Originally published Monday, October 23, 2006 at 12:00 AM

Seahawks' O-line erratic again

Four sacks. Five hits on the quarterbacks. It was just another day of inconsistent protection from the Seahawks' offensive line Sunday. To make matters worse, the...

By José Miguel Romero

Seattle Times staff reporter

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DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Minnesota's Ben Leber hits Seneca Wallace from behind, forcing a fumble that Minnesota recovered in the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown.

Four sacks. Five hits on the quarterbacks.

It was just another day of inconsistent protection from the Seahawks' offensive line Sunday. To make matters worse, the Seahawks gained just 53 rushing yards against the Minnesota Vikings.

And just to add a little salt to the wound, former Seahawks lineman Steve Hutchinson left his old haunt, Qwest Field, as a winner with his new Vikings teammates.

As this season has gone along, including Sunday's 31-13 loss, it seemed fortunate with all of the hits Matt Hasselbeck has taken that he stayed injury-free as long as he did. The Seahawks have allowed 21 sacks in six games after giving up 27 in all of the 2005 regular season.

"There's a lot of work to be done," center Robbie Tobeck said. "You saw the game."

Today, the Seahawks will review the game film and see that their offensive-line play is still a work in progress. They will see missed assignments, an inability to hold their man long enough, speed rushers not recognized quickly enough and their quarterbacks, Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace, getting swarmed by a sea of opponent jerseys or trying to run from a pack of defenders too often.

"We have to see what happened in the football game and do what we can to fix it," coach Mike Holmgren said. "We have changed a couple of things in the offensive line and we are trying to maintain some continuity in there."

The results have been mixed. The pass protection allowed Hasselbeck time to make plays in St. Louis. It has had its moments.

But other moments have been tough to stomach.

"They did a great job of pressure," tight end Jerramy Stevens said of the Vikings' defensive line. "You can't not see that if you were watching the game. They were forcing us to change our line calls and getting up in there and causing havoc in the 'A' [interior] gaps. Any time you get pressure right up front in your face, it's hard."

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


Protecting the quarterback
A week-by-week look at the number of sacks given up by the Seahawks' offensive line this season (* bye week):
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Sacks	5	3	0	5	*	4	4