Seahawks Defense | Seattle has struggled to defend against big plays

RENTON — Injuries can explain why Matt Hasselbeck is completing fewer than half his passes.

By the end of Sunday's game, Seattle's quarterback had only one receiver who had been on the active roster more than a week.

And that lack of healthy bodies can also account for a neutered passing game in which the Seahawks have completed only one pass that gained more than 25 yards this season.

But that's about as far as injuries and absences can go in explaining or excusing an 0-2 start. There's a lot more wrong with this team than just a lack of healthy bodies to catch the ball.

"The receivers have nothing to do with a blocked punt," coach Mike Holmgren said. "Not one single thing. The receivers don't have anything to do with a ball thrown deep down the middle [against the defense]."

In two games this season, Seattle has allowed seven completions of 25 yards or more, five of those plays occurring during Sunday's 33-30 overtime loss to the 49ers. Seattle has allowed two completions of more than 40 yards this year after giving up only seven such passes all of last season.

Those big plays were the biggest reason San Francisco was able to rally twice after the Seahawks offense had given the team the lead. The 49ers came back from a 14-0 deficit in the first half and then erased a three-point deficit in the final half of the fourth quarter.

"Being on defense, I put full responsibility on us," cornerback Kelly Jennings said. "Offense came down and scored. It's our job to stop them from scoring and we didn't do that. With the defense that we do have and knowing that our offense is injured, we've got to stop them. We didn't get it done."

The question of why is tougher.

Seattle returned all its defensive starters from last season's playoff game in Green Bay and then added first-round draft pick Lawrence Jackson at defensive end.

Jackson had two of Seattle's eight sacks on Sunday, and the Seahawks also held San Francisco running back Frank Gore to 61 yards, yet Seattle didn't manage to get its hands on the ball after forcing a first-quarter fumble.

"We only had one turnover in all that," linebacker Julian Peterson said. "That's the biggest stat that's missing, really."

Sacks generally correlate with turnovers because the quarterback's being rushed into throwing the ball away or being bludgeoned into losing his grip on it.

"Usually the most vulnerable player for fumbles is the quarterback," defensive end Patrick Kerney said. "To get to him eight times and not get one is disappointing and something we need to work on."

Instead, it was San Francisco's offense that made the big plays. Midway through the fourth quarter, the 49ers had converted only one of their third-down plays. They converted four of six the rest of the game, including two completions of 30 yards or more.

"The bottom line is we had several chances to make game-changing plays and just weren't able to do it," safety Brian Russell said.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com