Blanking doesn’t alarm Seahawks

KIRKLAND, Wash. – The Seahawks are sputtering, yet Mike Holmgren isn’t fretting.

Shaun Alexander will likely yield carries to backup Maurice Morris. Their Pro Bowl fullback Mack Strong abruptly retired this week because of a herniated disk in his neck.

Deion Branch, a new favorite receiver for quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, is not expected to play again until Nov. 4 because of a sprained foot.

“This I know: We’ll bounce back,” Holmgren said. “It’s OK. We’ll bounce back and keep the thing going.”

Holmgren’s reassurances come despite Seattle’s most recent alarming loss, 21-0 at Pittsburgh. His team was shut out for the first time since Week 1 of 2000.

But the Seahawks (3-2) are still tied with Arizona for the NFC West lead with 11 games left.

Holmgren also knows this: The next two games are against New Orleans (0-4) Sunday night and St. Louis (0-5) – when D.J. Hackett, the other starting receiver, is expected to return from a sprained ankle. Both games are home, where Seattle is an NFC-best 29-6 since 2002.

Lose either of those games, though, and they’ll be in trouble.

Then comes the bye week, when Branch is expected to return. The Seahawks don’t play a team that currently has a winning record until game 13, against the Cardinals.

Yet they still have problems. The offense is ranked 22nd in the NFL in points per game (17.4), 21st in yards per game (312) and 26th in yards per carry (3.4).

The most pressing issue involves Alexander, who turned 30 in August.

He played his fourth consecutive game last weekend with a cast over his sprained left wrist. Alexander gained just 25 yards on 11 carries against Pittsburgh – his most meager day since gaining 18 yards on 11 rushes Nov. 17, 2002, against Denver.

He has 378 yards rushing through five games. That’s his fewest at this point in a year since that ‘02 season, his first as Seattle’s feature back.

He often appears to be tentative, chop-stepping into the line.

Alexander keeps getting asked what’s wrong. His answer is the same: “Nothing.”

Holmgren said Morris, who missed two games with a hip injury and has only eight carries this season, will be running more.

“Mo practices hard. Mo’s going to get some more carries,” Holmgren said Monday.

Morris averaged only 43 carries per season from 2002-05, before spiking to 161 rushes last season, when Alexander missed six games with a broken foot after winning the league MVP award in 2005.

“Even when Shaun gained all those yards a couple of years ago, Mo carried the ball,” Holmgren said, recalling Morris’ 71 carries that season. “So I’m not doing anything different. I’m just doing it the way we used to do it.”

But Holmgren added, “We’ve got to get it going … challenge the players, challenge the coaches, challenge myself.”

Holmgren, shut out once before in 16 years as an NFL head coach, got upset before halftime.

Seattle had a chance to score against Pittsburgh, but Hasselbeck got sacked with 40 seconds left and didn’t called a timeout. The drive ended with an interception on the final play of the half at the goal line.

The Seahawks never got close to scoring again.

Holmgren said he didn’t call timeout because he was so incensed about the sack, he couldn’t think clearly.

“I got seeing-red mad,” he said. “So I just kind of flamed out there for a second. I came back … but I messed up right there.”