Seahawks vs. Dolphins preview

Key questions

1Is it time to call the season a bust for the Seahawks? Yes. There have been far too many injuries and players not performing to expectations, though not through lack of effort. Clearly the NFC West is a bad division, except for Arizona, but the Seahawks just aren't the class of the division nor the dominant force that they often have been the past five seasons. Coach Mike Holmgren maintains things can turn around if the team can get its injured players back, namely Patrick Kerney, Matt Hasselbeck and Deion Branch, but it seems even that is too late to save a season full of disappointments and bad luck.

2Another East Coast game, another loss? It sure looks that way. If we can revisit the Seahawks' East Coast woes once again, they are 0-3 in the Eastern time zone this season and 1-7 over the past two seasons. Those numbers don't inspire much confidence for today's game at Miami, which is the farthest trip the team can possibly take for a game that will be played at 10 a.m. Seattle time. Besides, these Dolphins are not the 1-15 Dolphins from 2007. Not by a longshot. Miami is 4-4 with wins over quality teams Denver, New England and Buffalo.

4When will Matt Hasselbeck and Patrick Kerney be back? Not this week, though Hasselbeck could be back for next week's game against Arizona. The Seahawks will start Seneca Wallace at quarterback and Darryl Tapp in Kerney's spot at left end. Kerney, coach Mike Holmgren said, is expected back this season but the time frame on that is undetermined after he needed shoulder surgery.

5Who is Tony Sparano? Let's clear this up now: Sparano is not the HBO series character so many of us came to love. He's the first-year coach of the Dolphins who has the team pointed in the right direction, it would appear. Sparano, whose "Wildcat" single-wing offensive formation has caused fits for opponents, had previously been a top assistant in Dallas. Sparano brought the single-wing back from exhibition season hiatus after the Dolphins lost their first two games of the season.

Notable

Seahawks: QB Seneca Wallace has a TD pass in each of his seven career starts. He has 12 TDs and six interceptions in those seven starts. ... When RB Maurice Morris gets 15 or more rushes, the Seahawks are 10-1. ... Last week was WR Koren Robinson's first 100-yard game since 2005. ... TE John Carlson leads rookie TEs with 22 catches for 244 yards. ... P Jon Ryan has increased his average to 46.7 yards per punt.

Dolphins: Miami seeks its first three-game winning streak in two years. ... The Dolphins are 4-1 all-time against Seattle at home and lead the all-time series 6-3. ... QB Chad Pennington looks for his fifth straight game with 280-plus passing yards. ... CB Will Allen looks for his third straight game with an interception. ... RB Ronnie Brown has nine touchdowns in the past seven games. His eight rushing TDs are second-most in the NFL ... TE Anthony Fasano averages 13.7 yards per catch.

Injury report

Seahawks: QB Matt Hasselbeck (back), DE Patrick Kerney (shoulder), DT Red Bryant (ankle) and LB David Hawthorne (calf) are out. WR Deion Branch (heel), TE Will Heller (knee) and OG Floyd Womack (foot) are questionable. LB Lofa Tatupu (groin), FB Leonard Weaver (foot) and WR Koren Robinson (knee) are probable.

Dolphins: OG Justin Smiley (shoulder) is probable.

Last gameSeahawks: Seattle scored on its first offensive play of the game on a 90-yard pass play from Seneca Wallace to Koren Robinson, then saw its offense go into shutdown mode as the Seahawks punted 11 times and lost 26-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles at Qwest Field. The Seahawks suffered through execution errors, were victimized by big plays and couldn't get enough pressure on QB Donovan McNabb as they fell to 2-6. The Seahawks had only 10 first downs and 143 yards of offense besides the 90-yard play.

Dolphins: Miami scored one of its best wins of the season, a 26-17 defeat of Denver on the road last Sunday. The Dolphins allowed 14 rushing yards in taking out another quality opponent, and they got big performances from WR Greg Camarillo and QB Chad Pennington. Camarillo caught 11 passes for 111 yards and Pennington completed 23 of 40 passes for 281 yards in the win. K Dan Carpenter kicked four field goals, and CB Will Allen returned an interception for a touchdown.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com