Fill-ins making difference on ‘D’

SEATTLE – Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Walter Jones, Grant Wistrom and Bobby Engram you know about.

What about Rodney Bailey? He hadn’t played in an NFL game since 2003. He had made one career start in 48 games. Or Marquand Manuel? He was cut by Cincinnati last season, picked up by Seattle and saw limited time.

Or Craig Terrill, a blue-collar sixth-round draft pick in 2004 who kept making plays so the Seahawks had to keep him around. Or Leroy Hill, a rookie linebacker thrust into his first start Sunday when Jamie Sharper missed the first game of his nine-year career.

Or Lofa Tatupu? Is a rookie drafted in the second round really supposed to make the game look so easy?

“There’s still a long way to go,” said Tatupu, sounding like a sage veteran when in reality he’s just one day away from his 23rd birthday. “We’re still only one game over the midway point of the season. But you don’t play this game thinking you’re going to lose.”

And so the defense didn’t let the Seahawks lose on Sunday. They held the explosive St. Louis Rams to their lowest point total of the season and lifted Seattle to a convincing 31-16 victory at Qwest Field.

A month ago when the Seahawks toppled the Rams in St. Louis it was without the services of receivers Darrell Jackson and Engram. Backup receivers helped carry the day. Sunday the freight was carried by a defense missing four opening-day starters.

Bailey, who was a reserve with Pittsburgh for three seasons before spending 2004 on injured reserve with the Patriots, and Manuel, who has replaced Ken Hamlin at safety, teamed up on one of the game’s biggest plays.

The Rams, trailing 24-9 early in the fourth quarter, were marching deep in Seattle territory. If that scenario raised a hint of familiarity it should. Seattle had all but signed off on the final score last year when the Rams put up 17 points late in the fourth quarter, went on to win in overtime and sent the Seahawks into a spiral from which they never recovered.

This time, Marc Bulger hit tight end Brandon Manumaleuna in the flat, where Bailey stripped the ball loose. Manuel made the recovery and Seattle had made another critical red-zone stand.

“When (Bailey) came in the huddle I told him, ‘Let’s go, let’s go,’ then I’m telling him down and distance and telling him personnel and what to expect,” Manuel said matter-of-factly. “As long as he read his keys and played fast, he did fine.”

They all did, though much of the pre-game talk was about how the Rams, welcoming back a healthy Bulger, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, might be too much for this makeshift unit. But this defense is no stranger to adversity, not only with the recent additions of Sharper and starting tackle Marcus Tubbs to the injury list, but the severe head trauma Hamlin sustained outside a Pioneer Square nightclub and the two strokes suffered by defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes.

Tatupu had 10 tackles. Hill had four tackles. Both had timely third-quarter sacks.

“Those two kids can play. They’re fast, they’re strong, they’re hungry,” defensive end Bryce Fisher said. “It’s not us getting away with them. Those guys are stepping up and doing some very good things.

“That’s good because it means we can rotate players if we have an injury or get slowed down. Tubbs goes down, Rodney steps in and has a huge forced fumble.”

You’ll recall the draft-day speculation that Tatupu might have been a reach as a mid second-round pick. These days Tatupu finds himself in the discussion of NFC rookie of the year candidates with the likes of Demarcus Ware of Dallas.

“We’re all in the NFL for a reason,” Tatupu said. “You’re expected to go out there and do your job. Those guys (Sharper, Tubbs and Hamlin), you hate to replace, but it’s been unbelievable what we’ve been able to do. We’re going to bend, but we’re a scrappy bunch.”

Tatupu is emerging as a leader, though he defers to the coaches and veterans.

Said Fisher: “I’ve played with a couple of good middle linebackers and he can do everything you ask him to do. He can run, he gets in his gap. Plus he’s a good leader out there.”

Tatupu’s sack stymied another Rams drive, forcing St. Louis to settle for a field goal that left Seattle on top 24-9.

“Marshall (Faulk) was off-set,” Tatupu said. “I told (end) Joey Tafoya that I was going to pretend I had (Marshall), but it was designed for the end to get him. Marshall kind of looked over and smiled like, ‘Ah, rook.’ When he lined up over Joey, I noticed they started to roll out and I took a step left and then came off the edge.”

Tatupu, Bailey, Terrill, Jordan Babineaux, Joe Jurevicius and Chuck Darby are examples of players prized by first-year team president Tim Ruskell, who wants guys with team-first attitudes and non-stop motors. Ruskell’s chemistry experiment has been wildly successful thus far. Seattle isn’t a dominating defense – you’ll find them roughly in the middle of the statistics – but they’ve been dependable and delivered when games are in the balance.

“We aren’t using (anything) as excuses,” said Manuel, who graciously thanked the Bengals for giving him a chance to learn the game during his two seasons there. “Offense, defense, special teams. It’s a cohesive unit. We’re rooting for them, they’re rooting for us. That’s the biggest difference between this year and last year.”