After the Seahawks dropped a 34-9 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, there were multiple suggestions in the locker room after the game that the defense was not used properly against Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, who picked apart the Seahawks in the first two quarters for a 24-3 lead.

Some of the players said at the time they felt that they did not pressure Romo early enough and that this defense is built for speed, which is not being used.

But on Wednesday, safety Deon Grant, who made many of the comments regarding the scheme, said his comments were taken out of context.

"When I say pressure, pressure means a guy in the quarterback's face," Grant said. "I don't talk about blitzes. Blitzes never came out of my mouth. It is pressure. Even if you are in the game on the front line, you have to make sure all the lanes are covered when that quarterback steps up in the hole.

"That is the key; you have to keep a guy in the quarterback's face. That is pressure. Pressure is not always blitzing. That's what some people think. Pittsburgh, that is the real definition of pressure. They got four turnovers (against New England) and they barely blitzed. But they got pressure on the quarterback with them four guys they had and three guys they had rushing."

It appears very likely the Seahawks did not want to give off the appearance that their cohesiveness was crumbling in the face of their disappointing 2-10 record and so mounted a campaign to curtail the lingering impression of negativity.

But the fact remains that the Seahawks aren't getting pressure from their front four, which has been ineffective since Pro Bowl defensive end Patrick Kerney went out on Oct. 26 with a shoulder injury.

The Seahawks have only seven sacks in the five games since Kerney's injury, and their secondary has suffered the most: Seattle has dropped to last in the league in pass defense, giving up 265 yards a game.

A great deal of that is because opponents' quarterbacks are getting so much time in the pocket that they are simply picking apart Seattle's defenses.

And when the Seahawks have blitzed, their blitzes often have gotten picked up, leaving cornerbacks vulnerable to getting beat on deep passes - which has happened often this season.

"Pressure is one of those things that is not necessarily feast or famine, but you can get balls caught on you," defensive coordinator John Marshall said. "Pressure isn't always the answer. Obviously there isn't any one answer. But I think playing balls to the wall with all the speed you got is important.

"And blitzing may make you appear fast, but it doesn't mean you are fast. Playing the game with speed and exactness, that is what is important."

Even though Grant retreated from his claim that the defense needs to pressure more, Marshall and coach Mike Holmgren said it is probably something they will employ against the Patriots this Sunday.

"In their mind, if they think a way is better, I think you have to listen to them a little bit," Holmgren said. "I believe that. I think we'll do some of that probably on defense."

SERIES HISTORY: 15th meeting. The series is tied, 7-7, with Seattle winning five consecutive games between 1989 and 1993. In fact, in a scheduling quirk, the teams played twice in '93 even though they were in different divisions. Between '93 and now, the teams met only once, in 2004, a 30-20 New England victory.