Seahawks’ woeful offense catches a break

RENTON — The Tennessee Titans allow, per game, about as many points as the Seahawks have scored in the past three weeks.

So does that mean the Titans are giving up a lot of points this season, or that the Seahawks aren’t scoring much of late?

Well, as it turns out, it’s a little bit of both. Tennessee comes into Sunday’s season finale allowing 25.9 points per game, the third-worst total in the NFL. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have scored just 24 points in their past three games, the lowest three-game total for Seattle since the offensively-challenged 1992 team made single-digit point totals a near-weekly event.

And while this year’s team won’t come close to matching the 1992 squad for offensive ineptitude — that team scored just 140 points all season — the current offense could become the lowest-scoring Seahawks offense since that year. In 1993, the Seahawks scored 280 points, which is 13 more than Seattle has through 15 games.

The Seahawks offense has gained over 300 yards just once in the past six games after eclipsing that mark in six of their first nine games, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been at least some progress, the coaching staff says. Head coach Jim Mora points out that the team has been running the ball better of late, averaging 4.0 yards per carry last week and 5.1 the week before. Any progress in that area has been negated by turnovers, however, as quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has thrown eight interceptions in the past two games.

Hasselbeck said that despite his struggles and those of the offense, he likes what he has seen in practice this week.

“I thought (Wednesday) was probably our best practice that we had all season,” he said. “I can’t quite explain it, but our intensity was great, the ball really didn’t hit the ground much, and it felt perfect.”

It won’t take perfection to score points on Tennessee, however. The Titans allowed 42 points in a loss to San Diego last week, and have allowed 30 or more points on four other occasions, though all four of those came early in the season.

But rather than worry too much about Tennessee this week, the Seahawks hope a return to basics can help jumpstart the offense.

“One of the things I did for this week’s game plan, you want to know the opponent, but it was really going back and (asking), ‘What have we done well this year?’” offensive coordinator Greg Knapp said. “So this week’s game plan has been based on some of the success we’ve had, and on certain past concepts. The positive we’ve seen is the improvement of the run game, and now we’re in a groove of, ‘OK, what are some of the runs that we’ve gotten real good at, and let’s emphasize using that more with different formations. For the pass game, we’ve taken this same approach this week. We’ve said, ‘Let’s take a step back, let’s get back to our completions, protecting the football, and just move down the field methodically.’”

Injury report

Cornerback Josh Wilson (hip pointer) and linebacker Aaron Curry (shoulder stinger) both missed practice again Friday and are listed as doubtful for Sunday. Running back Julius Jones (rib) practiced and is listed as questionable. Linebacker Leroy Hill (knee) is probable. Receiver Nate Burleson will miss his third straight game because of a high ankle sprain.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog