A field day for Hawks

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Holmgren never seemed more angry and flustered.

His Seahawks had just lost a game they could have won handily to the Arizona Cardinals on the road in late October 2004. His face red with fury, the coach expressed his embarrassment at the 25-17 loss.

That was last year. Sunday, there was Holmgren, beaming as he handed his baseball cap to a fan sitting near the tunnel to the locker rooms at Sun Devil Stadium. His Seahawks had just finished off the Cardinals 33-19 to improve to 6-2 and record their fourth straight win of 2005.

Holmgren also broke a personal streak of six consecutive losses after bye weeks as Seattle's head coach. And now it was time to gloat a little.

"I am now 1-0 after the bye. Starting a new streak," he chortled. "My decision to give them [the players] a week off might have changed the whole season."

The Seahawks just keep finding ways to get the job done, and Shaun Alexander has been one of their favorite ways to win. He tore through the Cardinals for a season-high 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, scoring two touchdowns to give him 14 on the season.

All despite an upset stomach that forced him into the locker room for treatment with just less than four minutes left in the first half.

Bye week jinx goes bye bye

Sunday's victory ended six straight losses after the bye week for Mike Holmgren's Seahawks teams. A look at those games, with year, opponent and result:

1999

At San Diego

L, 13-10

2000

Denver

L, 38-31

2001

Miami

L, 24-20

2002

San Francisco

L, 28-21

2003

At Green Bay

L, 35-13

2004

St. Louis

L, 33-27 (OT)

2005

At Arizona

W, 33-19

"Just a little tummy ache," Alexander said. "The first half was just rough. Every time I was tackled I felt like I was either going to throw up or go the other way. Sometimes you're not at your best, but you just keep on going."

Alexander felt much better after halftime.

On the first play of scrimmage in the second half, he ran 88 yards for a touchdown.

The play call was good, the execution even better. Alexander started right, cut back to the left and outran three Cardinals defenders to the end zone, getting big blocks from fullback Mack Strong and left guard Steve Hutchinson.

Alexander broke into the open and ran toward the end of the stadium where its giant screen stands, and on it saw defenders Adrian Wilson, David Macklin and Robert Griffith chasing him. Wilson lunged for the tackle near the 15-yard line but couldn't stop Alexander's progress.

Alexander took an imaginary golf swing in celebration.

"I took a good strong burst and just thought, 'OK, calm down and breathe,' " Alexander said in describing his sprint to the end zone. " 'Where are these guys at?' I looked up on the scoreboard and it was just good timing. Lucky guess."

The score gave the Seahawks a 24-6 lead, and the run tied for the longest from scrimmage in franchise history, also achieved by Alexander on Nov. 11, 2001, at Husky Stadium. Although the Cardinals made it interesting by cutting the lead to 27-19 with 12:09 left in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks went on a 93-yard scoring drive to finish them off.

Before that drive, the Seahawks survived some near-disastrous plays.

A 79-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to tight end Eric Edwards, which would have made the score 27-23, was nullified by an illegal-block penalty against receiver Bryant Johnson, and the Cardinals settled for a field goal.

Moments later, Hasselbeck's completion to Strong to start the 93-yard drive was a split second from being intercepted and run back for a touchdown by Macklin. That drive stayed alive thanks to a pass-interference call against Wilson on third-and-eight from the Seattle 21, though the Cardinals believed the pass for tight end Jerramy Stevens was not catchable.

The Seahawks seemed to get the breaks they needed to win.

"Hopefully, that is what happens when you start winning, and hopefully we can keep it rolling," Stevens said. "We were talking to each other all day, me and Wilson. I had him beat so he had to hold me. He grabbed me out of the break. I would have caught that."

The Seahawks made their own breaks, too. They capped a four-play, 60-yard drive that took 42 seconds with Hasselbeck's 1-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left in the first half. The score gave the Seahawks a 17-6 lead, and kept alive a streak of scoring in all eight games this season with less than two minutes to play in either half.

"We just kind of get a little more urgency in there," wide receiver Jerheme Urban said. "We know we're limited on time and we're out there just playing and reacting."

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Seahawks had worn down the depleted Cardinals' defensive line. It got so bad for Arizona that rookie linebacker Darryl Blackstock had to come in to play defensive end as the Seahawks marched down the field.

"We felt like we had them on their heels," center Robbie Tobeck said.

The Seahawks came in well-rested after their bye.

"They needed the week off," a refreshed Holmgren said. "We were a little bit sore and banged up and they played well, they earned it, so why not? I needed some time off, too. To their credit, they came back and prepared well for this football game."

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