Officials make it tough on corners

SEATTLE – Seattle was the least penalized team in the NFL during the regular season. That trend didn’t carry over to the postseason.

The Seahawks’ secondary was flagged for four key penalties during a 27-20 playoff loss to St. Louis on Saturday at Qwest Field – and they were none too pleased.

“You gotta let us play,” said cornerback Ken Lucas, who was flagged three times. “You can’t take the aggressiveness away from the defense. We really can’t do much on defense as it is, and they’re trying to take away the little aggression we do have. It’s just so unfair to the defensive back because the wide receiver can push off all the time and they never call it.”

It might sound like sour grapes, but Lucas appeared to be innocent on two of the infractions. He was called for holding Kevin Curtis on a play that the Rams receiver didn’t even turn around soon enough to see the ball. Instead of being forced to punt, the Rams received an automatic first down. Lucas was penalized for illegal use of the hands on another third-down play in the second quarter, resulting in another automatic first down.

Marcus Trufant and Lucas were flagged for illegal-contact penalties, prolonging a Rams drive that ended with a field goal that evened the score at 20 midway through the fourth quarter.

“If the wide receiver pushes off on me, I’m going to try to grab something to stay on him,” Lucas said. “You have to give me some room to fight. They just didn’t call it that way.”

The NFL has placed heavy emphasis this season on limiting any contact by cornerbacks after the 5-yard zone.

“It makes it a little difficult,” Trufant said, “but that’s what I get paid to do and those are the rules. We have to come out and be on our ‘A’ game because we’re going against the best athletes on the other team. There’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to go out and play and play well.”

Robinson back in neighborhood

Receiver Koren Robinson, who had missed six of the last seven games for violating team and NFL substance abuse rules, didn’t start, but he played a significant portion of the game. He finished with four receptions for 40 yards.

Robinson has been plagued by drops the last few years – not to mention tardiness to meetings and practices – but he caught everything thrown his way Saturday. He did fumble twice, but he recovered one and the other rolled out of bounds.

He declined comment afterward, saying, “I might say something that gets me in trouble.”

Jackson hot, Rice cold

Jerry Rice started in place of Robinson, but he endured his third straight catch-less game. Seattle’s pass offense was geared toward Darrell Jackson (12 catches for 128 yards), Itula Mili (6-98) and Robinson.

Rice, 42, hasn’t decided whether he will retire or return for his 21st season.

“I’ll take my time and make a decision,” Rice said. “I was brought in here for a reason, to help these guys out, Koren and Darrell. I would love to be on the field, but that’s the role I decided to take. I feel like I have a lot of football left in me.”

Rice wasn’t on the field for Seattle’s fourth-down pass play from the Rams 5 with 27 seconds left.

“It was in (the other receivers’) hands,” Rice said, “and we came up a little short.”

Sack attack

Seattle’s defensive front, playing without injured end Grant Wistrom, came up with five sacks, equaling its season high. The Seahawks had five sacks against Tampa Bay in Week 2. Seattle had three sacks combined in two previous games with St. Louis.

Chike Okeafor had two sacks. Rocky Bernard and Chad Brown each had one.

“I thought that (five sacks) would be a pretty good day,” coach Mike Holmgren said, “but again we were victimized by long plays. It’s been that way all season. It’s something that happened that we have to fix.”