Boulware and a prayer

SEATTLE – Michael Boulware rescued Seattle from a fate worse than a potential loss to the woeful Miami Dolphins.

He rescued Seattle from a potential loss to a Dolphins team so battered by injuries that it was reduced to a gutsy, hobbling quarterback and more than a handful of second-stringers.

But nobody could question the Dolphins’ heart as they fought back from a 10-point deficit and had Seattle reeling late in the fourth quarter as a nervous Qwest Field crowd announced at 66,644 looked on Sunday.

And no Seahawks fan could question Boulware’s perfect sense of timing.

Dolphins quarterback A.J. Feeley, who limped through the last three quarters with a painful hip injury, tried to squeeze a pass to Chris Chambers on a slant route. Instead the throw hit Boulware in stride and when the rookie completed an untouched 63-yard touchdown return, Seattle had escaped with a 24-17 victory.

“I was reading the quarterback’s eyes,” Boulware said of his fourth interception of the season. “Initially he looked in the flat but the cornerback was sitting on the flat route and (Feeley) tired to hit (Chambers) real quick. Your eyes get real big. I wanted to make sure I caught it first, then I could start having fun.”

Fun was in short supply for most of this ragged contest. After a quick start, Seattle’s offense bogged down under the direction of quarterback Trent Dilfer, who started when Matt Hasselbeck was unable to play because of a thigh injury suffered last week.

Seattle’s special teams gave up valuable field position throughout with shoddy coverage, foolish penalties and several short punts by Donnie Jones.

That put the burden on Seattle’s defense, which came through after some jittery moments of its own. The Seahawks are alone in first place in the NFC West following their third win in four games. Seattle (6-4) is one game in front of St. Louis, which fell 37-17 to Buffalo. Miami dropped to 1-9.

“We’re going to have to win some games like this when things aren’t going right,” said Seahawks receiver Jerry Rice, who started in place of Koren Robinson, who was benched for disciplinary reasons. “We started off really good and then we lost that momentum. But it’s not like we didn’t have the effort. The defense hung in there and won the game for us.”

Rice did his share, too. He snagged a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dilfer on Seattle’s initial series. His 56-yard catch-and-run also served as Seattle’s only first down on its first five possessions of the second half.

That offensive ineptitude, which came with standout Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas on the sideline with a hamstring injury, gave Miami time to pull even after trailing 17-7 at half. The second quarter was particularly painful for the Dolphins, who lost four players in the span of 10 offensive downs. And that doesn’t include the back spasms that sent defensive end Jason Taylor to the sideline for a few series.

Feeley appeared done for the afternoon when he was smothered by 293-pound tackle Rocky Bernard after releasing a pass that would be intercepted by Antonio Cochran. Jay Fiedler, who had been relegated to backup by interim head coach Jim Bates, came in and lasted three plays. He suffered a neck stinger and didn’t return.

Feeley returned, but he soon was without starting running back Sammy Morris (ribs) and fullback Rob Konrad (concussion).

“I can say that A.J. is a tough guy,” said Bernard, who delivered another crushing hit on Feeley early in the fourth quarter. “I heard him squeal a little bit, but he kept getting up and battling and they had a chance to win the game.”

Feeley’s 16-yard TD pass to Chambers trimmed the Seahawks’ lead to 17-14 early in the third.

And then a punting festival broke out. There were a combined 16 punts, 10 in the second half alone. Miami had a chance to tie, but Olindo Mare, another Dolphin battling injuries, was wide left on a 34-yard field goal attempt. Mare’s 82.5 percent accuracy is fourth in NFL history.

Seattle had a chance to pin the Dolphins deep, but Jones’ 20-yard punt gave Miami the ball at its 31. Feeley had completions of 25 and 19 yards to Derrius Thompson set up Mare’s 39-yard field goal that evened the score at 17 with 2:20 remaining.

Dilfer threw two short passes way off target and then hesitated in the pocket, which collapsed when former Eastern Washington Eagle Dario Romero and Taylor arrived for a sack.

Another short Jones punt gave Miami possession at its 47 with 1:51 to play. Feeley converted on third down with a pass to Chambers, but the former Oregon Duck made a big mistake on the ensuing play.

“We battled through a lot of adversity at the end of the game,” said Feeley, who took a pain-killing shot that finally brought some relief in the third quarter. “And then it’s on me. Once again it was a dumb decision.”

Boulware’s play with 56 seconds remaining gave Seattle the lead. Fittingly, Seattle’s defense sealed it when Cochran knocked the ball loose from Feeley and Chad Brown recovered.