ST. LOUIS – The Seattle Seahawks’ red zone proficiency left their head coach seeing red Sunday afternoon.
And Mike Holmgren wasn’t the only one.
“When we’re in the red zone, we want to score 100 percent,” wide receiver Darrell Jackson said after the Seahawks got the ball inside the St. Louis Rams’ 20-yard line six times without a touchdown to show for it Sunday. “The last two or three games, we have not been able to score in the red zone. We’ve just got to get better at it and take these field goals off the board.
“Field goals are points, so we’ll take that too, but we like to score touchdowns.”
In three official trips into the red zone – red-zone proficiency is officially computed on plays that begin inside the opposing 20-yard line – Seattle had four field goals. Two other times the Seahawks had turnovers inside the St. Louis 20: Shaun Alexander’s fumble at the 14 after a long run and Matt Hasselbeck’s interception that was caught at the 1. On the last play of the game, Koren Robinson caught a 33-yard pass to the St. Louis 14.
“You can always tell what a team’s going to do, whether they’ll win a game or not, by what they do in the red zone,” Alexander said. “It seemed like every time we had the ball, we were down there, and we kept on kicking field goals. You’ll never win that way.”
Holmgren was the most frustrated of all.
“In the red zone, we dropped a couple of balls that would have made a difference and missed a couple of throws. So we had to settle for field goals,” he said. “That had a big impact, as you can see by the outcome.”
Pushing the Pace: In a game that featured a lot of talking and plenty of shoving, Rams offensive lineman Orlando Pace got pushed the furthest. He was ejected after making contact with a game official in the third quarter.
The Rams’ Pro Bowl left tackle was involved in an altercation with Seattle linebacker Orlando Huff when he inadvertently grabbed side judge Don Carlson and dragged him to the ground. Pace had lost his balance and reached out for whoever was nearby.
“I was just trying to hold myself up,” Pace said after the game. “Guys were kind of pushing me, I didn’t see the referee there, and I was trying to keep my balance. I guess the official didn’t see that.”
Referee Bill Leavy kicked Pace out of the game, saying afterward that he did not believe the contact was inadvertent.
“I made my decision on what I observed,” he said.
While Pace was the only player ejected, there were plenty of other minor incidents. Officials generally let the teams play, throwing just 11 flags combined.
“That’s just two teams fighting for the top,” Seahawks defensive end Chike Okeafor said. “That’s the biggest form of competition when you’re fighting for the top of that pedestal. So things are always going to be heated.”
Lucas plays: After missing most of last week’s practices with a bruised lung, Seahawks cornerback Ken Lucas started Sunday and played the entire game.
While he struggled in the first half – both in terms of coverage and stamina – Lucas made quite an improbable return after having to spend last Sunday night in a Bay Area hospital.
“I felt pretty good today,” he said afterward. “I wasn’t gasping for air. In the first half, I kind of had to work my way into the game because my legs kind of got weak. But in the second half, I felt a little better. I had more energy.”
Lucas was in coverage on four long completions as the Rams built up a 17-0 lead in the second quarter.
Also returning to the field was receiver Bobby Engram, who had three receptions for 28 yards in his first game since Oct. 17. Engram missed the past three games due to a sprained ankle.
Wistrom doesn’t: Although he made the trip to St. Louis to see family and friends, Seattle defensive end Grant Wistrom was held out of the game while he recovers from a knee injury. He’ll probably return to the field next Sunday against Miami.
“We talked about it a lot. We talked about it with him a lot,” Holmgren said of possibly playing Wistrom against the Rams on Sunday. “We’ll test it again this week, and I hope to have him back.”
Seattle’s pass rush struggled again without Wistrom, registering just one sack while Rams quarterback Marc Bulger continually had time to throw.
Rough start: On Seattle’s first play from scrimmage, Alexander and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck bumped knees during a handoff exchange. They both stayed in the game despite a slight limp back to the huddle.
“It’s just a bummer,” Hasselbeck said. “It was the first play of the game. For that to happen was just unbelievable. It was just a bad bounce.”
Hasselbeck refused to blame the bruise on his inconsistent play, which saw him complete 15 of 36 passes for 172 yards and an interception.
Alexander rushed for 176 yards despite the early mishap. His right knee, which was injured earlier this year, bounced back well from slamming against Hasselbeck’s.
“How many teams start a game where the two key players knock themselves out with no one else touching them? It was kind of a big joke,” Alexander said. “I was hoping we’d be able to tell the joke with humor down the road. It’s not as funny as I would have wanted it to be.”
Woes in the middle: Based on their play Sunday, middle linebackers Orlando Huff and Niko Koutouvides have each taken a step back in their ongoing competition.
Huff, the starter, whiffed on a key tackle late in the game. His miss allowed the Rams’ Marshall Faulk to get a first down on third-and-5 after a 30-yard run. St. Louis eventually kicked a field goal that put the game out of reach.
“It’s kind of hard to stop when you’re running (pass) pressure, thinking they’re going to pass the ball,” Huff said. “That’s just how it is.”
Koutouvides whiffed on a tackle earlier in the game, allowing Faulk to ramble 28 yards to give the Rams some breathing room on a drive that started at their own 1.
Quick slants: St. Louis played most of the game without star receiver Torry Holt, who got knocked out of the game on a big hit from Seahawks safety Terreal Bierria. Holt got his bell rung on the play, but remained on the sideline and cheered on his teammates over the final three quarters. … The Rams made use of their replay challenge flag, throwing it twice in the first half alone. But both calls were upheld, costing St. Louis a pair of timeouts. … The Seahawks return game got a boost from Kerry Carter, who averaged 31.0 yards on five kickoff returns. They averaged just 20.9 yards per return in the first eight games. Maurice Morris, who returned kickoffs at the beginning of the season, was not on the unit Sunday although he did return two punts. … The only significant Seahawks injury was a pulled hamstring by special teamer Tracy White.
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