Hawks rambling on

This was an outdoor party for more than 67,000, one that not even the weather could dampen.

This was final stage of the Seahawks' arrival as an NFL powerhouse, as they share the NFC's best record with Carolina.

Sunday's was a critical win on a number of levels, an exclamation point on the Seahawks' statement that 2005 is different, that the fans can truly dream big about the season's prospects. And after watching Seattle dismantle the arch-rival St. Louis Rams 31-16, perhaps never were so many of those faithful so happy to be cold and drenched.

Cold and drenched is probably what the Rams really felt trudging off the turf at Qwest Field having been trampled by Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander and victimized by their own shortcomings.

The Seahawks star rushed for 165 yards on 33 carries and scored three touchdowns, piling on even more gaudy statistics to his career and further solidifying his place as the most productive running back in Seattle franchise history.

The way Alexander sees it, the Seahawks are clearly the team to beat in the NFC West. They're 7-2 with five straight wins and own a three-game lead over the 4-5 Rams with only seven games left in the regular season.

The last time the Seahawks were 7-2 was in 1999, coach Mike Holmgren's first season.

Alexander also saw that the Rams were worn out trying to stop him and the Seahawks' punishing offensive line as Seattle marched down field on the fourth-quarter drive that sealed the win. A more introspective look brought a deeper revelation.

"It's a really cool thing when you can see the changing of the guard, and you're the new big dog on the scene," Alexander said, referring to the Seahawks' rise to prominence in the West. "Even though we won our division last year, we didn't feel like we took it from them [the Rams]. We felt like we almost got it handed to us. That's the thing that they're definitely not going to be able to fly back to St. Louis and be able to say."

The Seahawks won the West in 2004, but fell to the Rams twice in the regular season and were eliminated by them in the first round of the playoffs. Seattle made it a regular-season sweep Sunday, even though thoughts of the 2004 Qwest Field collapse against the Rams were on people's minds.

After taking a 10-3 lead into halftime, the Seahawks surged to a 24-6 lead thanks to back-to-back touchdown drives to open the second half. Alexander highlighted the first drive with a 37-yard run and finished it with a 4-yard smash into the end zone.

The Seahawks got good field position to start the second drive, and it took five plays for Matt Hasselbeck to hit wide receiver D.J. Hackett in stride for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

But the Rams chipped away, and had the ball with 8:35 remaining, trailing 24-9. A safe lead? Not in the recent history of these two teams. There remained about as much time on the clock when the Rams began their epic comeback from 17 points down to stun the Seahawks in overtime at Qwest Field last October.

"Believe me, the parallels were not lost on me," Holmgren said. "But this is just a different team and this is a different season ... We had a similar situation last year and didn't handle it very well. This year we got in that situation and handled it much better, and that was the game."

After St. Louis scored a touchdown to make it 24-16, the Seahawks took possession with 6:53 left. Alexander gained a crucial first down when he bounced off Rams linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa to gain an extra yard on third-and-one, and Hasselbeck converted another third down with a 2-yard sneak. The Rams were forced to burn their timeouts, but they still couldn't stop Alexander.

His 17-yard TD run around the left side with 1:12 left made everyone forget about the falling rain and start the celebration. Alexander has 34 runs of 10 or more yards this season, and his 102 points scored (on an NFL high and team record 17 rushing touchdowns) puts him on pace to break Paul Hornung's NFL scoring record of 176 points.

Also at the current pace, Alexander can break Priest Holmes' 2003 NFL record of 27 touchdowns. Alexander also became the only player in NFL history to score 15 touchdowns in five consecutive seasons.

"I'm a better running back every time I step on the field ... ," Alexander said, "and if I'm not, then I'm not doing our team any justice."

Alexander has a league-leading 1,114 yards rushing, and is 15th all-time with 79 career rushing touchdowns.

As for the Seahawks' defense, Holmgren said it bent but did not break. The unit allowed only one touchdown on 353 yards of total offense. It forced two turnovers and sacked quarterback Marc Bulger three times.

"Going out and sweeping them and maybe putting their playoff hopes away means a lot to us," defensive end Grant Wistrom said.

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