quite odd. The Zephyr’s 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Sun at ONE Spokane Stadium is their last home match until March 8. I guess no one wants to shovel snow off the turf and stands and play in Spokane. … The fans turned out for the last match of the calendar year and Elena Perry joined them.

Sounders: The playoffs loom. For Seattle, they start tonight. And may end quickly. We pass along a story explaining how they avoid that happening. … They only got there due to a September wake-up call.

Seahawks: Dave Boling has it right. Again. The Hawks produced a comedy of errors yesterday. Dark comedy. Cringe worthy, like “Veep,” or anything Larry David does. Funny in a “should-I-laugh-or-cry” type of way. … We linked the game story above. We do it again here. … There are always grades. And things to learn. … There are so many things to fix. … DK Metcalf had to stand and watch. That did not help. Neither did teammates fighting. Or the goal-line mistakes.

Mariners: The World Series is back tonight. L.A. holds a 2-0 lead and should have Shohei Ohtani in the lineup. The Yankees have confidence the series will turn their way at home. We have the joy of watching.

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• Funny thing. I did not pay the price for getting less than five hours of sleep Saturday night. Paid for it today. I went to bed before 9 last night, figuring I would rise at the normal time. Overslept by about an hour. And had to race – as much as that’s possible at my age – through this column. At least I felt rested. But I had to post the column with fewer links than normal, and catch up past our 9 a.m. deadline. … We caught up. This is the finished version. Until later …