Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now

MINNEAPOLIS — Yep, the Seahawks could've used Steve Hutchinson.

For certain, if big No. 76 were still wearing dark navy, he would've doubled the team's rushing total Sunday all by himself.

Problem is, that would've amounted to just 8 yards.

Yep, the Seahawks sure could've used Steve Hutchinson.

And Minnesota defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams. And defensive end Jared Allen. And running back Adrian Peterson. And wide receiver Sidney Rice. Throw in the interminable Brett Favre, too.

There's no use leaning on the Hutch Crutch right now. Hutchinson, the Seahawks' ubiquitous mistake, stood before them in this game, but the Vikings could've won this game with one poison pill tied behind their backs. They're that good. And the Seahawks are that lost.

The final score, 35-9, indicated as much. It was such a routine, easy Minnesota victory that Favre exited in the third quarter.

"When they put Tarvaris Jackson in during the third quarter, it's embarrassing to be down that far," Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said with appropriate dejection.

The Seahawks were overmatched in every way against a team that coach Jim Mora considers the most complete in the NFL. How bad was it? Epically awful.

Facing the imposing Vikings defensive front, the Seahawks rushed for a franchise-worst 4 yards, just over a month after they set a new mark with just 14 yards against Arizona.

Favre completed a career-best 88 percent of his passes (22 of 25) and threw for four touchdowns in his cameo. Then Jackson came in and tossed another touchdown pass.

The Seahawks allowed the Vikings 160 rushing yards, and backup running back Chester Taylor gashed them almost as much as Peterson did.

In addition to poor run blocking, the Seattle offensive line couldn't provide much protection for Hasselbeck, who managed to perform well (19 of 26 for 231 yards) despite being forced to hurry throws all game.

What else went wrong? The Senecat went splat — again. (By the way, how about we trash that prematurely given moniker for the Seahawks' Wildcat formation with backup quarterback Seneca Wallace? Doesn't the play have to work for it to have a nickname?) Ben Obomanu lost a fumble on a kickoff return, and it resulted in a Vikings touchdown. And in case you haven't had enough misery, the Vikings doubled up the Seahawks on offensive production (431 yards to 212), watched Seattle convert only one of 10 third-down attempts and held onto the ball for more than 70 percent of the game.

Yep, the Seahawks could've used Steve Hutchinson. But only because that would've meant they magically switched teams with the Vikings.

More than anything, this game proved that while losing Hutch four years ago was the start of the Seahawks' downfall, they've done plenty more since then to put the finishing touches on their futility.

"We feel awful," Mora said. "Every man in there feels awful."

Yet this team can't stop losing.

It may have been the most discouraging performance of the season. That 27-3 home loss to Arizona in October was the most infuriating. The come-from-ahead defeats at Arizona last week and at home against Chicago were the most heartbreaking. The blowouts at Dallas and Indianapolis were the most routine.

This effort? It was discouraging because few doubted it was going to happen, and the Seahawks couldn't put up any resistance on pride alone.

They were ready for this game. They played well, particularly on defense, in the first quarter. They pressured Favre early. They hit hard, eliminated big plays and brought some swagger to the competition.

And then Minnesota regrouped and challenged them in the second quarter. The Seahawks wilted. The offense continued to flounder, and the defense wore down. By halftime, the score was 21-0.

In the second half, only laughable drama existed. The big question: Would the Seahawks get past midfield in this game? They did, late in the third quarter, after playing the first 42 minutes on their own half of the field.

"We played terrible today," wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said.

Standing in the hallway afterward, Hasselbeck made what sounded like a plea to his beleaguered team.

"We can't get used to this," he said. "We can't get used to losing."

He's too late, though. This franchise has lost 19 of its last 26 games.

Not even Hutch could remedy that.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com, Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer