ST. LOUIS – On the day that he made franchise history, Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander couldn’t escape a man whose best days were thought to be left behind him.
The St. Louis Rams’ Aeneas Williams, a 36-year-old safety with Hall of Fame credentials, helped spoil an otherwise historical day by stripping the ball from Alexander at the end of a 35-yard run in the fourth quarter. That play helped the Rams hold off the Seahawks 23-12 and spoiled the afternoon for Seattle’s star running back.
“I don’t know the last time when we were doing good things on the ground and lost,” said Alexander whose 176 rushing yards made him the first Seattle back to ever rush for at least 100 in three consecutive games. “That’s going to be tough for us. It’s good to see every situation, because you can learn from it.”
Alexander’s most impressive run came with the least desirable result. With the Seahawks trailing by eight points early in the fourth quarter, he broke free behind a Koren Robinson block and rumbled deep into St. Louis territory. As Alexander started to weave to avoid a trio of tacklers, Williams caught him from behind and stripped the ball loose at the Rams’ 14. St. Louis recovered, ending Seattle’s threat of what could have been the score-tying touchdown.
“Aeneas was just hustling,” Alexander said. “He made a play. That’s what the game’s all about.
“I was just thinking: Make a play. I went out there to make a play, and their defense made a better one.”
While Alexander refused to use it as an excuse, his heavily-wrapped right arm could have been just as big a factor to the fumble as Williams’s timing. Alexander suffered a bad carpet burn on the Edward Jones Dome turf earlier in the second half, and the swelling made it difficult for him to keep a tight grip on the football.
“If I was smart, I would have carried the ball in my left hand the rest of the game,” Alexander said. “He made a good play. I don’t want to take that from him. But who knows?”
It was one of the few mistakes made by Alexander – on Sunday or any other time in the past month. He has rushed for 531 yards over a three-game stretch and now has an NFL-high 1,055 on the season. It marks the fourth year in a row that Alexander has gone over the 1,000-yard plateau, and the seventh consecutive year that a Seattle running back has accomplished the feat.
Yet Alexander wasn’t in much of a celebratory mood afterward.
“Every game we lose, I blame myself,” he said. “I’ll beat myself up for a three-hour plane ride. And then after that, I’ll be good.”
Alexander’s impressive outing was even more incredible when considering the circumstances. The Seahawks fell behind 17-0 in the first half, putting them in a position where most teams would undoubtedly pass. But Seattle coach Mike Holmgren remained patient, stuck with Alexander, and the Seahawks crawled into position to tie the score.
That’s when Williams came along to spoil the day.
“It was a pick-me-up for us. That was the most important thing,” said Williams, who did not start at free safety for the first time this season because of a sore neck. “Alexander had been running and hit some creases. He was doing a tremendous job. They run the ball very effectively, but it was a case where everybody rallied to the ball.”
The Seahawks let another scoring chance get away on the opening drive of the second half, partly because Alexander was not in the game. He came off the field on a fourth-and-1 at the St. Louis 38-yard line so that the Seahawks could spread the field with fullback Mack Strong alone in the backfield.
Rather than use Alexander as a decoy, the Seahawks hoped to catch the Rams looking for a pass. But St. Louis crammed the line and stuffed Strong for no gain.
“We take Shaun out sometimes in short yardage,” Holmgren said of the formation. “We worked hard on that play, and we didn’t block it right. It’s inconceivable to me that you could take a play like that, which is not a very complicated play, and not block it right.”
Other than two key plays, Alexander was the bulk of Seattle’s offense. He had 22 carries for an average of 8.0 per pop, and had nine first-down runs (all of which went for nine yards or longer).
The only thing Alexander failed to do was something that he had done in six of the first eight games this year. That is, get into the end zone.
But no one was blaming Alexander for that.
“I don’t think we could have asked the running game to do any more for you than it did today,” Holmgren said. “That can’t do it by itself. You’ve got to have balance, and we didn’t have balance in the passing game.”
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