KIRKLAND – San Francisco’s Frank Gore went for 356 rushing yards in two meetings. Denver’s Tatum Bell added 133. Arizona’s Edgerrin James checked in with 115.
Over the past five weeks, the Seattle Seahawks have had four games in which an opposing running back has had 100 or more rushing yards.
That’s the bad news. The worse news is that none of those guys is as good as the running back the Seahawks will face on Sunday.
San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson is having one of the best seasons in NFL history, with a league-high 1,626 rushing yards and a record 31 touchdowns. So what do the Seahawks have to do to stop him?
“You’ve got to surround him with 11 players,” Seahawks defensive tackle Chartric Darby said. “He’s a good running back, and I’ll give him his due, but if we stay in our gaps and gang-tackle him, we’ll be all right.”
The Seahawks’ run defense hasn’t been “all right” for a while, having given far too many running backs far too many running lanes.
But the players are confident that the can cure their defensive woes in time to face the future MVP.
“If you can get the ball out of his hands and keep him to a minimum, then I think their offense will struggle tremendously,” linebacker Julian Peterson said.
Boulware to start: When safety Michael Boulware arrived at the team’s practice facility Wednesday morning, his prayers had finally been answered.
After an eight-week benching, Boulware has his starting job back.
“I was really excited,” Boulware said of hearing the news on Wednesday morning. “I called my parents and my wife (Jessica) because they’ve been praying for me. It’s really exciting for the Boulware family.”
Boulware lost his job to Jordan Babineaux in late October after giving up too many long pass plays. At the time, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said he was too aggressive in coverage. But the coaches believe that Boulware has improved upon that during his time off.
“We just felt he has the right to get back in there again,” defensive coordinator John Marshall said. “Sometimes it helps a player, like a quarterback, when you let him sit out a game and watch. And then when he gets back in there, he’s a different player, for whatever reason. That’s what happened with Mike.
“Babs (Babineaux) in no way lost the position or played badly. We wanted to make a change before with Babs and Mike, and now we want to change it back.”
Brown “snubbed”? When reporters started gathering around the locker of kicker Josh Brown on Wednesday, teammate Nate Burleson innocently asked whether they were there to talk about Brown getting “snubbed from the Pro Bowl.”
“He said it; not me,” Brown said.
While Brown didn’t use the ‘S’ word to describe his feelings, he didn’t hide his emotions about being left off the Pro Bowl roster.
“I am disappointed,” said Brown, who is the first alternate behind Chicago’s Robbie Gould. “I was hoping that this would be the year. But all in all, it was a great year. You can’t feel bad about the fact that other people don’t recognize you.”
Brown said he expected Gould to make the team because the Bears kicker is currently leading the NFC in scoring, with 128 points. But Brown does have a plan of how to make future Pro Bowls.
“The idea is just never to miss,” he said. “If I don’t do that, I’m sure I’ll get in.”
Tackle Walter Jones, fullback Mack Strong and linebackers Peterson and Lofa Tatupu were the only Seahawks named to the Pro Bowl, the league announced earlier this week.
Back in business: The Seahawks’ practice facility was without power for four days before things got back to normal on Tuesday.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said last Thursday’s windstorm and the resulting problems have put a fresh perspective on the Seahawks’ season.
“I think there have been times when we’ve been really frustrated,” he said of the Seahawks’ two-game losing streak. “I think right now it’s time to just let that go.
“In some ways I think this weekend break, this storm, all that stuff has been kind of an eye opener in terms of all that stuff being kind of petty and silly. Broken finger, big deal. My knee bothers … whatever, those things don’t matter so much.
“I think what matters is, in the grand scheme of things, we have a lot to be thankful for.”
Holmgren said that the power outage didn’t have too great an effect on the team’s preparations, mainly because the Seahawks had a longer week following last Thursday’s loss to San Francisco.
“We’re fine compared to a lot of folks” in the Seattle area, Holmgren said. “So our prayers go out to those people that are still without power and have little kids and are dealing with some things that we don’t have to deal with.”
Quick slants: The Seahawks’ injury report includes five players. Center Robbie Tobeck (hip) and wide receiver Darrell Jackson (turf toe) are unlikely to play, while defensive tackle Rocky Bernard (foot), left guard Floyd Womack (groin) and defensive lineman Robert Pollard (knee) are questionable. Bernard was the only player from that group to practice on Wednesday. … The Seahawks filled their available spot on the practice squad by re-signing guard Jason Murphy, who attended training camp with the team.
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