Hasselbeck out for Patriots Game

Given the way this season has played out, you probably could have seen this coming: Matt Hasselbeck is out for tomorrow's game against the New England Patriot. Seneca Wallace will start in his place. After being sacked seven times on Thanksgiving, Matt's body just couldn't rebound, and it became clear late in the week that he wouldn't be ready to play on Sunday. This comes on the heels of Chris Spencer being placed on IR and the announcement that Mike Wahle will miss the game as well. This makes an already reeling offense even more suspect.There are some major concerns about Seneca starting in Matt's place. The most obvious is that Matt Hasselbeck is a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback who led his team to the Super Bowl a few seasons back, while Seneca Wallace is at most an adequate back up, with far less experience and game savvy. With a make-shift line and still-decimated receiving corps, Seneca's limited experience will become even more glaring.The third concern, which I'll admit is not directly related to tomorrow's game, is that it's still not clear whether Seneca actually is an NFL-level quarterback: for my money, he's a great (if slightly fragile) athlete who should have been playing receiver all these years. We could have had a fantastic package of plays built around him. The situation points out one of Mike Holmgren's biggest short-comings: once he believes a thing about a player, virtually nothing will change his mind. One of the team's best athletes has sat on the bench for most of his career; when he's had a chance to play, the results have been mixed at best.Holgrem's insistence on preserving Wallace as his backup quarterback has been a double loss: not only do we lack a legitimate second quarterback to take over when Hasselbeck is hurt, but we have no prospects for the future at the position. With a 33-year-old quarterback who's been absolutely pounded over the course of his career and has a bad back, the Seahawks are going to need a new quarterback in the near future (full disclosure: I'm a huge Hasselbeck fan; when he retires it will be a huge loss for the Hawks). Instead of drafting a college kid and letting him develop for a few years before taking over the reins, the Hawks will, in the near future, be forced to either a) trade for a quality veteran QB, a trade they won't come out ahead on, or b) draft a college kid and force him into a starting role too soon, which rarely works out well.Getting back to the Patriots game: I'll be there yelling my guts out, but without Matt playing, I don't hold out much hope. Here's hoping I'm wrong about tomorrow's game, at least.