After the team had come up sackless for the first time this season in its futile pursuit of Tony Romo at Texas Stadium, the defensive players openly questioned why the coaches had waited so long to come after the Cowboys passer with blitzes.

As the Seahawks sat back, the Cowboys not only scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, they averaged 10.1 yards on the 22 plays that produced scoring drives of 71, 72 and 80 yards. On those series, Romo was 10 of 12 for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Once the Seahawks decided to turn up the heat by bringing linebackers and defensive backs, in addition to their inconsistent four-man rush, the Cowboys' final two series of the first half and first two possessions of the second half ended in three punts and an interception.

"Bringing pressure, bringing heat," linebacker Julian Peterson said when asked to name the strength of the defense. "We've got great team speed, so we can do that."

But they didn't do it until it was too late. Why did they wait until they already were out of the game to come after Romo?

"Nothing needs to be said. You know what time it is on that," strong safety Deon Grant said.

Their comments were echoed by other defensive players in the locker room.

This debate is nothing new for a Seahawks defense that has been pushed around on an almost weekly basis during the team's 2-10 season. But it was magnified because of the timing of the latest loss - in a nationally televised game - and the lack of productivity by the pass rush.

"The irony there is that we sometimes have been criticized for not blitzing enough," coach Mike Holmgren said recently. "My feeling is that this year, we've been hurt a lot more than we have been helped by doing that, because we've been in a lot of one-on-one situations and really they've converted on us.

"So I'm surprised. I felt, coming in, that that would be a real strength of our team this year. And we've struggled a little bit."

Defensive coordinator John Marshall, who calls the defenses, has lamented all season that even when the Seahawks blitz, the extra pass rushers have not been able to get to the passer. Their half-a-step-late arrivals then leave defensive backs in single coverage - often against receivers who are bigger, and better, than the players with whom the Seahawks are attempting to cover them.

Secondary coach Jim Mora, who will take over for Holmgren as head coach after the season, has bemoaned his unit's inability to makes plays on the ball despite being on its coverages. This was never more apparent than in the loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 16, when wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald combined to catch 23 passes for 337 yards.

On Thursday, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten and wide receiver Terrell Owens combined to catch 14 of Romo's 22 completions for 213 of his 331 passing yards.

This double-edged sword that is gutting the season is something the defensive coaches will have to address when the players return Monday from their extended weekend off.

Next week, the Seahawks face the New England Patriots, who feature the potent trio of Matt Cassel passing to Randy Moss (eight TD catches) and Wes Welker (80 receptions).

After the respite that should be playing the 2-9 Rams in St. Louis on Dec. 14, the Seahawks close the season with a home game against Brett Favre and the New York Jets and a road trip for their rematch with the Cardinals in Arizona.

How bad has the pass rush become? Defensive end Patrick Kerney still shares the team lead with five sacks, and he has missed the past five games because of a shoulder injury that forced him to be placed on injured reserve.

How poor has the blitzing been? All but two of the team's 26 sacks have come from linemen - or Peterson, who lines up as an end in passing situations.

"The problem with (blitzing) is you do single up their big, good receivers on our guys man for man," Holmgren said after the game against the Cowboys. "Who's to say that wouldn't have been a bad thing early?"

For starters, the Seahawks defensive players.\

EAST AND WEST

Things could be worse for the Seahawks. They could be realigned in the NFC East. The four teams in that division dominated the Seahawks this season, especially when compared with how Seattle has done against its divisional rivals in the NFC West: %% vs. East vs. West\ Wins-losses 0-4 2-2\ Average points scored 9.8 30.3\ Average points allowed 31.0 21.3\ Average yards gained 242.5 303.8\ Average yards allowed 443.8 362.8\ Average big plays made 1.8 6.0\ Average big plays allowed 4.8 3.3 %% Note: Big plays are sacks, interceptions and fumble recoveries. Seahawks still play the Rams in St. Louis and the Cardinals in Arizona.

P-I reporter Clare Farnsworth can be reached at 206-448-8016 or clarefarnsworth@seattlepi.com Read his Seahawks blog at blog.seattlepi.com/Football.