Seattle offense falters vs. Cardinals

SEATTLE - John Carlson stumbled coming out of his break. And in a timing offense like Seattle's, such blunders can lead to a comical moment, like Matt Hasselbeck's on-target pass hitting Carlson right in the facemask.

It was that kind of day Sunday for the Seahawks' offense in their 27-3 loss to Arizona.

Seattle's offense needed to be at its productive best to keep up with the Cardinals' offensive stars. Instead, it was a comedy of missed assignments, covered receivers and infuriating inconsistency in the most important game of the season to date.

"I don't want to stand here and say, 'It's injuries, it's injuries.' I'm just going to tell you that we're inconsistent, and there's reasons why we're inconsistent," Seattle coach Jim Mora said. "We're inconsistent because we're not able to field a consistent lineup, week after week. We're installing a new scheme. Those things have an effect. ... I don't want it to sound like an excuse. It's a reason, not an excuse."

Seattle's struggles against the Cardinals were almost record-setting. The Seahawks' 14 yards rushing was the lowest total in franchise history, accentuated by falling behind 17-0 and going into pass mode. The Seahawks attempted only 11 rushes, tied for the third fewest attempts in team history.

Their 128 total yards was tied for the seventh-lowest output in their 34 seasons, and worst since the 2000 season against San Diego.

With a makeshift offensive line failing to provide adequate protection, Hasselbeck hit on just 34.4 percent of his throws (10 of 29), and his 32.5 passer rating was the second lowest total of his career as a starter.

His worst game also came against the Cardinals: in 2004 when Hasselbeck hit just 14 of 41 passes in Arizona and had a career-worst passer rating of 18.1.

Hasselbeck saw the field for just three plays in the first quarter, and was sacked and fumbled on the third of those plays. He had just 66 yards passing in the first half, while punter Jon Ryan had 42. The second half was no better; Hasselbeck hit on just 4 of 18 passes and was sacked twice in the final 30 minutes.

Seattle's offense went three-and-out five times, in part because of the large early deficit.

"Seventeen-nothing in the second quarter made us one dimensional, really made it tough on our guys up front. We weren't able to get to the stuff we wanted to get to," Hasselbeck said. "We went right into base personnel, no huddle drill, sort of. We just stunk on third down. We really didn't get into a rhythm, and made it really hard for ourselves."

HEAVY HEART: As if facing perhaps the top receiving tandem in the league wasn't difficult enough, Seattle cornerback Ken Lucas was playing just days after burying his father in Mississippi.

Lucas' dad, Clyde, died unexpectedly less than 48 hours before Seattle beat Jacksonville 41-0 last Sunday. Lucas played in that victory, then returned to Mississippi to be with his family.

He made it back to Seattle in time to start on Sunday.

"At sometime or another everybody goes through some type of adversity, and the organization and your teammates still expect you to come back and do your job. That's how I looked at the situation," Lucas said. "It was kind of emotional at the beginning, but once I got going it helped me take my mind away from it. It was a good thing for me."

According to the players' union, Lucas' father had overcome lung cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2002, during his son's second season with Seattle.

Lucas didn't step into an easy situation on his return. Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner hit 32 of 41 throws for 276 yards. And any throw that was slightly off target was snatched away by the receiving corps of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.

"We couldn't have had better coverage than we had today. They were putting the ball in perfect places and coming down with the play," Lucas said.

QUICK HITS: Earlier in the week, Warner said the Cardinals would applaud if Seattle running back Edgerrin James, a former Cardinal, got the 18 yards rushing he needed to move into 10th on the NFL's all-time list. There wasn't any celebratory moment: James carried just three times for three yards. ... Arizona held the ball for 14:17 in the first quarter. Seattle had it for 43 seconds. ... Seattle is now 4-8 in its last 12 home games.