Ramshackled

SEATTLE – It came so easily in the first half – the points, the stops, the deafening roars from the sell-out crowd at Qwest Field.

The Seattle Seahawks led by 17, and they were less than six minutes from the finish line. They never got there. The resilient St. Louis Rams did, relying on an unflappable quarterback, a defense that looked overmatched in the first two quarters and a bungling Seahawks team that turned certain victory into a crushing defeat.

St. Louis scored 17 points in those chaotic last six minutes to forge a tie, and then tacked on a quick touchdown in overtime to snatch a 33-27 victory Sunday in front of 66,940 stunned onlookers. It was reminiscent of last season when the Seahawks blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 44-41 in overtime at Baltimore.

“We basically gave the game away,” Seahawks receiver Koren Robinson said. “They were down. They were shook going into halftime, even coming into the third quarter. They didn’t know what to do, but they had some big plays that put them back in the game.”

Those big plays came rapid-fire as the Rams (3-2) wiped out a 27-10 deficit. Seattle (3-1) had no response, unraveling in the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball while the Rams became increasingly aggressive.

“You have to do that,” said St. Louis coach Mike Martz, often criticized for his aggressive game plans on offense. “You take your chances and the thing that goes unnoticed is the job the offensive line did and the way that we were able to move that ball.”

It was Seattle that moved the ball at will in the first half. By intermission, Shaun Alexander had 98 yards rushing and Matt Hasselbeck had passed for 188 yards and two touchdowns. The Seahawks were clearly the aggressor, as evidenced by their final score of the half.

Leading 17-7, Seattle took possession at its 10-yard line with 1:43 left. After a three-yard run, St. Louis called timeout, anticipating a defensive stand and getting the ball back in favorable field position.

Instead, Hasselbeck zipped a 10-yard pass to Darrell Jackson and Alexander ripped off 21 yards off the left side. Then Hasselbeck hit Jackson in stride for a 56-yard TD and a 24-7 lead.

The tenor of the game changed in the third quarter, though not so much on the scoreboard. St. Louis began moving the ball and eating up clock time. Seattle had only seven offensive plays in the period.

Still, Seattle led 24-10 after Jeff Wilkins’ field goal late in the third. And when Marcus Trufant picked off a Bulger pass that led to Josh Brown’s field goal and a 27-10 lead with 8:42 left, the Seahawks appeared home-free.

“I still thought we were in pretty good shape,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “But they made big plays that didn’t consume much of the clock, and really that was the story at the end.”

It started with 288-pound tight end Brandon Manumaleuna’s acrobatic 8-yard touchdown catch in heavy traffic with 5:34 remaining.

Seattle helped fuel the comeback by going three-and-out on its next series, the Rams using their final timeout after third down. Punter Tom Rouen then booted a 50-yarder, injuring his hamstring in the process, that Shaun McDonald returned 39 yards to Seattle’s 41.

On the ensuing play, Bulger, shaking off three earlier interceptions, connected with Kevin Curtis, who had slipped past safety Terreal Bierria, for the touchdown. Suddenly, Seattle’s lead was 27-24 with 3:30 left.

Seattle made one first down before stalling. Brown, who hadn’t punted since his sophomore year at Nebraska, filled in for Rouen and managed a 35-yard punt. St. Louis took over at its 36 and moved into field-goal range on Bulger’s 27-yarder to Isaac Bruce and a 16-yarder to Dane Looker. Wilkins’ knotted the score with a 36-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining.

“If we didn’t make our comeback everyone would be writing us off,” Bulger said. “To do what we did in the end to the No. 1 defense in the league and do it on the road is huge.”

The Rams won the toss and elected to receive in overtime. On third-and-6, Bulger hit Torry Holt on a slant route for 13 yards. On third-and-8, Seattle sent blitzers but they were picked up and Bulger capitalized with a perfect throw to McDonald, who beat Bierria on the deciding 52-yard scoring play.

“We had an all-out blitz,” cornerback Ken Lucas said. “He just threw it up and the receiver made a heck of a play. You don’t want to point the finger at anybody. We didn’t do enough as a defense in the second half.”

Nor did the offense. Seattle had a 7-minute advantage in time of possession in the first half. By the end, it was a mere 14 seconds.