Seahawks’ man in middle making impact

SEATTLE – What left field has been to the Seattle Mariners, middle linebacker has been to the Seattle Seahawks.

Which, pretty much, is a 30-year open audition.

Yes, this conveniently ignores the Terry Beeson era and the stretch in the 1980s when the Hawks played a 3-4 scheme, but for the most part you’ll find less turnover behind the counter at a busy McDonald’s. The Mariners’ left-field analogy is almost eerie – who do Randall Godfrey, George Koonce and Levon Kirkland remind you of if not Greg Briley, Tiny Felder and Eric Anthony?

So who is Lofa Tatupu reminiscent of?

“A 10-year veteran,” said Seahawks defensive tackle Rocky Bernard. “It seems like he’s been doing this for 10 years and instead he’s got 10 years to go.”

Well, the physical toll of the National Football League and free agency will probably conspire against that precise fate, but you get the idea. The Seahawks drafted Tatupu earlier this year hoping he’d stop the churn in the middle – nine different starters in the past eight years – and thinking he’d be their man of the future.

What they got was the man of the hour.

The latest evidence: an interception, a fumble recovery and a sack in Sunday’s 41-3 evisceration of the San Francisco 49ers at Qwest Field, plus a few more endorsements for his being the league’s defensive rookie of the year.

“Yeah, but what was it – two tackles?” Tatupu complained. “The fumble fell into my hands, the interception was tipped into my hands. The only thing I really worked on was the sack – and even then I should have swiped at the ball, but I wanted to make sure I got the sack.

“They’re plays you’re supposed to make, nothing above and beyond. I was actually getting frustrated out there. I wanted to make some more hits.”

This is the kind of good-times grousing – in fact, Tatupu had four tackles – that’s always in style for a team on a roll, and that may be soft-selling the current state of the Seahawks. It isn’t just the nine straight victories – a franchise record – but that they’re winning by any and every means imaginable. There was the rabbit-out-of-their-hat affair against Dallas, the Jay Feely follies against the Giants and now the biggest back-to-back romps in Seahawks history.

Of course, it did the Seahawks no harm on Monday night to encounter Philadelphia with quarterback Donovan McNabb hurt and receiver Terrell Owens in idiot jail. And as if the Niners weren’t hapless enough, they’ve decided to let opponents break in No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith at quarterback.

In much the same way that a new puppy breaks in the linoleum.

In any case, the scoreboard the past two weeks adds up to 83-3, and it’s the lesser of those numbers that suggests the Seahawks have sharpened their identity – that and the measly 113 yards they allowed the 49ers, another Seahawks record.

That figure was absolutely mystifying to Niners running back Kevan Barlow.

“You look at us in practice and we look like we’re unstoppable,” he said.

Geez, Kev, could that have something to do with whom you’re practicing against?

The remarkable aspect of this defensive renaissance is that the Seahawks have been doing it not with continuity but with interchangeable parts. On Sunday, Jordan Babineaux moved into the starting lineup at cornerback and Kevin Bentley at outside linebacker – the 17th and 18th starters on the defense this year. What’s more, the Hawks have two rookies – Tatupu and Leroy Hill – starting at linebacker. Hill, a third-round pick out of Clemson, leads the NFL in sacks by a linebacker.

And Tatupu, well…

“I can’t imagine a rookie coming in and having more of an impact on someone’s football team than he has had with us,” said Seattle coach Mike Holmgren.

It isn’t just the stats – Tatupu leads the Seahawks with 93 tackles, almost twice as many as anyone else – but a level of leadership simply unexpected from a rookie. As middle linebacker, Tatupu makes all of Seattle’s defensive calls – something that prompts Bernard to say, “He’s blowing my mind.”

“Teams will try to outscheme you and this guy is so smart and studies everything so well, he’s getting everybody lined up in the right position and making the right calls and making the plays he’s supposed to make – and the plays others are supposed to make. He’s amazing right now.”

Not that he makes every play. Early in the second quarter, Tatupu misread a swing pass and Barlow ran through his attempted tackle for 24 yards – not quite 25 percent of the 49ers’ total.

“We were bringing pressure and my assignment is to be on the back,” he said. “I was under the assumption maybe (Barlow) was going to pass protect, because he had to see the safety coming down. But I guess their game plan is, as soon as he sees pressure he’s going to leak out and just be another receiver. You have to give them credit. Those guys are NFL players, too.”

But if the Seahawks’ defense has shown anything this year, it’s a knack for answering a slip with a save – in this case, Tatapu’s interception that came off the fingertips of fullback Terry Jackson.

“We rally,” Tatupu said. “We don’t ever give up on this defense.”

This is sort of Tatupu’s career mantra. The son of former NFL fullback Mosi Tatupu, he was an undersized – still is, at 6 feet and 238 pounds – high school quarterback who wound up signing with Division I-AA Maine before transferring to USC. There he started 25 games for two national championship teams and while Matt Leinart zigged back to school, Tatupu zagged to the NFL with a year of college eligibility remaining.

And he refuses to be impressed by what he’s done this season.

“I’d have to say it probably fell short (of expectations),” he said. “I expected to make bigger plays, game-changing plays. I think I’ve contributed to some wins, but I don’t know if I’ve taken a game over like I might have in college. I look forward to trying to achieve that level sometime.”

But to his teammates, he already has.

“He gets my vote for rookie of the year,” Bernard said. “He’s lights out, amazing.”

And out of left field.