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Monday, September 15, 2003
Seahawks Notebook: Tardy Robinson pays the price
Holmgren sits wide receiver for entire game
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Forget waiting until he retires to give him a gold watch. Somebody get Koren Robinson a reliable timepiece now.
The Seahawks' leading receiver did not start yesterday's game against the Arizona Cardinals because he was late for a team meeting Saturday.
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 | AP | |
| Seahawks wide receiver Darrell Jackson hauls down Matt Hasselbeck's pass en route to a 55-yard touchdown catch. | ||
Coach Mike Holmgren then decided to let Robinson stand on the sideline for the entire game because the tardiness that plagued him as a rookie in 2001 can't be allowed to continue.
"I made the decision. It's done now. And trust it won't happen again," Holmgren said after the Seahawks had slapped a 38-0 loss on the Cardinals at a less-than-half-full Sun Devil Stadium.
Holmgren's decision made for a long day for the other three receivers on the roster, who were forced to play more than they should have on a day when the temperature reached 104 degrees outside the stadium, and 118 degrees on the field.
But they responded, as Darrell Jackson caught three passes for 133 yards -- including touchdown catches of 55 and 66 yards; Bobby Engram caught two passes for 28 yards and had punt returns of 27 and 21 yards; and Alex Bannister played extensively in the three-receiver sets, without catching a pass, and also downed a pair of Tom Rouen punts inside the Cardinals' 10-yard line on special teams.
Robinson's absence could have been devastating, if this game had been close.
It wasn't, but others will be, and the athletic receiver who was a first-round draft choice two years ago will be needed.
That's why he can't afford any more violations of team rules.
"At some point, he will realize the opportunity he has," Holmgren said. "He's a wonderful young man and a great football player. Let me say those things first.
"But he does young, dumb stuff sometimes," his coach added. "I equate it with tough love. There was no one who wanted to see him play more than me in that game today. No one. But I don't have two sets of rules."
BLAKE GOES DOWN: The Cardinals lost starting quarterback Jeff Blake late in the first quarter after he bruised his left heel when Seahawks defensive tackle Norman Hand fell on him.
"When you lose your quarterback, the second quarterback has to go in there and play," Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis said. "That's what this league is about, man-on-man playing."
Josh McCown took over for Blake and completed 18 of 32 passes for 150 yards, but he was intercepted twice.
The Cardinals also played without starting wide receivers Larry Foster and Bryan Gilmore and defensive linemen Marcus Bell and Kenny King, who were injured.
SMITH STOPPED: Last year, Emmitt Smith became the NFL's all-time leading rusher with a 109-yard performance against the Seahawks while playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Yesterday, he could have tied Walter Payton for the league lead with his 77th 100-yard rushing game. But Smith settled for 54 yards on 14 carries.
"Today was one of those days that if it was going to happen to you one time a year, I'm glad it happened to us now," he said. "I don't see this happening again."
BY THE NUMBERS: Maurice Morris led the Seahawks with 67 rushing yards, while Shaun Alexander had 51. ... Trent Dilfer saw his first regular-season action since rupturing his right Achilles tendon last October and completed both of his passes for 20 yards after replacing Matt Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter. ... Cornerback Ken Lucas had a game-high nine tackles, including eight solo stops. ... The Seahawks held the Cardinals to 93 rushing yards -- the third time in the past four games that they have limited an opponent to fewer than 100, dating back to last season.
ALL EVEN: Holmgren evened his regular-season record with the Seahawks at 33-33. He hasn't been at .500 since the Seahawks won their final two games in 2001, leaving him at 24-24.
HAWK TALK: The Seahawks are 2-0 for the seventh time in 28 seasons, and can match their best start with a win over the St. Louis Rams this week. ... By winning the hottest game in franchise history, the Seahawks upped their record to 3-9 in games played in 82 degree-plus weather. ... Cardinals rookie wide receiver Anquan Boldin followed his NFL-debut record 217-yard performance by catching eight passes for 62 yards.
THE HOT ZONE
The official temperature in the Phoenix area yesterday topped out at 104 degrees, but the unofficial field temperature in Sun Devil Stadium for the Seahawks-Cardinals game was 118 degrees, the highest mercury reading anywhere in the world.
| LOCATION | TEMP. |
| Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz. | 118 |
| Yuma Foothills, Yuma, Ariz. | 110 |
| Kuwait City, Kuwait | 109 |
| Death Valley, Calif. | 108 |
| Baghdad, Iraq | 104 |
| Dharan, Saudi Arabia | 104 |
| Riyadh, Saudia Arabia | 104 |
| Marrakesh, Morocco | 102 |
| Cairo, Egypt | 101 |
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