SEATTLE — It seemed like old times at Qwest Field on Sunday afternoon … sort of.
The Seattle Seahawks got back on the winning track, but they didn’t put on their typical show. Whether it was rookie Michael Bumpus catching touchdown passes, a nearly-unstoppable running game or quarterback Matt Hasselbeck setting up a score with — of all things — a block downfield, the Seahawks found unique ways to get the job done.
But all that mattered to the win-starved fans was that the Seahawks (1-2) did indeed get the job done.
“Hopefully we can turn this ship all the way around,” linebacker Julian Peterson said after Seattle manhandled the downtrodden St. Louis Rams 37-13 on Sunday. “Right now, we’re starting on a good foot.”
Anyone who thought the Seahawks had problems saw what a real mess looked like on Sunday. The Rams dropped to 0-3 after their third consecutive double-digit loss. And Seattle was all too happy to dole out this beating.
“This was an important game for us, and we said that all week,” offensive lineman Mike Wahle said. “It came at the right time, with the bye week coming up.”
The Seahawks played their best half of the season before halftime, taking a 27-6 lead at the break, and were able to keep the Rams at arm’s length the rest of the way.
Playing without five offensive starters — not to mention the four hobbled defensive starters who played with extra protection — Seattle found new ways to get the job done.
Bumpus, a rookie from Washington State University who was playing his second NFL game, gave Seattle a 10-0 lead with a diving catch in the end zone.
From there, the Seahawks went back to their 2005 method of winning games. That is, they ran the heck out of the ball. Free-agent additions Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett combined for 219 of the Seahawks’ season-high 245 rushing yards. It marked the most yards gained on the ground by Seattle since the Seahawks ran for a team-record 320 in an Oct. 2005 win over Houston.
Jones got the ball rolling with a 29-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, giving Seattle a 17-0 lead. His lead blocker was the 225-pound Hasselbeck, who actually took out two defenders by diving at the ankles of safety Oshiomogho Atogwe and cornerback Fakhir Brown at the same time.
“I just try to help,” Hasselbeck said after the win. “It was a little bit like bowling. You get one pin, and the other goes down, and you act like you did it on purpose.”
Coach Mike Holmgren was a bit less enthusiastic about the block, calling it “kind of a car crash.”
Jones temporarily came out of the game four minutes later, having been knocked woozy on a tackle, and Duckett stepped in without a falloff. The 254-pound veteran finished off the Seahawks’ first series of the second quarter by scoring on a 4-yard run to put the Seahawks ahead 24-3.
With a comfortable lead, the Seahawks continued to run the ball. Jones finished with 140, while Duckett added 79 on 19 carries. The combined performance marked only the third time since the end of the historic 2005 season that the Seahawks have gone over 200 rushing yards as a team.
“The coach put it on our shoulders: ‘Hey, we’re going to go out there and run the ball,’” left tackle Walter Jones said. “We had injuries at the receiver spot, so we knew we were going to have to run the ball.”
Defensively, Seattle had its way with a struggling Rams team that entered the game having not made a single trip to the red zone. With defensive end Patrick Kerney, middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu and cornerback Marcus Trufant wearing casts, and cornerback Kelly Jennings nursing a broken rib, the Seahawks defense still found a way to keep the Rams’ offense at bay. St. Louis had 177 of its 240 total yards after halftime, when the Seahawks were just trying not to give up the big play.
The Rams did get into the red zone twice, but they had a total of minus-2 yards and a costly penalty during six plays inside Seattle’s 20-yard line.
St. Louis continues to struggle this season, while the Seahawks finally had a day of celebration.
“It was huge,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “Most important, it was a division game. We were already a game behind in the division race, and those games against division opponents become that much bigger.”
The Seahawks got a spark from injured receiver Bobby Engram, who addressed the team before the game and told the players that people were starting to write the team off. Between that perception and the looming bye — Seattle has no game this Sunday and won’t play again until its Oct. 5 date with the defending champion New York Giants — the Seahawks were hoping to send a message Sunday.
And did they ever.
“It’s great going into the bye,” cornerback Josh Wilson said. “Now we need to get some healthy bodies back and get on a roll.
“The first one is always the hardest to get. We got that one, so now we’ll get going.”
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