Hawks Notebook | Kacyvenski: informer

ST. LOUIS — Who could blame them?

The St. Louis Rams had a former Seahawk, released by Seattle two weeks ago, on their sideline. A bright and sharp player who had been with the Seahawks since 2000. A guy who knew his former team well.

So it came as no surprise that special-teams standout Isaiah Kacyvenski was seen on the sideline standing next to the Rams' backup quarterbacks Sunday, presumably telling them what to expect from the Seahawks' defense.

"I was there seven years. You kind of know what people want to do in certain situations," Kacyvenski said.

The St. Louis radio broadcast team asserted just before the start of the second half that the Seahawks were up in arms about Kacyvenski relaying information. The Rams were in control of the game at the time, leading 21-7 and moving the ball against Seattle's defense.

Kacyvenski was shown on television whispering to someone on the Rams' sideline after a St. Louis touchdown.

The Seahawks chose not to talk about such strategy and the use of Kacyvenski, but players made it clear he is missed.

On his way out of the Edward Jones Dome, Kacyvenski exchanged handshakes with reporters and embraces with Seahawks offensive coordinator Gil Haskell and defensive end Grant Wistrom.

"It was a little bit of a distraction for our players, for me for sure, because of what I think of Kaz," Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. "I wish him all the best. I'm happy that he's found a spot here in St. Louis."

Kacyvenski was asked what it was like to line up against his former teammates.

"I try to block it out. I'm an emotional guy," he said. "It was an emotional day for me, but I have a job to do, and I try to keep that in perspective. It was good to see everybody."

Stevens misses game

Tight end Jerramy Stevens made the trip to the St. Louis but did not play, which came as somewhat of a surprise.

Coach Mike Holmgren made the decision to hold out Stevens on Sunday morning.

It seemed after a week of practice on his surgically repaired left knee, the first practices for Stevens of the regular season, that he would be a go for Sunday. Apparently, however, Steven's checkup with the team medical staff didn't result in a clean bill of health.

Holmgren said last Friday he felt Stevens would play and even talked about the number of plays Stevens normally gets in a game. But Stevens watched the game in street clothes.

Itula Mili replaced Stevens in the starting lineup. Mili caught two passes for 18 yards.

A costly fumble

Maurice Morris had made his presence felt with tough second-half running. He got a chance to add to his stats as the Seahawks handed him the ball to run time off the clock with less than three minutes left in the game.

But with the Seattle clinging to a 27-21 lead, Morris did the one thing he wasn't supposed to do. He fumbled.

The Rams recovered the ball and drove for the go-ahead score, only to see the Seahawks come back and hit the winning field goal with no time left.

"I kind of gave the team a heart attack," Morris said. "I take full responsibility for putting our team in a situation that we shouldn't have been in. But that's why it's good to have good teammates around you, and they helped bail me out."

Morris had just 4 yards on five carries in the first half, but ran for 70 yards on 18 carries in the second half.

Bring out the shotgun

That formation you saw from the Seahawks offense on two occasions Sunday was indeed the shotgun, which the Seahawks hadn't tried in several years under Holmgren and never with Hasselbeck at quarterback

"That's always been there if I wanted to do it," Hasselbeck said. "We practiced it so much this week that I thought, 'Why not try it a couple of times? It helped. It changes our look a little bit, and if you're a pass rusher, you can't know exactly where we are every play."

Jersey-popping

Seahawks defensive end Bryce Fisher, a former Ram, had one of his best games with two sacks and good pressure on quarterback Marc Bulger. The sacks allowed Fisher to celebrate in front of his old teammates.

Fisher twice popped his jersey with his thumbs and index fingers, than turned around in view of the Rams' bench and used both thumbs to point at the name and number on the back of his jersey.

Big-game Rams

Wide receiver Torry Holt has five 100-yard games and eight touchdowns in 11 games against the Seahawks since the 2000 season.

"You guys have seen Torry do those kinds of things for years," Rams coach Scott Linehan said. "It was impressive."

Bulger's impressive streak of 248 straight pass attempts without being intercepted ended when Lofa Tatupu picked off a pass in the fourth quarter. Bulger had the longest active interception-free streak in the NFL.

Notes

• Deion Branch replaced Nate Burleson in the starting lineup at split end, but Burleson was on the field for the game's first play as the Seahawks opened in a three-receiver set.

• Burleson caught two punts in the fourth quarter after regular return man Jimmy Williams left the game with injured ribs.

• Besides Stevens, other inactive players for Seattle were QB David Greene [third quarterback], RB Shaun Alexander, T Ray Willis, G Floyd Womack, WR Bobby Engram, DE Joe Tafoya and DT Craig Terrill. Alexander, Womack, Engram and Tafoya were unavailable with illness or injuries, and Terrill was inactive for the first time this season after playing in the team's previous four games.

• The Rams played without starting right RB Fakhir Brown, who has an injured ankle. Rookie Tye Hill started at left cornerback and regular left corner Travis Fisher moved to the right side.

• St. Louis native Chuck Berry was honored before the game in celebration of his 80th birthday. The rock pioneer was presented a No. 80 Rams jersey, then was serenaded with "Happy Birthday."