Can the Hawks get back on track in November?

Coaches don't like to refer to early- or mid-regular season games as "must-win" situations.

But Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren and his players have to be thinking that today.

A victory over a team that earlier this season was believed to be the NFL's worst, the Oakland Raiders, means a 5-3 record. It means sole possession of the NFC West lead. It means more confidence going into a short week that ends in a game against the 4-4 St. Louis Rams for perhaps the division lead, and it means the end of a two-game slide.

Winning is another step closer to the playoffs and would be achieved without two of the Seahawks' biggest offensive stars, Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander.

Losing, on the other hand, creates a larger sense of urgency for the following week and weeks ahead that the Seahawks must win those games. It puts pressure on a team already under scrutiny for its lack of a running game, its struggling defense and its inconsistent offensive line play. It means dropping to 4-4 and losing to a team, the Raiders, that doesn't have the Seahawks' overall talent and depth.

"Obviously it's disappointing, but we don't feel like we need to do anything drastic," tight end Jerramy Stevens said. "We just need to go out there and tackle better on defense and execute on offense. It sounds simple to say and we know it's more difficult than that, but I don't think it's time to panic, or even close to time to panic. When guys start pressing and coaches start pressing because they feel like something needs to be changed or something needs to be done, that's when it gets worse, in my opinion."

The Seahawks (4-3) have reached an important crossroad in their season tonight. A defeat could deflate the reigning NFC champions; a victory certainly lifts their spirits knowing that Hasselbeck and Alexander will be back soon, and that they have upcoming games against just one non-losing team the rest of November, the Rams.

The hope is that 2006 will bring a November to remember, with the Rams, 3-5 San Francisco 49ers and 3-5 Green Bay Packers rounding out the schedule for the month.

If the Seahawks run the table, which most still believe and expect them to do, they'll be 8-3 heading to Denver for a showdown with a very strong Broncos team.

"Last season we set a record for winning all those games in a row (11), that is the exception, not the rule," Holmgren said. "Normally most seasons you are kind of battling and scraping and scratching for wins. That's how it normally goes. So we're kind of in one of those things right now and I think there are reasons that we're kind of the way we are right now."

Holmgren said earlier this season, on at least two occasions, that the Seahawks this year would be involved in plenty of close, hard-fought games. He still believes the team is in a good position.

A look at the November schedule reveals the following about the four Seattle opponents, at least in their current state:

• Oakland — The Raiders have won two straight thanks to an overachieving pass defense. The offense won't intimidate, and the offensive line is one of the league's worst. If young Andrew Walter gets time, though, he can find receivers like Randy Moss, and things could get interesting.

• St. Louis — The Rams fell to the sizzling Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and trail the Seahawks by a half-game in the division going into tonight. St. Louis is clearly an up-and-down, hot-and-cold team that is struggling with three consecutive defeats after going 4-1 to start the year.

• San Francisco — The 49ers got a big victory over Minnesota on Sunday, doing it with defense. But the Seahawks should have Alexander and Hasselbeck back for this game Nov. 19.

• Green Bay — The Packers fell to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and Brett Favre is not what he once was. Green Bay could be on a three-game losing streak when it faces Seattle Nov. 27.

The Seahawks are trying not to look past the Raiders.

"As soon as you start looking past a team, that's when they jump up and whoop your [backside]," Stevens said.

Players are a bit befuddled by the current run of low-caliber play, but no one seems overly concerned that it will last, nor are they shell-shocked after such a successful 2005.

"I don't know about shock. Disappointment," linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. "We set a pretty high standard last year and you want to follow up with it, and you want to be perfect every game, but the truth of the matter is it's not going to always happen that way and you just have to keep fighting."

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