FanHouse LofaTatupu

The last thing the Seattle Seahawks need is another injured starter. But, well, they've got one. Marcus Trufant, their All-Pro cornerback, might (not?) have to miss time with what sounds like a pretty painful hand injury.

Seahawks defensive back suffered a cracked bone in his hand in yesterday's practice and was wearing a cast on his hand today. Mike Holmgren said they are going to try to affix something smaller to his hand for Sunday's game to make it more workable. Trufant said he has played with an injured hand before, against both UCLA and the Apple Cup one season at Washington State, though it was on his right hand not his left and it was his thumb not his hand.

The Hawks Insider also mentioned that Lofa Tatupu is sporting a cast on his finger right now, although he's apparently making plays anyway, intercepting a Charlie Frye pass during practice. So yeah, Seahawks = dinged.

So dinged, in fact, that Seneca Wallace, who will not likely play cornerback, will probably see some time at wide receiver.

"I'm confident," Wallace said. "I've just got to go out there and be able to make sure everything is correct. No busted routes. And after that, you're just out there playing football. You've got to catch the ball."

Well, it all does come back to fundamentals I guess. Still, just the fact that Wallace -- their backup quarterback -- is being pressed into duties is proof my above mathematical equation which clearly shows that this could be a rough week for the Seahawks. Certainly too rough to stake them seven points anyway.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback:One of the consistencies of Mike Holmgren's regimes has been strong quarterback play. Maybe Matt Hasselback never became the "next Brett Favre", but maybe, on a number of levels, that's actually a good thing. What Hassyback has become, though, is one of the most consistently underrated and, um, consistent signal callers in the league. He's not flashy but he doesn't need big name wideouts to post big stats either. He's got a bad back early this year though, and I'm automatically docking the Seahawks one "heat point" for refusing to use Seneca Wallace at wideout. Also: Charlie Frye. Heat Index: 7

Running Back: There's something to be said of your running back situation when neither Julius Jones nor Maurice Morris can perform at a high enough level in training camp or preseason to make Mike Holmgren name a starter. T.J. Duckett could still be cut, although with the recent Ben Obomanu injury, it looks like both he and Justin Forsett could be on the roster, with Duckett manning goal line carries and Forsett returning kicks. It's not a really attractive situation either way you slice it. Heat Index: 5

Seahawks linebacker and all-around swell guy Lofa Tatupu was arrested on Saturday for suspicion of drunk driving. Not good, particularly with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell obsessed with cleaning up the league's image.

Here's the thing, though: even really good people lapse into idiocy every once in awhile. Most of the time, it goes unnoticed (I feel confident in writing that if everybody who ever drove drunk were arrested for it, we'd all have police records); last weekend, Tatupu got caught. But unlike those Pacman Jones/Chris Henry apologies-to-save-my-ass/job, Tatupu sounds legitimately contrite:

"I take seriously my role as a leader on this team, and in the community," the statement read, "and because of that I'm disappointed and embarrassed by the level of poor judgment I used last weekend. Thankfully nobody was hurt. This will never happen again, and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."

Tatupu also added that if he ever has a hankerin' for Mickey D's after sucking down a few adult beverages, he'll have Kato Kaelin drive him. (Ah, yes, 14-year-old O.J. humor, that never gets old. And by "gets old," I mean, of course, "was funny." Moving on...)

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu has been arrested and charged with drunk driving, a black eye for one of the league's most respected young players less than two months after he signed a lucrative contract extension.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that Tatupu was pulled over as he went through a McDonald's drive-through after police saw him speeding and changing lanes without signaling. Police say he took two breath tests which revealed blood alcohol levels of .155 and .158, or close to twice the legal limit.

Tatupu was the Seahawks' second-round draft pick in 2005 out of USC, and he instantly became one of the league's top linebackers. In March he signed a six-year, $40 million deal to stay in Seattle, with the Seahawks' front office citing his character as one of the reasons that they wanted him to be one of the centerpieces of their franchise for years to come.

More proof that those day-after-it's-over draft grades are dumb: for all the draft nerd experts who thought the Seahawks were insane for taking linebacker Lofa Tatupu in the second round of the 2005 draft, the team just signed the former USC star to a six-year, $40-million extension.

I suppose those three Pro Bowls persuaded Seattle to overlook the fact that the draftniks considered Tatupu too small and slow to play linebacker in the NFL.

In addition to his on-field bad-assery, Tatupu's best attribute might be his leadership skillz:

Even in his contract extension, Tatupu showed leadership. He could have demanded more money -- teammate Julian Peterson, a perennial Pro Bowl linebacker, is making $1 million more a season than Tatupu will under his new contract.

But Tatupu knew by taking a little less, it would free up room to help with a contract extension for linebacker LeRoy Hill, who is a free agent after the season. He is also hoping it would help the team reach a long-term deal with cornerback Marcus Trufant, who received the one-year franchise tag in February.

Hey, Tatupu is just like Shaun Alexander without for the overrated, me-first stuff*.

For all they bellyaching about the Seahawks stretching for Tatupu even though he filled a needs (not to mention that the team like him), the only other middle linebacker drafted in 2005 was taken three picks later: Odell Thurman. Thurman was in the running for Rookie of the Year, but he's been out of football for almost two years after several suspensions for substance-abuse problems.

So, yeah, maybe GMs, coaches and scouts sometimes know what they're doing.

* Alexander apologists, that was a joke.

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

A.J. Feeley, Eagles
Well, so much for a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. After one of the most impressive performances of the season last Sunday night, Eagles backup A.J. Feeley followed that up with what we've come to expect from A.J. Feeley: noodle-armed underthrows, poor decision making, and a bunch of passes to the other team. Check, check ... and check.

For the second straight week, Feeley threw a pick on the Eagles' first possession, but luckily, Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu didn't return it for six. That would be the highlight of Feeley's day.

The first interception set up a Shaun Alexander touchdown, which, these days, happens about as often as a Lions Super Bowl run. Pick No. 2 led to another Seattle touchdown. No. 3 killed an Eagles drive late in the third quarter with Philly trailing 28-24, and the final interception came with 23 seconds to go, Eagles still down by four.

Yeah, I think you could say this one's on Feeley.
Sorry, No Photos

It was a miserable day in Philadelphia with temperatures hovering around freezing and a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and icy rain coming down for most of the game. Before kickoff, I certainly would have thought taking the under would have been the wise decision, but the weather didn't prevent either team from putting points on the board early.

A.J. Feeley went out and showed that there most certainly should not be a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia by opening up the game with an interception on the very first series for the second straight week. He added three more interceptions on the day. If Feeley showed anything positive, it's that he brings a similar fire to the field as last year's backup quarterback, Jeff Garcia.

When the Seahawks used their 2005 second-round pick on undersized USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu, draftniks around the InterTubes let out a collective groan. According to all the pre-draft rags and internet draft sites, Tatupu was no better than a fourth-round pick.

In fact, The Sporting News' 2005 Draft Guide rated Tatupu the eighth-best middle linebacker, and wrote of his weaknesses: "Lacks ideal agility and change-of-direction skills. Isn't fast enough to run with most backs in man coverage. Doesn't show great upper-body strength at the point of attack."

Either Tatupu improved 10,000 percent from April '05 to his first training camp, or some people misjudged him. The Seahawks play the Steelers this weekend, and Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin marveled at Tatupu's ability to seemingly be everywhere at once. "He's as instinctive as a guy there is playing right now," Tomlin said. "He's quick. He reads quick. He diagnoses plays quickly. He reacts. He's got great instincts."

QuarterbackBen Roethlisberger had even higher praise:

"If you were to put a category down for a guy that is just flat-out a football player, he is a football player," said ... Roethlisberger. "If you had a kid who was going to play linebacker, that's who you want him to watch."

Not bad for a guy who was supposedly drafted two rounds two high, ended up starting in the Super Bowl as a rookie, and has been to the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. The Seahawks should have more mistakes like that.

This much we know for sure: Alex Smith won't be playing this Sunday. After that, it gets a little cloudy. He separated his right shoulder. It's a grade three separation which won't require surgery. No, wait, it could be a grade two, which won't require surgery, but it could also be a grade three, which would. A grade three would end his season. A grade two is four-to-six weeks of recovery. Or maybe he'll be back against the Giants on October 21st. Who knows.

All that matters is that Smith now has to refer to Rocky Bernard as "sir" and dance whenever he's told. Whether you like it or not, this is Trent Dilfer's team for at least the short term. The San Jose Mercury News notes that the 49ers were stupid for committing so much money and time on Smith at the expense of quarterback depth, and are paying for it now.

But what's done is done, and when you're watching Dilfer throw interceptions between picking dirt out of his helmet, at least know who to blame for his presence.

On the play, center Eric Heitmann begins blocking Bernard (and actually grabs his facemask) but then switches off of Bernard to block Lofa Tatupu, who is coming from Heitmann's right. Heitmann assumes that Larry Allen, who isn't blocking anyone, will take over on Bernard, but Allen's too late. Allen gets a hand on Bernard but the big defensive tackle is on Smith in a second, driving his shoulder into the ground. Heitmann and Allen – appropriately, I guess – end up running into each other like a couple of Keystone Cops.

What's more concerning than the miscommunication is that Allen wasn't blocking anyone to begin with. Shouldn't an offensive lineman always be blocking somebody?

With the game tied 20-20 and the Seahawks driving with only 2:00 to go, Cardinals fans had to be thinking "here we go again!" Then, suddenly, the unthinkable happened. As Matt Hasselbeck turned to handoff to Shaun Alexander, the ball came loose. For Arizona and Seattle fans, time stood still for a moment -- this was the game. As Darnell Dockett fell on the ball, a collective shriek of excitement could be heard across the country emanating from Phoenix.

From there, it was all up to Edgerrin James and Neil Rackers -- neither of whom would disappoint. Edge gained 20 yards on the next three carries, setting Rackers up for a potential game-winning 42-yard field goal. And as the clock slowly ticked away, the Rackers kick sailed through the uprights, all but securing the Cardinals their first win of the season. While the Seahawks did have one second and a kickoff return remaining, their efforts would prove to be fruitless, as Arizona stopped them before they even reached the 30.

Sure, I may have played this up a little, but I've got my Cardinals hat on today. Admittedly, it's not that often that the Cardinals and their fans can celebrate, and while it may only be week two, this was a huge win for this franchise. It was a fabulous rebound from last week, and gives Arizona a little motivation going forward.

For Seattle, it's a horrible bitter way to end the week. They really seemed to outplay a sloppy Cardinals team, but the only thing that matters is the final score. Unfortunately for them, they were on the wrong side of that this week. And because of that, good performances by Hasselbeck, Alexander, Deion Branch and Lofa Tatupu went to waste.

Let me have it, Seahawks fans. I know it's coming, so please, let loose.

Final Score: Cardinals 23 - Seahawks 20