Indianapolis – This one was over before it even started.

With the Seattle Seahawks missing two franchise cornerstones – quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and offensive tackle Walter Jones – few gave them any chance of competing against the high-octane offense of the Indianapolis Colts.

And those opinions turned into a harsh reality for the Seahawks, who were blitzed into a 34-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in front of a crowd of 66,116 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

How impressive was the Colts’ offense? Quarterback Peyton Manning completed 15 of his first 16 passes. Manning finished 31 of 41 for 353 yards, two touchdowns and a lone interception by Ken Lucas, notching a 107.1 passer rating.

Manning methodically carved up a Seahawks defense bent on disrupting his timing, leading the Colts to touchdowns on four of their first five drives, completing passes to seven different receivers.

Seattle forced the Colts to punt only twice all game. And Indianapolis didn’t drive the short field either, with all four touchdowns drives going at least 78 yards.

While the Colts offense purred like a finely tuned Ferrari, Seattle’s offense ran more like a ’73 minivan with the engine light on, leaking oil on the side of the road. The Seahawks finished with 279 total yards, punted five times and failed to get into the end zone until the decision was out of their control, scoring two late touchdowns that made the score more respectable.

The Seahawks needed to get their running game going to help sustain drives and keep the ball away from the Colts. However, Julius Jones had trouble springing free with the Indianapolis defensive front seven focused on bottling up Seattle’s running game. The Seahawks finished with 49 yards on the ground for an average of 2.6 yards per carry.

In his second straight start, quarterback Seneca Wallace struggled to move Seattle’s offense, though he finished with respectable numbers: 33 of 45 for 257 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. The Colts pressured him into two fumbles that they turned into three points.

With the Seahawks playing without starting tackles Walter Jones and Sean Locklear, and left guard Rob Sims going down with a left ankle injury during the game, Seattle’s makeshift line had a hard time protecting Wallace, who was sacked five times.

Wallace struggled in both starts, but coach Jim Mora said if Hasselbeck cannot play on Sunday against Jacksonville, Wallace will get his third start, not third-string quarterback Mike Teel, a rookie.

“We all struggled,” Mora said when asked about Wallace’s performance. “I wouldn’t say it’s just Seneca. We struggled as a football team today. We struggled on offense. We struggled on defense. We fought, but we struggled.”

The Seahawks (1-3), on a three-game skid, are teetering on the edge of becoming irrelevant to the playoff picture.

However, Seattle’s saving grace is the schedule, which provides home games against Jacksonville and Arizona the next two weeks before the team’s bye week Oct. 25. Also, there is the possibility Hasselbeck will return from a cracked rib on Sunday.

“I think it’s critical as a football team that we get back to .500 going into the bye,” Mora said. “I think if we’re 3-3 at the bye then we’ll be OK. In terms of where Matt is, hopefully on Wednesday we’ll have a better feel if he can practice. I know he’s doing everything he can to try and get out there.

“He was out there today before the game running around a little bit. So we’ll see where he is.”

Seahawks receiver Nate Burleson said the team still believes it can salvage the season and make a run at the playoffs. But they understand they have to start winning games now.

“We obviously feel terrible,” he said. “Nobody wants to lose. I said the same thing last week. We do understand that it is early. But with saying that statement, I know that I can’t continue to say it because at some point it’s not going to be early in the season, and we’re going to be at a point where games are going to cost us.

“I’m not saying they don’t cost us now, but we’re definitely going to have to get something rolling. Because it’s OK to win late and have big wins late in the season, but you’ve got to put yourself in a position to relax. If we drop too many games, then we’ll be pressuring ourselves, trying to figure out other people’s wins and losses. And we’ve got to control what we can control and get some W’s.”

Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437

eric.williams@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks