These are all 49ers notes provided by the Niners PR staff.

49ERS VS. SEATTLE GAME NOTES 9-30-07

*Newly acquired PR Michael Lewis made his 49ers debut after signing with the team earlier in the week and returned six punts for 63 yards, including a 23-yard punt return in the third quarter.

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The following is an unedited version of a sidebar that will appear in Monday's paper.

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

SAN FRANCISCO – The Seneca Wallace experiment has returned for the Seattle Seahawks.
For years Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has wanted to use Wallace, his backup quarterback and best all-around athlete, in a role other than Matt Hasselbeck’s worst-case-scenario emergency backup.
David Greene, however, never permitted that.
But after acquiring Charlie Frye after the first week of the season, and Frye getting acclimated to Seattle’s offensive system, Wallace is again part of Holmgren’s game plan.

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This is the unedited version of the review box that will appear in the morning paper:

SCORE: Seahawks 23, 49ers 3.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Seahawks are in first place in the NFC West with a 3-1 record, a game ahead of San Francisco (2-2) and Arizona (2-2), which defeated Pittsburgh. St.Louis (0-4) already is having a long year.
A LOOK AHEAD: A rematch with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who beat the Seahawks in the 2005 Super Bowl. They are different teams and the Steelers have a new coach, but that will not stop the comparisons to that ill-fated game.

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Head Coach Mike Nolan

RE: Opening Statement:
“As we all know this was an important game for us, and obviously we didn’t play very well. It is our fourth game of the season, we have a lot of football left. We’re 2-2 at this point. The last two weeks we have not played very well. We hurt ourselves with turnovers, penalties; seven of the nine on the o-line. We had mental errors as well. We didn’t capitalize on some things that we did; on side kick, interceptions and a blocked punt. We have a lot of work to do in all phases. As far as injuries go, Alex is the only one to mention. He came in and got treatment right away. He has a separated shoulder, to what degree, I do not know and I will not know until tomorrow.”

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The following is my unedited game story:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

SAN FRANCISCO – The seismic statement the Seattle Seahawks were hoping to make to their division rivals was issued with resounding force on Sunday, when a decisive 23-3 defeat of the San Francisco 49ers at Monster Park engendered the calming sense that as much as things change, they remain the same.
The victory, Seattle’s second straight, avenged the pair of losses the Seahawks dropped to the Niners last season, when the Seahawks won their third consecutive division title with a 9-7 record.
That wealth of injury-induced mediocrity set in motion the notion that the time was ripe for Seattle to be overtaken in the NFC West, an idea further augmented by San Francisco’s 2-0 start to the season.

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LB Leroy Hill

RE: How important was it to the defense to attack the offensive line? And how nice was it to succeed?
“It felt real good; obviously it felt good, no matter what team you’re playing. It was key, because this was a division opponent and we set a statement that we are a different team than last year.”

RE: Did you guys plan differently this week in order to shut down Frank Gore? (Also on the Alex Smith injury)
“It wasn’t a certain scheme change; it was the same thing we brought in last year. When Alex Smith went down it sort of changed the game plan a little bit.”

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QB Matt Hasselbeck

RE: Revenge as a motivator after losing both games to San Francisco in 2006
“Last year was last year. Besides, I didn’t play in the game here last year. So, no, revenge wasn’t a big motivator. This being a divisional game was enough motivation. San Francisco put pressure on us by winning two divisional games early in the season. That made the game very important for us. We play them again in Seattle but we won’t be overconfident because they beat us there the last time we played.”

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RB Shaun Alexander
RE: The 49ers defensive game plan
“They had a good one. They wanted to stop the run so they came out in a 4-3. It pretty much worked for them. Fortunately, we got some big plays from Deion (Branch), Julian (Peterson) and others. Guys like them stepped up big today.”

RE: Hasselbeck’s growth
“He’s grown considerably. It shows in the ways he’s improved in managing the game and it shows in the amount of poise he has out there. He tries to be a perfectionist. I’m like that too. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why we’re good friends.”

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Holmgren said Alvin Pearman has a pretty serious knee injury. He will know more Monday but did not sound optimistic. Ray Willis also has a knee injury suffered on a kickoff return, though not believed to be as serious as Pearman's. Josh Wilson suffered an ankle injury, the least serious of the three.

These are not complete quotes but what the Niners PR staff transcribed.

Head Coach Mike Holmgren

RE: The Victory
“It was a great win for us. Early in the season when you’re playing a division opponent, it’s as big of a game as you can play. We haven’t played our best football on the road, so to come here and win a game, obviously the players are very happy. We played very hard and we wanted the win badly, so we’re very happy.”

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There is still five minutes left, but I have to go to the locker room. The score is 23-3 and there is no threat of losing. A thoroughly dominating performance by the 3-1 Seahawks, who have control of the division. I'll be back in a few hours.

Alvin Pearman has a knee injury and is doubtful to return. Rocky Bernard is on the sideline and does not appear to be injured. Alex Smith is not coming back.

The Seahawks' defense has been stellar in a first half in which they lead 13-0. They already have six sacks and four forced fumbles -- two by Frank Gore -- only one of which they recovered. They are getting crazy pressure on Trent Dilfer, who is playing because Rocky Bernard knocked out Alex Smith with a shoulder injury on the third play of the game. The secondary has been good too, limiting Darell Jackson to two catches. The offense has not been stellar, but it has been good enough against a San Francisco team that has issues right now. Matt Hasselbeck made three beautiful throws, two on one 82-yard drive. A pump-and-go to Deion Branch went for 65 yards and he placed a touchdown pass to Bobby Engram just over the linebacker with a deft touch. Shaun Alexander and the running game has been non-existent but needs to show up in the second half if the Seahawks want to continue to control the game and manage the clock. Also, Seneca Wallace has been dusted off and has a reception, a run and a pass attempt for a touchdown that was open but he underthrew it. They have practiced with Seneca all week so I think they are feeling more comfortable with Charlie Frye as a potential backu. More second-half coverage to come.

Niners TE Billy Bajema has a right ankle injury and is questionable to return. Significant because starting TE Vernon Dacis already is out and the position was being filled by Bajema and Delanie Walker.

Long snapper Derek Rackley hurt his left hand and has a few trainers attending to it on the sideline.

The Seahawks have started drives on the 12, 38, 44 and 43. They need to start taking advantage of good field position.

After conferring wiht about seven people, Alex Smith was just taken to the locker room on a cart. For those not watching the game, it happened on the third play of the game, when Rocky Bernard sacked him and came down hard on top of him. It is his right shoulder. His return is questionable.

The 49ers QB is on the sideline having his shoulder checked out by trainers. Trent Dilfer is warming up.

Seahawks

Charlie Frye

DJ Hackett
Ben Joppru
Jason Babin
Mansfield Wrotto
Tom Ashworth
Courtney Taylor
Ellis Wyms

49ers

Shaun Hill
Tarell Brown
Dashon Goldson
Atiyyah Ellison
Vernon Davis
Jason Hill
Ray McDonald

Referee Mike Carey
Umpire Dan Ferrell
Head Linesman Kent Payne
Line judge Mark Perlman
Field Judge Buddy Horton
Side judge Tom Fincken
Back Judge Bill Schmitz
Replay Tommy Moore
Video Bud Alexander

It's a pretty warm day here in San Francisco, pristine conditions with a hot sun beating down on the field. It's about 65 degrees -- though in the press box, I feel like the bug sitting behind the magnifying glass because the sun is streaming through here. There are fans on both sidelines. Matt Hasselbeck is out on the field stretching and warming up. I'll have updates throughout the day.

Can the run offense get going to the satisfaction of Mike Holmgren, particularly with Shaun Alexander still affected by a cracked bone in his wrist? The return of Mo Morris may help that.

Can the run defense repeat its performance from a week ago and stop Frank Gore, especially against a much-bigger offensive line that dominated the Seahawks the past two games?

How will Darrell Jackson fare against his former teammates? He is the leading Niners receiver with 11 receptions. But you know the Hawks will be focused on shutting him down.

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Brock and I were able to get together mid-week and covered some interesting stuff. Brock thinks the game is going to come down to a field goal.

TE Ben Joppru
WR DJ Hackett
LB Will Herring
OL Mansfield Wrotto
Ol Tom Ashworth
WR Courtney Taylor
QB Charlie Frye
DE Jason Babin

Last week with Joppru out, Ashworth was on the active roster but that was because so many other players were sidelined. With Morris and Obomanu back, Ashworth likely has to go back to inactive. If they want to keep Ashworth active, another possibility is Ellis Wyms.

Maurice Morris was back at practice and Mike Holmgren said he will play. He sat out Thursday because his hip got sore after practicing Wednesday.

Ben Obomanu was getting a lot of work and also will play, which will be nice to see after he had such a promising preseason.

Will Herring was out for the second straight day; Holmgren said he will be a game-day decision.

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Here is a link to a story I wrote this morning about Marcus Trufant and his impending free agency, particularly as it relates to San Francisco corner Nate Clements, who last offseason signed an eight-year $80 million contract.

The Seahawks and Trufant seemingly are stuck at a stalemate in negotiations and probably will go into the offseason to determine his value. He is not as good as Clements, but that contract skewed everything. Now, is Trufant worth the $5.5 million a year that Nate Vasher signed for, or closer to the $9 million a year -- his average if you realistically exclude the final three years of his deal -- that Clements signed? Tim Ruskell admits it's a tricky balancing act -- and my guess is that a lot of that answer will be determined during this season.

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Since the teams usually take Tuesday off, it means linkage is usually off on Wednesday,and this time part of Thursday. But like any refresher it comes back strong with a 2-for-1 edition that will surely cause some missed work time..

From the News Tribune....
Frank took some time to examine exactly how Shaun Alexander cracked his wrist. And he also looked at the impending free agency of cornerback and Tacoma native Marcus Trufant.

Here's the AP story out of San Francisco for the game.

Here's Dave's appearance on KJR that was on Monday.

This week's opponent — The San Francisco 49ers...
Here's a story from the SF Chronicle on playing the Seahawks with Holmgren quotes.

Well, the Niners finally got an official answer on the controversial fumble/incomplete pass call from the loss to the Steelers. Now hopefully it's the end of it.

Apparently, Thursday was Darrell Jackson story day. Here's the SF Chronicle's story with the headline "Far-out wideout grooves on SF." Here's the story from the Sacramento Bee with the header "Jackson brings calmness to 49ers." How about the Santa Rosa Press Democrat... "Jackson clears the hair".

Also Frank Gore is frustrated with his slow start (I'm sure plenty of fantasy owners are as well.)

Here's a new story on newly acquired returner Michael Lewis.

AUDIO ALERT: Here’s the weekly podcast with the 49ers coordinators from KNBR. Also analyst Phil Simms offers his thoughts on the Niners. Matt Barrows appeared on KJR talking about the Niners.

Around the NFC West...
Not much fun in St. Louis Rams' world. Steven Jackson won't play on Sunday. He's blaming the sloppy field conditions in Tampa for the injury.

Jackson isn't the only injured Ram. QB Marc Bulger has a pair of broken ribs, but he doesn't want your pity. But he says he's going to play on Sunday. Columnist tells people the losing slide isn't coach Scott Linehan's fault.

Over in Arizona, things are only marginally better.
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt and line coach Russ Grimm would love to beat the players they used to coach. But then he told the Arizona media it was no big deal. Columnist Dan Bickley likes the spice it adds to the lineup.

The Cardinals are going to continue to use the no-huddle offense. QB Matt Leinart hasn't lost his confidence after getting benched last week.

Good pass protection for the Cardinals? What?

The Cardinals are playing the waiting game on injuries to Anquan Boldin and Levi Brown.

Around the NFL ...
Apparently the latest major drug bust could have the names of star athletes surface. Apparently steroids were being sold on myspace.com.

Columnist Jay Mariotti is happy, for the moment, that Brian Griese is the starter for the Bears.

The NFL player association isn't pleased with retirees' accounts about their post career injuries, and is setting out to dispute those accounts.

Columnist David Whitley mocks the the NFL's decision to not allow cheerleaders to perform in front of the opposing team. Here's a reason why for the ban....

More Shaun Alexander goofiness. He said that he cracked the wrist in Week 1, not, as believed, in Week 3 after he got hit on the wrist toward the end of the first half. Here is the explanation:

“I think it all happened in the second quarter of the first game, so we x-rayed it then,” Alexander said. The trainers “were like, ‘We have good news and bad news.” I was like, ‘What’s the bad news?’ “Mo (Morris) is hurt. We have good news. You’re going to get to show everybody how much you love this team.’
“Then we x-rayed it last week and (same thing). I was like, ‘All right, what’s the bad news?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, there is a crack this time.’ ‘What’s the good news?’ ‘You’ve already been healing for two weeks.’ I’m actually way ahead of the curve.”

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Got my daily stuff out of the way, here's what happened in practice today.

Game balls were given out a day early because the defensive one went to coordinator John Marshall, whose mother died during the game. He will miss today's practice to attend the funeral, but was appropriately rewarded. Deion Branch got the offensive one and Will Herring, who missed practice with a knee injury (I forgot to mention that earlier) got the special teams ball. You might ask why not Lance Laury, who was given ST player of the week by the league. It's because he was given a game ball after Week 1 and they try to spread it around.

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Backup RB Maurice Morris did not practice on Thursday because of the hip injury that kept him out of last week's game. He does not have to be listed as doubtful, probable or out until tomorrow afternoon. It was funny because Shaun Alexander was asked during his meeting with reporters what it would be like to have Morris back, and he paused a second and then gave a typical Alexander answer about it will be great having Morris back. Take that for what it's worth.

Ben Joppru and DJ Hackett also did not practice. Everybody else participated.

I have to do a daily piece for our Football Friday section that has to be in by 5 so I don't have time to blog about practice right now. Will get back to that after I file.

“I think I would separate the two between the passing game and the running defense. I thought Sunday we played a very good game versus the run; much better than we had against Arizona. In the pass rush department, I want to see more. We’re not quite where I would like us to be, yet. If you really dissect it and looked at the film, there are reasons. Sometimes teams keeps a lot of blockers in. Sometimes the quarterback gets the ball out quickly. Sometimes you’re just six inches away like we were with (Matt) Leinart on a number of occasions. You’re close but it just doesn’t happen. Having said all that, we still have to get more productivity as far as rushing the passer and we will. I believe that. I think we have guys who are capable. We’re playing some guys who haven’t played too much and that’ll come but we need to get more productivity in the pass rush."

Keep in mind, these are players they are trying to get a feel for. Though Ben Joppru has been hurt an inordinate amount of time lately.

Angulo, Richard TE Western New Mexico

Farbotko, Matt TE Harvard

Kranchick, Matt TE Penn State

Massaquoi, Tim TE Michigan

Petrowski, Jamie TE Indiana State

Smith, Antonio TE Michigan State

Injury report for Sunday's Seattle at San Francisco game:

SEAHAWKS

OUT
WR D.J. Hackett (ankle)

DID NOT PRACTICE
TE Ben Joppru (ankle)

FULL PARTICIPATION
RB Shaun Alexander (wrist)

49ERS
OUT
TE Vernon Davis (knee)

DID NOT PRACTICE
G Larry Allen (team decision)
CB Tarell Brown (hamstring)
WR Jason Hill (hamstring)
S Mark Roman (elbow)
DT Bryant Young (team decision)

LIMITED PRACTICE
CB Walt Harris (team decision)
T Jonas Jennings (leg strain)

Note: Our best guess about "team decision" is that these guys are veterans (OK, OLD) and they don't need to kill themselves in Wednesday drills.

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he remains close with Trent Dilfer, the former Seahawk quarterback who is now a backup on the 49ers. This week, days before a game between the teams, does make it a little awkward, though.

"I get nervous talking to him now," Hasselbeck said after Wednesday's practice. "I feel like he's interviewing me, so to speak, like he's taking notes while we're on the phone. So I try not to talk to him."

Other highlights:

On the 49ers' two wins over the Seahawks last year: "They had our number last year. They played us well, and really did some good things against us. We've had to wait a long time for this game. This is an important game for both teams."

On how he feels physically, considering his inactivity during the preseason: "I feel a little more fresh, to be honest with you. It's two games less you've got to get knocked around in. All in all, I think so far it's been great. But all it takes is one hit to change that."

On receivers dropping passes: "I think it's hard on the team, really. It's probably harde on the guy who dropped it than the quarterback. ... You see a guy drop a big pass and the camera goes to him and he's over on the bench, and he's thinking about it, he's got his head down, those kind of things. You've just got to let it go."

The Seahawks got backups Maurice Morris and Ben Obomanu back in practice today.

Morris, the No. 2 running back behind Shaun Alexander, missed the last two games with a hip injury. Last week during practice, he ran on the side but did not participate. Wednesday, he was in full gear and back on the field.

"I wouldn't say I (was) limited, but it was my first practice back and I'm still trying to get into the groove of things, get my timing down and all that," Morris said. "All in all, I feel good."

Obomanu, a second year receiver, has been inactive all season because of a hamstring injury. He said he was glad to be back doing something other than rehab.

"It felt good to be back in the mix of things," he said. "I actually feel pretty healthy and pretty good. Practice is nothing like a game, of course."

Lance Laury, who caused the fumble on Sunday that sealed the Seahawks' 24-21 victory over Cincinnati, was named special teams player of the week for that tackle and one other.

Mike Holmgren was interesting because he went back and addressed his comments in the preseason that they were going to keep six linebackers instead of seven. He said Laury was the guy -- or one of the guys -- who was on the bubble. Holmgren said there was a lot of heated debate about who to keep and what to do at the LB position. He said that in order to keep a seventh LB, that player HAS to make special teams plays, which Laury obviously has done. He also said some injuries in the last preseason game allowed them to make the decision to keep Laury.

Incidentally, Dallas corner Anthony Henry was the defensive player of the week and Philly RB Brian Westbrook was offensive player.

Mike Holmgren started out his news conference by saying, "Big week. Big big week."

Considering the Seahawks have lost already within the division, and they were swept last season by San Francisco, and it it against his former team in his hometown with Darrell Jackson as a subplot, there is a lot that goes into this game.

=> Read more!

Both Maurice Morris and Ben Obomanu will be back at practice this afternoon, Morris giving Holmgren some options that he may not have had last weeek.

Also, Holmgren said he thinks D.J. Hackett will be back around the bye week, which is the last week of October. That would put Hackett out for about seven weeks.

No Vernon Davis this weekend.

After a day off, the links is coming back so strong, Mike Gundy won't be able to yell about it.

This week's opponent, The San Francisco 49ers....

Yes, the Niners are hurting physically after the pasting by the Steelers. Most notably, tight end Vernon Davis is out for the next two weeks. Head coach Mike Nolan is still looking for clarification on the call from the Steelers game... let it go man. Return specialist Brandon Williams has been replaced by the "Beer Man." Although more teams are employing the two-back tailback platoon, Frank Gore wants no part of it. Here's a column on impatient fans to wanting to see rebuilding efforts.

Niners analyst Gary Plummer offers some thoughts on the match-up.

Here's another look how the team's match up.

AUDIO ALERT: Here's Mike Nolan's weekly radio podcast with KNBR of San Francisco. Beat writer Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat offers his thoughts on the Fitz and Brooks radio show. here's the Sacramento Bee's Matt Barrow talking about the Niners loss and Vernon Davis.

D-Jack items

Here's his official stats for this season, not exactly mind blowing.

This in-game blog post wasn't too kind about his production.

Football outsiders does it's weekly preview of games, check out the Hawks-Niners preview where it says D-Jack won't be a factor.

Around the NFL....
SI's Dr. Z has the Hawks ranked seventh in his weekly power rankings.

Here's John Clayton's latest piece on the NFC for ESPN.

Here's Mike Sando's story on the communication between coaches and QBs before the play.

Here's Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning QB, from ESPN Page 2.

Here's an interesting story from ESPN the Mag on Tacoma native Jon Kitna and the healing of his concussion.

By the way, for those of you wondering where Boling's valuable insights have been, this is a picture of his son's house in Moscow, Idaho. It burned to the ground recently and Dave, while writing his daily stories, has been dealing with the fallout from that. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but his son lost everything. He apologizes for his absence but assumes you understand.

Today is Big Wednesday, with a teleconference with Niners cornerback Nate Clements at 11:45 followed by Niners coach Mike Nolan. Mike Holmgren's weekly news conference is at noon, as well, followed by practice. I will blog as much and as quickly as I can after each event to give you updates.

In the News Tribune this morning, John McGrath looks at the Seneca Wallace issue in light of the offense seemingly needing some boost, even if it is using Wallace for only five or six plays a game.

Here is a synopsis of Shaun Alexander's carries on Sunday. The thing that I think is interesting is that in the first half they appeared to try to go to the right side pretty often. I wonder if that is because of Shaun's wrist, and since he can only carry the ball in his right hand they were trying to protect it. Then, when they saw that they weren't having success there or behind Chris Spencer, they went to the left side in the second half, where they found much more success. Mike Holmgren said on the fourth-and-one play, the Bengals had lined up to defend a run to the left, at least part of the reason that play went for 14 yards.

Keep in mind, these are just Shaun's runs. They are in order for Shaun, but obviously Hasselbeck has pass attempts wrapped around all these carries.

Totals: 21 carries, 100 yards

• Right side: eight carries, 41 yards

• Up middle: five carries, -5 yards

• Left side: eight carries, 64 yards

I wrote a story this morning about the Hawks' struggling running game. Incidentally, as I point out in the story, the Niners are 25th in the league in rush defense so now would be a good time to get it cranked up.

I also wrote a piece about Shaun Alexander's cracked wrist. I went through the play by play and broke Alexander's running down for you. I am trying to get it formatted properly so you can read it and will post it later today if that is successful. There were some issues last week with formatting and I am trying to get them resolved through html.

Dave Boling wrote a piece on the improved communication between Matt Hasselbeck and coach Mike Holmgren, part of the reason that Hasselbeck is having such a good start to the season.

Hawks are off today.

“They’re a lot better, and I thought they were pretty good last year. Defensively they’re very good, I think this is the best defense we’ve faced and they’re obviously well-coached, those guys know what they’re doing. I think they’ve grasp of our offense and what we like to do, and we can tell that they’ve studies us, they know us, they’ve got a lot of people there that know us. I think this is one of our tougher games. If you look at our schedule this is one of the games that we obviously need to win, to accomplish our goals, but also it’s a game that’s going to be hard for us to win. I think everyone knows that.”

Here is Mike Holmgren at Monday's news conference speaking about Shaun Alexander. Keep in mind, this is not all once answer. These are his answers to several questions regarding the injury:

“Actually, he came off yesterday. He got it banged. They took more pictures and what they found was, let me just say everyone calm down here, they found a small crack in his wrist, okay. They don’t think it’s anything anymore serious than it was. It’s small. He’ll wear that cast for awhile. He’s not going to take the cast off. We do not have to have a cast watch. He will wear the cast and he will wear it for awhile. It takes, I don’t know, a few weeks for this thing to nip. So that’s where it sits. They hook this machine onto it and he takes it home. It does whatever it does but then for practice and the games he’ll have the cast. Now what he did yesterday, they made it a little smaller to give him a little bit more. That tweaked it just a bit and then at halftime they made it a little bit larger. He’s going to wear it for awhile. You watch him run. Even watch him fall. He’s a little reluctant. He’s aware of it being there. He carries the ball and keeps it in his right hand. Your used to moving the ball to your left and all that kind of stuff. He’s given great effort. He had great effort near the end of the game. As long as you can immobilize it and that’s what we’re doing with the cast. Then it’ll heal.”

Holmgren said he thinks Matt Hasselbeck is playing excellently through the first three games, couldn't be happier.

Hasselbeck said a few times yesterday, he wanted to try to fake audible like he normally does but then scaled it back when he remembered what happened what happened in Arizona. He said it was hard to do that because he felt like they were taking a step back, but also said that the team at some point will get back to being able to do that.

=> Read more!

During his Monday press conference, Mike Holmgren admitted that the running game is not where he wants it to be and that it needs work.

Some of the issue, Holmgren said, is that both Arizona and Cincinnati did some different things defensively that the Seahawks were not expecting, moving guys around, which confused the blocking schemes. But some of it too is poor execution. To that end, Holmgren said he is going to try to scale back the running game so that everybody can be good at a few things rather than average at a lot of things.

=> Read more!

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was downplaying this injury to Shaun's wrist, and was intent on not comparing it to the crack in Shaun's foot, but he did say the doctors took some more pictures of Shaun's wrist and discovered a small crack in it.

The net-net, Holmgren said, is that the cast he is wearing to protect it is a long-term thing, not a short-term fix. He also admitted that the wrist is having an affect on Alexander, from the way he carries the ball to being able to shift the ball to catching the ball to the way he falls to the ground. It is an issue, Holmgren said, but, again, he was trying to de-emphasize it.

Holmgren also said that Shaun started out with a smaller cast on during yesterday's game, then after he seemed to hurt it they put a bigger cast on it immobilize it. Or stabilize it. Are stabilize and immobilize the same thing? Whatever, they are trying to do both the his wrist.

Let's take a walk around the NFL...

We'll start with Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column ...

Here's Michael Silver's "Morning Rush" column on Yahoo sports.

Over in the NFC West ...
The Cards come up short against the Ravens. Guess who leads the comeback? Kurt Warner. Does this mean we'll start seeing shots of his wife during the games again. God I hope not. Here's a story about the reaction to Leinart being benched. Columnist Dan Bickley addresses the controversy that came out of the game, but it's not about the QBs.

From the East Valley Trib, apparently Adrian Wilson's personal foul penalty at the end of the game was bad. Shocking. Columnist Scott Bordow isn't afraid to address the QB situation.

It also brings us to this week's opponent for the Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers
The Niners ran into a pretty solid Steelers team in a 37-16 loss. Frank Gore had just 40 yards rushing. And columnist Nancy Gay believes you have to do more than just give Gore the ball every time.

THere was a relatively controversial call during the game. Here's the story from the SF point of view, and the Steelers side.

San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy has his own thoughts on the 49ers offense.

But nothing compares to the issues that the St. Louis Rams are having.
Here's the game story with the headline "Same plot line, same result." Columnist Bryan Burwell calls the Rams "predictable." Columnist Bernie Miklasz believes head coach Scott Linehan is on the hot seat. Jeff Gordon thinks the Rams need to blow up its offense and start over.

Elsewhere...
Another neck injury scare, this time for a Texans player, but he's moving his limbs.

Donovan McNabb looked like the old Donovan McNabb, even getting rid of his protective knee brace.

On a side note, how ugly were those Philly uniforms.

No surprise here, columnist Jay Mariotti calls for Rex Grossman to be benched. If you could bet on columnists' takes, i would have put a 10 grand down on that.

At first it looked like KC's Damon Huard and Larry Johnson were arguing on the field, but really they were both complaining about the same thing — the Chiefs play calling.

Denver fans are holding their breath about injuries to Jay Cutler and John Lynch.

Dallas columnist Kevin Sherrington thinks the Cowboys look "Super" as in, well you know I what I mean.

The Giants won one for themselves, says columnist Selena Roberts.

The Jets honored the gritty and gutty Wayne Chrebet.

LaDainian Tomlinson looked like he could have gone postal on the world after yesterday's loss.

The Redskins are still trying to figure out how they didn't score on first and goal from the 5-yard-line.

Dan LeBatard is still wondering how the Dolphins lost?

I know people are sick of hearing about the Patriots, but you can't help but like Wes Welker.

Indy columnist Bob Kravitz thinks the Colts are better than last year.

Apparently Qwest Field wasn't the only place to have a drunk guy run on the field. In Kansas City, the mascot tackled the fan.

The Packers’ Week 3 win over the Chargers, during which Brett Favre tied Dan Marino’s touchdown record, will be re-aired on NFL Replay in a fast-paced 90-minute format on Tuesday, September 25 at 8:00 PM ET exclusively on NFL Network. At 10:30 PM ET, the network will Replay Seattle’s tight win over Cincinnati.

Another big win for the Hawks. I was down on the field for the final score and the subsequent fumble recovery and the crowd was unbelievable. I swear the sound was so loud it affected your heart rate.

Anyway on to the links.... from The News Tribune.. the newspaper for the South Sound.... and the Seahawks.

Here's Frank's game story that ran with a big headline "Pleasure of Redemption." Todd Milles wrote a story on Nate Burleson's crazy day. I had the pleasure of covering the Bengals locker room, where they believed they would have won the game if they had one final shot — but they didn't. Here's the game notebook featuring stuff on special teams.

As for our columnists, Dave Boling looked at the big picture of winning an ugly game. John McGrath talked about Shaun Alexander his performance and the smattering of boos that accompanied a few runs.

Now the Bengals coverage...

The Cincinnati Enquirer
The game story featured the headline: Last chance never comes. Here's the game notebook featuring back-up Kenny Watson. Here's a story on T.J. Houshmandzadeh's big day receiving. Here's a story about giving up the late touchdown to Burleson. Here's columnist Paul Daughtry's column: one step up, two steps back.

The Columbus Dispatch
Rudi Johnson had himself a rough day. Columnist Bill Rabinowitz is critical of the defense.

Apparently we are having a fire drill in the office... more to come... OK the building didn't explode in flames.

The Dayton Daily News
SHaun Alexander savors beating his hometown squad. Here's the game story from beat writer Chick Ludwig (that's a cool name). THe Bengals receivers put up impressive numbers, but it didn't translate into wins.

The Cincinnati Post
Here's the game story which focuses on all little mistakes the Bengals committed. Here's a story on the Seahawks' run defense which was dominant. Here's the game notebook which talks about the offensive line and also about Alexander. Here's columnist Lonnie Wheeler's column about not getting a chance for a comeback score.

HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS

(Opening Statement…) “That is a difficult football game to lose there at the end. I think in all three phases, and I told our guys this, we need to execute and play better. We do a lot of very good things, and we have some things that are getting us beat right now. We have to take care of the football. We have to be able to execute in the kicking game. And were giving up an explosive play. And those make a big difference. We did a lot of good things today in the three phases. I think all-in-all, the thing on why were not sitting here with a W, is that in critical points, we had opportunities and we didn’t get it done.”

(Can you talk about any team injuries…) “I can’t tell you that right now.”

=> Read more!

I think for a variety of reasons there are a lot of mixed feelings about this game.

On the one hand, the Seahawks got the victory, showed a lot of heart scoring that touchdown when they needed to and are this close (my fingers are really close together) to being 3-0. They have not played well and they are still winning, for the most part, the sign of a winning team.

On the other hand, their offense still does not look to me like it has the right chemistry, the running game has not come together and for some reason it appears as if they don't seem to want to score until they get challenged. Like, OK, now we are trailing, we have to get down to business, rather than, Let's jump all over this team from the very start.

I guess the best way to look at it is: They are playing that way; they are winning; they are correctable things that if fixed could make them an elite team.

=> Read more!

QB Matt Hasselbeck passed Jim Zorn for 2nd place for most career pass completions.

2,096 Dave Krieg (1980-91)

1,602 Matt Hasselbeck (2001- )

1,593 Jim Zorn (1976-84)

Hasselbeck also bettered his 2-minute passer rating to 104.4 after completing 2 of 3 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown in today’s game. He leads the NFL in this category since 2005. Carson Palmer is second in that span with a 98.3 rating going 2 for 5 and 16 yards today.

Hasselbeck improved his record at Qwest Field to 26-7.

=> Read more!

FB MACK STRONG

(On the receivers…) “Nate Burleson, Deion Branch, Bobby Engram came up huge with clutch catches. That’s what makes this offense go.”

(On the 4th down play…) “I think they thought we were going to run some kind of dive play or something, we were going to go up the middle and everyone kind of got caught inside and we were able to get outside.”

(On the offense…) “It’s always a work in progress, putting together an offense and having everyone be on the same page even though most of us have been together for a long time. It’s still about timing and going out there and taking one play at a time, one quarter at a time. We were able to make plays at the right time. We still have to work on being more consistent. We have yet to see what this offense is capable of doing.”

=> Read more!

RB SHAUN ALEXANDER

(On getting a win after last week’s events…) Last week is just last week. You hope it never happens, but it happens. This week, that’s really my role, to go out there and make plays and give us the best chance to win. It was good.

(On having to come out of the game for a little while…) Football is a physical sport. My mom told me that when we started, but I just didn’t listen to her. These last three weeks have probably been the most physical for me in a long time.

=> Read more!

QB MATT HASSELBECK

(on why he threw to Burleson’s side on the winning touchdown…) Pick somebody. It was really an all-block situation where we were trying to block everybody and we had hitch routes outside, that converted because they were in a two deep zone. Really, it was a dicey call. You could see at the line of scrimmage I paused for a while, people were probably screaming at me, because I know the clock was running down. I was trying to decide how to handle the situation I decided with the play action fake to the right, maybe because my back was turned a little, that safety might settle a little bit more. I don’t know if that’s what happened, but Nate did a great job of exploding, coming off fast, and expecting the ball.

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(opening…) My goodness gracious. Wonderful win, great win for us. Give credit to Cincinnati, first of all, they came in, on the road. They are a really good offensive football team, and they played good defense today, as well. So, they are a good football team, and they are a team to be reckoned with during the season. I thought our defense against them, as potent as they are, did a nice job. We didn’t give up quite as many points; they are going to score on people. It was a little bit of bend but don’t break, and we had a couple of big plays that really helped us out as far as turnovers. On offense, if we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, we can move the ball as well. We didn’t run the ball as well as I would have liked today. That’s a work in progress, we’ll keep working on it. I don’t have anything real definitive until I see the film, but I would have liked to have run the ball better. And, then be more consistent. Special teams, we started the game with a big play and ended the game with a big play, so that’s what you need from your special teams. So, it was a total team effort. I am very proud of the guys in there. Now we roll up our sleeves and get ready for the next opponent…after my granddaughter’s birthday party tonight. [laughter]

=> Read more!

In a pretty gutsy comeback, the Seahawks eke out a 24-21 victory over Cincinnati. They didn't make a ton of plays, but they made them when it counted. I'll be back with postgame stuff in a few hours.

Bengals running back Rudi Johnson strained his hamstring and is being listed as questionable to return. He was not in on the last drive that led to a Bengals field goal.

Tight end Marcus Pollard just ran to the sideline and the trainers are looking at his lower back on the left side. It does not look too serious.

The new set of safeties now each have an interception. First Deon Grant, now Brian Russell gets on in the end zone after a nice defensive stand. That matches the number of INTS throw by Palmer through the first two games.

Shaun Alexander 9 carries 22 yards
Matt Hasselbeck 13-20 141 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Deion Branch 4 rec. 65 yards 1 TD

Rudi Johnson 13 carries -3 yards
Carson Palmer 15-20 225 yards 1 TD, 1 INT
TJ Houshmandzadeh 9 rec 119 yards 1 TD
Chad Johnson 5 rec 73 yards

The game looked as if it was going to be a high-scoring affair, but Seattle’s quick score did not portend the true nature of the first half. Seattle’s offense seemed to bog down until two minutes remained in the half, when Matt Hasselbeck found Deion Branch for a 42-yard strike. It was Hasselbeck’s second touchdown pass of the game, his first going to Bobby Engram. Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer has at times looked unstoppable, but he threw an interception to Deon Grant, which led to the TD pass to Branch, and has only found the end zone once. Seahawks lead 14-10 and have to feel pretty good about where they stand.

=> Read more!

Miller is going in for evaluation and his return is questionable.

Hasselbeck threw his first interception of the season, though it didn't appear to be his fault. The ball went through the hands of Marcus Pollard, was knocked into the air and picked off by Leon Hall, his first career INT.

The Bengals converted four third downs on that first drive, including a 3-and-9, third-and-3, third-and-1, and third-and-15, which was the TD pass to Houshmandzadeh.

A Josh Wilson 72-yard kickoff return and three passes by Matt Hasselbeck, culminating with an 18-yard TD pass to Bobby Engram. They didn't wait til the second quarter this time.

In two preseason games and the home opener, the Seahawks had not won a coin toss. They won this one and chose to receive.

Apolo Ohno raised the 12th Man flag.

Bengals

Andrew Whitworth will start at LT for Levi Jones
Alex Stepanovich will start at C for Eric Chiaciuc
Lemar Marshall will start at SLB for Rashard Jeanty
Caleb Miller will start at MLB for Ahmad Brooks

Seahawks

D.J. Hackett
Maurice Morris
Ben Joppru
Jason Babin
Kevin Bentley
Mansfield Wrotto
Ben Obomanu
Charlie Frye

Bengals

Chinedum Ndukwe
Ethan Kilmer
Eric Ghiaciuc
Ahmed Brooks
Tab Perry
Frostee Rucker
Rashad Jeanty
Jeff Rowe

Referee Ed Hochuli
Umpire Chad Brown
Head Linesman Mark Hittner
Line Judge Tom Symonette
Field Judge Tom Sifferman
Side Judge Don Carlson
Back Judge Scott Helverson
Replay Bill Vinovich
Video Roger Ruth

Can the offense in general and Shaun Alexander in particular get something going before the middle of the second quarter?

Can the defense return to the type of performance it had against Tampa Bay in Week 1?

Can Patrick Kerney get pressure on Carson Palmer?

Can Nate Burleson make a big play against Cincinnati's inferior special teams?

Can Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings hang with Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmanzadeh?

Will the Seahawks improve on their dropped passes?

Will Deion Branch be as involved this week as he was last week?

Will Marcus Pollard get back to being a part of the passing game?

How will Shaun Alexander's sprained wrist affect his running game?

Will the fumble from last week have any residual effect on this week?

Will Matt Hasselbeck go three straight games without an interception?

Will Cincinnati's defense force turnovers as it did in Week 1 or be ineffective as it was in Week 2?

Will the crowd have an affect on a Bengals team that has never been to Qwest Field?

WR D.J. Hackett
RB Maurice Morris
TE Ben Joppru
WR Ben Obomanu
LB Kevin Bentley
OL Mansfield Wrotto
DE Jason Babin
QB Charlie Frye

If Bentley can go, I'd think they would not want to deactivate Will Herring or Lance Laury in case Bentley or Leroy Hill gets injured during the game, which I think would mean that Ellis Wyms would be next in line. With Joppru out, Tom Ashworth could get some extra work that would mean he needs to stay active.

Out

LB Rashad Jeanty (shin)
S Ethan Kilmer (knee)
WR Tab Perry (hamstring)

Doubtful

LB Ahmad Brooks (groin)
LB Lemar Marshall (groin)
C Eric Ghiaciuc (thumb)

Questionable

OT Willlie Anderson (foot)
WR Antonio Chatman (hamstring)
S Chinedum Ndukwe (hamstring)

Probable

S Dexter Jackson (back)
Wr T.J. Houshmanzadeh (knee)
CB Deltha O'Neal (knee)
DE Bryan Robinson (foot)
DE Frostee Rucker (hamstring)

Incidentally, Ben Obomanu has been listed as doubtful for Seattle rather than out.

It was a relatively uneventful 90-minute practice where the players went through all the different scenarios.

One of the things the team has changed though is that where special teams used to be a part of the regular practice, now it is held before practice. I think new coach Bruce DeHaven wanted the special teams to be a part of the bigger picture but it would break up the continuity of the practice in that fashion.

=> Read more!

Ben Obomanu came out and practiced early, but he quickly switched to the far field and was getting individual work in. He is out for Sunday's game, as is D.J Hackett and Ben Joppru. Maurice MOrris missed practice and is doubtful. Holmgren said Morris and Obomanu are likely to be back next week.

Kevin Bentley missed practice and is a game-time decision, according to Holmgren. He had a thing in his back that Holmgren said he has never heard of before, a kink or a nerve issue, as Holmgren said. (Not big into specifics here.) He is better, Holmgren said, but still a game-time decision.

Shaun Alexander still will wear the protective device on his left wrist.

I'll post Bengals injuries in a little bit.

We took a few days off from the links, so we can provide you with something to take you away from work on your Friday afternoon.

This week's opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals...
Here's what the local papers in the area are saying.

The Cincinnati Post
The Bengals are lacking third down conversions. The attempt to rebuild the defense after the departure of Takeo Spikes is failing. Shaun Alexander knows the Cincy defense will have something to prove on Sunday.

The Cincinnati Enquirer
New addition — linebacker Dhani Jones — could help immediately, particularly in special team. Here's the Enquirer's story from the teleconference with Shaun Alexander. A little more detail on the Bengals' injuries. Here's a story on how the turnovers have hurt and helped the Bengals.

The Columbus Dispatch
Rookie defensive back Leon Hall has gotten a reality check about how tough the NFL really is.

The Dayton Daily News
Wide receiver TJ Houshmanzadah isn't worried about all the big hits he's been taking.

Here's some position by position matchups from Bengals.com

OTHER STUFF ...
Here's SI's Peter King's weekly picks. He has the Seahawks winning 30-24. It's about half and half for the ESPN experts on who will win. While we're on picks, here's the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons' picks... he's still loving the Seahawks.

I think it was linked in earlier commments, but here's Sando's latest story for ESPN.

Profootballweekly.com breaks down a few one-on-one match-ups. One is Deion Branch vs. Bengals corner Jonathan Joseph.

AUDIO ALERT:
Gregg Doyel, a columnist for CBS Sportsline, has a radio show on the Sports Animal, 1530 AM in Cincy. Here's a couple podcasts from his show. He and his co-host Mo, talk about their expectations for Sunday's game here. And here's segment with Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com about the Bengals and the game.

Here's a little more from host Tim Lewis. He had a segment with Bengals defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnhan, who's been taking heave criticism all week. Here's an interview with Sportsillustrated.com NFL writer Andrew Perloff. Here's an interview with Bengals defensive captain John Thornton. Here's more discussion about the game with the Hawks.

I joined in the fray and wrote a piece on Chad Johnson for today's paper, though I focused on why exactly Johnson is considered a fun-loving guy while Terrell Owens is viewed as a selfish malcontent. I invite you to throw in your two cents on the matter in the blog.

The team practices this morning at 11:30. I'll file as soon as I can after that. It was a long Friday practice two weeks ago and a shorter practice last week. Interesting to see if Kevin Bentley practices today, especially since Leroy Hill was nicked up last week. Bentley's back injury seemed to come out of no where. Hopefully he is able to go.

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

T Willie Anderson (foot)
LB Ahmad Brooks (groin)
LB Lemar Marshall (groin)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

S Nedu Nedukwe (hamstring)
DE Bryan Robinson (foot)
CB Deltha O'Neal (knee)

FULL PARTICIPATION
Wr T.J Houshmanzadeh
WR Antonio Chatman
S Dexter Jackson
C Eric Ghiacuic
De Frostee Rucker

A couple days ago somebody asked me what happens to the money that somebody like Belichick is fined. I asked Tim Ruskell and he said the money normally goes back to the league to cover expenses and things like that. He said he didn't know what they did with an amount as large as the one Belichick gave up.

Brian Russell was asked about the head-butt and he said it was no big deal and that, in fact, he didn't even know that he had gotten hit he was so into the game. Seems unlikely anything comes from it if the Seahawks are not really complaining.

In what the Seahawks hope is a good omen for one of the best pass offenses in the league, there were a flurry of interceptions today, including two by Lofa Tatupu, who looked like he was building on the interception he had in Arizona on Sunday.

=> Read more!

Kevin Bentley was the newest addition to the non-practicing players. Bentley was not even out on the field with a bad back. Won't know his status for Sunday until tomorrow.

Maurice Morris (hip) did not practice and neither did Ben Obomanu (hamstring). I spoke with Obomanu a little after practice and he said he felt good one day last week and then not so good the next day, and so they did not clear him to play because of the tender nature of the injury. Obomanu was at least on the far field doig some individual work. Morris was not participating at all. Ben Joppru (ankle) also did not practice. I'll update Bengals injuries when they are given to us.

These odds are courtesy of Bodog.com

CIN vs. SEA) Seattle Seahawks Total Team Points

Over 27½ Pts -120

Under 27½ Pts -120

How many passing yards will Cincinnati give up against Seattle

Over 270½ -120

Under 270½ -120

=> Read more!

Here is Dave Boling's column discussing the Seahawks' views of Chad Johnson.

Darrin Beene covered practice on Wednesday and writes about the return of dropped passes, which have plagued the Seahawks in the past. At the bottom of the story are highlights from Mike Holmgren's Wednesday news conference.

In Cincinnati, defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnhan takes the blame for the Bengals' hideous performance on Sunday against Cleveland.

The Seahawks practice at 1:30 this afternoon in preparation for the Cincinnati Bengals.

One funny note I forgot to mention yesterday: When I called my editor, he said, "That was a funny message you left." I asked, "What message?" He said, "Didn't you leave a message impersonating Chad Johnson?" It was not me. Apparently, somebody left messages with a bunch of media folks all over town that originates from Johnson's web site, www.trashtalk85.com. You can go to it and click on the trash talk link and have Johnson send one of your friends a message.

The Seahawks were not very impressive until Nate Burleson's punt return in the second quarter against Tampa Bay, and then not until their last drive of the first half against Arizona. Mike Holmgren on Wednesday addressed the slow starts and the reason the offense has not been able to get into a rhythm.

"Well, we take a great deal of pride in starting the game fast, if possible. Scoring on our first drive, and things like that. I thought we
had a good start in Arizona , and then all of sudden we can't get off on the snap count. That's hard for me. And that killed that first drive. Otherwise, we started the game and had three straight completions, bang, bang, bang- and then all of a sudden we can't do anything. That set the tone a little bit, and that also allowed field position to factor into the first quarter. By the middle of the second quarter with about seven minutes to go we went down there and scored. And in the second half we moved the ball. We were playing. But, absolutely, we had two dropped passes for potential first downs in the first half. Not tough catches. And the penalties. If we just clean that up, and that's not asking for the moon. It's on 'two.' Go off on 'two', we should be better. It should work better. But the season's a long season. We've started slow in the past, then you get your rhythm and you feel better about things. I'm not too concerned right now."

=> Read more!

(On trouble he has had for his trademark celebrations…) “You have to remember, everything I do is just fun; fun in a loving nature way. You have to realize the difference between things that I do and other people. All mine is about having fun and entertaining the fans and those who watch the game, that’s all.”

=> Read more!

Here's the official injury report for Sunday's game:

OUT
WR D.J. Hacket

Did not practice:
WR Ben Obomanu (hamstring)
RB Maurice Morris (hip)

Limited practice
T Sean Locklear (knee)
TE Ben Joppru (ankle)

Note: Joppru hurt his ankle early on in practice and missed some time but did come back toward the end.

The Bengals injury list:

OUT
LB Rashad Jeanty (shin)
S Ethan Kilmer (knee)
WR Tab Perry (hamstring)

Did not practice:
LB Ahmad Brooks (groin)
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (knee)
S Dexter Jackson (back)
LB Lemar Marshall (groin)
S Nedu Ndukwe (hamstring)

Limited practice:
C Eric Ghiaciuc (thumb)
DE Bryan Robinson (foot)

Just got done with practice at the Seahawks facility. A few quick things:

LB Leroy Hill (foot) practiced with the first team and said he feels "100 percent." Hill said he would have like to have played against the Cardinals but he knows it was wise to sit out one game instead of hurting himself. "It was an injury where it needed a week just to be cool," Hill said. "I had to do it. But you want to play every game because it's hard watching your team playing, sitting back home on your couch."

Tackle Sean Locklear bumped knees and, as a precaution, sat out the last part of drills with ice wrapped around his leg. "I'm not worried about it at all," Locklear said.

Mike Holmgren said the Seahawks are taking the approach: "New week. New game. We'll lick our wounds and move on."

He said he thinks the team's slow starts in the first two games can be attributed to overanalyzing what the other team is doing. Specifically, he said, Matt Hasselbeck tends to overthink issues when sometimes he needs to just go out and play. Less is better sometimes, he said. You could see the game against Arizona turn when he stopped trying to be too perfect and went out and played. Ironically, in the end, it was overthinking again that cost the Seahawks the game.

=> Read more!

Mike Holmgren said that Leroy Hill will practice this afternoon. Maurice Morris, Ben Obomanu and D.J. Hackett will not practice.

In light of Jordan Babineaux getting a contract extension on Tuesday, I checked with Marcus Trufant's agent to see if anything was happening there. Mike Sullivan said that he and Tim Ruskell have had discussions regarding Trufant's impending free agency next offseason, but that nothing is currently happening.

A story featured on the front of ESPN.com, written by Kevin Jackson, speaks prominently about this blog and the reactions of some of the folks commenting after the loss in Arizona. The story is headlined, "Overreaction Nation."

Well, Chad Johnson did not disappoint, and this was a time when it really is a shame that the NFL instituted its no-audio rule because Johnson was very entertaining. I included one portion of the audio where Johnson was asked why the Bengals' offense was so good. He was not shy about lauding the Bengals' skills, and says that Levi Jones is better than Walter Jones. It's worth a listen.

As for what he plans on doing at Qwest Field, he said he hasn't come up with anything yet, but then said he thought maybe he would do something with a cheerleader. Maybe go over and kiss a cheerleader after he scores. He also apparently is allowing fans to vote whether or not he had a good game at www.trashtalk85.com.

He said the shot that Brian Russell got on him last year was the only time in his career that he has been hit solidly. He said he never should have gone for the ball, reached high and was laid out. He said he holds no ill will toward Russell and that they love playing against one another.

I'll try to post some of Johnson's quotes later on today.

We have a conference call with Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson at 10:05 this morning, followed by Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.

At noon, the media meets with Mike Holmgren for his weekly news conference, followed by practice at 1:35.

I will blog as often as I can on whatever information comes out of the various events.

The Bengals on Tuesday released linebacker Andre Frazier, further weakening an already suspect special teams unit.

Since 2005, Matt Hasselbeck leads the NFLwith a 101.7 passer rating in the closing 2:00 of each half (min. 75 att.). This week’s opponent, Carson Palmer, ranks second on the list. During his time in Seattle, Hasselbeck has thown just five interceptions inside the red zone since the start of 2001. In that same span, he’s passed for 71 touchdowns inside the red zone.

Highest Passer Rating, Last 2:00 of Each Half Since 2005

Att Comp Yds Pct TD Int Rate

Hasselbeck (Sea) 120 72 928 60.0 10 3 101.7

Palmer (Cin) 147 99 995 67.3 11 4 100.0

Brees (NO) 147 89 1,203 61.0 11 6 94.6

Green (Mia) 98 53 701 54.1 6 1 93.1

This just in:

The Lions’ overtime win over the Vikings and the Cardinals’ last-second victory over the Seahawks will be re-broadcast on NFL Replay.

NFL Network will re-air the games in a fast-paced, 90-minute format on Wednesday, September 19 at 8:00 PM ET (Vikings-Lions) and 10:30 PM ET (Seahawks-Cardinals).

2007 Seahawks Bengals
Record 1-1 1-1
Total Yards Gained 713 767
Total Offense (Rank) 356.5 (12) 383.5 (8)
Rush Offense 115.5 (13) 96 (20)
Pass Offense 241 (11) 287.5 (3)
Points Per Game 20.0 (14t) 36.0 (3)
Total Yards Allowed 715 868
Total Defense 357.5 (23) 434.0 (30)
Rush Defense 111 (16t) 166.5 (28)
Pass Defense 111.0 (23) 267.5 (27t)
Points Allowed/Game 14.5 35.5
Possession Avg. 29:10 29:30
Sacked/Yds. Lost 3/21 2/20
Sacks Made/Yds. Lost 5/16 2/15
Interceptions By 1 3
Penalties/Yds. 7/60 8/56
Punts/Avg. 11/41.5 10/43.1
Turnover Differential +1 (8t) +2 (5t)

Darren Beene was up in Kirkland covering the Monday press conference while Frank and Dave were traveling back. Here's his story. Here's another story about the Seahawks' thoughts on their upcoming opponent.

This week's opponent: The Cincinnati Bengals...
Head coach Marvin Lewis and the media are having issues. One columnist calls him smug and condescending. Another says Lewis is taking them as fools. Part of the reason for the ire is that Lewis refused to talk about his team's defensive deficients. And he didn't talk much about solutions for the problems. Here's a quick breakdown of the offensive and defensive numbers from the Bengals loss.

Around the NFC West...
San Francisco 17, St. Louis 16
A grieving Frank Gore helped lead the 49ers to an ugly win. Columnist Ray Ratto points out that ugly can be beautiful when it's a win. The Niners defense shut down the "The Greatest Show on Turf" Columnist Mark Purdy also says that style points mean little on the scoreboard.

Even after the win, head coach Mike Nolan is getting some criticism about his team's offense and his play calling, which some think is too conservative.

Around the NFL ...

Here's Sports Illustrated's Peter King's Monday Morning QB column ....

And here's ESPN Page 2's Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning QB column ....

Yahoo's and former SI writer Michael Silver also has a weekly wrap up column....

Jordan Babineaux's agent, John Rickert, confirmed that the defensive back is signing a five-year contract extension worth $10 million to $12 million that could be worth as much as $17 million with escalators. Babineaux got $3 million guaranteed. According to Rickert, he has been having discussions with Tim Ruskell for a few weeks and the deal was finalized Monday night, after fine-tuning the contract. In light of some of the lucrative contracts given to defensive backs last summer, Babineaux could potentially have gotten a bigger deal elsewhere. "That was always an option," Rickert said, "but what it came down to here was loyalty for both sides. The Seahawks have been loyal to Jordan and he wanted to be loyal to them. With this deal, he could fill a need in their secondary, whether it's at cornerback or safety, for the next five years."

Just got back from the locker room. Here's more from Holmgren, as promised.

Holmgren intimated that the NFC West division is going to be close and that the other teams in the division have gotten better, if the games so far are any indication. "If you look at all those games, the point differential, they are all one-point games, two-point games, games won in the last 10 seconds. I think it's going to be like that, I think it's going to be a year like that in our division."

Injuries, or a lack thereof, was a high point. Holmgren said no one was seriously injured and that Mo Morris has the best chance at being able to play vs. Bengals. He also said Leroy Hill has a chance to play because the team really wanted to take it easy with his foot injury. One note about Alexander's wrist is that he will probably continue to wear the brace for the time being. Holmgren said the swelling is down and that there's no pain, but they want to keep it that way.

Holmgren positively gushed about Bengals QB Carson Palmer, saying he was a "football player, and is big and strong and he throws the ball so well, he's a pretty passer. His spirals are typically tight, he can make all the throws."

Here are some of the highlights from Holmgren's Monday press briefing:

He thought the offense played much better in the second half after struggling through the opening two quarters. He said some of that improvement with the running game came after the coaches switched to a different set of plays after seeing what the Cardinals defense was doing.

Not too pleased with the defense, which he said was blocked well by the Cardinals. The Seahawks did not record a sack despite Arizona starting two rookies on the line. Holmgren also credited Matt Leinart for doing a good job of buying a little time.

More to come...

An update: It looks like technical difficulties saved me from myself. I had forgotten that this year, reporters can only use 45 seconds of audio according to NFL regulations.

Sorry if I got your hopes up.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren just wrapped up his weekly news conference, talking for about 22 minutes. The first question after his opening statements was about the Matt Hasselbeck-Shaun Alexander fumble that led to Arizona's game-winning field goal.

Holmgren said what happened was Hasselbeck was calling a fake audible, something he frequently does throughout the game in order to throw the defense off. However, because of the noise, several players did not pick up on that, so that's where the confusion began.

Alexander wasn't the only player who did not fully know what was going on. Holmgren said Mack Strong and "two receivers" were also confused. He said the Arizona player who caused the fumble got in the backfield because someone zigged when they should have zagged.

The Seahawks announced defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs had successful knee surgery last week at the Seattle Surgery Center.

Tubbs, who injured his right knee in the last exhibition game, had ACL reconstruction. He is out for the season.

In a few minutes, Coach Mike Holmgren will address the media. Safe bet they'll be a few questions about the botched exchange.

– Darrin Beene

Opening Statement:
“Obviously a good effort there at the end. We made a play to win the football game, which was big for our football team. Especially being able to run the ball at the end of the game and get in field position, that’s what we talked about all of preseason and even into the season, so it was nice to see us be able to do that.”

=> Read more!

Good morning

Okay, wheels up at 5:30 a.m. out of Phoenix (then a brutal 3 ½ hour layover in LA) so I thought I’d try to get a quick thread started.

The atmosphere in the locker room last night was of stunned disbelief. We’ve had some discussions about the weird games they’ve had down here, and I always go back to the 1995 game that went to overtime because both teams were so flamboyantly inept. In the end, Mack Strong tipped a John Friesz pass up in the air so that Aeneas Williams could return it for the game-winning touchdown. As he raced upfield past the Seahawk bench, Dennis Erickson, in his first year with the Hawks, seemed to fall to the ground as if he’d been shot in the gut. I believe that one felt worse for the lads than did the one this time around. Last year was no picnic here, either, as Deion Branch came up inches short on a fourth-down completion.

=> Read more!

Well, I'm re-watching the game on my DVR. I don't know why. I guess I must enjoy pain.

Besides the rough first half and the awful ending, listening to Fox's JV announce crew of Chris Rose, formerly of the Best Damn Sports Show, and Terry Donahue is like listening to Britney Spears sing, not lip sync. And what was up with Fox's on-field microphones? You couldn't hear anything on the field, all you could hear is the annoying Cardinal fans sounding like morons.

I must have replayed the last play about 20 times, I don't know who's fault it was. I don't care. It's inexcusable. And it eerily reminded my of the movie "All the Right Moves."

Here's Frank's game story with his game box at the end. Dave wrote about the growing number of divisional losses for the Hawks. Deion Branch had a big day receiving, which was good for my fantasy team, especially after going catchless last week. But he would rather have had the win and no catches. Really Josh Brown should have got the game winning kick, not Neil Rackers.

Here's how the opposing papers covered the game.

The Arizona Republic...
Here's the game story from beat writer Kent Somers. The game notebook dealt with Matt Leinart rebounding from subpar performance. Here's a story on the Cardinals special teams solid showing. Here's the game rewind box.

Columnist Dan Bickley thinks the Cards kicked out some of their losing demons with the win. The paper also has "Fanboy" do a running blog of the game. Here is his ramblings.

The East Valley Tribune...
Here's Cards beat writer Mike Tumulello's game story. This is their story on Leinart's improved play. The game notebook leads with Neil Rackers overcoming his past failures in the same situation.

Columnist Scott Bordow praised the play of the Cards offensive line, not usually considered a team strength.

Phewww, that was a bit of a long day and unexpected outcome -- I think for everybody. To give you an idea of what went on, which follows up my earlier explanation of the botched play, it basically was Shaun's fault. Now, I'm not sure exactly how he communicated that to his teammates or Mike Holmgren, who was told that he thought it was an audible, and I'm not sure I am buying the audible thing. He kind of changed stories a couple times in his explanation. First, he thought it was an audible. Then, everybody knew it was a run play, including him. Then, when he saw Hayes in the backfield he thought it was an audible. My guess from listening to everybody is that he thought he may have heard an audible but wasn't sure, then when he saw the play was broken second-guessed himself, and by then it was too late.

=> Read more!

On being involved in the offense:
“I was having a great week of practice, and we were just executing our plays.”

On it being slippery on the field:
“Yeah it was slippery, it was muggy, it was hot. I just tried to make plays and put my team in a better position to win.”

On making big plays:
“That’s my goal, every time I touch the ball I try to score. There were a couple of plays that Matt and I were able to hook up on and for us to make something happen.”

=> Read more!

On the fumble:
“I think I’m just in shock right now. I don’t know what happened. I was kind of in between handing the ball to Shaun or just holding onto it and a guy came through the middle of us, and the ball was on the ground. At that point I wasn’t hearing any whistles so I tried to get on it.”
On the offense’s slow start:
“I thought we came out offensively and started the drive great. We jumped offsides twice, which is inexcusable. It happens sometimes when you are thinking about it too much or if you are not very focused; sometimes the crowd noise, you have to give them credit for that. I thought we came out and we had a great start to our drive, but then you get in third and forever situations you are probably going to end up punting.”

=> Read more!

Opening Statement:
"Tip your hats to the Cardinals, they played a good football game. For us it was a tale of two halves. We weren't very good in the first half and we were a little better in the second. We had a chance there at the end to win and we misfired at the end. That's pretty much what happened. We didn't do anything right in the first half. In the second, we got it together and started playing."

On the fumble on the last possession by the Seahawks:
"It was miscommunication. We weren't getting too exotic there. We went in hoping to kick a field goal like they did and it didn't happen. It hasn't happened before, probably won't happen again. Shaun (Alexander) thought Matt (Hasselback) had audibled is really what it was. It was loud and so he was doing something Matt didn't expect. Instead of just trying to live for another day, they tried to make a play and then it happened."

=> Read more!

I have to write my daily stuff but here is an explanation of what everybody said happened:

The play was designed as a handoff to Shaun. Josh Brown had told Holmgren to get them to the 38 and he would be good for a field goal attempt. They were on the 36. They were being conservative. Shaun said he overthought the play when he saw Gerald Hayes come shooting in on the play. Shaun said he thought he heard Matt audible, and then when he saw Hayes come in he thought, 'OH, maybe it is a pass play. I better block for Matt.' Meanwhile, Hasselbeck is trying to hand the ball off, trying to hand the ball, isn't sure what is happening, thought maybe a whistle had blown and he had not heard it. He hands the ball to Shaun while Shaun is trying to block for Hasselbeck, Hayes knocks the ball loose, game over.

Just up from the locker room. Holmgren called the key fumble a "miscommunication." Both he and Matt said that Shaun thought Matt had audibled to another play. THe play was nothing new, but something that Matt called a "bread and butter" play. Holmgren said he'd never lost a game on a late fumble like that.

Gotta start cranking copy. Gonna write about the withering (withered?) Seahawk dominance in the division.

A heart-breaking loss that looked like a win until a botched handoff between Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck, which led to a 42-yard field goal by Neil Rackers with 1 second left. I will be back in three or four hours with postgame stuff.

Seahawks

Shaun Alexander 8 rushes 10 yards
Matt Hasselbeck 12-20 121 yards 1 TD
Bobby Engram 3 rec. 37 yards
Deion Branch 3 rec. 27 yards
Nate Burleson 2 rec. 39 yards, 1 TD

Arizona
Edgerrin James 10 rushed 59 yards
Matt Leinart 14-21 192 yards 1 TD
Larry Fitzgerald 4 rec 60 yards
Anquan Boldin 3 rec 48 yards

Nate Burleson’s spinning, twisting touchdown at the end of the half and Neil Rackers’ 54-yard field goal off the upright gave the Seahawks at least something to feel good about in a 17-7 deficit, but prior to that there wasn’t much to point to that was positive. This isn’t quite preseason in Green Bay, but at times it was not too far removed. The Cardinals are controlling the line of scrimmage, Seattle’s run game is non-existent and its passing game is hampered by dropped passes in key situations. Shaun Alexander looks bothered by the sprained wrist, though to be fair a great deal of his struggles have to do with the fact that Arizona’s D line is getting a huge push at the snap. The Cardinals are doing a pretty nice job of mixing in their runs and passes, though it sometimes looks like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin could get open whenever they wanted. I think the Sehawks are going to have to go almost exclusively to the pass in the second half. The first three plays of the game were pass plays, all successful, and that seems to be the only thing working today. Hasselbeck came out looking determined on that touchdown drive. The Seahawks’ defensive line is not getting the type of pressure on Leinart it got on Jeff Garcia last week. I don’t remember seeing Patrick Kerney in the backfield once the way he was last week. I’ll post halftime stats when we get them.

The ghosts of 2004 are back to haunt the Seahawks. Already in this game, Marcus Pollard, Bobby Engram and Deion Branch have dropped passes. Engram's would have been a first down.

On second down in the series when the Seahawks started on their own 1, Leonard Weaver came in as the tailback, lined up as the fullback and had to be reminded by Mack Strong that he was the tailback. On third down, Alvin Pearman came in late, Weaver went out and that was what forced Hasselbeck to call timeout just before the clock went to 0.

You probably cant see it on TV, but there is a nice little battle going on with Larry Fitzgerald and Kelly Jennings. They got into it after one play where they had to be separated. Fitzgerald is using his size to block the smaller Jennings and I dont think Jennings likes it.

In the dime package, Josh Wilson and Jordan Babineaux come into the game, Patrick Kerney moves from left end to right tackle and Darryl Tapp moves to left end. Julian Peterson goes from linebacker to right end.

Presumably because NAte Burleson is starting at WR, Alvin Pearman was back with Josh Wilson returning kickoffs.

FB Tim Castille
C Al Johnson
C Nick Leckey
OL Brad Badger
DT Alan Branch
WR Jerheme Urban
DE Quentin Moses
DT Ross Kolodziej

QB Charlie Frye
WR D.J. Hackett
RB Maurice Morris
DE Jason Babin
LB Leroy Hill
G Mansfield Wrotto
T Tom Ashworth
WR Ben Obomanu

Here is the weekly pregame sitdown with Dave Boling for insights into the upcoming Seahawks-Cardinals game.

I know it's air-conditioned, but it still feels hot and stuffy in here. It's wicked outside. No, they won't open the roof.

The Cards' run vs. pass issue. I take from Holmgren's comments about always focusing defensively on shutting down the opponents' strength that the run stop is the prime concern. Some Hawks this week talked about Edgerrin James being more of a threat than Matt Leinart. The focus, then, would be to shut down the rush the best they could and then see if Leinart, coming off a bad game, would be able to beat them.

Obviously, Fitzgerald and Boldin create real issues, but if Leinart can't get it to them, it's not such a threat of course. Leinart passed for 102 yards last week. Boldin and Fitzgerald had a combined 7 catches last week for 42 total yards. I'd be stunned if they can't better that today.

It also seems like Neil Rackers always comes up big against the Hawks.

I know a lot of you are not "local" to the Trib, but an interesting story on the Cards is backup tight end Troy Bienemann, a former Washington State tight end whose career seemed dead-ended by some bad knee injuries.

Boling and I just arrived at the University of Phoenix Stadium after nearly getting run off the road by a clearly-drunk-at-10:30-in-the-morning nimrod and then a tractor trailer. Uggh. Speaking of Ugh, this is an ugly stadium. Boling calls it a Jiffy Pop container, and that description is not that far off. Inexplicably, though it is an indoor stadium, there is a wall of glass in front of us in the press box. Kooky.

A few other things to look for in today's game:

How is Holmgren going to free up Deion Branch to get him more catches after a doughnut in the opener?

How is Baraka Atkins going to look replacing Bryce Fisher?

How will Patrick Kerney affect the game against an inexperienced offensive line?

How will the brace on Shaun Alexander's hand affect his ability to hang onto the ball. At times in practice this week, he was carrying it only in the right hand, even if he was running along the left sideline.

Will the undersized Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings be able to and with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin?

How will Courtney Taylor look in the four receiver set?

Will the Cardinals try to establish the run as they did last week or go back to the pass to let Leinart get into more of a rhythm?

How will Nate Burleson fare as the No. 1 split end?

Will Josh Wilson still be a deep man on kickoffs?

I will give updates as they become available.

Good morning. The TV guy just reported that it’s already 84 in Phoenix … before 8 a.m.

I’m glad to know that the extra taxes on our rental car go toward paying off the new indoor stadium.

I wrote for the paper this morning a column about the elevated importance of the first divisional contest. The Hawks have lost three straight NFC West games, which is an obvious indicator that they may still have won the division, but they certainly haven’t been dominant of late.

=> Read more!

Just 24 hours until game time. Some here's some links to get you fired up.

I was wondering. If you aren't watching the game at home, where's your favorite establishment to go watch a game. Taking into consideration food, libations, number of Hawk fans, TV quality, ability to see and hear the game and of course the beauty of the waitresses.

Here's Frank's story on Shaun Alexander and his cast that he will on Sunday for his sprained left wrist.

Here's the latest lines in the NFL. As of post time, the Hawks were 2.5 point favorites.

Here's something from AOL called five questions with an enemy blogger. Some serious smack talking going on.

This week's opponent, the Arizona Cardinals (0-1) ....

The Cardinals defense is getting some respect from opponents, including Matt Hasselbeck. Officially Arizona's defense is ranked second in the NFL, but the Cards aren't making too much of it. According to this story, Arizona has better tailgating than almost everyone in the NFL.

Around the NFL West....
St. Louis (0-1) vs. San Francisco (1-0)

Torry Holt believes this a must-win game for the Rams. St. Louis is starting to figure out who is going to play where on the offensive line. Add cornerback Tye Hill to the list of injured Rams. Head coach Scott Linehan is trying to stay positive in the face of all the injuries. The Rams are expecting an improved 49ers defense.

Frank Gore returned to practice for the Niners.

Around the NFL...

Here's the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons weekly NFL picks.

Brock is back with the blog. Here is the audio from the interview I did with him on Thursday afternoon. We did it out on the practice field so you may hear some pads cracking in the background.

“I think he’s coming out of it and he was struggling. I had some stern talks with him about that because there was a lot expected of him. He’s a good player. He should be a good player. I’m hopeful that whatever was inhibiting his play, now we can get through that. What’s asked of him is a lot more than just that. When guys are struggling they’re struggling. It doesn’t matter really what you ask them to do, they’re struggling. He went through a little tough stretch there but now he’s had a good week of practice. He played well last week so I’m hoping he’s the Leonard Weaver that I believe he can be.”

I am going to assume that the injured guys are not going to play when I make the list of inactives:

LB Leroy Hill
WR Ben Obomanu
RB Maurice Morris
DE Jason Babin
OL Tom Ashworth
OL Mansfield Wrotto
Wr D.J. Hackett

“We’re being real careful with that. He sprained his wrist. He feels good. He feels really good about playing with that thing. He feels better so they’re going to rig something up for him during the game; allow him to play. He’s limited slightly with that thing. It’s different. Let me put it that way. He has to get used to it a little bit. It’s a cast, a small cast. I think it does affect him, certainly, but I told him, ‘Hey, maybe we put a cast on the other hand and things will get better. I don’t know.’ Seriously, anytime a running back or receiver has to wear one of those it’s different.”

Practice was a 1 1/2-hour uneventful affair in which the team went through all its scenarios. I thought the secondary looked pretty good, with Josh Wilson getting an interception toward the end of practice, and I thought Matt Hasselbeck looked particularly sharp, finding receivers in seams all over the field and hitting them in stride.

Game balls from last week were given to Shaun Alexander on offense, Rocky Bernard on defense and Lance Laury on special teams.

After the practice, Mike Holmgren confirmed that Shaun Alexander had a sprained wrist.

=> Read more!

Out

DT Ross Kolodziej (knee)
C Al Johnson (knee)
DT Alan Branch (hand)

Questionable

WR Bryant Johnson (hamtring). He was limited in practice on Friday.

Leroy Hill did not practice again, bothered by a foot injury. He is doubtful for Sunday.

Maurice Morris did not practice after a hip injury. He is doubtful for Sunday.

Ben Obomanu did not practice with a hamstring and he is a game-time decision.

Shaun Alexander will play and coach Mike Holmgren said they will "rig something up" to protect his hand/wrist.

Br

If Hill does not go, Kevin Bentley will start in his place.

If Morris does not go, Alvin Pearman is likely to get his snaps.

And if Obomanu does not play, he will be replaced by Courtney Taylor.

Brandon Mebane practiced and is listed as probable.

In 10 games against the Cardinals, Alexander has rushed for 962 yards on 198 attempts (4.9 average) and 15 touchdowns.

In Seattle's seven victories during that 10-game stretch, Alexander has averaged 112 yards a game and more than two touchdowns.

In Seattle's three losses, Alexander has averaged just 59.3 yards a game and has been held scoreless.

"It’s hard for me to go back to only the good games," Alexander said on Thursday. "When I think about Arizona I always think of the worst plays I’ve had. That’s the thing about every team. There are good plays and there are bad plays. This game I look at as new and I’ll come out and be focused and be ready to go.”

Wednesday was a pretty slow day for coverage because of the Tuesday off-day, but here's plenty of news to make your Friday as unproductive as possible at work.

Here's Frank's story on Baraka Atkins, who will step into the role vacated by Bryce Fisher's trade to Tennessee. Only Shaun Alexander could refer to something as a boo-boo.

AUDIO: Patrick Kerney was on KJR's Mitch in the Morning show. Matt Leinart talked with Warren Moon also on KJR on the Groz with Gas show.

This week's opponent, the Arizona Cardinals....

From the Arizona Republic....Different people took turns, including head coach Ken Whisenhunt and QB Matt Leinart, blaming themselves for the loss to the 49ers. The Arizona media got to speak with Matt Hasselbeck and Mike Holmgren on a conference call on Thursday, here's the story from Arizona Republic. Leinart, who only completed one pass longer than 10 yards, believes preparation is the key for him against the Hawks. It loo

From the East Valley Tribune, Whisenhunt offers some thoughts on the Patriots sign-stealing fiasco in this notebook. The Cardinals will be starting a rookie at center, the guy is from the Phoenix area. Linebacker Karlos Dansby is happy with the shift from inside to outside.

Around the NFC West ...
San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams
RB Frank Gore's mom passed away from kidney disease on Wednesday. Gore missed practice but expects to play Sunday.

Rookie linebacker Patrick Willis is going to be a stud. And he's learning plenty from his position coach, you may have heard of him — Mike Singletary. Willis is making more impact than perhaps in any rookie in the NFL. Quarterback Alex Smith's uncle — longtime college coach John L. Smith — is a scout for the Rams. Head coach Mike Nolan switched practice times this week to simulate game time in St. Louis. Deactivated tackle Kwame Harris is preparing to be traded. Head coach Mike Nolan says he's learned from the 4th down and inches mistake he made a year ago in St. Louis.

Rams defensive tackle Claude Wroten has been suspended by the NFL for four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Orlando Pace's season-ending injury has obviously cause some serious juggling on the offensive line. Receiver Drew Bennett hopes to be ready to play on Sunday. Columnist Jeff Gordon has a few questions the Rams must answer. Here's his list of complaints from the loss to Carolina.

Around the NFL ...
Forbes released its list of the most valuable NFL franchises. The Cowboys rank the highest. SEattle ranks 19th.

The NFL handed out its punishment for "spygate" for the Patriots.
The Professor John Clayton thought it was too light of a punishment. Mike Sando (you remember him right?) breaks down what's legal and what isn't in this situation. Here's SI's Peter Kings thoughts on the punishment.

ESPN Page 2's Gregg Easterbrook writes a lenghthy but entertaining weekly called Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Another Bengals player in trouble. As a dog owner, that's my biggest fear is aggressive pit bulls attacking my way too friendly yellow lab.

Read the analysis of Ken Hamlin's play at the bottom, better get used to it.

I was able to catch up with Brock today at practice and we did about a 7 1/2 minute analysis of the Arizona Cardinals and the Seahawks' upcoming game with them. He was great and I understand why so many of you want to hear him regularly. I am going to post that for your listening enjoyment on Saturday morning as Boling and I make our way down to Arizona.

Also, Seahawks have practice tomorrow at 11:35. They also will release a formal list of their injured players and we should have a better idea of who may or may not play on Sunday.

There is not a great deal to report about practice. It was workmanlike, though not as long as last week's practices in preparation for the season opener. The units basically ran through all their sets.

I have to wonder what the Seahawks are planning to do at wide receiver if Ben Obomanu is restricted by a hamstring injury, as he was in practice on Thursday. He was going to be the fourth wide receiver, which means that the only receiver they have left after that is Courtney Taylor. It could be that they are resting his hamstring so that he doesn't put too much pressure on it for two consecutive days, but if he is actually hurt you have to ask if they are considering bringing Logan Payne off the practice squad. They could go to only four WRs on the active roster, as they did last week, but they lost a part of their game plan when they did that and D.J. Hackett was lost for the game. Interesting that a position with so much depth in the preseason is now lacking depth, or, perhaps more accurately, bodies.

=> Read more!

Leroy Hill did not practice. He has a sore foot. He told me on Wednesday that he would practice today and expects to play Sunday but was not dressed.

Mo Morris did not practice. He continues to be bothered by a sore hip.

Brandon Mebane did not practice. He has a sore shoulder.

And Ben Obomanu dressed but had limited participation in practice. He continues to be bothered by a hamstring.

The team does not have to list the probability of them playing until tomorrow afternoon.

The post headline is a little misleading because there is not much of an update. Shaun spoke today and said very very little about his hand/wrist injury. In fact, it was one of the more bizarre interviews of being vague that I have been a part of -- and that includes multiple interviews with Clay Bennett, the King of Vapid -- the reason that I have included the audio of the interview with Shaun in this post. Make of it what you will. Basically, his wrist or hand hurts, he doesn't want to make a big deal of it, he is going to play, he is wearing a protective device, story over.

The Seahawks practice today at 1:20. I'll post updates after that, and Shaun Alexander is scheduled to speak to the media.

Darrin Beene wrote a good story on Charlie Frye in today's News Tribune. At the bottom of that story are some highlights from Mike Holmgren's weekly news conference.

Dave Boling crafts a nice column about the message that all these moves by Tim Ruskell sends to the players: You are never safe.

KIRKLAND, WASH. – The Seattle Seahawks announced today the start of a new weekly online contest that will earn one fan four roundtrip tickets to Hawaii, courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines, combined with four tickets to the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl on February 10.

“This promotion rewards one of our fans with the ultimate football prize,” said Seahawks COO John Rizzardini. “And the winners get to fly there on the team’s charter airline partner for the complete football experience.”

=> Read more!

Out

DT Ross Kolodziej (knee)
C Al Johnson (knee)

Did not Participate in Practice

DT Alan Branch (hand)

Charlie Frye got some snaps, but he threw two interceptions during 7-on-7 drills, one by Brian Russell, one by Lofa Tatupu. Frye also threw a deep touchdown pass, hitting the receiver perfectly in stride. Afterwards, he said he was happy to be in Seattle. He was somewhat shocked at being traded, particularly after putting so much work in in Cleveland over the past couple of seasons. But, he said, when you take a step back and look at the big picture and the drafting of Brady Quinn, this is probably the best thing that could have happened to his career. I will try to post a few of his quotes later. He stayed after practice and worked with Jim Zorn and some receivers, and afterward Zorn said the biggest obstacle in his learning curve is learning the language the Seahawks use.

=> Read more!

Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander practiced but was wearing a cast or a brace on his left hand. It is unclear exactly what the injury is (hand or wrist) and Shaun was not talking today; tomorrow is his day to speak to the media. He practiced but other running backs got more reps than they normally do. He caught a pass as well but had the majority of his carries in his right hand.

I also spoke with Leroy Hill after practice and he said he is planning on practicing tomorrow and will be able to play Sunday. He said his foot is sore and missing practice today was strictly precautionary.

Maurice Morris is listed in today's injury report as a hip injury. The team does not have to list his availability for Sunday until Friday.

Ken Whisenhunt took the blame for Matt Leinart's poor performance Monday night against San Francisco, saying he got carried away in the 11 days between the last preseason game and the opener. He said he put too much stuff in and probably threw too much at Leinard. Whisenhunt said this week will be focused on scaling back the game plan and trying to perfect what is there. He praised the Seahawks for that, being very efficient with the things they do rather than putting too much in.

Also, he said that he can not carry too much knowledge over from the two weeks he spent studying the Seahawks before the Super Bowl and now. The personnel is different, the defense is different, and their offense is different. So while he has an idea of Seattle's schemes, he said he basically has to start over.

A great deal of Holmgren's news conference was obviously about the trade of Bryce Fisher and the acquisition of Charlie Frye. Holmgren said they are not expecting anything out of Frye this week, and they should not expect much out of him for a while. There is one very inherent problem: He is the third QB, who does not get many reps in practice, so there will not be much opportunity for Frye to acclimate to the Seahawks' system. Holmgren did say he hoped that Frye one day could be good enough to use Seneca Wallace elsewhere, but that, Holmgren said, is a long way from happening.

=> Read more!

Leroy Hill will not practice today and is questionable for Sunday. Hill was on crutches in the locker room on Monday and Mike Holmgren said he has a sprained foot. Not a serious sprain but a sprain nonetheless. Holmgren said he hopes he can go Sunday in Arizona but does not know. I'll let you know after practice who is taking his spot but my guess is it would be Kevin Bentley.

Also, Maurice Morris will not practice today. Holmgren did not say why. I'll see if I can find out later specifics.

Hackett will not practice. Holmgren said he wanted stress that the amount of time he will be out is not yet known because the injury, a high ankle sprain, is not well defined in terms of recovery. He said he is not out for the season but he does not know the length of his absence.

Sorry of the lateness of the links, had to make my way up to Montlake for Huskies practice. But we'll get you some now and hopefully some more later.

Here's some more news out of Cleveland on the Charlie Frye trade. It looks like former Oregon St. QB Derek Anderson, not Brady Quinn, will be the starter. One columnist calls the move baffling. Another believes its another example of the Browns lack of planning and long range vision. Frye believes his best is ahead of him still.

Around the NFL...
It doesn't matter what team you cheer for, this might be the best news of the day, concerning Kevin Everett.

Here's the latest news on the signal stealing fiasco in New England. Coach Bill Belichick even apologized.

Pretty good story from e-ticket on the comeback of Priest Holmes.

Here's yahoo sports newest NFL writer Michael Silver and his weekly column.

This week's opponent the Arizona Cardinals....

Here's some lamentations from the CArds about their disappointing loss to the 49ers. They also made a few minor roster moves. New coach Ken Whisenhunt offered plenty of praise of his team's defense, despite the loss. The Edge feels like everything is just fine with the Cardinals even with the loss.

Mike Holmgren is having his weekly news conference at noon, followed by a news conference with Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt and then an Arizona player. After that, the Seahawks practice, with Charlie Frye getting his first time with the Seahawks. I will post as much information as I can in as quickly a fashion as I can this afternoon.

Here is the link to today's story about the trades involving Charlie Frye and Bryce Fisher.

John McGrath wrote a pretty humorous column about play stealing in New England.

This is courtesy of Deion Branch's charitable foundation:

KIRKLAND – Seattle Seahawks Wide Receiver Deion Branch and his Deion Branch Charitable Foundation will present a Tuesday evening filled with fun, laughs, celebrity bowling and billiards on Tuesday, October 9 to benefit Meningitis Research. The Deion Branch’s “Pins & Pool Cues ” will begin at 6p.m. on October 9 at Garage located in Seattle’s Capital Hill Neighborhood.

=> Read more!

Savage confirmed that the Seahawks gave Cleveland a sixth-round pick for Frye.

"In May, June over the summer, I've stayed in contact with a number of teams who expressed interest in either Charlie and/or Derek. I kept them abreast of our situation, feeling at some point we would move one of those two players. When I came down here a week and half ago, I mentioned we had possibility of bringing Ken (Dorsey) back. Because I felt like it was a realistic possibility, there were still strong signals that there was interest in either of the 2 top quarterbacks we had."

"As an organization, we appreciate everything Charlie has done. He worked as hard as he could work, he did everything he could do. He's been a good soldier all the way through. We certainly don't wish him anything but the best of success out there. Several of the teams I talked to were quarterback-coach, head coach-driven type teams. I think that's a positive for him to go into a situation with a Mike Holmgren. I'm sure Charlie and Trent Dilfer will talk some about the positive situation that it could be for Charlie."

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Have been out of pocket most of the day and dictating stuff to our editor, Dale Phelps, as it has become available. I finally got in front of a computer after we had a teleconference with Tim Ruskell. But the highlights are as follows:

-- Ruskell said this deal for Charlie Frye came together quickly. They had targeted him earlier but the talks had fallen off once Frye won the starting job in Cleveland. Once he had the poor performance on Sunday, the talks were revived and the Seahawks, according to Ruskell, felt like Frye was the best guy available to fill the third QB role that they obviously needed. He also said this is more of a long-term deal not meant to have an immediate impact.

-- No, this had nothing to do with the DJ Hackett injury and it is very unlikely that Seneca Wallace will be used as a WR in Sunday's game. This was something they had been pursuing for some time and probably would have been even if Hackett had remained healthy.

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The long punt return by Nate Burleson that turned the momentum of the game notwithstanding, the Seahawks did not have a great day on special teams, something that new coach Bruce DeHaven admits. The Seahawks covered their kick returns pretty well, but their kickoff returns were less than desirable, with Josh Wilson ducking and dodging on one return and not getting back to the 20. I addressed this a little on Sunday night, but I will be interested to see what they do with Wilson because if he is not getting the ball when he and Burleson are the deep guys, he is not helping out at all. He is avoiding throwing blocks on bigger guys bolting downfield so doesn't do much more than get in the way. Also, the punt coverage was poor, giving up a few big returns that were brought back only because of penalties. "We will get better at that," Mike Holmgren said. "Bruce is a good coach. I know exactly what he wants to do. We did not execute it well. I thought our young (players) were lost a little in the opener. They'll get better."

Frank’s quick take on the Fisher trade:

With Darryl Tapp taking over Fisher’s starting spot, Fisher was getting only about 15-20 percent of the snaps he got last year. And with the acquisition of Jason Babin and Ellis Wyms, who both can slide to the defensive end spot if needed, the Seahawks felt Fisher was expendable. Particularly for a guy who -- while not making any noise --could not have been pleased about losing his role.

Who is Charlie Frye....

Here's a few links to get you acquainted with the newest Seahawks player. This is NFL.com bio and latest stats. Here's another bio from startcharliefrye.com (no, I'm not making this up.)

Frye was sacked five times in the Browns 34-7 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, before being pulled for Derek Anderson. But the Browns had quarterback questions well before the game, and they haven't solved them yet. The Browns did bring back Ken Dorsey, who worked out for the Seahawks last week. Dorsey isn't so much a playing option, but looked as a mentor for Brady Quinn. Apparently coach Romeo Crennel has a plan for his quarterback situation, he just isn't telling the quarterbacks yet. Here's some some more commentary about Charlie Frye.

Around the NFC West...
49ers 20, Cardinals 17
Pretty boring game at times, but the end was decent. But looking at those teams, they didn't seem to be on the Hawks level. Not yet, anyways. Here's the SF Chronicle's game story. Columnist Ray Ratto believes QB Alex Smith was good enough when it counted. Frank Gore didn't have the best game, but don't underestimate his importance to the Niners. The Niners had a long ceremony in honor of Bill Walsh at halftime.

Here's How the Arizona Daily Republic covered it with the "A familiar feeling for Cards." Columnist Dan Bickley said the new era in Cards football (whatever that means) started in disappointment. The East Valley Tribune's Scott Bordow called the performance this year's brand of anguish.

The Seattle Seahawks are on the verge of acquiring Cleveland Browns quarterback Charlie Frye for an undisclosed draft choice.

Frye, 26, will fill the roster spot vacated defensive end Bryce Fisher, who was traded today to the Tennessee Titans for an undisclosed draft choice.

He was not acquired so the team can move backup quarterback Seneca Wallace to wide receiver in the wake of an ankle injury to D.J Hackett. Rather the Seahawks have been looking to get a third quarterback since they released David Greene after the fourth preseason game.

Ken Dorsey, who was in the Browns’ training camp, visited the Seahawks last week but was back in Cleveland on Monday and could now be re-signed by the Browns to replace Frye and help mentor rookie Brady Quinn.

Frye, in his third year out of Akron, was the starter for Cleveland in the season opener Sunday against Pittsburgh. He completed four of 10 passes for 34 yards and was sacked five times in a 34-7 loss. He was replaced by former Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson. He started 13 games for the Browns last season.

Haven’t talked to anybody in the Hawks’ building yet, so I don’t know anything more than you do right now, but I thought it would be good to get a quick link going about what appears to be happening with personnel.

Bryce Fisher to Tennessee? Even though he was a reserve, I didn’t see him as a redundancy. They needed him in the rotation. It seemed pretty clear by the start of the season that Tapp had overtaken him for that starting spot on the right side. I still saw Fisher as a solid enough player and I have not heard specific concerns that he’d grown disgruntled with his new role, although he didn’t look particularly overjoyed to have to talk about it with us. Could be a possibility, however. Guys who are 30 and sense they've been demoted often fall off quickly. I know that I have seen Jason Babin in practice and, yes, he is quick. And, yes, he is tiny. I have a hard time seeing him being more than a pass-rush specialist, which, really, is also Tapp’s strength. Supposedly, Wyms can play inside or outside, but he’s initially been tossed into the thin pile at DT and don't know if it's practical to use him as kind of a swing guy. They may be showing more faith in the rapid development of Baraka Atkins than we could expect.

Sorry, haven’t seen a lot of Charlie Frye. But I still don’t know if he’s coming here. Holmgren has made it clear that a quarterback was on the way. I see that Frye has been sacked 71 times in 21 games, which may mean he’s glacial, slow to get rid of the ball, or an easy target behind that Browns line. He’s young, has been a starter in the league, and the Hawks have good people to work with quarterbacks who have some talent. I would presume he’ll be the No. 3 guy at least for the time being. Among the unknowns at the moment is the cost/return on both possible deals, which will play a factor in how we analyze them, of course. In Frye’s case, it would seem a positive to get a young guy with starter experience to come in and learn the system as a backup.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Bryce Fisher, who does a weekly show on KJR-AM, told co-host Dave Mahler today that he has been traded to the Tennessee Titans.

Fisher’s agent, Peter Schaffer, confirmed the trade and said it was for a draft pick. Schaffer said Fisher did not ask for the trade and was happy with his role in Seattle.

Fisher, a 30-year in his seventh NFL season from Air Force, had been relegated to a reserve role this season when Darryl Tapp won the starting right-end job and the team acquired Patrick Kerney in the offseason.

Fisher, a Renton native, joined the Seahawks from St. Louis after the 2004 season.

One of the biggest topics of conversation on Monday concerned Mike Holmgren and whether his play-calling had become more daring and less conservative in general, and whether he is allowing for more new things across the team. The failed fleaflicker was an obvious example of that, but there were others. He put more men in motion on the offense, he did more shifting. "I think there is an advantage to that," Holmren said. "Any time you can get guys to move prior to the snap, you get a little bit of an edge, I think." Holmgren said somebody pointed out to him that he had not run a fleaflicker since he coached his first game in Seattle, against Detroit, with a similar result. He admitted that outcome does make him more reticent to make bold play-calls.

But he allowed some stuff on the defensive side of the ball too. Patrick Kerney and Darryl Tapp are shifted to the interior positions at times, Julian Peterson is permitted to roam more and Deon Grant was brought up into the box for run support. "As long as you don't go haywire and try to do too much so that you're diluting the product and you're not able to execute properly like, quite frankly, that flea flicker," Holmgren said.

Here is my story this morning on D.J. Hackett's injury, which affects the entire wide receiving crew. Nate Burleson moves into the top spot to replace Hackett but says he will not give up his return duties. Ben Obomanu also will get some time and says his hamstring feels pretty good.

I also wrote a story with Boling on the feelings of rookie Baraka Atkins and Kelly Jennings regarding the injury to Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who is likely paralyzed after suffering a spinal cord injury. Atkins was Everett's teammate at Miami, Jennings, who also played at Miami, also has a relationship with him.

DT Jimmy Kennedy is coming in for a tryout with the Seahawks this week, I believe he is coming in tomorrow. Don't read too much into this, I am told. Usually the team brings in players in groupings at their position so that in case there is somebody injured in the future they have a book on potential replacements. Though this one adds a bit of intrigue because of the recent acquisitions of Jason Babin and Ellis Wyms, so obviously there is a need for a defensive tackle. Kennedy is 325 pounds, though in an ESPN.com story on Kennedy by John Clayton when he was traded from St. Louis to Denver, Clayton mentions that Kennedy was traded because he was not the run stopper the Rams wanted him to be. Denver released Kennedy before the season.

Starting linebacker Leroy Hill walked into the locker room with the aid of crutches. Not entirely sure what the injury is, but my understanding right now is that it is not serious. As of today, Hackett is the only one expected to miss Wednesday's practice, but this is something to keep an eye on.

Patrick Kerney did not have a standout preseason, and in fact garnered some criticism considering his contract, and so I asked Holmgren today if he had any concerns coming into the opener about Kerney. He said that he fully expected Kerney to ramp it up once the season began, in part because he is a veteran player who knows how to handle preseason, in part because he had played against him in Atlanta and knew what type of player he was. With five tackles, 1.5 sacks and four QB hurries, Holmgren apparently knew what to expect from Kerney.

The players are in a "life skills" meeting before they had out for a brief practice this afternoon so I will try to cover a few other things that Holmgren discussed in his Monday news conference. One of the items was the lack of receptions by Deion Branch, which Holmgren said was a combination of good coverage by Tampa Bay but also a lack of creativity in the offensive scheme. Holmgren vowed to draw up some things that will get Branch more receptions because zero us unacceptable, Holmgren said, taking the blame.

=> Read more!

WR D.J. Hackett suffered a high ankle sprain, according to Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, and is going to be out for a significant period. Holmgren was not specific about the amount of time Hackett would miss but it sounds like it is at least a month, perhaps longer.

Ben Obomanu is ready to play and should practice on Wednesday and should step in to take the place of Hackett. Holmgren said Obomanu would have gotten a lot of reps in Sunday's game if he was healthy.

Holmgren also brought up the possibility of Seneca Wallace playing WR in a pinch, a fairly strong indication they are going to sign a third QB. He said Jim Zorn has a pretty good feel for who is out there and available and if the signs somebody they will just sign him not bring anybody in for a bunch of workouts. Ken Dorsey was in last week, remember.

There was a bunch of other stuff Holmgren discussed which I will cover throughout the afternoon but I wanted to get Hackett's injury up ASAP.

Here's some more stuff from around the NFC West and around the league.

First and foremost, the illustrious Mike Sando was at the game on Sunday and wrote about the Bucs. With their PLETHORA of quarterbacks, would you take a chance and acquire Chris Simms from the Bucs?

Sando wrote about Arizona line coach Russ Grimm earlier this week. And he'll be blogging live on espn.com for tonight's Niners-Cardinals game.

Apparently, according to this site anyway, that Hawks fans rank last in tailgating. I just refuse to believe that.

Around the NFC WEST
The supposed two up-and-comers — Arizona and San Francico — in the division are meeting tonight. Or will it be the same old Cardinals this season?

Thanks to a bnemhaus for the head's up. Rams mammoth offensive tackle Orlando Pace is done for the season with a shoulder injury. It only adds to the pain of losing to Carolina 27-13 in the season opener. Columnist Bernie Miklasz rips the Rams defense of lack thereof. While fellow columnist Bryan Burwell criticizes the offense's inability to get the ball to its playmakers. Columnist Jeff Gordon (man the dispatch has a lot of columnists) says there are no excuses for the Rams lack of production.

Around the NFL...

This is a few days old, but ESPN's Bill Simmons picked the Hawks as the second best team in the NFL

Here's Sports Illustrated's Peter King's Monday Morning QB column....

Eli Manning is hurt but how bad remains to be seen.... ESPN's Chris Mortenson is reporting a month at least, but others are reporting something different.

Here's a column criticizing ESPN's influence on Monday Night Football.

Thanks to Roddychop for alerting Linkage about the accusations of stealing signs by the Patriots.

Jets fans were actually cheering when Chad Pennington left the field with a leg injury, which is just classless. They apparently feel that back-up Kellen Clemens is a better QB.

Be honest, who drafted Randy Moss in their fantasy leagues in the third round or higher? He's looking like a steal.

We are reminded about the scary side of professional football with neck injury suffered by Buffalo's Kevin Everett, who had neck surgery and is sedated.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys had a big season opener, but I'm still not drinking the Blue Kool-Aid just yet. And I'm not buying T.O.'s smiling start.

Tacoma's Jon Kitna led the Lions in a comeback win over the Raiders. A good win yes, but they were down to the Raiders? Columnist Drew Sharp called it a beauty contest between lepers, fellow columnist Mitch Albom also offers his take,

Definitely readers of Seahawks Insider

Sorry about the linkage lapse from me. It and I went on a little hiatus, but now it's back for every day and every week. It's the regular season, and Seahawks Insider is about business.

Let's get to it, here's Frank's game story. Dave's column focused on the nasty Seahawks defense. I'm still trying to find a link to the highlight of Lofa crushing Cadillac Williams and turning him into a VW. John McGrath wrote a funny column on the "phantom whistle" from the stands. I loved it on the next play that everyone in the crowd was whistling.

Anyway here's Todd Milles' story on Nate Burleson's big plays and big game. I had the luxury of trying to interview Jerramy Stevens, not so much fun, but here's my story about his return. Here's the game notebook, leading with Mo Morris' touchdown catch. Our news side writer Brent Champaco was out amongst Hawks fans getting fans predictions for the season and drinking in the aura of Qwest and the Hawk Nation.

And finally Captain Boling offers his game grades.

Here's how the opposing team's papers covered the game...
The St. Petersburg Times had a game story with the headline "Knocked Flat". Columnist Gary Shelton wrote about the exposed flaws of the Bucs in the loss. Here's a story on the three punt returns that greatly affected the outcome of the game. Here's another story on the linebacker play of the Bucs, including two key mistakes. Back-up Luke McCown said he was ready when Jeff Garcia got his bell rung. Cadillac Williams hasbruised ribs (never a good feeling), and looking at the picture he's hurting.

The Tampa Tribune's headline for the game story was "A painful start.". Columnist Martin Fennelly writes that the journey won't be any easier for the Bucs. This is their fan blogger writing about the game from home (we need to do this for our paper). Here's their game notebook and another story on the punt returns. And finally here's a story on how the Bucs' offensive line thought it controlled the game early.

And finally the Orlando Sentinel's headline for the game story read: "Seahawks knock Bucs silly in opener". Jeff Garcia played fearless and paid the price for it. And here's the game notebook, focusing on the offensive line play.

There is not anywhere that I know of where the entire Holmgren postgame press conference is held. I will try to post the transcripts as quickly as possible after the game. It should be simple to cut and paste in the middle of writing my daily stuff instead of dumping it all in at the end.

I think it's a good idea to post the links to the News Tribune stories every morning. Either myself or Ryan Divish will try to take care of that.

The Seahawks don't provide the type of information about how many times the QB makes a pass attempt to a particular player. Off the top of my head, I only remember one attempt to Branch and, to his defense, the throw was a bit high and would have gotten clobbered. I will go through my play-by-play later today and see if there were any other passes intended for him. But Hasselbeck only missed a few attempts -- one of which was dropped by Alexander and one that was a poor throw to Mack Strong. If I played Fantasy, which I do, Burleson would seem like a pretty good pickup. I'll update Hackett's status this afternoon.

We successfully made it through the first regular-season game with a 20-6 victory, so the blog is going to use this feel-good opportunity to redirect a part of the forum. I have not enjoyed the negative direction some of the comments part of the blog has taken, and from the inbox section of my email a lot of others are not appreciating it either. Remember, this blog gets a lot of activity and the folks who post in the comments section represent only a small portion. This is a football blog. Specifically a Seahawks blog. This is not a place for you to spout your frustrations over your job, children, wife, friends, life – or lack thereof in any of those aspects. If you want to post, keep your posts related to the Seahawks or anything else in the NFL. I welcome the Billy Watsons of the world who add to the conversation with insightful knowledge and additional information. If you don’t like the way the Billy Watsons present their information, skip their posts. Internalize your contempt. But please avoid personal attacks. If you post personal attacks, they will be deleted.

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RB SHAUN ALEXANDER

(On the game today…) They are a good defense. Everyone knows that Tampa Bay is going to come and they are going to try to stop the run and pressure the quarterback. They played their typical good defense today. We have a good offense, and it took us a while to catch up. Once we got it going it went better for us.

(On hitting his stride in the second half…) We just play. Our line just got up on people, and after a while they said, “Shaun, you’ll figure it out.” That’s part of the groove. It takes a while for us to get used to putting our best against their weak spots. Once we find it, things go well for us. It just took us a while to figure it out.

(On the win today…) It’s always exciting anytime you give up field goals instead of touchdowns, that’s a good thing. Matt said earlier, you always feel upset whenever you have to punt the ball, especially in our case, because I am always trying to break for a long touchdown run on every play. When you start calming down and saying, let’s just get some yards and get things going, and we have to punt, it’s OK because our defense will be able to handle it, your mindset changes a little bit, becauase now you are feeling a field position game instead of an outscoring game. I think that will be good for us down the road.

(On Tampa’s defense…) I’ll have to watch the film, I don’t know who I was getting tackled by, or breaking tackles of. They just have a good defense, so any time you play against them and you get 100 yards, it’s a good feeling.

(On the play of the offensive line…) I see a team that is young togther, but as we figure it out then we can be very, very dangerous in our ground game. I think Tampa is the team that we would want to play against, because they are good. I was really excited that we got 100 yards because I thought it would be hard to get. We pulled it together there at the end. The third and fourth quarter went well for us.

(On the running backs today…) It always feels good to win, first of all, but to score points and have 100 yards rushing. Any time the backs are catching balls and we threw some, to Mo, that always makes it exciting. I thought Mack Strong and Leonard Weaver both played well at fullback. I was really excited about the way our running back position played today.

This marked the 500th game (including playoffs) in Seahawks history. Seattle’s all-time record is now 243-257.

Seattle bettered their September record since 1997 to 23-13 (.639). Their winning percentage during that time span is third-best in the NFL.

Best September Winning Percentage 1997-current
Denver 27-10 .730
New England 22-12 .647
Seattle 23-13 .639

Tickets distributed for today’s game of 68,044 was the largest crowd for a home opener in team history. It was the 10th largest crowd of all time.

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This is Julian Peterson's second-quarter sack. Check out Jeff Garcia's chin strap. Rookie Arron Sears gets in the way.

WR NATE BURLESON

(On his special teams play…) “On that particular punt I just went to the sideline and they told me I had room so I was looking for gaps. You use your peripheral vision and start looking for creases and once I found one I was heading for the end zone. I thought I was going to score but somebody got me towards the end. Once I got passed the punter I was thinking about what touchdown celebration I’m going to come out with, but they got me.”

(On his fumbled reception…) “I did make a mistake on the ball, but I did come back later and make a catch , we got the victory and that’s really all that counts.”

QB MATT HASSELBECK

(On spreading the ball around…) That’s how we like to do things anyway. We spread it around. Losing Hackett early on, was not a good thing. It took away our four-wides package and took away a lot of what we came into this game hoping to do. I thought they other guys stepped up. They played us differently than I expected them to. They threw the ball underneath a bunch and our running backs and our tight ends did a nice job of catching the ball and getting a little bit, and being patient that way.

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HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(opening)…It was a typical first game, I thought. You don’t know quite what to expect from the opponent, and [also] in some cases some of the guys that haven’t played too much for you. I have tremendous respect for Tampa Bay and their coaching staff and Jon [Gruden] and Monte Kiffin do a great job of getting their team ready to play. And they came in here and it was a battle. I was proud of our team and how they hung in there. We overcame some adversity. I thought we finished the game strong, I felt we got better as the game went along. It is always nice to win the first one, so we are going to be very happy about this one.

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Here's the fourth-quarter play where Lofa Tatupu punches the ball from behind, forcing Earnest Graham to fumble.

Deion Branch had zero receptions, not exactly the type of day you want from your No. 1 receiver. However, everybody said it was because the Bucs were insistent upon their Cover 2 scheme, which takes away the outside receivers. It was the reason that Marcus Pollard had a team-high five catches and Bobby Engram was open across the middle so often. Branch said he would have been miffed if they had lost, but he is about winning and as long as that happens his catch total doesn’t matter. Holmgren said he needs to keep in mind not to wear out Pollard.

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Alexander 12 rushes, 39 yards
Hasselbeck 8-13, 108 yards
Marcus Pollard 3 receptions 28 yards
Bobby Engram 2 rec. 58 yards

Carnell Williams 11 rushes, 56 yards
Garcia 10-14, 142 yards
Galloway 3 rec. 59 yards
Hilliard 2 rec. 35 yards

Talk about a quick way to make Mike Holmgren stop from boiling over. The Seahawks’ offense looked very stale for most of the half, but despite getting the ball for only 3:52 in the first quarter and looking generally uninspiring they hold a 10-6 lead thanks to a great punt return by Nate Burleson with less than two minutes to go. Shaun Alexander punched it in from there, and what looked like a less-than-stellar first half now becomes, OK, let’s go out and take care of business.

With Hackett’s injury, the lack of a fourth WR has affected some of their formations. They have yet to go to four-wide since Hackett’s injury. And I think the false start penalty on Marcus Pollard was because he was in the game at a time that he probably would not have been if Hackett was available.

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Tampa Bay WR David Boston has left the game with a foot injury.

DJ Hackett went out with a right ankle injury and is questionable to return.

The players the Seahawks made inactive means that they have only three defensive ends -- Patrick Kerney, Darryl Tapp and Bryce Fisher -- on the active roster.

With both Courtney Taylor and Ben Obomanu inactive, they have four WRs on the active roster.

And Ben Joppru staying active means they have three TEs, but Joppru, as well as C.J. Wallace, is expected to get a lot of special teams work.

QB Chris Simms
CB Anthony Madison
LB Jeremiah Trotter
DE Patrick Chukwurah
G Anthony Davis
G Dan Buenning
DT Ryan Sims

QB Bruce Gradkowski will serve as the 3rd QB.

Lineup changes:

Kevin Carter will start at RDE for Patrick Chukwurah
Ike Hilliard will start at WR for Maurice Stovall
Michael Pitman will start at FB for B.J. Askew
Tanard Jackson will start at FS for Will Allen.

Seahawks:

RB Alvin Pearman
DE Jason Babin
G Mansfield Wrotto
T Tom Ashworth
WR Courtney Taylor
WR Ben Obomanu
DT Ellis Wyms
DE Baraka Atkins

D.J. Hackett will start for Nate Burleson.

Here is the latest version of the weekly pregame converation with me and Boling in the press box.

Tampa Bay tight end Jerramy Stevens is out on the field warming up, so I assume he is going to play today. There is nothing on the wire yet that says he has been suspended by the league. He has a shaved head and a long goatee. I'll keep you updated once they announce scratches.

Referee: Larry Nemmers
Umpire Undrey Wash
Head Linesman: Mark Baltz
Line Judge: Mike Spanier
Field Judge: Eddy Powers
Side Judge: Carl Cheffers
Back Judge: Dino Paganelli
Replay: Lloyd McPeters
Video: Don Langeloh

If I not mistaken, this is the same crew who in the home opener last season against Arizona missed the two horsecollars calls. Cheffers and Wash were two of the officials who met with us in the preseason.

… and what it might all mean in the long run.

--The Tampa defense has been tough on Shaun Alexander. His average of 3.0 yards per carry against the Bucs is the lowest against any team that he has faced at least twice. In 2005, Alexander seemed to run with more energy and better determination than he had since early in his career. The knock of being a soft runner seemed to wither as he hit it up inside for tough yards in a number of key situations. The record-setting performance came in a contract year, we may all note.

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Here's a link that looks at Tampa's O-line and Seattle's D-line, with a focus on rookie Arron Sears and rookie Brandon Mebane.

Here is a link re: the Buccaneers that discusses Jerramy Stevens, David Boston and the three rookies who are scheduled to start on Sunday.

I don't know. And neither does the office. As some of you may have noticed, the technology aspect of the blog is a work in progress, and so for me to venture a guess on why two days worth of comments disappeared is ridiculous. Sadly, the tech folks at the office do not know either. They said they are trying to recover them but they may be floating uselessly in cyberspace for eternity. Frustrating, to be sure. But I am only the messenger. I will let you know if they are able to be found.

Without a third quarterback on the roster, the Seahawks have to actually put eight players on the inactive list. This is my best guess on who those players will be:

Alvin Pearman
Ben Joppru
Lance Laury
Mansfield Wrotto
Ben Obomanu
Ellis Wyms
Jason Babin

The last one is tricky. If they only keep four receivers active, the eighth guy could be Courtney Taylor. If they want five receivers, they probably have to go to a second offensive lineman. The question is would it be Ray Willis, Tom Ashworth or Floyd Womack. Willis has the ability to swing between guard and tackle like Womack, but he does not have game experience. Ashworth can really only play right tackle but he is experienced. Pork Chop has been there, which may make the coaches comfortable. We'll see on Sunday.

KIRKLAND, WA— Seattle Seahawks Executives will engage in new roles on Sunday when the Seahawks take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team announced today. Six executives will be in uniform to serve as event personnel.

“Our fans are the best in the NFL,” said Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke. “This is an opportunity to let our fans know how much we appreciate their support and to thank them for making Qwest Field one of the loudest and proudest sports venues on the planet.”

Qwest Field is staffed by approximately 800 employees on game day.

The assignments include:

Executive Activity Location Time
Tod Leiweke Program Sales North Plaza Steps 12:00-12:15
CEO Conductor, Blue Thunder North Plaza Steps 12:20-12:40

John Rizzardini Program Sales North Plaza Steps 11:45-12:15
Sr. Vice President & COO Face Painting NW Marshalling 12:20-12:45

Martha Fuller Program Sales North Plaza Steps 11:45- 12:15
Sr. Vice President & CFO Concessions Qwest Field Plaza 12:20-12:45

Lance Lopes Ticket Scanner North Plaza 11:45-12:15
Vice President - General Counsel Jones Soda Sampling North Plaza (east) 12:20-12:45

Mike Flood Face Painting Touchdown City 10:30-11:00
Vice President - Community

Ron Jenkins Jones Soda Sampling Touchdown City Booth 11:45-12:15
Vice President - Corporate Partners Ticket Scanner Touchdown City (north) 12:20-12:45

It was about an hour and 45 minute practice in helmets and shells that once again was focused mainly on going through plays, drills and scenarios. This was the last practice open to the media before Sunday's game. The team has its Saturday walk-through tomorrow morning.

Ben Obomanu was the only player who did not practice. He was running on the far field though and looked to be pretty close to normal. He was moving pretty quickly.

=> Read more!

Here are facts regarding Stevens and his case, privided by the AP:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) _ A jury found Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Jerramy Stevens guilty Friday of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Stevens was arrested in March after police stopped his car in downtown Scottsdale.

Police said Stevens smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

The 27-year-old went to trial on three DUI charges, all stemming from the March incident.

A jury began hearing the case Wednesday and delivered its verdict Friday morning _ guilty on all three counts, said Mike Phillips, a Scottsdale spokesman.

Stevens faces a jail sentence of at least 30 days under an Arizona law for "extreme" intoxication, where a driver has a blood alcohol content of .15 percent or higher. The legal limit in Arizona is .08 percent. Stevens' measured .20 percent when he was arrested.

Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said earlier this week he expects Stevens to play Sunday.

Court officials said sentencing is set for Oct. 2.

Stevens has had other run-ins with the law.

In June 2003, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a plea deal after being stopped in the Seattle suburb of Medina for investigation of drunken driving. He received a two-day jail sentence.

He received another five days in jail for violating his probation after he drove into a nursing home in 2000 in a hit-and-run case. Stevens was a student at Washington at the time.

The 6-foot-7, 265-pounder was a first-round draft pick by the Seahawks, the 28th selection overall, in 2002. He had a career-best 45 catches for 554 yards, a record for Seattle tight ends, in the Seahawks' 2005 Super Bowl season.

Last season, Stevens caught 22 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns.

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It was recently pointed out to me that this Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the Seahawks' 500th game in franchise history. So I'll throw this out to you: What were the top five games in franchise history? I just asked Clare Farnsworth, who has seen most of them, and here is his list, in no particular order:

Beating Carolina, 34-14, to get to the Super Bowl.

Beating Miami, 27-20 to get to the AFC championship game in 1983.

Beating the Redskins, 20-10, to get into NFC championship game in 2005.

Beating the Chiefs 51-48 in OT when they returned 4 interceptions for TDs, two by Dave Brown.

The Raiders win in 1988, 43-37, last game of the regular season and they couldn't get out afterward because of the fog. The win captured the division.,

Seahawks fans will have the opportunity to meet the entire Sea Gal squad and purchase the 2008 Sea Gal Calendar during the unveiling event at the Fox Sports Grill in downtown Seattle. The event will be hosted by Pro Football Hall of Fame member Warren Moon.

WHEN: Friday, September 7, 2007, at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Fox Sports Grill

1522 6th Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

I have spoken to Brock and he has agreed to do some more analysis for the blog. He knows you all want to hear what he has to say. Unfortunately, Brock has a daily job in real estate and so he comes up to the headquarters only a couple times a week for production meetings. We were going to do it this week but he got jammed up with a meeting. The short of it is this: We are going to do audio interviews with Brock when we are both able to get together, which we are committed to doing. But keep in mind that the Seahawks is not a full-time gig for him, he has another job, and so it doesn't always work out.

Once again, Ben Obomanu was the only guy who didn't practice. He was on the far field working out for a while, wearing a sleeve on the leg with the sore hammy. He looked to be moving pretty well.

Loooooooooooooooooooooooooonnngggg practice. Slow news day. They held a two hour and fifteen minute practice that seemed like it would never end. Coach Mike Holmgren was intent on getting a lot of work in and drilled on just about every possible situation. Having said that, not a great deal happened during the practice, other than they kept pumping in the fake noise to simulate game conditions. By the way, the speaker they are using is a Peavey Impulse 200. It's really loud if you want to purchase one and hack off your spouse.

Holmgren did not speak after but will meet with the media tomorrow. Darryl Tapp once again worked with first unit, a pretty clear indication he is going to start on Sunday. Also, D.J. Hackett was in there with Branch in the starting lineup, though Nate Burleson got a bunch of reps as well.

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Seahawks practice today at 1:20. Should go about two hours or so. Holmgren said on Monday that he will know by today who all the starters will be, though he backed off that a little yesterday in regards to the split end spot. With the way Darryl Tapp has been playing with the first unit, I would guess he is the starting right defensive end. But I'll post first thing after practice and update as much as there is.

Here is a link to a story it the Arizona Republic that covers Jerramy Stevens' trial.

Here is a story that says Tampa Bay may start yet another rookie, Tanard Jackson at free safety over Will Allen. That would be three rookies starting in Sunday's game, with Gaines Adams at right end and Arron Sears at left guard.

Walter Jones did indeed practice today and he said everything felt good. Boling thought he looked a little heavier than he did earlier in camp, but Jones said it was good to get out there and hit and it was nice that it was a warm day so he could get loosened up. He said his shoulder felt fine. I watched him a few times on Darryl Tapp during pass-blocking drills and he seemed like the same old Jones; good footwork and Tapp was not able to get past him. Jones also was deferential and modest when he was asked about rookie Gaines Adams.

We just received our numbers for August, and thanks to everybody who participates in this blog we had 357,000 hits during the month, the second-largest number of hits in the blog's history. The highest number of hits is 522,000 in a month; I don't know when that was (I assume Super Bowl). Thanks to all of you for being a part of it.

A 3000 square foot 12th Man flag will fly behind an aircraft along the I-405 and I-5 corridors in honor of the fans on Thursday and Friday.

The times will be at noon on Thursday and 7-9, 11-1 and 4-6 on Friday.

For all you fantasy players out there (by the way, I ended up with Hasselbeck as my Fantasy QB this year).

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Saints: OUT: TE Mark Campbell (back). Colts: OUT: CB Tim Jennings (knee), T Charlie Johnson (knee); QUESTIONABLE: C Dylan Gandy (groin); PROBABLE: DE Josh Thomas (ankle).<

sunday ATLANTA FALCONS at MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Falcons: DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE: S Chris Crocker (knee); LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE: DT Roderick Coleman (knee). Vikings: DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE: S Mike Doss (calf), LB E.J. Henderson (illness); LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE: LB Vinny Ciurciu (hand), WR Robert Ferguson (ankle), DE Darrion Scott (shoulder), WR Bobby Wade (ankle), S Tank Williams (calf).

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Captains: Deon Grant and Lofa Tatupu were named as defensive captains today, Matt Hasselbeck and Mack Strong as offensive and Niko Koutouvides and Josh Brown on special teams.

Holmgren said he has not decided who will start at split end between DJ Hackett and Nate Burleson. He said that may be a week-to-week decision based on practice and who goes harder.

Holmgren said that when he game-plans against Tampa, he knows some of the stuff they do because of the team's similarities, but defensively Monte Kiffin has been TB's coordinator for so long that they pretty much know already what the Bucs want to run.

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WR Ben Obomanu was the only player who did not practice on Wednesday. He still is suffering from a hamstring injury.

For Tampa Bay, Jerramy Stevens did not practice because of his trial in Scottsdale; Joey Galloway did not practice because of what is being termed a team decision; and Patrick Chuwurah did not practice with a knee injury. The latter will not play Sunday.

The probabilities of players playing in Sunday's game will not be provided until Friday.

Crowd noise was the biggest thing at practice. For the first time, the Seahawks pumped in crowd noise at the outside fields. They have done it in the past in the bubble during bad weather, but at this afternoon's practice they had a speaker (didn't see which brand) at one end of the field and were blaring it in pretty loudly. At first it sounded like an airplane was taking off on the field, and occasionally it sounded like crowd noise, but basically it was just really loud noise meant to interrupt. I think the coaches felt that the new guys, especially the two new safeties, are not used to the noise at Qwest Field and wanted to get them acclimated.

The fields at the practice facility have been repainted and they are going perpendicular to the way they were painted in camp. They are trying to preserve the turf. It is in good condition.

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This is a pretty comprehensive look at why Tampa Bay is going to use the shotgun with Jeff Garcia playing quarterback this season.

With the injury to Patrick Chukwurah, rookie defensive end Gaines Adams will try to get around Walter Jones. Here's the story.

I know a lot of you gave input to Dave about jerseys, why you buy them, what they mean, etc. Here are the two links to the stories that Dave wrote that appeared in today's editions of the News Tribune.

The first story is a look at the jersey issue from a fans' point of view, the second is from the players' point of view.

We met with Tampa coach Jon Gruden this morning, as well as linebacker Derrick Brooks.

Gruden said the only injury for the Bucs is Patrick Chukwurah, defensive end, knee injury. He will not play. That is the only injury Tampa has.

Gruden said he feels Jeff Garcia is the strength of the football team, that he will solve the mystery for them at QB and that he is expected to play FAR better than the Bucs got from QBs last season.

=> Read more!

QB Ken Dorsey visited the Seahawks at some point on Monday, though no signing is imminent. That does not mean, however, that Dorsey will not be signed, only that he is not going to be signed right away. He is the only quarterback to have visited the Seahawks so far to fill their third spot.

Here is a story about rookie Arron Sears starting at left guard for the Buccaneers vs. the Seahawks this Sunday.

This story on Michael Boulware, recently traded to Houston for Jason Babin, ran in USA Today but was written by an AP reporter.

Buccaneers WR Joey Galloway spent five seasons in Seattle, playing in 71 games with 67 starts after being selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft... Buccaneers TE Jerramy Stevens spent five
seasons (2002-06) with the Seahawks, totaling 130 receptions for 1,458 yards and 15 touchdowns... He was selected by the Seahawks in the first round (28th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft and played in 71 games with 26 starts for the franchise... Buccaneers Tight Ends Coach Bob Casullo spent two seasons (2005-06) with the Seahawks as special teams coordinator, helping the team to an appearance in Super Bowl XL... Seahawks DT Chuck Darby spent four seasons with the Buccaneers (2001-04), playing in 61 games with 23 starts... Darby started at DT in Super Bowl XXXVII with the Buccaneers... DT Ellis
Wyms played six seasons with Tampa Bay (2001-06), seeing action in 66 games with nine starts... He totaled 134 career tackles and 14.5 sacks after being selected by the Buccaneers in the sixth round
(183rd overall) of the 2001 NF