KIRKLAND – The Seattle Seahawks can boast a two-game winning streak over NFC West rival St. Louis, but both victories come with asterisks.
A running back named Marshall Faulk played in both games, yet it wasn’t the same Marshall Faulk that strikes fear into opponents.
An ankle injury left him hobbled in last December’s meeting, when he was limited to 13 rushing yards off nine carries. He fractured his hand during an Oct. 14 loss at Seattle and was held to 31 yards off 15 carries.
Faulk is healthy now, as witnessed by his four consecutive 100-yard games. He will be in the starting lineup when the Rams host the Seahawks on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.
“He is a great player. It’s gong to be a battle for us,” Seahawks middle linebacker Randall Godfrey said. “We’ve got to have all our weapons. Every time he’s on the field, we’ve got to definitely make sure we know where he is at all times.”
The Rams made due without Faulk, winning four of five games while he rested the broken hand in October and November. Since his return to the lineup, they have now won five in a row.
“Everyone knows how special he is, and I think we can all appreciate his abilities, but his presence just takes a load off other areas,” St. Louis coach Mike Martz said. “You can spread the ball around a little bit, and yet you can go back and put the ball in his hands like we did at the end of the (Cleveland game Monday night) and he has to get first downs.
“He is a very good player, and he takes a little bit of pressure off both the offense and the defense.”
Because of the injury, Faulk will probably fall short of the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year. He had 953 rushing yards last season after five straight years of hitting the milestone. He has 577 yards on the ground this season.
A Little help: The last time the Seahawks and Rams squared off, Seattle was forced to use third-string right tackle Matt Hill because of Chris Terry’s suspension and Floyd Womack’s toe injury.
Hill looked like a third-stringer at times, giving up a pair of sacks to Pro Bowl defensive end Leonard Little.
Terry has since returned to the lineup, so the Seahawks are hoping that the matchup will be a bit more balanced this time around.
“I think Leonard Little’s a good player,” said Terry, who was suspended for the first four games of the season. “I respect all players, but I fear none.”
Little ranks fourth in the NFC with 11 sacks.
Something to prove: After his worst performance of the 2003 season, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is eager to get back out on the field.
Hasseleck admitted earlier this week that he deserves a large part of the blame for last Sunday’s 34-7 loss at Minnesota. He completed just 17 of 34 passes for 218 yards and a pair of interceptions in that game.
Hasselbeck is ready to atone for that performance, but he wishes it were against an easier opponent.
“We were bad, really bad offensively, and we have a very similar (opponent) this week,” he said. “It’s in a dome, it’s on the road, (and) it’s a team that just beat the heck out of the Vikings.”
Quick slants: Starting right tackle Chris Terry was excused from practices on Thursday and Friday and it is not know whether he will play on Sunday. Floyd Womack would start at right tackle if Terry is not available to play. … Starting linebackers Anthony Simmons and Randall Godfrey saw only limited practice time this week due to injuries and will be game-time decisions.
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