Slow start for Seahawks

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – As starts go, the Seattle Seahawks were Liu Xiang on Sunday.

The Seahawks came out of the blocks in their 2008 regular-season debut much like the hobbled Chinese hurdler had at the Olympics, leaving Mike Holmgren’s final opener as more a nightmare than a keepsake. Sunday’s 34-10 loss to Buffalo not only exposed some serious holes, but it also might have added a few more.

Among the casualties was wide receiver Nate Burleson, who aggravated a knee sprain in the third quarter to further deplete a receiving corps that was already without two starters and a key reserve. Burleson was walking without the use of crutches after the game and will be further evaluated today, coach Mike Holmgren said. Running back Maurice Morris suffered a similar injury, finishing his game before halftime.

Even before they got hurt, the Seahawks’ offense was pretty stagnant.

As linebacker Julian Peterson said in bluntly assessing Sunday’s performance: “We didn’t score enough points today; that’s why we lost.”

Burleson scored Seattle’s only touchdown with a second-quarter reception, but before and after that the Seahawks mostly struggled to move the ball. Making matters worse, Seattle’s special teams unit gave up two Buffalo touchdowns – and helped set up a third – in a game that quickly went from bad to worse early in the second half.

The Bills, who led 20-7 at halftime, pulled off a successful fake field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter, then forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to another TD and a 34-10 lead.

“Anytime you lose, it eats at your soul if you put into this business what you should,” defensive end Patrick Kerney said afterward. “It’s hard to swallow, especially like that.”

While Seattle’s special teams were responsible for many of the game’s key plays, it was the Seahawks offense that set the tone for the worse.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck showed the rust that comes with missing most of the preseason, and the anemic running game looked painfully too much like that of the 2007 Seahawks. Hasselbeck completed just 17 of 41 passes, four of which were dropped, while the Seahawks gained just 85 yards on 21 carries on the ground.

“We just didn’t get it done,” guard Rob Sims said. “We have to keep working. We have to go back to the drawing board, so to speak.”

From the outset, Seattle was fighting an uphill battle. The offense had just one first down on its first four drives and had just 24 yards through the first quarter of play.

Fortunately for the Seahawks, the Bills offense was just as futile early on. The two teams combined for eight punts before either team finally got on the scoreboard. A 32-yard pass from Buffalo’s Trent Edwards to Lee Evans helped set up a 19-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch to put the Bills ahead 7-0 with 2:44 left in the first quarter.

Buffalo added a touchdown midway through the second quarter, when return man Roscoe Parrish sidestepped Logan Payne, spun through John Carlson’s missed tackle, and juked C.J. Wallace on the way to a 63-yard punt return score.

Only after that did Seattle’s offense show any life, going 54 yards in four plays to score on Burleson’s touchdown reception.

But that 14-7 deficit would be as close as it would get for Seattle. A pair of Buffalo field goals put the Bills ahead 20-7 at halftime, and the game quickly got out of hand from that point.

Burleson got hurt midway through the third quarter, when his left knee buckled as he tried to make a cut in a pass pattern. A few minutes later, the Bills broke the game open with the fake field goal. Defensive end Ryan Denney lined up wide left in field-goal formation and was completely ignored by the Seahawks. Holder Brian Moorman took the snap, stood and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Denney, becoming the first NFL punter since 2003 to throw for a TD.

“It’s embarrassing to us when a play like that works,” Holmgren said. “But give them credit. They did a nice job with it.”

The touchdown gave Buffalo a 27-10 lead, an advantage the Bills extended to 24 points in a matter of 20 seconds. Seattle’s Josh Wilson fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, and one play later the Bills scored another touchdown to account for the game’s final score.