Seahawks escape St. Louis with third straight win

ST. LOUIS -- Another week, another confounding and rocky start for the Seahawks.

But oh, what a finish.

For all the Seahawks didn't do in the first half, including going without a first down and totaling minus-1 yards in the first quarter, they survived Sunday. Beating the St. Louis Rams 24-19 wasn't just a matter of a faster tempo on offense and a stubborn defense in the second half, it was also good fortune. Because in the end, the Rams were the ones handing victory to the Seahawks.

A botched center-to-quarterback exchange -- the Seahawks can surely relate, having lost the opportunity for a win at Arizona earlier this season on a quarterback-running back exchange of their own -- at Seattle's 1-yard line sealed the Rams' fate.

Facing fourth-and-goal and needing a touchdown to take the lead with 29 seconds left, Rams quarterback Gus Frerotte came out from under center without the ball in his hands. He managed to pick it up, but Seahawks defensive end Darryl Tapp swooped in to bring down Frerotte for a 4-yard loss.

The Seahawks took over, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck took a knee and Seattle took with them a season sweep of the Rams (the Seahawks' sixth straight win over St. Louis) and their spot atop the NFC West at 7-4.

"We needed a little luck," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "Sometimes it goes against you for a while and then you get a little lucky and you get one that way."

The ending was fitting for a Seahawks defense that intercepted two passes, forced four fumbles (without a recovery) and sacked Rams' quarterbacks four times, three by defensive end Patrick Kerney. The Seahawks were especially stout against the run, keeping powerful Rams running back Steven Jackson out of the end zone the play before the bad snap and holding Jackson to 24 yards on 17 carries after the first quarter, when he scored on a 53-yard run.

"We took that first half to get a feel for those guys," Tapp said. Then he described his feeling as he saw the decisive play unfold in front of him.

"I'm making a play," he thought to himself.

But the Seahawks weren't making plays in the first half. St. Louis started fast, flying at Hasselbeck with blitzes, particularly by linebacker Will Witherspoon, and dropping Seattle's Maurice Morris for a safety to open the scoring. Then came Jackson's touchdown.

It might have been worse, if not for an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by rookie Josh Wilson. And even that almost didn't happen, as Wilson initially tried to hand the ball to return mate Nate Burleson upon catching the ball.

Defensively, the Seahawks knocked another quarterback out of a game, this time Rams starter Marc Bulger. But Frerotte wasn't the same quarterback who threw eight interceptions in two games earlier this season.

Frerotte replaced Bulger midway through the first quarter after Kerney picked off a shovel pass by Bulger into the line. The Seahawks failed to capitalize on the turnover, though, as kicker Josh Brown pulled a 46-yard field-goal attempt wide left.

Later in the quarter, Burleson was stripped of the ball on a punt return, and the Rams turned that into a Frerotte-to-Isaac Bruce touchdown pass for a 16-7 lead.

It was 19-7 when finally, with more than 25 minutes of the game gone, the Seahawks offense showed signs of life. With nothing working at normal speed, the Seahawks went into their no-huddle routine and worked the ball down the field to the St. Louis 20.

But on first-and-five, Hasselbeck was intercepted by O.J. Atogwe in the end zone.

"At least we got something going," Hasselbeck said.

Brown made a 33-yard field goal at the 9:39 mark of the third quarter, and a Marcus Trufant interception and 46-yard run from Morris set up Hasselbeck's 9-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch. The Seahawks trailed 19-17.

The Seahawks defense, having gained confidence from a goal-line stand in the second quarter, was fired up after Kerney knocked the Rams out of field-goal range with a sack with 11:17 left to play. Seattle took over and drove 80 yards for what would be the winning touchdown, Leonard Weaver plowing four yards into the end zone with 4:50 to play.

The Rams got one more crack at victory and got help from a pass-interference penalty, but misfired on their final shot. "At Arizona this year, same thing happened to us," Kerney said. "When that happens you can either be upset or you can think that's going to come back around. ...We'll get that back. Maybe we got that back [Sunday]."