Hawks back, for good?

The good Seahawks are back, for now, staying true to their perplexing personality. They chose "Monday Night Football" to return, and it was a good thing, too, because San Francisco certainly wasn't prepared to entertain.

So the enigmatic journey continues. Just when you're feeling the urge to twist a dagger into the Seahawks, they show they're not ready to die.

You can't kill them yet. This season is still far too young.

You can't look at a seemingly soft remaining schedule and check off victories, either. This team is still far too inconsistent.

"The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — it's got to end," Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu said minutes after his team's 24-0 victory at Qwest Field. "I'd love to say it's over now, but we've got to prove that. When we put our mind to it, we've done some great things."

The good Seahawks are back, and maybe they'll stick around for at least another hour.

No one knows for certain how long they'll stay, just as no one knows why the bad Seahawks visit so often. With enigmas, you have two choices. Let them frustrate you to no end, or enjoy them for their mystifying maundering.

Pick the latter.

Don't overanalyze them. Don't expect success or failure to have a carry-over effect. No predictions on the future. No trepidation about the past.

It's much better this way.

How many times have the Seahawks played like they did Monday, only to recreate themselves for the worse the next week? In four of their five victories this season, the Seahawks haven't allowed a touchdown. This was their finest defensive performance of the season, a shutout in which the defense was so stingy it wouldn't even allow some mercy points after the offense turned the ball over on consecutive possessions in the third quarter.

Instead, the defense stopped the 49ers on two different fourth-down plays to end those drives. On the first play, linebacker Kevin Bentley stuffed Frank Gore on fourth-and-one at the Seahawks' 2-yard line.

Bentley said he talked with his fellow linebackers, Julian Peterson and Tatupu, before that play. They had anticipated the 49ers would make that exact call.

"We guessed right," said Bentley, who started for injured Leroy Hill. "That was huge. You look at it, and it's still a ballgame."

The score was 17-0, and only five minutes had expired in the third quarter. With that play, the defense made up for Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's only obvious mistake of the night, an interception he threw to Nate Clements that gave San Francisco the ball 23 yards from the end zone.

On the other fourth-down play, which came after running back Maurice Morris' fumble, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith threw an incomplete pass.

Why the 49ers, still down 17-0 at that point, didn't kick a field goal on that drive is a mystery. But you can't hold that against the Seahawks defense.

"In those situations, a lot of teams might've said, 'We've got the lead. It won't hurt us too bad if we give up a score here,' " Tatupu said. "We didn't do that. We took a lot of pride in stopping them."

In celebration, the Seahawks refused to proclaim this their get-right game.

"You don't want to keep on saying, 'This is going to launch us. We're going on a streak now,' " Peterson said. "We did a good job. I'm very happy with what we did. Let's keep it rolling. Let's keep it simple. No overlooking any opponent."

Even though the Seahawks tried out a fresh, pass-centric offense in this game, they're not fooling themselves. One tweak can't solve all their problems. Besides, if you remember the Seahawks' first offensive play, you realize how iffy their success can be.

Seattle opened the game in a shotgun formation, and center Chris Spencer's snap was so bad it bounced before Hasselbeck corralled it and threw a 16-yard completion to Bobby Engram.

Just part of the master plan of an erratic team.

"Even the fake-shotgun snap on the ground, that was effective," Hasselbeck jokingly said.

The Seahawks understand who they are, which is nice because no one else can comprehend this concept. They know another victory over a 2-7 San Francisco team can't propel them to greatness. So it's back to the lab.

If only every game could be against the 49ers. They might be the cure for Seattle's inconsistency. They're the only team that can make the Seahawks seem as flawless as New England.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For more columns and the Extra Points blog, visit seattletimes.com/sports