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September 21, 2009 at 10:53 AM

How surprising was Sunday? Let us count the ways

Monday programming

Week 2: The Seattle Times' blog now returns to its regularly scheduled programming with an enumerated list of just how surprising Sunday's game was. We'll have a Live Chat! on Tuesday at noon, and check back here at noon every day for a new piece of content.


SURPRISE INDEX

1	The sun rose in the east

2	Seahawks lose a starting player to injury

3	An opponent committed a false start at Qwest Field

4	Frank Gore ran for 200 yards, rendered Seattle roadkill

5	ESPN led SportsCenter with Seahawks highlights

6	Seahawks drafted a corner who could be described as big or tall

7	Seattle plays one game without suffering significant injury

8	The description "extremely rational" is attached to Mike Singletary

9	Matt Hasselbeck seen using a comb

10	Jim Mora describes a challenge as "too hard" (in other words, brush your teeth and tie your shoes, the apocalypse is upon us).

What's the recipe for the Seahawks' worst-case scenario? Well, start with the quarterback who missed nine games last season because of a back injury running toward the goal line.

Now add the urgency of a 10-point deficit for a team that hasn't reached the end zone yet, prompting the above-mentioned quarterback to decide it's worth diving head-first toward the end zone. Now, add 240 pounds of one of the NFL's leanest, meanest-hitting linebackers, who has a full head of steam and plenty urgency of his own diving to stop the quarterback-turned-projectile from reaching the end zone.

Quarterback reacts, turns away from the linebacker and thereby exposes his back.

Quarterback ends up with a face that's an explosive shade of red, jogging toward the sideline and unable to get to the bench.

The most surprising thing Monday morning is that the whole thing wasn't worse. All indications are that Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has a rib injury. ESPN.com reported the rib is fractured, but there has been no confirmation of that from the team.

A rib injury is a painful prospect to be sure, but it would be a worse situation for the Seahawks and for Hasselbeck if it involved the disk injury that kept him out of nine games last season. And with that, we look at the rest of the surprises from Sunday's 23-10 loss at San Francisco.


Brian Russell can't be blamed for two TD runs totaling 159 yards	Surprise index: 4
Surprised that Frank Gore rushed for 200 yards? Don't be. He did it against Seattle before. That was 2006, the year before Brian Russell was signed by the Seahawks as part of a secondary upgrade. Well, first game without Russell and Gore did it again. That's not to say Russell would have prevented the runs -- the Seahawks management obviously felt it needed to replace Russell -- but it is to say that Russell was hardly the only thing that has ever ailed Seattle's defense. Russell was a focus of animosity from some Seahawks fans, and he was released on Sept. 5. On Sunday, Seattle allowed Frank Gore to race to the longest two runs of his career in the space of little more than a quarter. Coach Jim Mora said Seattle was in eight-man fronts on both plays, which means Gore should have never gotten into the Seahawks' secondary, but the safety is called that for a reason. He's the last line of defense, the safety net and Jordan Babineaux didn't function like a backstop on either play.

Seattle's shortest player is its best big-play threat	Surprise index: 6
Five-foot-8 Justin Forsett rushed for 35 yards, which was more than the rest of Seattle's team combined. He also caught six passes, tied for most in the game, and his 19-yard reception was the Seahawks' second-longest from scrimmage. The Seahawks gained 283 yards from scrimmage, and Forsett -- a player who was cut in Week 2 last year -- was responsible for one-third of that. That's great news for Forsett, but probably not all that great an indicator for Seattle's offense.

Matt Hasselbeck opting for valor over discretion	Surprise index: 3
He's the most important player in a business with $100 million player payroll. It's easy in retrospect to say that the possibility of gaining four yards and seven points wasn't worth the risk entailed in his scramble to the goal line. Then there was always the fact that Mike Holmgren would knock his agility by comparing him to a giraffe on ice skates, a loony bird landing or whatever popped in his head, but Hasslebeck is a tough quarterback whose touchdown scramble in Seattle's playoff game against Washington in January 2006 was the decisive play in Seattle's first playoff victory in about 20 years. The reality is that you don't go from a sixth-round draft pick to a three-time Pro Bowler without being confident in your ability to overcome risks.

The ignition on Seattle's offense fails to start	Surprise index: 4
Two games now, and Seattle has had seven possessions in the first quarter. Those seven possessions have produced a combined total of five first downs, four punts and three turnovers. Hasselbeck's first-quarter totals in the two games he has played: six completions on 14 attempts for 72 yards. He has been intercepted twice and the Seahawks have yet to score in the opening period.

Seattle survives trip into the Frye-ing pan	Surprise index: 7
The Seahawks had a great deal of offensive problems on Sunday. The biggest surprise of all that was that the play of left tackle Brandon Frye was not among them. Frye was a member of the Seahawks for exactly 14 days when he was thrust onto the line because of an ankle injury to Sean Locklear in the second quarter. Seattle allowed only one sack to the 49ers, and that was on the third play from scrimmage, well before Frye entered the field

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How surprising was Sunday? Let us count the ways

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