Seahawks end road woes, make it 10 in row over woeful Rams, 27-17

Seahawks make it 10 in row over Rams, 27-17

ST. LOUIS — Pretty much all Matt Hasselbeck had to do for his eighth straight win over the St. Louis Rams was hand off and watch.

Justin Forsett had 130 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns — all career highs — and helped the Seahawks to a 27-17 victory over the Rams on Sunday that was Seattle’s 10th straight over St. Louis and first on the road this season in six tries.

The Seahawks (4-7) totaled a season-best 170 yards rushing a week after they mustered only 4 yards in a loss at Minnesota.

Hasselbeck was 14 for 25 for 102 yards, one of his least impressive games this season.

“I’m not at all upset,” he said. “The fact we had some breakout runs, some explosive gains in the running game, it’s a really good thing.”

Josh Wilson’s 65-yard interception return late in the first half went for his second touchdown of the season and the third by the defense.

“It was a great day,” Wilson said. “There’s still a lot of things we need to work on, finish and fine tune, but it was a great day.”

Kyle Boller, likely beginning a lengthy stint as the Rams starter in place of the injured Marc Bulger, was sacked four times and intercepted twice.

“It’s frustrating,” Boller said. “It felt like we were in the game and just couldn’t get over the hump.”

St. Louis has lost 11 in a row at home and played to a half-empty stadium Sunday. Paid attendance of only 47,475 was the franchise’s smallest since moving to the Midwest in 1995.

Steven Jackson was the lone bright spot with 89 yards rushing on 23 carries and a late TD after missing three days of practice due to back spasms. He fell short of a fifth straight 100-yard game while running behind a makeshift offensive line much of the way, with two starters inactive and center Jason Brown (right knee) sidelined near the end of the half.

“There were a lot of young players playing out of position,” Jackson said. “And we weren’t executing.”

Forsett averaged 5.9 yards, scored for the third straight week and topped his previous best of 123 yards two weeks ago in place of the injured Julius Jones. He had the key carry before putting the Seahawks ahead by two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, gaining 11 yards on fourth-and-1 from the 18.

“All runners in this league have to have the ability to make somebody miss, to have some avoidabililty,” coach Jim Mora said. “I thought Justin showed that.”

The Rams’ run defense was horrible for the third straight week and has allowed 556 yards and a 6.2-yard average. Coach Steve Spagnuolo, who made his reputation on defense, once again said there were multiple breakdowns.

“I think it’s a responsibility thing,” rookie linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s not like we had guys where we’re supposed to be and we’re getting physically dominated.”

Seattle’s Olindo Mare added field goals of 29 and 38 yards to tie the franchise record of 16 in a row shared by Rams kicker Josh Brown.

NOTES: The Rams have been outscored 60-16 in the first quarter. … The previous worst crowd for the Rams was 47,971 on Nov. 29, 1998, against the Falcons. … The Seahawks finished a stretch of three straight road games, allowing 65 points the previous two weeks in losses at Minnesota and Arizona. … Forsett is 7 yards behind Jones for the team lead, with 385 yards and a 6.8-yard average. Jones has 392 yards and a 3.7-yard average. … Seahawks DE Cory Redding has a concussion.