SEATTLE — The game began with Charlie Whitehurst and ended with Tarvaris Jackson.

But in between, no matter who was playing quarterback, the Seattle Seahawks continued to sputter offensively.

On the bright side, the Seahawks scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to end a drought of seven periods without a TD going back to last week’s 6-3 loss at Cleveland. But that was mere window dressing to an otherwise meager showing on Sunday afternoon, as the offensively challenged Seahawks fell to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals, 34-12, before a disgruntled crowd at CenturyLink Field.

Yes, Seattle moved the ball, totaling 411 yards to Cincinnati’s 252 yards. But the Seahawks failed to translate opportunities into points due to too many turnovers, dropped passes, missed blocks and other offensive miscues.

Offensively speaking, acknowledged Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, “we’re off right now.”

Whitehurst, Seattle’s backup quarterback, started for the second consecutive game because Jackson is still dealing with a strained pectoral muscle, suffered in an Oct. 9 game against the New York Giants. Jackson has practiced sparingly since his injury, though a promising workout on Friday left his status a game-time decision.

“I was hoping to see if we could rest (Jackson) another week,” Carroll said. “He could throw the ball well enough to play, but he could’ve used another week. … I was going to see if Charlie could pull it together, get something going and help us out, but it just didn’t look like we were moving anywhere.”

Whitehurst played Seattle’s first three series, going three-and-out on two and guiding the Seahawks to a field goal on the other. And at that point Carroll opted for Jackson.

“Nothing was happening (offensively),” Carroll said, explaining his decision. “I just felt like (Whitehurst) wasn’t as sharp as he needed to be.”

Jackson’s first play early in the second quarter was a disaster. He nearly collided with running back Marshawn Lynch on a handoff, the ball was not exchanged properly and Lynch fumbled, giving the Bengals the ball at the Seattle 31-yard line.

Jackson later led the Seahawks on a drive that reached the Cincinnati 1 as time expired in the first half (“That was totally on me,” Carroll said, explaining the decision to run a final play rather than kick a field goal), and two second-half drives that resulted in a touchdown and field goal.

But four other drives stalled and a fifth ended when a Jackson pass was returned 75 yards by Bengals safety Reggie Nelson for Cincinnati’s final touchdown.

“Once (Jackson) got going, he looked OK,” Carroll said. “This is a big-time competitor. I’m so impressed with him. … He did an extraordinarily courageous job of playing under the circumstances. He gives us our best chance.”

Jackson said he arrived at Sunday’s game not knowing if he would start, although Whitehurst was given most of the practice time during the week.

“I got (to the stadium) a little bit early just to see how it felt,” Jackson said. “And it felt the best that it’s felt since I hurt it. Obviously, I wasn’t 100 percent. But it felt pretty good. It felt good enough to play.”

Despite the loss, and even though he played less than three full quarters, Jackson finished with a career-best 323 passing yards, completing 21 of 40 attempts. Also, his numbers would have been better if receivers had not dropped several well-thrown passes, including a perfectly placed long pass down the middle to tight end Cameron Morrah early in the fourth quarter — the ball went right through his hands.

“It was one of those days where (dropping passes) was contagious to our guys,” Jackson said with a thin smile.

Jackson will be the likely starter next week when Seattle travels to Dallas to face the Cowboys. It will be another chance to turn around a Seahawks season that is already disappointing and in danger of becoming dismal.

“We’re still growing,” Jackson said. “Guys are still fighting hard. But this is hard to deal with, being as we’re 2-5 and have lost two straight coming out of the bye week. This is not what we pictured.”