Frye struggles in first start for Seattle

His hand forced by the balky, unresponsive right knee of Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren needed crisp perfection from the rest of his Seahawks to keep third-string quarterback Charlie Frye from being thrust into the role of playmaker.

Instead of being the manager Seattle wanted, Green Bay dictated that Frye take chances with the offense, especially when the Seahawks fell a touchdown behind midway through the third quarter.

In part because of Frye's two interceptions, the Seahawks spent Sunday night lamenting a second straight loss, 27-17 to the Packers, that dropped Seattle to 1-4, its worst start since the 2002 season when the Seahawks last missed the playoffs.

Making his first start since Week 1 of the 2007 season while with Cleveland, Frye completed just 12 of 23 passes for 83 yards and a quarterback rating of 53.4. He seemed overwhelmed by the speed needed to make the progressions from one receiver to the next in Seattle's intricate offense. When he finally appeared to get a rhythm in the closing minutes, Frye's efforts were only good for a 5-yard touchdown pass to Keary Colbert that simply made the final scoring slightly more respectable.

"I did an OK job," Frye said. "I could do better."

Whether Frye gets another chance will depend on how quickly Hasselbeck recovers from a hyperextended knee suffered a week ago against the New York Giants, and backup Seneca Wallace's improvement after aggravating a nagging calf injury in practice last week.

Hasselbeck was not cleared by team physicians to play on Sunday and Holmgren said after the loss that Hasselbeck would be getting more tests on his knee Monday. Wallace would have been good for only a handful of plays and definitely could not last the entire game, Holmgren said.

It was the first time in his head coaching career that Holmgren had to use a third-string quarterback as his starter.

"When you get in that situation it's always a challenge," Holmgren said. "If you're in that situation in this league, you can't make other mistakes. And not just offensively; I'm talking about on special teams and defense. You have to play a real crisp, solid football game in all areas to be successful."

Seattle's goal from the start was to use its running game with Julius Jones and its defense to take the pressure off Frye. Neither did that particularly well. The Seahawks defense struggled with field position and getting stops, allowing Green Bay to convert 10 of 18 third downs. Seattle's run game was adequate, finishing with 113 yards rushing, but wasn't the dominant factor the Seahawks needed.

"It's unfortunate because we really needed that run game to go today," Seahawks left guard Mike Wahle said. "When you put it on your backs and don't come through it's a bad feeling."

Frye managed the first half, throwing a 6-yard TD pass to John Carlson early in the second quarter to give Seattle a 10-3 lead. It was Frye's first touchdown throw since Week 13 of the 2006 season in an overtime win against Cleveland.

But Frye and the Seahawks offense stalled to start the second half with three consecutive three-and-outs. Then Frye was forced to try and make plays.

Trailing 24-10 early in the fourth Frye attempted to hit Carlson near the Seahawks sideline, but failed to see Charles Woodson lurking. Woodson's interception led to a Green Bay field goal that made it a three-possession lead for the Packers. On Seattle's next possession Frye threw deep for Koren Robinson, but the ball was underthrown and Tramon Williams picked off the pass at the Packers' 9.

"I thought it was average. I did some good things, but I did some bad things," Frye said of his performance. "They kind of equaled themselves out as an average grade. I can play a lot better, I know that."