RENTON — About this time last season, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren announced to the world that he had all but ditched the ground game because of ineffectiveness.
How much difference a year makes.
The way the Seahawks have been running the ball over the past two weeks, the team might not even need any wide receivers.
Seattle ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards per game (166.3) and sixth in yards per carry (4.9).
But Holmgren isn’t going to make any dramatic pronouncements this time around.
“I strive for balance,” he said Monday. “Any coach will always try to do what he has to do to move the football, given the circumstances. And our situation at wide receiver has been unusual. It was important for us to stay with the run, to tell the players this and press upon them how important it was. And we stayed with it.”
Julius Jones has been so effective this season that he ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards, with 312, even though he has started just two games. T.J. Duckett chipped in with 79 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 37-13 win over the St. Louis Rams.
At one point in Sunday’s game, the Seahawks ran eight consecutive running plays, the last of which was a Duckett touchdown.
For the first time since 2005, the Seahawks played like a run-first team.
“We were able to sustain things in the second half, to keep the ball out of their hands,” Holmgren said Monday. “It was all you would want out of the running game.”
Of course, Jones and Duckett were only parts of the overall success. Holmgren singled out fullback Leonard Weaver for his blocking, and the coach answered a question about Floyd Womack by saying the new starting guard has been a big reason for the successful ground game.
“I’m very pleased with how Floyd is playing, and so is (offensive line coach) Mike Solari,” Holmgren said of Womack, who has filled in for injured starter Rob Sims over the past two games. “We’ve always said that if he can stay healthy and play, he’s a pretty good player. He’s done a nice job.”
Despite the boon in Seattle’s ground game, Holmgren isn’t looking to feature his running attack any more than he has in the past.
“I wouldn’t think it would be dramatically different,” he said of how the Seahawks’ running game will look when Seattle gets all its wide receivers back. “I don’t look at percentages or anything like that, but I think balance, that’s when we’re at our best.”
Womack healing: Womack strained his hamstring near the end of Sunday’s game, but Holmgren said that the injury is unlikely to keep him out of the next game.
The Seahawks have a bye this weekend, then play a road game against the New York Giants.
“He’s OK,” Holmgren said. “He tightened up near the end of the game, and they were working on his hamstring. He’s one of the guys who will benefit from the bye.”
Practice resumes … sort of: Holmgren said that the players will practice today through Thursday, but not with any coaches present.
The available players — some veterans will be out of town, while those nursing injuries will also sit out the sessions — will hold morning practices before taking the weekend off.
“The bye is early,” Holmgren said when asked about his reasons for holding informal practices. “We haven’t gotten off to the best start. I was encouraged by the game (Sunday), but … A couple of extra days can help.
“At the same time, they’ll have a lot of free time, time to relax.”
The practices are closed to reporters.
Bumpus still the man: Despite Sunday’s muffed punt, receiver Michael Bumpus is likely to continue as the return man.
“He’s really a good punt catcher, and he misjudged it,” Holmgren said. “(The Rams’) Donnie Jones got off a beautiful punt, and Michael, like an outfielder, misjudged the ball. It doesn’t happen very often, and I don’t think it will happen with Michael very often.”
Quick slants: The Seahawks have been outscored 35-3 in the third quarter, but they have outscored their opponents 20-3 in the fourth this season. … Seattle’s players went to meetings Monday morning but were let out before reporters were allowed to go into the locker room.
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