Seahawks keep Rams winless

SEATTLE -- Mike Holmgren walked into the Seahawks' locker room at halftime and pleaded for his kickoff-return unit to provide a spark for his sputtering team.

Minutes later, Ram-killer Nate Burleson took Holmgren's request literally and turned it into a 91-yard return for a game-changing touchdown and the Seahawks pulled away from winless St. Louis 33-6 on Sunday.

"Now, that's great coaching," Holmgren said.

He was finally laughing because Seattle (4-3) overcame Matt Hasselbeck hurting and Shaun Alexander being shut down and booed again to climb back atop the weak NFC West entering its bye week.

"Whatever coach says, you've got to adhere to it," Burleson said after the first kickoff score of his life. "But it's like super heroes stuff. I don't know if I can do that every time."

It only seems like it to the Rams, who are off to the worst start in their 70 years in the NFL.

In the Rams' previous visit last November, Burleson's 90-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was a go-ahead score in the Seahawks' 24-22 win. Seattle has defeated its division rival five consecutive times.

This time, Seattle led just 10-3 at the half, and St. Louis had only 41 total yards. Hasselbeck was feeling the sting of a hit by Claude Wroten that strained his right oblique muscle.

One play before Josh Brown's 38-yard field goal in the second quarter made it 10-3, Wroten drilled his helmet into the quarterback's right ribs on an incompletion. When Hasselbeck threw high off Bobby Engram's hand and into the arms of Ron Bartell for an interception at the Rams 19, he grabbed his side in pain with both hands.

Many of his passes after that fluttered weakly and mostly to the turf. Hasselbeck was 3 of 11 for 39 yards after Wroten's hit until Burleson's game-breaking touchdown return to start the second half. Seattle seized the game by outscoring St. Louis 23-3 in the second half while needing Hasselbeck to throw just 10 times.

"He was affected," said Wroten, who later refused to help up the quarterback when the prone Hasselbeck extended his arm to him following another hit. "He couldn't put full extension on his throws after that. ... He choked that ball a little bit."

Burleson choked the Rams' hope for a breakthrough win. He took the second-half kickoff, ran through a tackle near midfield and then shook off Jonathan Wade at about the 20 for his first career kickoff score. He punctuated it doing a preening shake and waving of the arms like a hawk.

The Seahawks soared from there.

The Rams (0-7) welcomed back Marc Bulger to the offense in a way no one should ever be welcomed.

With lead runner Steven Jackson out for the fourth consecutive game with a partially torn groin, the Rams had to rely on the passing of Bulger. And Seattle knew it.

The Pro Bowl quarterback, playing for the first time in three weeks with sore ribs, was sacked seven times. Four were by Darryl Tapp, who played the final three quarters with a boxing-like glove over a broken bone in his right hand. Bulger fumbled three times, lost 2, and finished 21 of 40 for 225 yards passing with 3 interceptions.

"I'm a little angry about things. Embarrassed about things. Frustrated about things. There are no good emotions," said Bulger, who limped through the locker room.

Tight end Randy McMichael said: "Right now I am embarrassed to be a (Ram). It is pathetic."

Bulger was 2 of 10 with an interception in the first half. Then Torry Holt dropped what would have been a 17-yard touchdown pass on an open slant on the drive after Burleson's return.

The NFL's 30th-ranked offense coming in has 15 turnovers in the 7 losses.

Alexander finished with 47 yards on 19 carries. The 30-year-old MVP from two seasons ago has 107 yards rushing and no touchdowns in his last three games. Three times he was jogging onto the field, out to at least the yard numbers, before Holmgren pulled him off. He was visibly upset that Holmgren kept him on the bench with Hasselbeck and other starters at the end of the blowout.

"He is frustrated a little bit," Holmgren said. "He just wants to do well.

"He's probably a little mad at me right now."

Hasselbeck finished 18 of 35 for 195 yards in 3½ quarters, his second-lowest passing output of the season. He had two touchdowns and an interception -- and joked he was happy to have a strained oblique.

"Awesome, because I didn't know I had an oblique in there," Hasselbeck said . "I'm going to go home and tell my wife."