OK, maybe "love" is a bit too strong but us guys and gals in the press appreciate an athlete like Matt Hasselbeck because he is so at ease with the press. Take this exchange from Wednesday:

Are you taking your kids trick-or-treating?
"I am. We've got a mermaid, my one daughter is a mermaid, my other daughter is a football player, and my 2-year-old son, Henry, is Captain Hook."

Which player is your daughter going as?
"I think she's wearing No. 8 if she wants any candy."

What are you going to be for Halloween?
"I'm going as the Burger King Guy."

(IF you've seen the commericals of the King running around in tights, that's how the Seahawks' QB is dressing like. Good stuff.)

SEAHAWKS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
WR Deion Branch (foot)
TE Marcus Pollard (knee)
OT Ray Willis (knee)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
OT Walter Jones (shoulder)
OT Sean Locklear (ankle)

FULL PARTICIPATION
RB Shaun Alexander (wrist)
QB Matt Hasselbeck (oblique)
DE Darryl Tapp (hand)

BROWNS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
LB Kris Griffin (Achilles)
LB D'Qwell Jackson (ankle)
FB Lawrence Vickers (concussion)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
DL Ted Washington (knee)

FULL PARTICIPATION
TE Darnell Dinkins (hand)
RB Jamal Lewis (foot)

Quick notes and observations from Wednesday's Seahawks practice:

* WR D.J. Hackett (ankle) looked good, making several impressive catches. One was a long pass from Hasselbeck down the sideline that drew some oohs and ahhs from the players.

* QB Matt Hasselbeck (oblique) participated in almost all of the offensive plays and threw the ball with zip although he did roll his shoulder a few times. He said the injury was painful last week and is something he's going to have to deal with.

* DE Darryl Tapp (hand) practiced with a big, black cast on his right hand. He said he's trying to get used to it although the cast he uses in practice is bigger than the one he'll use come Sunday.

* OL Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack played both guard positions with the first-team offense, subbing in for Rob Sims twice and Chris Gray another time.

* TE Marcus Pollard (knee), WR Deion Branch (foot) and OL Ray Willis (knee) did not practice.

Mike Holmgren was asked about the running game, and he was careful to say that there is not one person or thing to blame.

"I would like to caution everybody. When it is not working, there are lightning rods and people you want to identify as the problem, whether it is the coach, whoever. This is not that clear-cut. We have high expectations, and that is where it starts. If you don’t meet those expectations, then fans are disappointed, I am disappointed, everyone is disappointed. So then you try to study and figure out what the problem is. What we came away with is that you can’t just take this guy and move him over here and everything will be fine. That is not the way this is working. That is not the way this analysis came out. So, what do you do? I am just trying to stir it up a little bit, hit on some different combinations, light a little bit of a fire, get somebody to study a little bit more or whatever it is. It is not just the line, it is not just the backs, it is kind of a combination of stuff right now. Based on the fact that we have high expectations for what we think we should be able to do. We are going to do that, we are going to mix and match just a little bit and stumble onto something that works a little bit better for us. It might be something as simple as we had the week off, let’s get going, we start playing better again. Sometimes that works. If we start playing really a lot better, I am going to come up with really a great theory on what I thought about it and how I made that happen."

Deion Branch is questionable for Sunday's game. Holmgren said he is 50-50, still bothered by the sprained foot that he suffered in the Pittsburgh game. Just from his tone, I would say Holmgren did not sound optimistic, especially when you take into account the timing issues with receivers.

=> Read more!

While everybody else in the country will be watching the Indy-New England game, Seahawks fans will be listening to Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan, with Chris Myers serving as the field reporter.

Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel had a conference call with Seattle reporters this morning, during which he was asked about Charlie Frye:

"I didn't decide he wasn't right for the team. I decided in those 20 minutes that we weren't playing well enough and I felt like the team needed a change so I changed quarterbacks and went to (Derek) Anderson. Then after that some trade possibilities arrives and came up and we decided to make the trade so we did and then we've moved on.

"Charlie is a great competitor. Charlie wants to win. He works very hard at his craft, it just didn't work out for him here. I know that he will do everything he can to be the best player he can there in Seattle."

Happy Halloween folks. The Seahawks get back to work this afternoon, after Mike Holmgren has his noon press conference. Who practices and who does not will be a big thing to watch because on Monday Holmgren said that he expects everybody who sat out on Monday to practice, at least the ones without serious injuries. That includes Deion Branch, who has been out since the first half of the Pittsburgh game. DJ Hackett I thought was moving pretty well on Monday, so I don't really think his return is an issue. But I am interested to see how the timing between Branch, Hackett and Hasselbeck is, and whether Hasselbeck is affected at all by his oblique injury. I'll provide updates as the day goes along.

-- Josh Brown leads the NFC (3rd in the NFL) with 11 touchbacks. Last season he had a career-high 12.

-- Ryan Plackemeier now has 17 total (2nd NFL) punts inside the 20 to two touchbacks.

-- Nate Burleson joined Charlie Rogers as the only players to return a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in their Seattle careers.

-- The Seahawks rank fourth in the NFL with 23 sacks. Seattle has two players in the top 11 in sacks with Julian Peterson (seven sacks) tied for sixth and Darryl Tapp (5.5) tied for 11th. Since the beginning of 2005, only San Diego (124) and Baltimore (117) have registered more sacks than Seattle (114).

-- In two career games against Cleveland, Shaun Alexander has averaged 65 yards a game.

-- In two career games against Clevland, Matt Hasselbeck has thrown for 506 yards, three touchdowns and possesses an 84.7 passer rating.

Here's a link to a story that talks about Romeo Crennel trying to keep his team focused even though they have experienced a little success.

I'll post Seahawks-Browns stats a little later.

In answer to an earlier question, Mondays are usually a little stretching to work out the kinks from the previous day's game. I think today's 3 o'clock practice was to allow everybody to get back into town, get loose a little bit, get in some extra work that was not too intense. The players will have Tuesday off, and then it kicks back into a regular week -- which actually will change next week, when the Seahawks play a Monday night game. Not sure yet how that will play into their schedule, and whether they get two days off and everything gets pushed back a day, or how Holmgren will handle it. He probably won't announce anything until he sees how they play in Cleveland.

Tight end Marcus Pollard said the surgeon discovered a partially torn meniscus in his knee when he underwent surgery. He jokingly said Mike Holmgren told him he is getting one week, so Pollard said he hopes to be back for the San Francisco. He said he could not pinpoint one play during which the injury occurred, but that it happened in the 49ers game on Sept. 30. He said it already feels better, and that he wishes he had done it before so he didn't have to talk around for three weeks in pain.

I asked Mike Holmgren if he planned on sticking with the personnel along the front or would he shake it up in an effort to get something out of the running game. His answer was noncommittal.

"We'll see," Holmgren said. "We are going to look at some different combinations this week and see how that works. Whether we do it in the game this week, we'll see."

The question, as Boling and I discussed, is if you make any changes what are the possible changes unless they bring somebody else in? With Sean Locklear sitting out, both Floyd Womack and Tom Ashworth got time at right tackle, but you don't want either of them in there for an extended period if you can help it. Ray Willis, the most obvious candidate for a chance, is hurt, so that option is not there. Mansfield Wrotto is a body, but that is, as Boling said, really radical.

The Seahawks went through a light workout, but not everybody practiced, something, coach Mike Holmgren said, that was the medical staff's decision, not his. Matt Hasselbeck, Leonard Weaver, Rocky Bernard, Craig Terrill, Deion Branch, Sean Locklear and Darryl Tapp all sat out. Holmgren said he expects all to practice on Wednesday.

Darryl Tapp and Marcus Pollard both had surgery, Tapp on the broken hand and Pollard on the knee. Holmgren said Tapp will play, Pollard probably will not play against Cleveland but there is a chance he could be back in the Monday night game against San Francisco on Nov. 12.

Also, Ray Willis was not practicing and I don't think he will be practicing. When he was injured, they said he was out for six weeks, which would take him to the San Francisco game as well.

After running away from southern California smoke for a week, the blog is officially back. The Seahawks have practice today from 3-4, with Mike Holmgren and Matt Hasselbeck availability afterwards. Lots of things to talk about this week, with Charlie Frye and Brian Russell both facing their former teams, with D.J. Hackett and Deion Branch scheduled to return and get in tune with Matt Hasselbeck and with the running game getting even more attention, if that is possible, than it has already. As always, I'll file stuff from practice as quickly as I can after locker room availability.

bustinheads asks...
Didn't I mention Wrotto in there??? After all we are training him at OG...

Answer: You did. Unfortunately, I blew the cut-and-paste function. Anyway... All I've ever seen of Wrotto is him playing with the scout team. Now that doesn't mean when the Seahawks reconvene on Monday Mr. Wrotto won't find himself in an expanded role, but I think it's iffy at best.

blueshq asks ...
Anyone: What exactly happened when #99 hit Hasselbeck at the end of a play in the 2nd 1/4 I think it was? He (#99) looked away as if to hide the fact that he was giving an elbow (it looked like) to Matt. It was a blow to Matt's left side maybe his ribs. Matt went down like he was in great pain. It looked like a deliberately dirty play to me. Can you shed any light on that play?

Answer: Don't recall the play. I remember one play where Hasselbeck got hit just after throwing the ball and then offered his hand up to the defender to help him up.. Hasselbeck said Monday he thought it was the thing to do, proving that his sense of humor is on 100 percent of the time.

Phillyhawk asks:
I'm a little off topic and probably a little late on this (I"ve been out of town), but are we sure Hass' oblique is a 'minor' injury?

Answer: Well, no. But that's what they are saying. Hasselbeck on Monday didn't seem to think it was a big deal and Holmgren talked as if there was no doubt No. 8 would be OK. We'll watch it next week, because you're right. Those obliques can be nasty. FYI: Hasselbeck did play most of the game against the Rams, only coming out because the outcome was no longer in doubt and not because of injury..

Pokey007 asks....
How is Jordan Kent coming along?

Answer: Like you would expect a guy who's athletic but does not have a lot of experience. He's a scout teamer who shows flashes of brilliance, making nice catches, showing good speed... then drops a ball or two.

Exempt asks...
Not sure if this has ever been brought up, and if it has I'm sorry. Anyone think that moving Ashworth to TE might be plausable? He's very athletic for an OL, he can catch the ball (I remember a TD in a big game with the patriots), plus it might be helpful for our Running game woes.

Answer: I doubt they would consider it. Ashworth, despite making a nice fair catch on a kickoff return vs. the Rams, is not a TE. He may be fast for a lineman, but TE fast is a whole different ball game. And those hands, well, they're probably not up to it either. He's a decent blocker as an extra TE but that's about it.

Someone asked about what the Seahawks have in terms of draft picks for next season. Here's a site that seems to answer that question:

www.n-c-systems.com/football/DraftTrades/2008.html

bustinheads asks...
How about some updates on players on our PS, hurt players, and others...like H. Green, Babin, and (tho Wyms is playing a little) how is he fitting in too? Maybe someone can tell us why Joppru is still on the inactive roster and Newton is still on the PS? How is Hobbs doing?

Answer:
Howard Green: He's only been around a short while and it's hard to say. He did have a two tryouts with the team (one in September and then last December) before joining up this time. He's a big body who needs to get into shape and learn the scheme. He was inactive against the Rams so it sounds like both are still needing work.

Jason Babin: Got into his first game as a Seahawk on Sunday vs. the Rams. Babin, a former 1st-round pick by the Texans, was acquired by the team just before the season for S Michael Boulware. Against the Rams he did not have a tackle. What I've seen from him in practices is a guy who has some speed, especially tearing up Pork Chop in pass plays. However, he's a smallish end – listed at 6-3, 267 – so playing the run might be an issue.

Ben Joppru: Right now, TE Joppru is a valuable member of the special teams. Nate Burleson credited him for making a crucial block on his 91 yard TD vs. the Rams. He has yet to catch a pass in five NFL seasons but that's misleading because three of those years he was on IR and last year he was only active for Seattle for 5 games. In practice he shows some decent pass catching ability and he had a good career at Michigan, breaking a school record for TEs in his senior year. Might get more action if Pollard's injury keeps him out longer than hoped.

Joe Newton: The big TE from Oregon State is still on the practice squad. From what I've seen he's done nothing spectacular but that could be just because he's on the scout team and your chances are limited.

Kevin Hobbs: Again, it's hard to say because Hobbs has played so little this season to get a reading on. In practices, he's going at less than full speed on the scout team so that makes it tough there, too. I think he's probably the bubble and would be expendable once Josh Wilson is pronounced 100 percent but don't count on him relinquishing a roster spot after what happened last year to the Seahawks' DBs.

By reading all the comments, you would think Grady Jackson is the most popular player in Seattle.... and he's not even on the team!

Love the enthusiasm, gang. Here's a little more info for you about everyone's favorite potential free agent, Mr. Jackson:

Someone already explained how waivers work – and very well, I might add – but a short summation for those who missed it. Once a player is waived, the other teams in inverse order by record, can then sign the player but must pick up the players contract. Because we're in season, waivers last 24 hours so Jackson has probably cleared by now. (I have not heard for sure because I'm awaiting an email). Once cleared, the player is a free agent and can sign with any team he wants.

Jackson's agent said the Tennessee Titans have an interest in Jackson because they're expected to lose Corey Simon, who's about to retire. So there's at least one team – allegedly, because the Tennessean did not quote any Titans offical – that has interest.

What interest is there is debatable. I won't go into Jackson's stats or one-gap, two-gap duties, because you've all done that already. The fact is Jackson is 35, had knee surgery last offseason when he sued his team for invasion privacy and defamation, and has something of a reputation as a malingerer. That's a lot of baggage, even for someone who is reportedly pushing 400 pounds.

Based on all that, I would think it's doubtful the Seahawks have any interest because he doesn't sound like the guy they would want to bring in. That said, Jim Mora Jr. probably knows more about Grady than most assistants out there, so the Seahawks will benefit from his knowledge.

Just running through the blog comments here and I noticed a few questions posed by y'all – and even some not answered by other posters... Here ya go, and if you have others, put them up there and I'll do my best to answer them...

=> Read more!

The Seattle Seahawks' Nate Burleson, who returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, was selected as the NFC special teams player of the week.

Burleson also returned six punts for 59 yards (9.8 average) in the Seahawks' 33-6 win over the Rams.

The TD was the third off a return in Burleson's career and was the fifth-longest in Seahawks history. Last year Burleson was named NFC special teams player for the month of November.

Here's the rest of Holmgren's Monday press conference:

(On deciding to give the players time off…) “I’ve done it both ways. It’s been my experience, if you give them time off, right now they’ve been pushing pretty hard for seven weeks, longer than that, and it’s OK to get away and kind of refresh, recharge the batteries, for players and coaches. ... When I first started and the bye first came into play ... I was afraid of guys getting away from my controlling nature. They would have a tendency to get in trouble or jammed up. Then I found out, over the years, I think that they’ve handled it pretty well for the most part. ... I trust this team. I think it has good leadership. I think it has pretty good maturity so I felt comfortable with it.”

(On getting a win before the bye week…) “Very important for us. I was going to do what I did, I think, anyway but it makes it all a little bit better and we feel a little better about ourselves. It was an important football game in the division.”

(On Matt Hasselbeck's oblique injury) “I think he’s going to be one of those guys that needs treatment but I think he’s OK."

(On Darryl Tapp…) “If he has the surgery the cast he can wear will not be as big and he can function a little bit better. I think you put all that stuff together I’m sure he’s going to decide, I would think he’s going to decide, just to have it fixed."

(On Seahawks 4-3 start to the season…) “We’ve been inconsistent, and you look at the film, any one game, you’ll see some really good things, some things that you scratch your head on because I think they are things we should do better and we’re not, and then you see some really things that have hurt us, badly. I felt our record should be a little bit better than it is now, my good friend Bill Parcells once said ‘you are what you are,’ and our record is what it is. The fact is we are leading the division, the division is close, I really believe our best football, particularly on offense, is ahead of us. Our defense is coming, they’ve shown flashes of being very good.”

(On the running game) “The thing that we’ve struggled with and struggled with yesterday is running the football. I want to say, I just looked at the film again, Shaun Alexander seems to be the lightning rod and I am here to tell that there are times that there is nothing there. We are not blocking very well at this particular point, that must improve, and he has been a little unfairly criticized in my opinion. I’m not going to talk about names, I’m not going to do that with individuals, but we must improve how we are blocking the run, assignment wise, edges, technique, everything to give our guys a chance. When there is something there we gain yards, but a lot of times I am not very happy with that part of it right now, to be honest with you.”

(Is the line's inexperience a factor?) “Partly, but it’s technique, it’s assignments, it’s preparation, it must be a lot of things because I’m reaching the point, other people have been trying to fix this, and I’m trying to delegate a little bit, but after yesterday and after reviewing the film, it’s going to get a little tense around here if I don’t see some improvement.”

(On Deion Branch being on schedule to return against Cleveland…) “I think so, again I haven’t had that meeting, but prior to the game yesterday I was told that was the timetable, and he told me the same thing yesterday.”

(On Marcus Pollard’s injury…) “I believe he is going to have surgery on his knee, and it will be a scope, I don’t think they’re going to find anything real dramatic in there, I hope not. The feeling is that they can go in and scope it that he’ll be ready to go, maybe not for the Cleveland game, but feel real good for the rest of the season."

Ichiro raising the 12th man flag

First of all, not that I'll be appearing on the cover of GQ any time soon. But what's up with Ichiro sporting the orange scarf at Qwest on Sunday. I think he borrowed it from Frank.

I finished with the links from the game, so let's go around the NFL to see what else is happening ...

As always, here's CNNSI's Peter King's Monday Morning QB column ...

Here's Michael Silver's Monday Morning rush column ... i like the column, but he needs to something about his mugshot, it makes him look like a serial killer.

CNNSI's Bucky Brooks writes about 7 strategies that worked.

Here's some stuff on the Hawks next opponent, the Cleveland Browns.

Derek Anderson has been playing well at QB since Charlie Frye was traded to the Hawks. Receiver Braylon Edwards is having a breakout year. Here's a report card on the Browns thus far.

Sando is blogging live from the Monday night game tonight.

The Chargers are being evacuated out of the area to Phoenix because of wild fires.

Alright, be honest who had Tennessee's Rob Bironas as their kicker this week in fantasy football...

Bad news for people who have Ronnie Brown on their team, he's done for the season.

The Cowboys shut down Adrian Peterson, but then again he didn't get many touches. I dont' understand why.

QB Tavaris Jackson had a couple heated discussions with head coach Brad Childress.

columnist David Hyde looks at what's tougher -- the Pats going 16-0 or the Dolphins going 0-16.

This columnist wonders if Chad Johnson is worth the trouble.

Columnist Mitch Albom believes the Lions are putting the ghosts of the past behind them.

Tacoma native Jon Kitna isn't afraid to go above and beyond.

Three reporters remember the Lambeau Field legacy,.

Arizona coughed up a win when Neil Rackers missed a potential game-winning kick.

Trent Dilfer and the Niners had a less than enjoyable Sunday...

Jay Mariotti writes about Brian Griese's game-winning drive.

*Still updating ***

It always feels good to post the links after a win. And like the Hawks, I'm looking forward to the bye week. But there won't be any resting on the links or on the blog. We'll have plenty of time to break down the next opponent, the Cleveland Browns, while also going to the end of the Internet to keep you guys up to date with news.

From "The newspaper for the South Sound," The News Tribune our extensive and complete gameday coverage of the Hawks win. Here's Frank's game story. Darrin wrote about Darryl Tapp's monster day.

Here's the game notebook, talking about Shaun and his issues. I had the pleasure of covering the morgue that was the Rams locker room and wrote about how badly QB Marc Bulger was beaten up.

Dave wrote about the good feeling of getting a win, even over the hapless Rams. Also i thought I'd include Dave's Sunday column on Shaun.

John McGrath wrote nice column on tight end Will Heller and his two-touchdown day.

Now let's look at the Ram's coverage...
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...

Here's the game story with the head line "New low for the Rams" ... There was one bright side — the Rams run defense. Here's the game notebook which leads with another Rams injury. QB Marc Bulger gets an F in the game report card. Rams president John Shaw shot down rumors that Scott Linehan would be fired during the bye week.

Columnist Jeff Gordon writes about the waning support of Linehan.

*Updating in process, keep checking back*

Mike Holmgren just finished his Monday press conference. The highlights:

TE Marcus Pollard, who has missed the last two weeks with a knee injury, is likely to have surgery. Holmgren said he hopes Pollard will be able to play if not against Cleveland on Nov. 4 but after that. This must be couched, of course, until doctors know what is bothering Pollard.

Holmgren said the team will be off until next Monday. Injured players must remain in town to receive treatment and players must continue their workouts. Otherwise, they're off. And coaches, too.

Other injuries – QB Matt Hasselbeck's oblique, DE Darryl Tapp's hand – do not appear to be serious enough to have them miss time. Holmgren said he expects an update later today on their condition. He said he expects WRs Deion Branch and D.J. Hackett to be able to play vs. Cleveland.

Holmgren said that RB Shaun Alexander has been the lightning rod for the team's inability to run the ball but it's unfair criticism. He said he's watched film and often "there's nothing there." He said the blocking must improve and hinted that he might have to become more involved in finding the solution if progress is not made ASAP.

My friends, I am leaving the Shaun Alexander worries for a week, spending some time with my family. Mike Holmgren has not yet announced what the team's schedule is, but regardless I am bound for flume rides and spinning teacups. Darrin Beene will be covering this morning's news conference, during which Holmgren will announce if he is giving the team the entire week off. If he does, there will be sparse offerings on the blog. Darrin said he will post stuff in my absence if something occurs, or if there is a practice and media availability, and hopefully Ryan Divish will continue to post some links to national stories and stories about the next opponent, the Cleveland Browns.

=> Read more!

TE RANDY McMICHAEL
(On what there is left to say about the Rams…) “You have just got to win; no more no less, you have got to win. That is all it boils down to. Right now I am grateful that God has blessed me to be a Ram, but right now I am very embarrassed to be one. It makes no sense what we did offensively today, like I said, last week is going to carry over into this week—it is pathetic.”

=> Read more!

(On his reacton to the outcome . . . ) “We’re disappointed and beat up. It’s tough right now for everyone in here, and it hasn’t gotten any easier.

(On if he wonders how things could have fallen apart so dramatically . . . ) “We’ve wondered for seven weeks. Right now, everything you think you’re doing right goes against you. We’re going to keep fighting, but we have some bad momentum heading in the wrong direction right now and we’ve got to stop it somehow.”

=> Read more!

(Thoughts on the game…) “It’s obvious when you turned the ball over the way we have turned the ball over the first seven games, you can’t win and we’ve proved that. We work on it, there are a lot of things that factor into it. A lot of it I would think this game, was the pressure they (Seattle) were able to create in the pass rush and (also) third and long. Sacks and a couple of the turnovers that were real critical were, forced fumbles in the pocket. (Marcus) Trufant made a real nice play on the first interception. But its still an interception. So until we fix that we’ll continue to get the same result.”

=> Read more!

DE Darryl Tapp

(On his performance…) “Coach (Dwaine) Board, my D-line coach, and coach (John) Marshall were really on it this week about getting pressure on the quarterback, we didn’t play our best last week so we all took it as a challenge upon ourselves to get to the quarterback.”

=> Read more!

WR Nate Burleson

(On coach Mike Holmgren asking for a kick return at halftime…) “Yeah you’ve got to, whatever coach says you’ve got to try to adhere to it and try to make a play. The guys did a great job blocking for me, they’ve been doing a tremendous job all week practicing, so I knew we had a good chance.”

=> Read more!

RB SHAUN ALEXANDER

(On his game today…) I felt better. I think that I definitely could come into the game and do some of the stuff I like to do, and playing with the passion, and do some good things out there.

(On not wanting to come out of the game…) Every time we get a lead I always have to get pulled, and I’m always fighting to stay in. He did that two years ago when we are on that big run, and I said “Mike, come on.” He usually gives me a warning, like hey if we score again, you’re coming out. And, it happened again. I think I am just one of those people that I like to play the whole game, and keep it going, and see what happens. That’s just how I am.

=> Read more!

(On playing through the injury today…) It was tough. I think it’s a great thing, I’m actually kind of excited. They told me I tweaked my oblique, which is awesome because I didn’t know I had any obliques. It’s good news, honestly. It’s in there somewhere, so I am really happy about that. I’m going to go home and tell my wife.

=> Read more!

(Opening…) It goes without saying how pleased we are with the win, after a couple of tough losses. The importance of this week was stressed. It was a division opponent. We learned a week ago, that you don’t look at the other team’s record, if you can help it. Our defense played a great football game today. They had their quarterback back, and they had their two wide receivers back, who have been great for them over the years. Our pass rush and our pressure and the things we need to do on a regular basis really was the difference today. Special teams, I told them at halftime, I said I need a good return to start the second half, and now that’s good coaching right there. [laughter] And they did it. Now, offensively, we’re still trying to find our way a little bit. We’re kind of hit and miss. Our best football is still ahead of us. We get Hackett and Branch back after the bye, I’m hopeful. We are working real hard to fix some of the things that aren’t going right. We’re letting some young guys play. With their experience they are going to be better down the stretch. Clearly, our best football is still ahead of us. It was a great win today.

=> Read more!

Holmgren, at halftime, told the Seahawks special teams he needed a good return to start the third quarter. He got what he wanted.

Nate Burleson took the second-half’s opening kick 91 yards for a touchdown, the first since Maurice Morris scored on a 97-yarder against the Rams on Oct. 20, 2002.

“Now that’s good coaching right there,” Holmgren said, causing laughter from the assembled media.

Burleson, who burned the Rams last year on a 90-yard punt return for a TD, got his first career kickoff return and third career return touchdown.

“Whatever coach says you’ve to try to adhere to it and try to make a play,” Burleson said.

Burleson smiled as he said it, just one of several the smiles the special teams had on the day. One week after a disastrous performance against the New Orleans Saints, the special teams played flawlessly.

Long-snapper Boone Stutz had nary a problem after flubbing his first snap against the Saints. And the field goal team, which had allowed a block last week, gave Josh Brown plenty of time to convert all four of his attempts.

“They were not close all day,” said Brown, who equaled his career-high for most field goals in a game. “We had great snaps, we had good holds… We were really smooth.”

The smoothest part was Burleson, who had the fifth-longest kickoff return in team history. He credited his blockers for allowing him to get free but he helped his own cause when he stiff-armed Jonathan Wade’s desperate last attempt at a tackle.

“Luckily my stiff arm worked that time,” Burleson said. “There were a few times where it shoved back into me, so I’m going to keep doing those bicep curls.”

Rookie receiver Courtney Taylor almost had his first career TD but the play was broken up by cornerback Fakhir Brown.

"It still sucks every time I think about it. I thought I did a great job judging the ball, going up at the highest point but the guy is a vet and he did a veteran move. He grabbed my arm and pulled it out of there. It was a veteran move but at the same time I have to keep working hard to learn how to shield that guy off and make that catch, make that play."

Seahawks Josh Brown, who had a field goal attempt blocked last week, said everything worked smooth against the Rams partly because of an adjustment with the team's blocking scheme.

“We moved our wings a little bit inside and back and down so guys couldn’t split them like they did last week," he said. "Yeah, we maneuvered some people, the coaches made some adjustments and figured it would work better for us.

“They were not close all day. We had great snaps, we had good holds."

Brown tied a career-high with four field goals. He's made 13 of 14 this year.

And it's worth noting Boone Stutz did not short-hop punter Ryan Plackemeier this week, either.

This is the unedited version of my game story that will appear in Monday's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

Nobody seems to be able to precisely explain the inconsistency of the Seattle Seahawks’ defense.
There are times, like in last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, when they look like a motley collection of has-beens and wannabes who have forgotten – or never knew -- how to effectively execute even the simplest defensive scheme.
And there are others, like the Seahawks’ 33-6 victory over St. Louis Rams Sunday afternoon, when they resemble some of the stoutest defenses in NFL history.
Players fly to the ball. Sacks are abundant. Turnovers are plentiful. Hitting is vicious. Opponents are intimidated. And in the end, everybody -- including the 68,164 in the stands -- leaves the stadium feeling as if any obstacle can be overcome and anything can be accomplished.

=> Read more!

How bad is this Rams team? Is it worse than the also winless Dolphins. Probably not, but it doesn't appear to be getting any better for St. Louis with the litany of injuries, particularly to the offensive line.

I'm trying to think of a way to describe the mood in the Rams locker room. But one of the St. Louis beat writers said it best, it's like going into a funeral. Indeed, the Rams appeared to be a beaten and brokedown group. Wide receiver Torry Holt grabbed his belongings from his locker, changed in the training room and left the locker room from a different exit to avoid talking to the media. The players that did talk were filled with frustration. and it started to boil over some.

Just look at this rant from tight end Randy McMichael...
Right now I am grateful that God has blessed me to be a Ram, but right now I am very embarrassed to be one. It makes no sense what we did offensively today, like I said, last week is going to carry over into this week—it is pathetic.”

=> Read more!

WR Nate Burleson Burleson’s 91-yard kickoff return to open the second half was the first of his career. It was the first for Seattle since Maurice Morris at St. Louis on October 20, 2002.

Longest KO Returns in Seahawks History

97t James Jefferson 10/8/89 vs. Kansas City
97t Maurice Morris 10/20/02 at St. Louis
94t Zack Dixon 11/13/83 vs.St. Louis
93t Jon Vaughn 10/30/94 at San Diego
91t Nate Burleson 10/21/07 vs. St.Louis

K Josh Brown
Brown’s four field goals tied a career high. He last made four field goals last season vs. Green Bay (11/27/06). He is now 13 of 14 (.929) for the season and has scored 53 points through seven games this season. On his way to a club-record tying fifth season with 100 or more points scored. Norm Johnson (5 - 1982-90)

TE Will Heller
Heller started in place of Marcus Pollard and had a career-high two touchdown receptions. His first was on Seattle’s opening drive – a 1-yard pass from Hasselbeck and his second was the final scoring play of the game – an 11-yard pass from Hasselbeck.

DE Darryl Tapp
Tapp tied a club record with 4.0 sacks.

LB Julian Peterson
Peterson notched his seventh sack of the season and is tied for the 3rd in the NFL.

Most Sacks (Single Game)
4.0 Darryl Tapp 10/20/07 vs. St. Louis
Michael McCrary 12/22/96 at Oakland
Michael Sinclair 9/8/96 at Denver
Jacob Green 10/19/86 vs. N.Y. Giants

NFL Individual Sack Leaders
Player (Team) Sacks
Allen, Jared (KC) 8.0
Umenyiora, Osi (NYG) 8.0
Peterson, Julian (SEA) 7.0
Tuck, Justin (NYG) 7.0
Cole, Trent (PHI) 7.0
Dockett, Darnell (ARZ) 6.0
Harris, Tommie (CHI) 6.0
Ware, DeMarcus (DAL) 5.5
Merriman, Shawne (SD) 5.5
Phillips, Shaun (SD) 5.5
Tapp, Darryl (SEA) 5.5

NFL Team Sack Leaders
Team Sacks
New York Giants 27
Seattle Seahawks 23
Kansas City Chiefs 21
Chicago Bears 21
Philadelphia Eagles 20

*At the 2-minute warning of the first half, Seattle’s defense had limited the Rams offense to 1 of 7 passing for -4 yards.

* Since the 2005 season, Seattle has held the ball for more than 30 minutes in 19 of it’s 39 games, posting an 18-1 record in that span while leading the NFC with a .947 winning percentage. Seattle has outscored opponents by 282 points, 533-251.

Record When Holding the Ball 30+ Minutes Since 2005
New England 21-1 .955
Seattle 18-1 .947
Indianapolis 18-2 .900
Carolina 18-2 .900
San Diego 18-4 .818

"I kind of gutted it out on Friday. Just something you have to do from time to time. And I just felt like today I want going to be able to grit it out. So I'll take the bye week and evaluate and go from there."

"The competitive side of me said, 'God dang it, man, why did I have to have my knee acting up today?' But at the same time, as long as it stays in the tight end room, it’s all good with me. The guy (Heller) has been a grinder his whole career and, a lot like me has had to prove himself every day. It was great to see him out there and get two touchdowns like he did."

Seahawks defensive tackle Rocky Bernard was sporting a swollen and red right eye thanks to St. Lous Rams right guard Richie Incognito. Bernard said he would be OK but hinted that the injury did not need to happen.

"I don't really have a lot of respect for him," Bernard said about Incognito.

Here's some comments from Darryl Tapp, who tied a Seahawks team record with four sacks against the Rams.

(On getting the record) "That’s great but I’m just happy to get the win. It sucks to lose and we’ve been doing that the last few weeks. To correct some things and get back on the right path is a good feeling.”

(On bouncing back after two consecutive losses) "We had to correct some things from last week. We are just trying to get our feet back on stable ground and move forward."

(On the defensive effort that produced five turnovers and seven sacks) "Everything was working well for us today and as a defensive unit, we were playing the way we’re supposed to be playing and things just came together for us."

Matt Hasselbeck's injury is an oblique muscle. He was funny because he said he did not even know he had an oblique. He said he did not think it was serious and he could have finished the game if they had asked him to. It obviously affected his passing and he attributed the INT that sailed to Engram on the oblique but said it should heal by the time the Browns game rolls around.

Holmgren admitted that Shaun Alexander was frustrated and did not want to come out of the game. He said he didn't want Alexander to get hurt when everybody wasnt in there, and had to explain it to Shaun. I asked Holmgren if he thought part of Shaun's frustrations stemmed from the fact that Holmgren called a pass play for Will Heller on the 1 instead of giving it to Shaun. He said he was sure that was part of it but that he did not play favorites, he just wants to score. In a slick move, Alexander, who usually does his press conference after Hasselbeck, did it before, and the reporters in the locker room were not told. I do not yet have the quote sheets from that, but I'll post them later.

Darryl Tapp, he of the four sacks, has a broken bone in his hand, similar to the one David Kirtman suffered in the training camp. They will determine tomorrow if he needs surgery. If he does, he can play with a protective glove the will let his fingers be exposed. If he does not have surgery, he has to wear that big mitt he was wearing at the end of the game.

That's all for now. I have to write my daily stuff. But I'll post quotes and stuff along the way.

I am heading down to the field shortly with the Seahawks leading 26-6. They are in no danger of losing this game because the defense is playing extremely well. I'll provide post-game stuff, including the extent of Matt Hasselbeck's injury, when I get back up to the press room.

They are saying Tapp, who has three sacks, is probable to return.

The Seahawks have controlled this 10-3 game in the first half, but it feels like they should be up about 17-3 or 20-3. The turning point seemed to be that fourth-and-inches call when the Seahawks ran right and were stuffed. It gave the Rams the chance for their three points and seemed to discombobulate Seattle's offense for some reason. Matt Hasselbeck's injury is a concern because it clearly is bothering him and he is thinking about it. The running game is off and on, which is still better than completely off. But there does not seem to be a rhythm to the offense, particularly at the end of the first half. Walter Jones has been beaten for a sack and called for a holding penalty. The defense, however, looks sensational. I think they have held the Rams to less than 50 yards total offense. Darryl Tapp already has three sacks. Marc Bulger and Brian Leonard both have been ineffective. The crowd is into the game and the Rams have been called for I believe four false starts. The secondary is doing a good job in coverage, including Marcus Trufant's interception. You get the feeling that the Seahawks are on the verge of blowing it open, but they have to stop killing themselves on offense.

You can tell that whatever is ailing Hasselbeck is really bothering him. He is holding his side even as he hands off to running backs. That interception I think was a direct result of the injury, letting the ball sail. They are going to need to figure out something at halftime and see if he can continue effectively in the second half.

He just walked away from the trainers and is throwing to see if his right side is OK. After a few throws, he went and sat down so I think he is going to be OK.

After that third down play on which Walter Jones was called for holding, Hasselbeck came off holding his right side. I couldnt tell if it was his hip or ribs. He is on the sideline right now stretching out, putting his right arm over his head. He has about five guys around him, so I cant really tell what they are looking at. I'll keep you updated.

For all you Jason Babin lovers, he was in at right end on the series where Trufant intercepted Bulger. His time was short.

Against the 27th-ranked run defense in the league, the Seahawks have to convert that fourth and inches play. The only thing I fault Holmgren on is maybe not running to the left side. But I thought it was a decent call to go for it, get the running game charged up if they make it. They have to get that first down though.

That was an 11-play, 71-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Will Heller. There were five passes and six runs on the drive, four of the runs to Shaun Alexander for 16 yards and two runs to Mo Morris for 17 yards.

S Bhawoh Jue
RB Steven Jackson
C Nick Leckey
WR Dante Hall
WR Drew Bennett
TE Dominique Byrd
WR Dane Looker
DE Trevor Johnson

Brian Leonard will start at RB for Steven Jackson
Joe Klopfenstein will start at FB for Brian Leonard

DJ Hackett
CJ Wallace
Mansfield Wrotto
Ray Willis
Deion Branch
Marcus Pollard
Howard Green
Charlie Frye

Will Heller will start at TE for Marcus Pollard

The Pollard thing comes as a surprise because he looked like he was moving pretty well in Friday's practice. I didn't notice a limp or anything. The knee must have acted up over the weekend.

The Hackett inactive is probably smart, he gets an extra two weeks of rest and can come back 100 percent after the bye week.

Referee Jerome Boger
Umpire Garth Felice
Head Linesman Jerry Bergman
Line Judge Jeff Bergman
Field Judge Scott Steenson
Side Judge Joe Larrew
Back Judge Bob Wagoner
Replay Dick Creed
Video Bill Tracy

Rams head coach Scott Linehan

I'm up at Husky Stadium working but I thought I'd get you some links before game day. What's frightening is, the Ducks went all the way down and score before I could even get half of this put together. Maybe the Hawks will do the same thing to the Rams tomorrow. Scoring early would be a refreshing change of pace for Seattle fans.

Here's Frank' story on the Hawks having to scramble to fill in receiver spots because of injuries.

Let's get to this week's opponent, the St. Louis Rams ...

Head coach Scott Linehan had a temper tantrum at practice the other day. The reason for it --- guard Claude Terrell -- apologized for his actions to lead to it. This story says the Hawks are showing signs of aging. Defensive end James Hall won't add his name to the list of injured players missing games, he's playing through the pain.

Columnist Jeff Gordon weighs in on the Linehan outburst.

Columnist Bernie Miklasz also offers his thoughts.

AUDIO ALERT: Here's former Hawk and former Ram Grant Wistrom talking with KFNS in St.Louis. Warren Moon was also a guest on the station, here's his interview.

Here's another interview with Marshall Faulk, now of the NFL Network.
Let's go around the NFL ...

Here's a column from Yahoo's Michael Silver on Adrian Peterson.

CNNSI's Jim Trotter talks about how off-the-field incidents are affecting new contracts.

Columnist Jason Whitlock takes the NFL Hip hop culture to task i this column.

Well, we've said this for the past few weeks, but this game in particular, I think the way the Seahawks respond to two straight losses is of great importance to the remainder of their season. I think in their minds, the Pittsburgh loss was a legitimate defeat precipitated by the time change and other factors. I think the New Orleans game, they are saying, Well, we kind of got screwed by our new long snapper, and before we knew it the game was out of control and we never got a chance to execute our game plan. But this game, against a legitimately bad team, is a win they absolutely have to have. Right now I think there is the feeling that this thing can get turned around and pointed in the right direction. But if they lose two straight to winless teams, especially a beat-up winless team like St. Louis, at home, then furrowed foreheads will abound.

=> Read more!

Do you find it ironic at all that the wide receivers were the deepest unit in camp and now they are the ones beat up and moving around? Not really ironic. It’s just football. It’s a tough sport. We have had a string of tough injuries, with Hack’s ankle and Deion getting his foot caught on a play he has done 1,000 times. Just a little bad luck, something we need to fight through.

=> Read more!

OUT

WR Dante Hall
RB Steven Jackson

QUESTIONABLE

WR Drew Bennett
WR Dane Looker

PROBABLE

WR Isaac Bruce
QB Marc Bulger
S Corey Chavous
WR Torry Holt
DE Leonard Little
C Brett Romberg

OUT

Ray Willis
Deion Branch

QUESTIONABLE

WR D.J. Hackett
TE Marcus Pollard

PROBABLE

RB Shaun Alexander
DT Rocky Bernard
CB Josh Wilson

Mike Holmgren is still noncommittal about the status of DJ Hackett, though I am still guessing that Hackett will not play. It only makes sense for them to allow him to get an additional week of rest with the bye week coming up, then throwing Hackett and Deion Branch back out there at the same time.

=> Read more!

Here is Mike Holmgren's interview on KJR this morning.

Took a few days off to let the links pile up and overwhelm you on Friday with a mass of information to get you ready for the weekend. Perhaps the wind that hit the Sound blew away all of the bad vibes surrounding the Hawks scuffling offense.

Let's start with the News Tribune ... In today's Football Friday section, Frank wrote about who else? Shaun Alexander and his running style. I'm not going to lie, judging by what he says, I don't think Shaun really has an idea of what the problem is.

Dave's column from Thursday was about the Hawks losing their edge at Qwest Field.

Darren wrote a nice story on special teams with some funny quotes from Brandon Mebane. Here's the opponent box for the Rams.

AUDIO: Here's Dave's weekly show with Elise and Ian on KJR

Mike Sando writes about Shaun Alexander and his running style for ESPN.com.

CNNSI's Don Banks thinks Mike Holmgren will retire at the end of the season.

Let's get to this week's opponent, the winless St. Louis Rams...

Apparently, Scott Linehan went on a little tirade at Thursday's practice.

Here's a look at all of the Rams injuries they've sustained this season.

Columnist Bryan Burwell asks "Could the Rams go 0-16?"

Columnist Jeff Gordon writes about head coach Scott Linehan and his assistants are maintaining a brave front in the face of the catastrophe of a season.

Marc Bulger will play on Sunday.

Here's another positive note for the Rams, their run defense has improved.

The Rams are so thin at receiver that they signed Travis Taylor.
Because the Rams have used so many new guys at receiver, they are forced to learn on the job. Tight end Dominque Byrd pleaded no contest to a DUI charge this week.

Here's a story on Isaac Bruce giving money to help build a football field.

Around the NFL ...

Here's Bill Simmons' weekly NFL picks.

CNNSI's Dr. Z is wondering where all the tough runners have gone, also he addresses Fox's new policy of not showing the starting lineups at the beginning of games.

He also takes on the shoddy announcing of games this season.

New York Post media critic Phil Mushnick offers up some ways to make Monday Night Football better.

Here's Gregg Easterbrook's TMQ column ...
Here's a sure sign that the Dolphins have given up on their season, trade your best receiver...

Here's an interesting piece on the evolution of linebackers by ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli.

Being short isn't a problem according to the Eagles DBs.

A note to players, you better buckle your chinstraps or pay the price.

AFter being exposed for a non-tipper to pizza deliveries, Lions receiver Roy Williams spent the day delivering pizzas.

Another story on icing the kicker timeouts.

Tank Johnson is practicing with the Cowboys, but his suspension hasn't been cut.

Mike Holmgren is speaking with Dave Mahler and Hugh Millen on KJR in a few minutes. If you miss the interview, I'll post the podcast later.

When we spoke with offensive coordinator Gil Haskell about the receiving corps, he was hesitant to say anything about DJ Hackett and how he fits into the plans this week. Haskell essentially said he did not expect Hackett back this week, and he has been limited so far in practice, so he does not have a clear indication of what Hackett is going to be able to offer. I would say there is a chance that Hackett gets shelved this week because Haskell said he was sore this morning after only one day of practice, but they want to see how he does tomorrow before making a firm decision.

=> Read more!

Out

Dante Hall (ankle)

Did not Participate

Leonard Little (toe)

Limited Participation

Drew Bennett (hammy)
Steven Jackson (groin)
Brett Romberg (ankle)

Full Participation

Isaac Bruce (hammy)
Marc Bulger (ribs)
Corey Chavous (pectoral)
Torry Holt (knee)
Dane Looker (thigh)

Out

Ray Willis (knee)
Deion Branch (foot)

Did not Participate

Rocky Bernard (groin)
Marcus Pollard (knee)

Limited Participation

DJ Hackett (ankle)

Full Participation

Shaun Alexander (wrist)

In a rather confusing interview after the Seahawks' 95-minute, indoor practice, Shaun Alexander said that he is changing his running style this week from hitting the hole TOO hard to reading what the linemen are doing and being more patient. Here is the audiolink of some of his comments. They are actually answers to two questions, and you can hear the second question begin to be asked before I cut it off for time purposes. (Remember, we can only play 45 seconds of audio.) Most everybody walked away from the interview thinking, "Huh?" primarily because the criticism of Alexander this year, including from Mike Holmgren, is that Alexander is dancing around too much and not hitting the hole hard enough. In any case, take a listen and make your own judgment.

The Seahawks changed their practice from 1:30 this afternoon to 11:45 this morning because of weather conditions. So I'll file stuff from practice earlier today.

These are from my friends at Bodog.com:

New England is favored by 17 points on the road at Miami which is the largest road favorite since Baltimore was a 16 ½ point favorite at Arizona in 2000 … The largest road favorite ever is San Francisco as a 23 ½ point favorite at Atlanta in 1987 … Neither team covered the spread, but both won the game.

Shaun Alexander – Total Rushing Yards vs. St. Louis on Sunday

Over 78.5 -115

Under 78.5 -115

Shaun Alexander – Average Yards Per Carry vs. St. Louis on Sunday

Over 3.7 -120

Under 3.7 -120

=> Read more!

There was some discussion today about the advantage the Seahawks have at Qwest Field, and whether or not that is slipping. The talk then turned to the negative result of building up high expectations are vocal criticism -- boos -- when you don't do well. This was Holmgren's response to that:

"That one, I can't do much about. The emotion, the fan, winning and losing, I understand that. I've been in situations before where you build your team up to the point where you just weren't going to lose. You weren't expected to lose. And when you lost it was like, 'What happened?' It was just like, they couldn't understand it. I'd rather have high expecations, because the team has been good and are looking for something else, than have the other, than the alternative. I would just ask _ I felt this and I feel this way now _ if you play a good football game, play hard and lose, that's one thing. If you putz it around and fumble it around, have penalties, dropped passes and stuff, you deserve what you get. You deserve what you get. All I would tell the people is, just hang in there. Hang in there. I said it Monday, you can get mad at me for a while. But hang in there and be with me the next time we go out there _ for me and the players, the players mainly. I'm glad we have high expectations. That's what we wanted to build up here. And the fact that the fan comes expecting us to win and do well, that's a good thing. That's a good thing. Now we have to play up to that level."

SEAHAWKS

OUT
T Ray Willis (knee)
WR Deion Branch (foot)

DID NOT PRACTICE
TE Marcus Pollard (knee)
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
WR D.J. Hackett (ankle)

FULL PARTICIPATION
RB Shaun Alexander

ST. LOUIS RAMS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
WR Drew Bennett (hamstring)
WR Dante Hall (ankle)
WR Torry Holt (knee)
DE Leonard Little (toe)
C Brett Romberg (ankle)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
WR Isaac Bruce (hamstring)
RB Steven Jackson (groin)
WR Dane Looker (thigh)

FULL PARTICIPATION
QB Marc Bulger (ribs)
S Corey Chavous (pectoral)

On playing the Rams, another winless team this week:
"It doesn't matter. I think we proved that last week."

On TV being too intrusive, demanding of players time.
"I don't think so; not to me. I think it's great, I think it's great for our games. High def television is one of the best things ever invented; second maybe the wheel – or fire, maybe."

On being teased about the falling camera incident in Sunday's game:
"I've actually been on my teammates a little bit. I've heard where they saw it coming at me and they were laughing. What about throwing a block or something, you know? Isn't that really your job?"

Practice just finished up for Wednesday. A couple of quick observations:

WR D.J. Hackett (ankle) was dressed but did not take part in team drills, working in the less dangerous individual drills.

TE Marcus Pollard (knee) did not have on his pads and was walking with a limp. That gave time for Ben Joppru and Will Heller with the first-team offense.

Interceptions were plentiful, and MLB Lofa Tatupu would have had three but he had two go right through his hands. Reserve linebacker Will Herring had the most impressive INT of the day.

Rams coach Scott Linehan finished his press conference a short time ago. A few highlights:

On the injuries the Rams have had
“You have to face the reality. The reality is the next guy steps in and you find a way to get a win. You can’t sit here and say we have a free pass … this year because we are injured. We have to be competitive, and it’s still early in the season."

On getting back into contention in the NFC West even though the Rams are 0-6:
"The leader in our division has three wins with 10 games to go. If we can start adding some of those guys back, and the guys who stepped in play a little better and we make the adjustments as coaches, good things can happen. I always believe that."

On quarterback Marc Bulger, who has missed the last two games, returning this week:
"That was pretty much the plan from the onset, to get him closer to 100 percent and pain free. He looks much more comfortable now. I don’t think anybody plays their best football if they’ve got an injury. It’s one thing if you’ve got bruised ribs or sore calf or something. But it starts to be compounded. He had that broken rib and he also had a pretty sore bruised knee that he got in our second game."

On coaching at Qwest Field for the first time last year (Linehan is a native of Sunnyside and has coached at UW and Central) and losing when the Seahawks scored 10 points in the fourth quarter:
"The result wasn’t a lot of fun but I will always remember the first time. I will always remember going back to Washington; that’s home. … It’s always special for me to go back there."

Mike Holmgren said he has not yet made a decision about who will start at split end, but he did say he wanted to give Courtney Taylor more of an opportunity because of his explosiveness. He said he will line up Nate Burleson, DJ Hackett and Taylor there this week in practice and see who has the best week before making a decision.

Holmgren said Ellis Wyms will get more time at defensive tackle behind Brandon Mebane and it remains to be seen how quickly Howard Green picks things up before they can determine how much of an impact he will have.

=> Read more!

This is a Seahawks press release

KIRKLAND, WASH. - The Seattle Seahawks announced today the campaign to rebuild Ms. Aniece Gibbs’ home in New Orleans more than $67,000.

“Thanks to the generosity of our fans, corporate partners and 710 KIRO, Ms. Gibbs and her family will be able to move back home.” said Seahawks COO John Rizzardini.

Aniece Gibbs, 88, lost her home of 50 years in Hurricane Katrina and continues to be without permanent housing.

The permitting process will begin immediately with construction slated to begin in early December.

Kirkland, Wash. – The Seattle Seahawks have placed defensive tackle Chuck Darby on injured reserve and signed Howard Green to take his spot on the 53-man roster, the team announced this afternoon.

Darby started 34 of 36 games played since signing with Seattle in 2005 and posted 79 tackles (55 solo) and 6.5 sacks, with a career-high 3.5 sacks coming in 2006. In his seven NFL seasons he has 188 tackles (115 solo), 12 sacks, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in 97 games played with 56 starts.

Green has played in 19 career games with 12 starts since being drafted in the sixth round (190th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. He was released after camp and played in one game for the Baltimore Ravens before being released and picked back up by Houston. In 2003, he was released after camp and signed with New Orleans where he played in four games. Green saw his most playing time in 2004 for the Saints, starting 12 of 14 games with 53 tackles. Most recently, he was released by the Saints after camp in 2005, by Miami in 2006 and by Minnesota in 2007.

If history is any indication, the Seahawks have something going for them this week. Seattle is 14-4 (.778) in games played heading into the bye week, tying the New York Giants for the second-best record in the league. Dallas is 15-3 heading into its bye week.

With Chuck Darby moving to injured reserve, the Seahawks today signed Howard Green. Here is a link to his profile. He is 6-2, 320 pounds.

Mike Holmgren basically said he did not appreciate NBC showing a close-up shot of his play-calling sheet. "There are not a lot of secrets," Holmgren said. "I would rather they not do that." Holmgren said he didn't think it gave the Saints any competitive advantage, though I know some within the Seahawks were concerned that the Saints' folks upstairs could easily have obtained a copy of the shot and used it for defensive calls. Holmgren said he changes his plays and his play calls each week, so it is not like what was on that sheet will be on the one for St Louis or anybody else. But it is the principle, he said, that bothers him. Holmgren said when he was on the competition committee, the network folks would come in and say what they were thinking of doing, then ask for input, but basically they were telling the committee what they were going to do in a nice way. Holmgren said he understands that television rules the world, and that because of the rights fees they pay they are entitled to do almost whatever they want. But it puts the coaches and players in a tough spot at times, especially when something sensitive occurs.

Center Chris Spencer said he thinks that the line is pressing too much right now, that because of the struggles everybody is trying to make a big block to spring a big play, rather than trusting the schemes that are designed. "We got to stop pressing and just relax," Spencer said. "It's small plays. Nothing big. Take care of the small things and everything else will fall into place."

Mike Holmgren said that he and Gil Haskell are going to sit down this week and try to figure out a way to get the offense going earlier in the game. He said that could include scrapping the scripting of 15 plays, which could give the offense more flexibility. I talked with Matt Hasselbeck a little bit to get an idea of what exactly that means. He said they script the plays in order to give the players something to study on Friday night, familiarize them with the game plan and how the first quarter could unfold. But Hasselbeck said the 15 plays are not called regardless of the situation. Flexibility is built in depending on field position and what the down and distance are. He said that of the 15 plays scripted, he guessed that eight of them are usually called and the others are ad-libbed.

=> Read more!

Mike Holmgren said that Chuck Darby suffered a popped patella tendon, which will require surgery, and Darby will be out for the remainder of the season. Rookie Brandon Mebane will start at defensive tackle in place of Darby and Holmgren said they are likely to look for somebody to sign to the roster when Darby is placed on IR.

Also, Holmgren said he expected DJ Hackett to be back this week. Hackett is expected to practice for the first time on Wednesday.

Sorry for the lateness of the links, but I spent the morning searching for Seattle's offensive consistency. Still looking. It was debacle from the opening play of the game and it got no better. It's sad that a malfunctioning camera may have provided the most entertainment for Seahawks fans.

Anyway here's Frank's game story.

Dave pulls no punches and takes the Hawks and head coach Mike Holmgren to task.

Darrin wrote about the not so special teams, including long snapper Boone Stutz.... now you know why we spend so much time talking about the long snapper.

Columnist John McGrath wrote about the embarrassing weekend of football for the state of Washington that punctuated by the Hawks' woes.

I wrote about the reemergence of the Saints offense and tailback Reggie Bush.

Here's the game notebook that deals with the camera problems, the inability to get a stop on third down and fullback Mike Karney returning to the area.'

Here's a nice story on Mack Strong from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

From the New Orleans Times Picayune....Here's the game story, which talks about the Saints setting the tone early with a 21-0 first half lead. the defense tormented Hasselbeck all day. The P-I's Dan Raley was writing for the Picayune and he did a story about Shaun Alexander being stymied by the Saints. Columnist John DeShazier writes about the New Orleans team everyone expected finally showing up.

From the Baton Rouge Advocate.... Here's the game story. And another story about the rejuventated Saints offense.

This week's opponent, the St. Louis Rams...

Maybe the 0-6 Rams are what the Hawks need. But then again, the Saints were winless too.

Frank posted that Marc Bulger is expected to start this week, probably a good thing because Gus Frerotte wasn't the answer. The injury list for the Rams grew a little longer. The defense seemed to look better for the Rams.

Columnist Bernie Miklasz didn't like Scott Linehan's strategy in the loss.

Columnist Jeff Gordon has a more positive outlook.

AROUND THE NFL....
Here's Peter King's Monday Morning QB, which leads with the ageless wonder Vinny Testaverde....

Here yahoo's Michael Silver's weekend wrap up column

Here's Bill Simmons' column about his favorite team, the PAtriots.

The PAts-Cowboys game had the highest ratings, while the Hawks game garnered some of the lowest ratings.

Kurt Warner is getting an MRI on his elbow. Besides recently signing Tim Rattay, who spelled Warner in the loss, the Cards are going to sign Tim Hasselbeck.

Vince Young had an MRI on his ailing quad, and is day-to-day

Here's a column about football's popularity booming at baseball's expense from the New York Times.

Is there QB controversy brewing with the Jets?

Redskins receiver Santana Moss benched himself for lack of production.

T.O. wasn't too happy after the loss. Shocker.

Why even kick it anywhere near Devin Hester at this point.

Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen is a force.

To be fair, Adrian Peterson's running style is a little different than Shaun's.
* Updates in progres** And

St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger said he will play Sunday against Seattle. Here is a link to that story.

Mike Holmgren is holding his Monday press conference in about five or 10 minutes. I'll provide detail after that, including the status of Chuck Darby.

DE WILL SMITH

(On getting their first win…) “It was a great performance. Defense and offense came out. Special teams also; we got a blocked kick. It was a complete game for the New Orleans Saints. We’ve been looking for that fire and we finally got it. We have to use this momentum and get ready for Atlanta. The win is great but we know we have another challenge next week.”

=> Read more!

QB DREW BREES

(On his feelings on getting his first win…) “It feels very good. Obviously we had a big first half, second half a little disappointed with our performance offensively. We had a great drive going down in the third quarter and end up fumbling and not getting any points. Then having another opportunity when they kicked the onside kick and we didn’t get any points. Obviously we should have won that thing going away, kind of made it interesting in the end. But I am going to enjoy this. Our whole team is going to enjoy this. It’s a great feeling just to get that first one and now we can move on.”

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON

(Opening Statement…) “I was proud of the way that they fought tonight. You know it’s a good team we played on the road, in a tough environment. We had a chance I felt in the second half to break this game wide open. And I kind of backed off a little bit and was being smart with this lead, maybe a little to conservative, but I wanted the clock to move. I thought our defensive hung in their exceptionally well. Our special teams came up with a big play like we talked about. And that is an important win for us, right now. We certainly needed one. I thought we played well up front offensively. But we blocked them pretty well.”

=> Read more!

Here is the NBC Camera that nearly decapitated Hasselbeck. We could not tell in the press box how they were playing it on television.

This is the unedited version of my game story that will run in Monday's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

The homespun voodoo that seemed to besiege the New Orleans Saints this entire season seeped its way into Qwest Field on Sunday night, a bizarre mysticism wreaking havoc with the Seattle Seahawks in a 28-17 loss before 68,296 fans and a national television audience.
From poor execution from the team’s new long snapper to an overhead camera almost concussing Matt Hasselbeck to a blocked field goal attempt to ineffective fumble recovery skills, Murphy’s Law was in regal form for the Seahawks, the first victims of the previously winless Saints (1-4).
Not that the Seahawks can in any way blame this loss, their second straight, on cosmic intervention. No, just as they were in Pittsburgh, the Seahawks were soundly dominated in every phase of the game, looking at times either ill-prepared or disinterested. They fell behind 21-0 before finally asserting their presence, by which time it was far too late.
“It’s too hard to come back, as a rule, when you dig a hole like that for yourself,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “We are all very disappointed in the outcome.”

=> Read more!

DE Patrick Kerney

(On the teams recent struggles…) “There is nothing I can put my finger on, you got to be able to come back from losses in this league, it’s hard to go 16-0 so at some point you just have to handle it, and rebound, better than we did this week.

=> Read more!

LB Julian Peterson

(On falling behind early…) “You start off slow like that, give them like a 14-point advantage, same as last week, well last week we did a lot better job of keeping it close.We get into a 14-point hole and it’s very hard to get out of a hole like that early in the game. Then it got to 21 to nothing early, so then you have to fight back and rebound. We had an opportunity to make plays, and we started to settle down and see the real us come out, but by that time it’s too late. We have to find a way to start the game off strong, take advantage of the plays that we were given, but that’s just something we didn’t do.”

=> Read more!

RB SHAUN ALEXANDER

(On the game today…) It was frustrating, confusing and disappointing. Any time that you get to play in a game like that where you can take leading the division and you can establish some things, it’s rough.

(On the offense…) I know we watched lots more film this week. I think after a while, we are going to have to just pop loose. We have to just keep working hard. We have a bunch of guys that like playing the game, they like playing with each other. We keep on playing and we will figure it out.

=> Read more!

QB MATT HASSELBECK

(On the status of the offense…) I thought it was a lot better than last week, but obviously we weren’t good enough. I think they had a pretty good plan for us. They had a plan for our different personnel groupings and formations, and they made it a little tough. I thought their pressure was really good. We said all week that they are very good up front, and they were tonight. They broke some tendencies tonight, also. They weren’t really a blitz team, but they brought it tonight, and we didn’t handle it very well. We have a lot that we can correct, and that’s what we have to do.

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(opening…) On the injury situation, Chuck Darby hurt his knee, he will be scanned tomorrow and I don’t want to speculate. But, I don’t think it’s a little thing. We’ll know more tomorrow on what that is all about. To credit New Orleans, they came in and I think played a good game. You can’t start the game like we did against anybody and expect to have really good results, I don’t think. The touchdown we handed them on the bad snap. The blocked field goal. Our special teams, we have been struggling with that during the season, and if we don’t get it fixed, it’s not good. That is something we will work hard on and try to fix it, but there are too many bad things happening right now on special teams. We couldn’t get pressure on Drew. I thought Drew Brees had a fine football game, and we couldn’t get enough pressure on him, in my opinion. Then, Reggie Bush, in the first half in particular, he showed his speed and his quickness, and he showed he’s a fine back. He got around us a couple of times, he cut back and had a really good first half. It’s too hard to come back, as a rule, when you dig a hole like that for yourself. We are all very disappointed in the outcome of the football game. I don’t think the football team laid down, I think they played hard, and I think the Seahawks played hard in the second half. We just couldn’t score enough points to get it done.

=> Read more!

Seahawks lose 28-17, a game in which they looked pretty poor all the way around.

Mike Holmgren said Chuck Darby knee injury is probably serious, he will get scanned tomorrow to be certain but Holmgren did not sound optimistic. That was really the only injury.

Everybody said the Saints threw some things at them that they weren't expecting, especially blitz packages, part of the reason they gave up five sacks.

Boone Stutz said his snap was just something that happened, he and Plackemeier had worked on it all week and for some reason he skipped it back there. Everybody said getting down 21-0 was just too hard to come back from.

Shaun Alexander said he heard the booing. I'll post the exact quotes later but he basically said he has set the bar so high that fans come to expect big things, four TD games, and when he doesn't produce they get frustrated, which he understands. He said he doesn't know specifically what the issues are with the running game, but they have to keep working hard at it and he is confident it will come around.

Matt Hasselbeck didn't really know what to say about almost getting hit by the camera, other than he is thankful he didn't. He said it came very close to him, though, though he did not say it rattled him or fazed him after the fact.

I have to write my daily stuff now, but I'll post quotes when I can.

From the looks of it, Darby injured his right knee. He is being carried to the locker room on a cart.

You thought last week against Pittsburgh was bad? This game against New Orleans, which Seattle is trailing at the half 28-10, is even worse so far. Up until the offense scored 10 points in the final few minutes, every unit looked terrible, from the poor snap by Boone Stutz that led to the Saints' first touchdown, to the defense's inability to gets stops, particularly on third down and long, to their containment issues with Reggie Bush, to an offense that continues to struggle. And don't forget about the blocked field goal attempt. And this is all coming against an 0-4 team. This was the worry, that New Orleans would put together all its pieces in this game. And it is. It seems like every play is going to Bush, who had nine rushes for 88 yards in the first half and is eluding Seattle's tacklers. That Brian Russell leads the team with six tackles is telling. The Seahawks' running game still has not done anything, and Shaun Alexander got booed at one point after he tripped in the backfield and fell to the line of scrimmage. Until those last drives, Matt Hasselbeck did not look particularly comfortable with his receivers and had not found anything except short passes to the flats. He is going to have to start finding Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram and Obomanu if the Seahawks are going to stage a comeback in the second half. Remember, they came back against Arizona after trailing by 17 points. But their defense has to be able to stop somebody, and right now it cannot.

We can't hear what they are saying on television, but basically the game has been delayed because of the camera. The camera is broken in half, and it has been moved to the Seahawks' sideline, which can't make them too comfortable.

The referee just announced that if any live ball touches one of the overhead wires, there will be a replay of the play. Goofy stuff.

During the timeout, NBC's overhead camera fell out of the sky and almost hit Matt Hasselbeck. Then, as the crew was trying to get it straighted out, it almost took out the entire Seahawks' huddle. Both teams are off to the side of the field right now, trying to avoid getting clobbered. Bizarre.

Somewhere, Derek Rackley is chuckling. The first long snap by his replacement, Boone Stutz, was very low and through the hands of Ryan Plackemeier, leading to the Saints' first touchdown. Stutz frantically paced the sidelines afterward and appeared as if he didn't understand what happened. The only players to come up to him were Lofa Tatupu and Ben Joppru.

Josh Wilson was back and he returned the opening kickoff instead of Ben Obomanu. Wilson was the lone deep man.

In a pretty moving tribute before the game, recently retired Mack Strong raised the 12th Man flag, getting a boisterous ovation from an appreciative crowd.

WR Robert Meachem
WR Terrance Cooper
S Jay Bellamy
CB Jason David
G Andy Alleman
T Jermon Bushrod
TE Ronie Ghent
DE Josh Cooper

Lance Moore will start at WR for Devery Henderson

WR DJ Hackett
CB Kevin Hobbs
DE Jason Babin
LB Kevin Bentley
G Mansfield Wrotto
T Ray Willis
WR Deion Branch
QB Charlie Frye

Referee Jeff Triplette
Umpire Jim Quirk
Head linesman Steve Stelljes
Line judge Jeff Seeman
Field Judge Duke Carroll
Side judge Greg Meyer
Back Judge Greg Steed
Replay Bill Spyskma
Video Ted Campbell

First and foremost, the Seahawks need to prove that they can rebound from a poor performance in Pittsburgh, particularly against an inferior opponent like the New Orleans Saints. The loss in Pittsburgh was far different than the one in Arizona because they were handled on all fronts by the Steelers. How will they respond?

What will Leonard Weaver look like as the starting fullback? All the talk about Shaun Alexander this week has hidden a very important part of the running game, and that is that Weaver is taking over as the primary blocking back. There will undoubtedly be a learning curve, both with Weaver and the offensive line and Weaver and Alexander.

=> Read more!

With all the criticism on KJR and all the talk on this and other blogs, the Seahawks know that Shaun is being lambasted. Mike Holmgren was asked on Friday afternoon if Shaun was hitting the hole hard enough on his runs. Holmgren gave a pretty thoughtful and honest answer, I thought.

"We’ve just been okay in the running game and that’s always a combination of the blockers and the ball carrier and, really, how our passing game is going, the calls I make. There’s a combination of things. It’s never just one thing. Would I like him to hit the hole, on occasion, a little quicker and get it up in there? I’ve said that from day one and he knows it for the last however many years he has been here. But at the same time his style has produced some wonderful things. He goes around (the end) and scores a touchdown and I’m happy so you have to be careful with that. He has great instincts. There are times -- I’ve told him so I’m not saying anything to you that I haven’t told him -- and he’s told me (what he was thinking at the time) and he agrees with me that this is why I did this. We talk about that all the time. When the running game isn’t going though there’s a lot to pick at. Now it’s our job to get it going so we can back people off just a little bit on that.”

Out

Ray Willis
Deion Branch

Doubtful

DJ Hackett

Questionable

Rocky Bernard
Marcus Pollard

Probable

Shaun Alexander
Josh Wilson

Bernard dressed but had limited action. My guess is he will play. Hackett has not even put a helmet on that I can remember, so I'm not really sure why he is listed as doubtful instead of out. Pollard we discussed in a previous post.

The Seahawks practiced outside again, for about 90 minutes, going through all their different stuff in preparation for Sunday's game against New Orleans.

Marcus Pollard practiced, though he looked gimpy. He said he felt about 70 percent, but said he should get 10 percent better by Sunday and then adrenaline will give him an additional 10 percent, so he figured 90 percent. He said he planned on playing unless the coaches looked at the tape and felt he was too hindered by the knee. I also asked him about being an inconsistent part of the passing game, and he said he is just trying to be patient and take advantage of his opportunities when they come. He said he realizes there are a lot of weapons on this team and he will not always have the ball come his way.

=> Read more!

Local boy Mike Karney returns to Washington.

As always on Friday we try to provide you plenty of links and stories to get through your afternoon with accomplishing as little as possible, other than getting fired up for Sunday. We're also abstaining from all Cowboys-Patriots related links because ESPN's 24 hour coverage seems to be enough.

Here's Frank's story from today's "Football Friday" section on wide receiver Ben Obomanu. Here's Dave's column from yesterday about Mack Strong. And Frank's story from yesterday on Bobby Engram.

Here's another story about Engram and his consistency.

Here's an AP story from Gregg Bell on the game.

A Hawks blogger and a Saints blogger go back and forth about both teams.

This week's opponent, the New Orleans Saints.

Here's a story talking about the Saints propensity to drop passes this season. Olindo Mare is the Saints kicker for now. Sometimes its easy to forget how nice it is to have Josh Brown. Running back Reggie Bush isn't allowing all controversy from his USC days to bother him.

Here's a column about the Saints and their personnel issues.

Around the NFL...

If you're looking for stats about all things possible in the NFL, check this out.
As always here are Bill Simmons' weekly picks...

Here's a column from Sando on "scheme busters" in the NFL.

I forgot to post Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning QB earlier this week so here it is.

Besides paying a whole bunch of child support for his nine out of wedlock children, Broncos RB Travis Henry has other problems.

Call Roy Williams "Optimus Prime" he does.

Kellen Winslow thinks Joey Porter needs a hug.

Think you know about sports gambling in Las Vegas?

Add David Akers to the list of kickers who don't like the presnap timeouts to ice kickers.

••••I'm updating this as I go so keep checking back

Jason David, the former Washington State defensive back who was burned by Indianapolis so badly during the first week, is the only player listed as out with New Orleans. There are no other injuries.

Seahawks just began practicing. I am heading out there now. I will post details from the practice when I return, including the Hawks' injuries. The biggest one to keep an eye on is Marcus Pollard and what that means for the tight end spot on Sunday. Ben Joppru has actually looked pretty good in practice this week.

Here is a story in a paper called the Sun Herald that discusses the Saints' improved running defense.

Here is a story that details the Saints' decision to keep Olindo Mare as kicker, despite missing some costly attempts last week.

“I just think the biggest thing with the cast is, especially the first couple weeks, it was heavier so I was just kind of off balance a lot. Getting used to that and then also learning how to get hit, it’s just different. It’s hard to explain until you have one on you. I’m falling on the ball. Most times you carry the ball in one hand, you fall on the other side. Learning how to fall on the same side and learning how to also take the hits from the same side, it’s just different.”

I asked Shaun during his weekly meeting with reporters if he was aware of the criticism he has been taking on the radio and on the internet. This was his answer:

“I usually don’t know anything until somebody tells me so thank you. I just think that, for me, I’ve done a couple things that have been really exciting for this town and I think that at the end of the day, no matter what’s going on, I think I’m either third or fourth in the conference (in rushing) and 11th in the NFL. I think that when you’re that, there is 13 other teams that wish they had that position and there is 21 other teams that wish they had that position in their tailback. I think that because we’ve been so hot and so good and so dominant for all these years people take something that is not as good and make it seem bad. We’re not in a bad position at all. We’re just used to being better. That’s what hard work will get you. We’ll get better. I don’t know because I don’t really know what anybody is saying. I go out there and play hard. I think that our team has gotten better every week. I think that, even last week, even though we didn’t really control the clock I think there are some plays that were just better. It just is what it is. It’s part of football. The good thing is I don’t have to be perfect for our team to win. It’s just that when I’m really on we play really well and the fans love it so I understand that.”

Did not participate in practice

Jason David

Full participation

Olindo Mare

Out

Ray Willis
Deion Branch

Did not participate in practice

Rocky Bernard
DJ Hackett
Marcus Pollard

Full participation

Shaun Alexander
Josh Wilson

Because of the Seattle Home Show, which is being held at the Qwest Field Events Center, the Seahawks are suggesting that fans arrive early for Sunday's game. The gates, normally open two hours before the game, will be opened at 2 p.m., with increased accessibility on the West side of the stadium. Also keep in mind that the Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed to southbound traffic for semiannual inspections until 3. Northbound lanes will be open at 4.

The Seahawks practiced in the bubble on Wednesday but outside on Thursday, going for about an hour and 45 minutes.

Mack Strong was out on the field with a whistle, helping coach his former teammates.

=> Read more!

If there was a time for the running game to break out, it is this week against the New Orleans Saints. Not necessarily because it is the Saints, but because the game is on Sunday night.

In six career Sunday night games, Shaun Alexander is averaging 123.5 yards rushing and two touchdowns per game. His low of 28 yards came when he split time with Ricky Watters in 2001.

In 2001 he rushed for 266 yards (currently 5th in NFL history)
on 35 carries with three scores vs. Oakland and followed that up in
2002 with an NFL-record five total touchdowns in the first-half vs.
Minnesota, along with 139 yards.

He also had four touchdowns vs. Houston in 2005, becoming only the second player in NFL history to rush for four touchdowns twice in one season.

With Alexander in the lineup, the Seahawks are 5-1 on Sunday nights. He has 5.3 yards a carry and has scored 12 touchdowns.

The official injury report for Sunday's Seahawks-Saints game:

SEAHAWKS
OUT
T Ray Willis (knee)
WR Deion Branch (foot)

DID NOT PARTICIPATE
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
WR D.J. Hackett (ankle)
TE Marcus Pollard (knee)

LIMITED PRACTICE TIME
CB Josh Wilson (ankle)

FULL PRACTICE
RB Shaun Alexander

SAINTS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
K Olindo Mare (right groin)
CB Jason David (forearm)

After Wednesday's practice, offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said veteran Bobby Engram will start in place of Deion Branch, who is out two games with a mid-foot sprain.

"It was either him or me," Haskell joked.

Engram normally plays in the slot, or inside role, which he will move back into in three- and four-receiver sets.

A couple of other roster moves worth noting:

Long-snapper Jered Retkofsky, who was signed to the practice squad last week, was let go to make room for linebacker Cameron Jensen. Jensen was an undrafted free agent signing by the team who made the practice squad coming out of training camp but was let go last week.

Here are few highlight of the press conference with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton:

On the Saints' 0-4 start: "We've done some of the things that are fairly typical when you're losing games: We're struggling with ball security, the turnovers have hurt us on both sides of the ball."

On Reggie Bush stepping into a full-time role at running back: "I just think you have got to monitor how many (touches he gets). He is not someone I want to handle the ball 30, 35 times in a game. I do see him as a first and second down player."

On missing Deuce McAllister, who's out with a season-ending knee injury: "Aaron Stecker and Pierre Thomas are some guys that will get more involved than would have normally. We don't have the luxury, and we don't have the three or four weeks to sort through things. There has to be a sense of urgency to do a better job offensively."

Couple of interesting things from practice today regarding Marcus Pollard and Josh Wilson.

Pollard, the Seahawks' starting tight end, did not practice. He was limping noticeably with his left leg.

Wilson did not practice but was in full uniform with his injured ankled heavily taped. He did some work on the side.

The other players who did not practice:

WR D.J. Hackett
OL Ray Willis
WR Deion Branch
DT Rocky Bernard

No shortage of news around Seahawks practice or around the NFL. So let's get to it...

Here's Darren's story on the Hawks' roster issues. Here's his story from on Mack Strong's retirement from the day before. And his story on Deion Branch.

Let's get to this week's opponent,
the New Orleans Saints...

Here's excerpts from Sean Payton's Monday press conference... Not many people, the players in particular thought the Saints would be 0-4. Kicker Olindo Mare has been a disappointment and the Saints are looking for a replacement. Payton hinted toward possible lineup changes for the Saints this week. Saints fans aren't giving up on them even with the rough start.

We'll cover Mack Strong first. Holmgren said though he has not finalized anything or worked out details, he said he would like to have Mack continue to have some role with the team. Whether that is coaching or whatever, Holmgren doesn't know. But he said Mack feels like he has a lot invested in the organization and doesn't want his ties with the team to end so abruptly.

As for Leonard Weaver, Holmgren said he will be the starting fullback. Holmgren said newly acquired Fred McCrary has some of the same qualities as Strong, but it is now Leonard's job. How he will respond, he doesn't know. SOme guys respond very well going from irregular contributors to The Man, as Holmgren called him, some choke. He has to wait and see with Weaver, though he said one of the positive aspects are that Weaver gives them the option of catching passes out of the backfield. His primary responsibility, though, is lead blocking for Shaun. To that end, Holmgren said there will be a learning curve for Alexander and Weaver because Alexander and Strong had a feel for one another built up over time. He said Weaver will need to get used to the notion that he is not a halfback that will be running the ball.

=> Read more!

The Seahawks placed Mack Strong on injured reserve today and signed 11-year fullback Fred McCrary. Also, Derek Rackley was released and the Seahawks signed long snapper Boone Stutz.

McCrary began his career in 1995 with Philadelphia, but has played with New Orleans (1997), San Diego (99-02), New England (03) and Atlanta (04-06). Here is a player profile of McCrary.

Stutz snapped in every game for Atlanta last season and four this season, but was released by the Falcons on Oct. 2. Here is a player profile of Stutz.

This has not been officially released by the Seahawks, but I was told that long snapper Derek Rackley has been cut. I assume, but don't know for sure, that that means that Jared Retkofsky will be promoted from the practice squad. I'll let you know either when the Hawks announce the move or from Mike Holmgren's noon press conference.

I know Mack Strong was one of the most popular Seahawks, in part because of his longevity and in part because of his class and grace. And this is in no way meant to dump on the guy after having his career sadly ended in the fashion it was, but if you look at the situation unemotionally, maybe forcing Leonard Weaver into the lineup is a good thing. Mack, after all, was 36-years-old and had a lot of wear and tear on his body. Boling and I have had several discussions about just how sore he is going to be when he reaches 50 just because his career has been spent slamming his body into linemen or linebackers. Not really glorious, and the punishment had exacted a toll.

=> Read more!

I was not at the Holmgren press conference yesterday afternoon, flying back from Pittsburgh. Speaking of which, I'll share a glorious travel tale to pick up your day. So for some reason I fly from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Seattle. On the ATL-STL leg, which by the way is almost five hours, I show up, and there is a huge guy standing a few rows back just waiting. And I'm thinking what is he waiting for? So I sit down, and realize he is waiting because he is so big he doesn't want to have to get back up once he sits down. The dude went about four bills. So I sit down, and he proceeds to flop his girth in the seat right next to me, literally squishing me against the window. I can't move. It's like a WWF pancake off the top rope. Upon takeoff, the guy falls asleep and his rather considerable body relaxes against me, which is like Jabba the Hut falling asleep on you, and begins to snore. Loudly. After takeoff, he wakes up and decides he wants to watch the movie, so he starts digging in his pocket for $2 for headphones, jostling me the entire time. But he can't get his wallet out of his pocket. So he has to lift up one cheek to extract his wallet, which means I am rammed against the window again. You can probably guess the next issue. The headphones plug into the arm rest between us, but since he is so big he can't have the arm rest down. So he is trying to get the headphones plugged in while the arm rest is in the up position between the two seats. Harry Potter is about 34 years old at this point, so he finally decides to get up and fix it. At that point, I was out of there. No way I'm spending five hours with this galoot. I tell the flight attendants to find me another seat and they say, "OH yeah, we saw that guy. We felt sorry for you."

=> Read more!

Sorry to just be getting to this. But here's the highlights from Mike Holmgren's press conference:

On Leonard Weaver replacing Mack Strong:

“Yeah, well he has to be the guy, and actually I’m very pleased on his progress, and I think I mentioned it last week, that it’s funny how this business is at times. In the preseason I was disappointed in how he was going, and since we started playing games he has just gotten better and better, to the point now that I have a lot of confidence in him, he was playing more anyway, so now he’s got to play a lot.”

On Deion Branch's foot injury:

“I believe him we’ll have him back after the bye (week). He has mid-foot sprain, not unlike Leroy Hill’s. So he’ll miss the next two ballgames, we’ll have the bye, and we’ll have him back after the bye.”

On the Pittsburgh loss:

“Pittsburgh is a good football team. It’s one of those games, we didn’t play that well I didn’t think, and then they’re pretty good. Put that together and you don’t have a very good outcome.”

On comparing this loss to last year's 37-6 loss to the Bears:

“The difference is our defense played well enough yesterday, I think the game should have been closer. They won, and they deserved to win, but the defense played enough had we done some stuff on offense it should have been closer of a game. In Chicago, that thing was nuts, it was over before it started kind of. I was referencing, this point of the season, losing a big game it’s not the end of the world, you come back, you re-group, you get going again.”

On some games just not working out:

“Some games, it’s like it’s not happening today. I think you can explain and analyze a lot of things, and some things it’s hard to explain. This I know, we’ll back bounce after this game, we have a high character group of guys who will work hard to fix it. We’ve been working all day, the coaches, to fix what we did wrong. It’s ok, we will bounce back and keep the thing going.”

FYI: Just got done transcribing Mack Strong's press conference. I know a lot of you are interested in what he had to say and I'm just going to dump it all here for you to sort through. Strong was emotional at times, choked up even, about having to end his career like this. At the same time, he was funny and optimistic about the future. Here you go, with brief lead ins:

=> Read more!

An emotional Mack Strong just finished talking to the media and made it pretty clear that his football career is over after suffering a herniated disk in his neck that was causing trauma to his spinal cord. He said the injury would not require surgery and that he felt better today than Sunday.

"It's a no-brainer," Strong said. "I don't have to worry about some sign (about retiring). This was my sign."

He said he felt like he had a crick in his neck and had some tingling in his left arm when he woke up on Sunday. He said during the game he took a hit, nothing out of the ordinary, and felt a burning sensation and had pain all the way down to his feet.

He returned to the game and had another episode and then came out for good.

"I kind of felt it in my gut that this was something significant, that it wasn't like any other injury or ding that I've gotten before in my career," Strong said. "This was more serious. ...

"You play this game long enough, specially playing my position and as many games as I've played in, it was bound to happen sooner or later," Strong said.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren just finished his Monday press briefing and had two bombshells regarding fullback Mack Strong and receiver Deion Branch.

Holmgren said Strong has suffered a neck injury that will likely end his season. He said more details are coming but surgery is a possibility.

Branch has a mid-foot sprain – nothing's broken – and will likely return to the team after the bye, which means he would miss the next two games.

More details to come.

Wow, don't have much to say about the game, other than it being totally painful to watch. Can't really complain about the announcing. Joe Buck is always a bit sanctimonious but he really didn't have much to preach about in that bad of a beating.

Here's Frank's game story from today's paper. Here's his other story on the failed scoring drive before halftime and his game notebook.

Here's Dave's column...

Let's take a look at the opposing team's newspaper coverage...
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Here's Ed Bouchette's game story. Defensive back Ike Taylor didn't drop his interception chances this time. Could you imagine how bad it could have been if the Steelers were at full strength. Here's the game notebook from the Gazette.

From the Pittsburgh Review Tribune... Here's the game story. Here's a column from Mike Prisuta about the monster drive that Pittsburgh put together in the third quarter. Fellow columnist John Harris credits the Steelers defense for the win. Here's a story with some Holmgren comments about the Steelers

Other News outlets...

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli was at the game and filed this column.

Yahoo's Charles Robinson was also there and wrote this column...

Here's a column from CBSportsline's Pete Prisco.

This is an unedited version of the notebook I wrote that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

PITTSBURGH – Normally, locals say, the leaves on the trees along the Monongahela River at this time of year are changing to beautiful pastels and a chill in the air tends to make Pittsburgh Steelers fans bundle up warmly before coming to Heinz Field to worship their Sunday heroes.
But this is an unusual autumn in Western Pennsylvania, the leaves still green and the women in skirts because the heat wave passing through has extended the summer.

=> Read more!

This is an unedited copy of the sidebar I wrote that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

PITTSBURGH – On a day when the Seattle Seahawks’ offense was as productive as a government bureaucrat, it could have used any points that it could get.
Indeed, the 21-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field, Seattle’s first shutout in seven years, seemingly turned on a controversial second-quarter series in which the Seahawks came way with zero points in part because of faulty decision-making.

=> Read more!

Brian Russell

How physically draining was it out there in the second half?
You know we didn’t play good football so we were on the field longer than we should have been. You can’t stop them on third downs and then they get a new set of downs, then you play more plays. We brought that on ourselves. We’re going to be frustrated when we see this film tomorrow.

How draining is it when you give up those third-and-long plays?
Well you obviously don’t want to give those plays up but when you get a new set of downs that gives you another opportunity to get off of the field. The key is to keep them out of the red zone and then ultimately out of the end zone but we kind of broke down at the crucial points to keep drives going. I have to give them credit because Ben (Roethlisberger) scrambled to make some plays and they broke some runs so I don’t want to take anything away from them but still we are a better defense than that.

=> Read more!

This is an unedited version of my game story for tomorrow's paper:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

PITTSBURGH – The Seattle Seahawks’ rebuttal to their frustrating loss in the Super Bowl almost two years ago held about as much conviction as a parenting sermon from Britney Spears.
The Seahawks were thoroughly dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in virtually every facet of the game Sunday afternoon, dropping a 21-0 decision before 64,478 Terrible Towel-waving fans at Heinz Field.
Look at the bright side: There was absolutely no debating the reasons for the outcome of this loss, the first time the Seahawks have been shut out since 2000 and which dropped the record to 3-2.

=> Read more!

Shaun Alexander

The running game got out to a good start but what happened to it?

I always wondered what is the best defense that could face us and it is a good offense. I think that we had one drive in the third quarter. I remember stretching a lot and remembering I never stretch this much. It is what it is, Pittsburgh played real well.

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLIN

Opening:
I will just start by saying that I am so happy and proud for and about this football team. We saw a bunch of adversity today. Prior to kickoff and of course after the ball is kicked off there is always diversity. They showed their character today. It is something that I knew we had. It was a total team effort. You could talk about identifying different guys that did big things and responded, but you could pick them. Everybody in a helmet today was a playmaker. They remained unwavered in the face of adversity. They stuck together. They delivered. The things that we talked about since day one, they displayed today. As a coach, you feel good when you see that. Guys’ roles increased and they accepted that. Guys had to make plays and they did. We got faced with adversity, some of which was created by ourselves as part of it. We will always fall short of perfection, but they didn’t judge. They kept moving forward and they played to win. They played off of one another and it was just a great team win. I am happy for those guys.

=> Read more!

Matt Hasselbeck

How do you think that you handled their pressure?
I thought that we handled their pressure pretty well for the most part. At times they just came with a three-man rush and dropped an extra man into coverage. They had our number a couple of times, gave us a number of things to think about.

=> Read more!

I know there are folks who are upset about the loss, but please, if you are going to post comments on the blog, don't use profanities. I only glanced at some comments and already have seen a few. And please keep the conversation to football.

Mike Holmgren

Opening:
We got it handed to us pretty good today. The first half, I thought we were headed for a zero-zero tie, and I thought it was going to be whoever caught the first big play would have a huge advantage in the game, and they did. Davenport – we had a lot of missed tackles on that play.
Offensively, we were not very good today. Give the Steelers credit. Our defense had to be on the field too long. Couple that with when we had a couple chances to get off the field we couldn’t get off the field. The time of possession had to be ridiculous, and typically you lose a game like that.

=> Read more!

Sorry folks, left early for the locker room and didn't post the final score. It was 21-0, the first time the Seahawks have been shut out since 2000.

I'll come back with all the locker room, but just a quick recap: Hasselbeck said he knows he didn't play very well, in part because Pittsburgh came up with a great game plan. The heat was a factor, to the point that several players were dehydrated. Shaun Alexander said something like even behind 21-0, he thought they were going to come back and win. And Holmgren and Hasselbeck both admitted that they should have used at least one of their timeouts at the end of the half, that it was poor clock management. Holmgren said he briefly considered kicking a field goal with seven seconds left but figured that had enough time for one shot at the end zone.

I'll be back with quotes when I get them and for wrapup stuff when I'm done writing my daily stuff.

Leroy Hill was just taken to the locker room on a cart. Dont know the injury yet. Brandon Mebane and Baraka Atkins in on special teams with Terrill out.

Not sure yet what Terrill's injury is but he just walked up the tunnel. By the way, Seattle looks really fatigued on the sideline, the heat taking it out of them. Some players are on the bench with oxygen masks and the pass rush has really fallen off.

It's been pretty much a defensive struggle in the first half, the Steelers holding a 7-0 lead after Najeh Davenport breaks a 45-yard run after Deon Grant and Kelly Jennings both missed tackles. It was the second big play the Steelers were able to get off due to a Jennings missed tackle, only the first one didn't hurt. Ben Roethlisberger hits Heath Miller for a 13-yard strike a few playes later. The Seahawks blow a chance for points at the end of the half when Matt Hasselbeck gets them down the field but then throws an interception at hte goal. It should have been at least three points. One of the topics of discussion on that drive was why did Mike Holmgren not call timeout to give the Seahawks more time on the drive. And, why not take three points with 7 seconds left rather than risk the pass, which was intercepted?

Neither offense looks particularly effective, both running games bogging down. It's something of a surprise that Seattle has not been able to take more advantage of Pittsburgh's injuries, but Matt Hasselbeck does not look very sharp. On three occasions he has blatantly thrown deep into double coverage. He seems to be forcing the ball for some reason, including on that interception. Even with Casey Hampton out, Shaun Alexander has been unable to find any room to run. Seattle's run defense has been good, and other than tackling its secondary is decent. The offense needs to crank it up in the second half.

WR Deion Branch has a right foot sprain. His return is questionable. Obomanu is getting time in place of Branch.

His return is being listed as questionable.

Santonio Holmes is on the sideline and is not even stretching out his hamstring. He is standing off to the side with his helmet off; my guess is the guy does not come back, he doesn't look too intent on it. There is some question whether he hurt the hamstring in warmups or on the Steelers first play.

Already plagued by injuries, the Steelers lost Santonio Holmes to a hamstring injury. HIs return is questionable.

The Seahawks have guys holding big screens over the players on the bench to get out of the sun.

It appears that Holmgren has decided to use the pass to set up the run.Five of Seattle's first six plays were pass plays, and Matt Hasselbeck missed two open receivers or the drive would still be going.

Turns out Nate Burleson was not on the return team. Ben Obomanu and Maurice Morris were the deep men. Tom Ashworth was in for Ray Willis on the wedge.

Nate Washington will start at WR for Hines Ward

Chris Hoke will start at NT for Casey Hampton

Anthony Smith will start at S for Troy Polamalu

QB Charlie Frye
WR DJ Hackett
DB Josh Wilson
TE Ben Joppru
DE Jason Babin
OG Mansfield Wrotto
OT Ray Willis
WR Courtney Taylor

QB Brian St. Pierre
CB Bryant Mcfadden
RB Gary Russell
S Troy Polamalu
G Darnell Stapleton
OT Trai Essex
WR Hines Ward
DT Casey Hampton

Here is my story in this morning's News Tribune previewing today's game.

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

PITTSBURGH – One of the key outcomes of Seattle’s victory at San Francisco last week was a sense of redemption for the pair of shellackings the 49ers put on the Seahawks in 2006.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren drew inspiration from those losses and used it to motivate his team to reestablish supremacy in the NFC West.

Is it any coincidence Holmgren chose to use the previously mothballed Seneca Wallace in that game? Perhaps it was a subconscious communiqué to players and coaches alike that he will sacrifice anyone – including the one player he heretofore said was not to be not sacrificed – to effectively stamp out any suitors to the team’s three-pearl string of division crowns.

=> Read more!

Good morning, I realize it is very early back home but for those of you who are awake, the officials are not Bill Leavy's crew, but

Referee Terry McAulay
Umpire Bruce Stritesky
Head linesman Jim Mello
Line Judge Mark Steinkerchner
Field judge Greg Gautreaux
Side judge Rick PAtterson
Back judge Steve Freeman

The weather here is very very warm. Unseasonably warm. I walked in with a guy who said it is supposed to be cold and the leaves are supposed to be changing color, but everything is still green because of the heat. He covered a college game yesterday and said all the players were cramping up. When I walked into the stadium at about 10, it was about 75 degrees. It got up to 90 yesterday, so it will definitely play a factor in this game. It's a bit overcast but I think it will burn off.

I arrived in Pittsburgh yesterday and was listening to their sports talk station on the drive. It is essentially the same as KJR, only this station's version of High Millen is Mike Logan, a safety on the Super Bowl XL team. It is interesting listening to their version of the Super Bowl; they have a vague notion that folks in the Northwest are still peeved about the outcome, but not a true appreciation, and Logan dismissed as "hogwash" any talk of poor officiating. I'm sure if the circumstances were reversed, Seahawks fans would feel the same way, but, again, I find it interesting to listen to the other side.

=> Read more!

Okay, gang, this has nothing to do with Sunday’s Seahawks game against Pittsburgh, other than it marks the return to the site of a story worth telling. It’s for anybody who might wish to some day be a sportswriter, and who thinks it involves luxury travel and community respect.

It’s the fall of 1998, and I was scheduled to fly to Omaha on Friday, drive to Lincoln, Neb., Saturday morning for the Washington vs. Nebraska game, drive back to Omaha that night, fly early Sunday morning to Pittsburgh for the Seahawks-Steelers game. You know, consecutive days at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium and Three Rivers looks pretty good for anybody who likes football, eh?

=> Read more!

Here's your "Football Friday" links that will surely make your afternoon much less productive.

For those of you who asked, yes we are the unofficial experts on long snapping in the U.S. But if you don't think it's important take a gander at the info box in this story... Even today Trey Junkin's name and that game come up in any stories about long snappers.

Anyway on to the News Tribune links... Here's Frank's story from our "Football Friday" section. In case some of you missed it, here's Darren Beene's story from Hawks camp a couple days ago on Julian Peterson.

AUDIO ALERT: ESPN's Jeremy Green does a weekly podcast previewing each game, and he focuses on the Steelers-Hawks this week. ESPN 1250 in Pittsburgh has plenty of analysis, Merrill Hoge offers his thoughts on the upcoming game. It's about quarter way through the show.

ESPN released it's power rankings with the headline "Seahawks best of one loss teams"

Here's Fox sports Adam Schein's column about the Super Bowl rematch.

Here's another story on it, mostly downplaying he rematch.

It looks like the Steelers are six point favorites....

Let's go to this week's opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers ...

At the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, beat writer Ed Bouchette (one of the best) lets us know that Hines Ward and Bryant McFadden won't play on Sunday. Santonio Holmes has become the Steelers' top deep threat, looks like he'll be seeing plenty of Marcus Trufant. Linemen Brett Keisel puts max pressure on QBs but he doesn't have a sack yet.

Here's a story from Mike Holmgren's conference call with the Steelers' writers about lamenting the loss in the Super Bowl.

Let's check out the Pittsburgh Tribune Review ... where they have story on a the Steelers possibly using the no-huddle offense. This is a point/counterpoint column about the importance of Sunday's game. Here's a story about the Steelers stopping Shaun Alexander. Columnist Mike Harris writes about cornerback Ricardo Colclough.

I don't think Hawks fans will like this story from the Beaver Falls, PA paper.

Around the NFL
Here's Bill Simmons' updated power rankings and weekly picks...

CNNSI's Don Banks analyzes the playoff hopes of all the teams with losing records.

Here's CNNSI's Bucky Brook's weekly scouting report of each game, including the Hawks-Steelers game.

Around the NFC West ...
The news about Alex Smith's shoulder is positive. According Tim Kawakami, the Niners have already reached a must-win game.

Arizona's Darnell Dockett is having a monster season.

AUDIO: Here's yahoo's Michael Silver talking about the Matt Leinart column with 910 AM. Here's Cards' coach Ken Whisenhunt talking about the matchup with the Rams.

St. Louis columnist Jeff Gordon believes benching Marc Bulger was the sane thing to do. He also has a column on former Ram QB Kurt Warner.

**I'm updating this post as I go, so keep checking***

Practice Status

Out

DJ Hackett
Ray Willis

Did not Participate in practice

Rocky Bernard
Ben Joppru
Josh Wilson

Full participation

Shaun Alexander
Will Herring

Game status

Out

DJ Hackett
Ray Willis

Doubtful

Josh Wilson

Questionable

Rocky Bernard

Probable

Will Herring
Mo Morris
Shaun Alexander

Game balls this week were given to wide receiver Bobby Engram for offense, Marcus Trufant for defense and Niko Koutouvides for special teams.

Also, coach Mike Holmgren was given a game ball for earning his 150th career victory. It came as a surprise to Holmgren.

Cornerback Kevin Hobbs was brought up off the practice squad after Alvin Pearman had his season ended by a knee injury. I sat down with Hobbs for a few minutes. Here is the transcript of the interview:

Q: Can you explain your emotions once you officially heard you being called up from the practice squad? A: “Words can’t explain it. This will be my first time because as a kid you dream about playing in the NFL. I was on practice squad last year, and the beginning of this year. But to finally be able to go out and feel my dream, I am excited.”

=> Read more!

This is my unedited story that will appear in Friday's edition of the News Tribune.

Incidentally, I am traveling for much of tomorrow but will get practice stuff to you and injury updates when I get into Pittsburgh.

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

KIRKLAND – Even as the Seattle Seahawks continue to win, it perturbs coach Mike Holmgren that the running game flounders.
Despite Shaun Alexander getting 100 yards in two of the four games this season, which makes him the ninth-ranked running back in the NFL, Holmgren does not waffle about his displeasure with that aspect of the Seahawks’ offense, particularly after last week’s 23-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, when virtually every other unit on the team was altogether dominant.

=> Read more!

I spoke with Nate Burleson this afternoon about going back to being the kickoff returner in light of the injuries to Josh Wilson and Alvin Pearman. He said he is looking forward to it but knows that he will have more bumps and bruises than normal because you can't avoid that on kickoffs. He also said that both Mo Morris and Ben Obomanu got work back there with him but since Morris is banged up it will probably be Obomanu. They worked together in the preseason so it will not be difficult re-adjusting. Burleson said one guy is the "call guy" who decides who will field the kickoff, and since he did it before he assumes he will do it again. Wilson was the call-guy last week.

Seahawks

Out

DJ Hackett
Ray Willis

Did not participate in practice

Ben Joppru ankle
Josh Wilson ankle
Mo Morris hip

Limited participation in practice

Will Herring knee
Rocky Bernard ankle

Full participation in practice

Shaun Alexander

Steelers

Did not participate

Casey Hampton thigh
Bryant McFadden ankle
Troy Polamalu abdomen
Hines Ward knee

Full Participation

Clint Kriewaldt illness
Ben Roethlisberger foot

I have to finish the story on the running game, which I will post later, but here is a quick rundown of practice.

Mo Morris did not practice. Will Heller practiced. Rocky Bernard was dressed but had limited (very limited) participation.

Jordan Babineaux was the best player on this day, breaking up three plays by Seneca Wallace and involved in a few other.

=> Read more!

I am working on a story on the running game for Friday's paper and interviewed a number of people on the topic. Here is the interview I conducted with Walter Jones:

Mike (Holmgren) said this morning that he jumped on you guys pretty good about the run blocking. What do you have to do to improve the run blocking? Just keep working, man. One of those things where you just have to stick with it. We are still learning and just continue to keep working. I think Shaun is still trying to learn some of the guys. Just keep working.

=> Read more!

I was able to get together with Brock yesterday afternoon to discuss the upcoming game against the Steelers.

Let there be no doubt that Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck is a quote machine. Just take a look at his comments Wednesday:

On Deion Branch getting more involved in the offense:
"I think the first week Coach Holmgren didn't have in on his fantasy team, and then he was able to trade for him and it really changed everything."

On him playing fantasy football:
"I got a real team. It's not fantasy. It's real, live."

On him studying the playbook with help from his wife:
"She plays Coach Holmgren, so to speak. She'll say the personnel group, then she'll say the situation, then she'll say the play. It's much like when you're studying for an exam in college or something. ... Just sort of (studying) during commercials at night when we're watching television, or after that in bed. It's very romantic."

This week's injury report:

SEAHAWKS
OUT
WR D.J. Hackett (ankle)
T Ray Willis (knee)

DID NOT PRACTICE WEDNESDAY
TE Ben Joppru (ankle)
LB Will Herring (knee)
DT Rocky Bernard (ankle)
CB Josh Wilson (ankle)

FULL PARTICIPATION
RB Shaun Alexander (wrist)

STEELERS

DID NOT PRACTICE WEDNESDAY
DT Casey Hampton (thigh)
LB Clint Kriewaldt (illness)
CB Bryant McFadden (ankle)
S Troy Polamalu (abdomen)
WR Hines Ward (knee)

LIMITED PRACTICE
QB Ben Roethlisberger (foot)

Practice just ended a while ago. And maybe you've had enough about the Seahawks long snapping situation but this interview with Jared Retkofsky is too good not to share.

He said he was working on a ranch outside of Fort Worth, Texas. "The day before I got called by the Seahawks, I got pooped on by a cow," he said.

Retkofsky, who was actually in training camp with the Steelers, got called by the Seahawks on Monday but didn't get the message until late because he was at a middle school football game. "I got the call at 7:30 and I was on the plane at 9," he said. "They said go straight to the airport and let your wife over-night your clothes."

He said he kept his snapping skills sharp by practice three times a week or so either by himself or with his wife Briana.
"She was back there trying to catch the ball with a duffle bag because she couldn't catch it with her hands," he said.

Holmgren also addressed two issues with the special teams: Long snapping and kick returning.

Holmgren said "he's looking" at the long snapping situation because he has not been pleased with Derek Rackley. The team signed long snapper Jared Retkofsky to the practice squad earlier this week.

"We're going to simulate game situation as much as we can," Holmgren said. "That is an important job. We'll see."

Holmgren said he and special teams coach Bruce DeHaven have not yet decided if the team will continue using two returners on kick offs. Nate Burleson has been teamed with rookie Josh Wilson, but Wilson is out a few weeks with an ankle injury.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren just finished up with his weekly press conference. Here are a few of the highlights:

On having to play in Pittsburgh:
"I know we are going into a very enthusiastic crowd situation. ... (Hasselbeck) has to very well prepared this week or it could get ugly."

If he's moved on from the Super Bowl, and what he tells fans about it:
"New season. New team. I don't think it applies. ... I think we all must move on at some point."

On the Seahawks running game:
"We have had too many assignment errors. ... I will not tolerate assignment errors."

On the Seahawks' defense bending but not breaking:
"If we were really skilled, we wouldn't give up points or yards. ... That doesn't work for too long."

A midweek linkage for all to read.

Let's start with Frank's story for today, centering on some roster moves.

On to this week's opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers...
From the Post-Gazette and beat writer Ed Bouchette: head coach Mike Tomlin knew his team was going to lose eventually. The Steelers aren't as beat up physically as people thought. But the Steelers know this stretch of upcoming games is the toughest part of their 2007 schedule.
On Tuesday, the Post-Gazette and columnist Chuck Finder did a pair of stories on the old Steelers cheerleaders, including the first male cheerleaders in the NFL --- frightening.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Tomlin wasn't going to criticize his offensive line, despite a less than optimal performance. Receiver Hines Ward took some time to address some high school students about financial pitfalls.

Around the NFC West...
In Arizona, Matt Leinart backed off his critical comments about head coach Ken Whisenhunt to Yahoo's Michael Silver. Not surprising in the least. This notebook talks about the importance of one pass Leinart completed, and also about the Cardinals fans influencing the game, including false starts. (Hmm, four, they have some catching up do to reach Hawks fans). Anquan Boldin is going to try and play Saturday against the Rams despite a hip injury.

Over in St. Louis.... the Rams will have a new starting QB against the Cardinals -- his name is Gus Frerotte. The Rams don't want Marc Bulger and his broken ribs to take any more punishment. Cornerback Fahkir Brown returns from suspension and immediately takes the starting spot from Lenny Walls, who looked like he couldn't cover and offensive tackle on Sunday. There probably isn't in the team in the NFL with more injuries than the Rams. Columnist Bryan Burwell blames the "bean counters" in the front office for the Rams issues. The Rams are going to spruce up the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams are still patching up their offensive line.

Let's head to San Francisco...QB Alex Smith is seeking a second opinion on his ailing shoulder from specialist Dr. James Andrews. The Niners waived receiver Taylor Jacobs. The 49ers wish Norv Turner was still their offensive coordinator... so do Chargers fans. Trent Dilfer takes a few shots at Ravens coach Brian Billick.

Here's a story from the Sacramento Bee on how team's handle running backs and their number of carries.

Around the NFL...

Jerramy Stevens will be spending 12 days in jail for his DUI arrest.

Here's Michael Silver's 32 questions from Yahoo.

Here's some musings from Peter King, starting with the Leinart-Warner situation.

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

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli writes about the numerous injuries in the NFL already.

The Dallas Morning News' Rick Gosselin writes a solid, weekly notes column that has got some good NFL info.

Tampa Bay Running back Cadillac Williams has a long road to get back.

OBvious column of the week: The duo of Tom Brady and Randy Moss is good.

Here's 10 ways to make the Chicago Bears' offense better... ONly 10,I'd figure there were at least 20.,

Devin Hester needs to hold on to the ball better--- when he's returning every other kick for a touchdown.

A bye week couldn't have come at a better time for the Bengals.

Chargers team president Dean Spanos isn't worried about his team, he might be the only one.

The Seahawks obviously are attempting to get their run game going. It may be difficult this week; the Steelers have gone 29 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.

"We have great continuity here with our defensive personnel," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We have a great scheme implemented by Dick LeBeau. When you have those things, when you have a great scheme, you have good veteran players that have some continuity, you have a chance to be very good."

=> Read more!

Big Wednesday started with a morning conference call with Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, followed by coach Mike Tomlin. Roethlisberger was asked about the Super Bowl rematch:

"Wow, they are still talking about that? We haven't really talked about it like that. I'm sure you think about it because that is the team you played, we're not sitting here looking at it as a rematch. We haven't even looked at film of that game; we have been looking at them this year because they have new players. We are a different team. They are a different team. So we are not living on that."

Joe Buck
Troy Aikman
Pam Oliver (sideline reporter)

The Seahawks, as expected, placed RB Alvin Pearman on injured reserve.

They also signed CB Kevin Hobbs from practice squad to active roster.

They released LB Cameron Jensen from practice squad and signed Long snapper Jared Retkofsky and T Kyle Williams to practice squad.

Boling has to be beside himself with joy about the Retkofsky move. It is a signal to Derek Rackley that he needs to improve or there is somebody there waiting to take his job. Holmgren said on Monday that the long snaps were part of the problem with the two punts that have been blocked or tipped this season. Here is a link to Retkofsky's profile.

Kyle Williams was on the training camp roster but was cut at the end. He is insurance for Ray Willis, who is out six weeks with a sprained knee.

Also, there was one additional move that I don't remember seeing at the time; on Sept. 25 the Seahawks officially released Rich Gardner.

There was an interesting side note that came out of Mike Holmgren's press conference on Monday. Regarding Seneca Wallace, he was asked what the team had to do since only one radio helmet -- with the green dot -- is allowed on the field at a time.

Holmgren said that the team had to get Wallace an additional helmet, and they went so far as to designate a guy to keep track of Wallace's helmets. Now I don't know if this is hyperbole or not, but Holmgren said he turned around during the game and thought that a guy was stealing Wallace's helmet until he was told that the guy was keeping track of both. (How do I get that job?)

=> Read more!

It was generally regarded, coming into this season, that the AFC was the much more dominant conference. And, yes, the Colts and Patriots seem to be much better than anybody else in the league. But when you look at the unexpected collapses of the San Diego Chargers under Norv Turner, that the AFC East beyond New England is completely moribund and that the entire AFC West is mediocre, combined with the good starts by Green Bay, Detroit, Washington, Tampa Bay and Dallas, it makes me wonder if the NFC is now on a more even level with the AFC. It may be too soon to make that assessment, only a quarter of the way through the season, but beyond the two aforementioned teams and Pittsburgh, which just lost to NFC West opponent Arizona, there do not seem to be many teams that are intimidating. Maybe this is a bigger statement on the parity of the entire NFL, but it seems to me that the two conferences have drawn infinitely closer.

In light of Matt Hasselbeck's hot start and the struggles with the run game, I asked Mike Holmgren if he was inclined to use the pass to set up the run.

“I’m not sure that’s ever changed to be honest with you. I think in an attempt to strive for balance in your offense, run-pass balance, I don’t think I’d ever use the run to set up the pass but it certainly helps when you’re running the ball well and you can shorten second down, third down. We haven’t been able to do that with very much consistency at all. I don’t think I’ve ever done that, used one to set up the other. You might set up a play, a particular play, but not as a philosophy.”

This is from KFFL: Updating previous reports, Matt Maiocco, of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, reports San Francisco 49ers QB Alex Smith (shoulder) will have his shoulder re-examined Thursday, Oct. 4, after the swelling goes down. There are tears in the AC and CC ligaments in his right shoulder. Smith will likely miss a few weeks, but there is no definite timeframe. "To put a (timeframe) on it right now, according to the doctors, is tough. The next few days are pretty crucial to see how it responds. They wouldn't put an exact date on it, but -- yeah -- a few weeks," Smith said. Smith said he does not want to come back to early.

As always here's Peter King's Monday Morning quarterback...and Yahoo sports Michael Silver's "Morning Rush" column. Here's Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt's response to Leinart's comments in the column.

This guy takes a little shot at the Niners secondary.

Sando is blogging at the Monday night game tonight here's the link.

I don't know if I posted this on Friday, but a Seahawks fan offered his thoughts on Shaun Alexander's running "style" to ESPN's Bill Simmons. It's quite an interesting rant, and one I've heard often from numerous fans.

Let's take a run over to the NFC West... and a look a this week's opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers Since the Cardinals knocked off the Steelers. Here's the game story from the Arizona Republic. Arizona used both Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner, and it may continue. Columnist Scott Bordow believes the Cards made a bold statement with the win.

From Pittsburgh, the Steelers' defense was beat up, which isn't a bad thing for the Hawks. Here's the game story from the Post Gazette. Here's a column about the two new head coaches for each.

Here's a question: "Did it make a sound when the Rams hit rock bottom?"
They didn't get beaten by the Cowboys, they got pasted. The Rams look like a 4-12 team. Here's the game story from the Post Dispatch. Here's the game grades, not the best report card ever. The Rams also suffered several injuries. Columnist Jeff Gordon thinks it can still get worse for the Rams. Fellow columnist Brian Burwell thinks the Rams are paying for the sins of their past.

Elsewhere around the NFL...
Columnist Mitch Albom thinks it's strange to say "Lions Win."

The Bucs lose tailback Cadillac Williams and lineman Luke Pettigout for the season.

Columnist Tim Cowlishaw is now drinking the Tony Romo Kool Aid. I'd like to be Romo's agent because every game his price keeps going up.

Jay Mariotti wasn't pleased with Brian Griese's performance, which was no different that Rex Grossman. Now who can he call for to replace Griese, Kyle Orton? Jim McMahon? Jim Harbaugh?

Mike Downey criticizes the people who wanted the QB change. While Rick Morrisey believes the Bears are a team adrift.

I think Donovan McNabb was sacked by a group of Giant fans after the game. Brian Westbrook's value to the Eagles was never more apparent.

Anybody who says offensive linemen get no ink, didn't read this story... albeit it's pretty negative ink.

There's something wrong with the Redskins' running game, besides the fact that Joe Gibbs sometimes to suddenly take play calling duties over late in games.

Did anybody hear that Brett Favre set the touchdown pass record? Just checking, I thought ESPN changed sportscenter to Favrecenter for awhile.

Here's some comments about Favre from others including Mike Holmgren.

Columnist Dan LeBatard takes Daunte Culpepper's five TD's against his old team with a grain of salt.

Wow, the Chargers are not good. But I really enjoy watching the Chargers postgame press conferences after losses. LDT looks like a man on the verge of a three-state killing spree, and Norv Turner has no clue and totally unaware that he has no clue. What's worse to be dumb, or to be dumb and not know it, or believe it. I heard the chants of Mar-TY, Mar-Ty during the broadcast. Nick Canepa believes there is plenty of blame to go around for the debacle.

In KC, Jason Whitlock believes Damon Huard needs to remain starter, even though Brody Croyle is the future of the Chiegs and he has a really hot wife (ok that last part wasn't in there). fellow columnist Joe Posnanski thinks the Chiefs have a scary defense.

Are the Vikings wasting Adrian Peterson's talent? Jim Souhan thinks so.

Colts tight end Dallas Clark won't let a fan keep the NFL ball he tossed into the stands after a touchdown.

Panthers QB Jake Delhomme may need surgery on his throwing elbow.

A few programming notes to start. Over the past few weeks, a couple folks have asked me to ask some specific questions in the locker room. The problem with that is timing. When I post the score of the game to start a postgame thread, I have already left to go to the locker room. I do not see the blog again until I return, by which time access to the players or coaches is long gone. So it is impossible for me to see what the questions are or, obviously, ask them. Just a thought.

Long and short of Holmgren: Happy about the win, not happy about the run offense, special teams needs work. Good night, everybody.

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Alvin Pearman has a torn ACL and is out for the season. He will allow the swelling to subside before having surgery.

Ray Willis has a sprained knee and is out for about six weeks.

Josh Wilson has an injured ankle and is out for one or two weeks.

Mike Holmgren said they currently are looking at different options to replace Pearman. Don't know if Marquis Weeks is one of those options. Remember, a few weeks ago they brought in Wali Lundy for a tryout.

Also, it presents a problem because both Pearman and Wilson were the return men on kickoffs. Holmgren said he has not spoken with Bruce DeHaven to decide who will be the return men, though he suspects they will remain with two back there. Ben Obomanu is a likely candidate for one of the spots.

A pretty solid win for the Seahawks. As for the TV coverage, Kenny Albert and Moose Johnston weren't too bad at all, I could do without Tony Siragusa's ramblings. But you can really tell that Moose studies up before he does a game. His analysis was good.

Today's News Tribune coverage ...
Here's Frank's game story. Dave's column focused on the "devastating" defensive performance from the Hawks. Here's Frank's story on Seneca Wallace's return to game action. Here's the game notebook which focused on D-Jack and his lack of production.

The 49ers' local newspaper coverage ...

In the San Francisco Chronicle the game story by beat writer John Crumpacker ran with the headline "Missing in Action." Columnist Ray Ratto was not impressed with the Niners. Fellow columnist Nancy Gay believes the"NFC West balance of power still stilts toward the Seahawks." Here's the game notebook with a small item about Matt Hasselbeck consoling Trent Dilfer.

In the San Jose Mercury News, the game story ran with headline "For 49ers, separation and anxiety". Columnist Tim Kawakami sees doom ahead for the Niners. Colmunist Mark Purdy doesn't believe the Niners offensive woes weren't just because of Alex Smith's injury. Here's a story about Julian Peterson tormenting his old team. And here's the game notebook focusing on the offensive line's ineptness.

At the Sacramento Bee the game story ran with the headline "Sack-rificial Man". Trent Dilfer was obviously a little rusty in relief. The Niners defensive schemes had mixed results.

From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, this columnist can see the Niners offense is flawed. Duh. The headline for the game story used the phrase "reality check." It looks as though Alex Smith is out for at least a week, perhaps more.

I’m trying to get home from a crowded SFO but am taking the time out to offer up some analysis before this afternoon’s Mike Holmgren news conference.

The Seahawks’ defense in the 23-3 victory was stellar, particularly since it came against a much larger offense line that looked completely discombobulated at times. Matt Hasselbeck tried to be diplomatic about it in his postgame presser, and caught himself when he started talking about it, but basically said Trent Dilfer’s pass protection simply was not there. Even when the D line was not sacking Dilfer, it was harrying him to a noticeable degreee. I thought Darryl Tapp was very active, Patrick Kerney got in a few times, Rocky Bernard was strong and Julian Peterson obviously was pumped about playing his former team, against which he didn’t do especially well last season.

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