ST. LOUIS – Of all the members of the Seattle Seahawks’ secondary who gathered around a video screen on Oct. 2, only Michael Boulware was eager to re-live the previous day’s experience.
The 25-year-old free safety didn’t remember much of the 37-6 loss to the Chicago Bears, due to the concussion he suffered on a violent collision midway through the second quarter. So only after reviewing the film of that game did Boulware understand how truly pitiful the performance was.
“We haven’t been playing well,” he concluded, taking also into account a historically bad fourth quarter in the previous week’s win over the New York Giants. “We can do better. We definitely know that we’ve got to pick up our game. We know we can do it, but now we have to do it.”
The Seahawks (3-1) will get a prime opportunity today when they face one of the most prolific passing games in football. While the St. Louis Rams are featuring Steven Jackson and the running game more, they still have wide receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce to keep pass defenses on their toes.
Seattle’s defensive backs are looking forward to the test.
“It’ll be a challenge for us because they have two receivers who are both Pro Bowl caliber,” cornerback Kelly Herndon said. “It’s one of the best offenses we’ll face. Every time those guys go after the ball, you’ve got to get a hand in there.”
Herndon and his teammates have had success against big-time receivers this season – Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin combined for a modest 10 receptions, while the Giants’ Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress had just four between them – but that certainly wasn’t the case the last time out.
The Bears piled up 219 passing yards on Seattle while converting six of 15 third downs. Whenever Chicago needed to make a play, it did – much to the chagrin of the Seahawks defenders.
“It was hard on everybody,” Herndon said of the film session that followed. “The caliber of team we are, we know how we should play. When you see the score of the game and the (quality of) play in the game, you know damn well that those are things we shouldn’t do.
“We know that wasn’t our team. That was a real bad off-week, and we’ll learn from it.”
The Seahawks will show today just how much they have learned. Both the players and coaches are eager to bounce back from such a forgettable performance.
“It’s just discipline, doing the little things right,” said Boulware, who has recovered from the concussion and will play today. “It’s about communication and being in the right place. It’s not because you’re doing something majorly wrong; it’s just about technique. If we get back to doing the little things, we’ll be OK.”
The loss of Boulware in the Chicago game was a factor in the Bears’ ability to complete deep passes. Coach Mike Holmgren said that, while the Seahawks’ secondary has played well for most of the season, long throws have been a thorn in the side.
“The home run, shoot, you’ve got to take care of that,” Holmgren said. “We talk to them. They know it. If someone wants to take a chance on defense every once in a while, you can get burned. And we were victimized by that.”
Herndon and Marcus Trufant both got victimized in the Chicago game – Herndon for a 40-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian in the fourth quarter; Trufant on a 9-yard touchdown reception by Muhsin Muhammad. Holmgren didn’t seem too concerned about how they would bounce back, but first-round pick Kelly Jennings is waiting in the wings just in case.
While the secondary was one of the strengths of the team heading into the Bears game, it has plenty of room for improvement now.
“We’ve definitely got things to work on,” Herndon said. “We always have things to work on, but we did things (in the Chicago game) that were very uncharacteristic. That’s not our team. We want to get back to how we’ve been playing since training camp.
“We made a couple mistakes, they took advantage of them, but that’s all in the past now. If we work on fundamentals and getting back to how we play, we’re going to be all right.”
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