Vikings easily beat the Seahawks

MINNEAPOLIS — The Seahawks' search for new lows continued Sunday with a belly-flop in a state known for its many lakes.

After another lopsided road loss, the only challenge is finding a description capable of conveying the depth of the defeat.

"You can call it a step backwards or say we turned the corner or hit a U-turn," receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. "Whatever you want to say. We just played terrible today."

At this point, the Seahawks resemble a gas-guzzling sedan that runs only occasionally and skids every time it gets on the road. If the government were still handing out cash for clunkers, Seattle might get something for this wreck of an afternoon when it was beaten 35-9 by the Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome.

The Seahawks trailed by 28 points before they crossed midfield, they allowed Brett Favre to finish with the best completion percentage in a career that began at some point in the NFL's Neolithic era, and they lost by double digits for the fifth time in five road games this year.

There was a time when the Seahawks were a measuring stick of the NFC. That time, however, was four years ago. Now, Minnesota is the class of the conference, and Seattle is the team getting spanked with the ruler.

The game was close for only a quarter. Seattle's defense forced Minnesota to punt on its first two possessions, but the Seahawks' offense couldn't summon any momentum.

"First of all, we were out there way too long," safety Lawyer Milloy said. "I think we played pretty well early, but they stuck with their game plan."

The Vikings simply waited the Seahawks out. After a first quarter in which the two teams combined for five punts, five penalties and no points, Minnesota scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. The Seahawks' longest play of the first half — a 36-yard kickoff return by Ben Obomanu — resulted in a turnover when he fumbled at the end of the run.

It was hard to find one thing Seattle did well besides punt, which it did repeatedly. The Seahawks had only two first downs in the first half, ran just 19 plays and never got past their 39.

"I didn't break a sweat probably until like 5 minutes left the game," said Houshmandzadeh, who caught four passes for 36 yards.

Why was that?

"[We] could never sustain a drive," Houshmandzadeh said, "could never get anything going, but a lot of it has to do with their defense."

Favre completed 22 of 25 passes, but that was the only gaudy stat among Minnesota's offensive totals. Running back Adrian Peterson rushed for 82 yards, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe led Minnesota with eight receptions, and Favre finished with fewer passing yards (213) than Matt Hasselbeck (231).

But Favre did throw touchdown passes to four different receivers. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Seattle still hadn't scored a touchdown and Tarvaris Jackson had replaced Favre under center.

The most impressive thing about Minnesota's win was just how routine it was.

Minnesota's defense didn't give Seattle much room to run. Four yards, in fact, were all Seattle gained, a franchise record for fewest rushing yards in a game.

"I felt like coming out of last week that we needed to stick with the run a little bit," coach Jim Mora said. "I felt like if we gave up on it, we were giving up on something that we truly believe we have to have to be successful. So we tried to stick with it, but there was a point where we were beating our head against the wall."

The head-banging commenced on the first play from scrimmage — when Justin Forsett was stopped after a 1-yard gain — and didn't stop until the game ended. Seattle ran the ball 13 times, and seven of those carries were for no gain or lost yardage.

The Seahawks committed 10 penalties in the game, including false-start penalties on back-to-back plays against tackles Ray Willis and Sean Locklear.

"We were not ourselves today," Hasselbeck said. "We were not very good."

Statistically speaking, it would be inaccurate to say the Seahawks took a step backward. They did, after all, surpass the previous low-water mark of 14 rushing yards in a game, which was set just five weeks ago at home against Arizona.

Yes, the two poorest rushing performances in Seattle's 34-year history have come in the span of five weeks in a season that has become a search for the bottom of the morass the franchise has fallen into.

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