(My Sportsbook) - It took a huge leap of faith to believe that the San Francisco 49ers would be able to stay with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The Hawks were riding high at 7-2, the Niners were 2-7 and dropping like a cable car full of Rice-a-Roni that had just been pushed into the Bay.

San Francisco hadn't scored a touchdown in 12 quarters, and Seattle was in possession of Shaun Alexander, the one-man scoring machine.

The 49er offense couldn't protect its quarterback, and the Seahawks led the NFC in sacks.

The Niners were starting three people in the secondary with fewer than seven games of starting experience in the NFL, and Seattle had a trusty quarterback in Matt Hasselbeck to help exploit that fact.

Then they played the game, and implausibly, the depleted Niners took mighty Seattle right down to the wire in a 27-25 defeat.

For a time, it did not appear that things were straying very far from expectations. When Seattle's Josh Brown kicked a 47-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter, the Seahawks led, 27-12.

As the quarter ended, San Francisco had gone 15 quarters and 42 offensive drives without a touchdown, still hadn't found the end zone on its home field since Sept. 25th, and was settling for Joe Nedney field goals as much as ever. As the final quarter began, Nedney had scored 43 straight San Francisco points, the most for one NFL player since Baltimore's Matt Stover scored 49 in a row for the 2000 Ravens.

Then the Niners sprung into action. Quarterback Ken Dorsey, making his second start of the year, led a six-play, 71-yard drive that culminated in a 22-yard touchdown pass to wideout Brandon Lloyd. Later in the quarter, Dorsey engineered another touchdown march, capped off by a one-yard Maurice Hicks scoring run, to pull the team to within 27-25 in the final minute. An incomplete pass to Johnnie Morton in the back of the end zone on the subsequent two-point conversion attempt effectively ended the upset threat, but the fact that San Francisco had played with the division's best team for 60 minutes had to give 49ers fans hope for the future.

"I do want to say that it is evident to me that the football team is going in the right direction," said San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan of his club.

"The way they fought through the adversity today, they played extremely hard. I am very pleased by that. But again we are about winning, and that is what we are going to continue to strive to do."

Dorsey and Hicks, two players that started 2005 third on the depth chart at their respective positions, were the impetus for the Niners' encouraging day.

Dorsey completed 18-of-29 passes for a career-high 249 yards and a touchdown, the best outing for a San Francisco quarterback since now-departed Tim Rattay led the team to a win over the Rams in Week 1. Hicks, playing due to injuries to Frank Gore (hip flexor) and Kevan Barlow (concussion), rushed 11 times for 83 yards and the aforementioned touchdown, including a 50-yard run in the third quarter.

Despite the positive signs, Nolan's team was not accepting of any of the silver linings.

"This loss sucks," center Jeremy Newberry told the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's tougher than a blowout. We had plenty of opportunities to win this game."

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL SPINS AND SPINS

Another week, another set of quarterback concerns for the 49ers.

Dorsey played most of the game after aggravating an ankle sprain in the second quarter, and his status for Sunday is questionable. Dorsey originally injured the ankle in the team's Week 8 win over the Buccaneers, yielding the starting job to the mostly ineffective Cody Pickett for two contests. Whether Dorsey can manage back-to-back starts for the first time this year will be among the team's most pressing questions entering this Sunday's trip to Tennessee.

"The ankle just got tweaked," said Dorsey, who initially refused to get the ankle taped. "I just tried to walk it off."

If Dorsey can't go against the Titans, Nolan will likely have to decide between Pickett and former Giants QB Jesse Palmer behind center. Pickett has a 28.3 passer rating in two-plus games of action this year. Palmer has yet to see time with the 49ers since being signed on Nov. 1st.

It appears unlikely that rookie and No. 1 overall draft choice Alex Smith's injured knee will allow him to play this week, and there is growing speculation that the Utah product might not play again this season.

BIG HURT

The already reeling San Francisco defense was dealt yet another blow on Sunday, when defensive tackle Bryant Young sustained a high ankle sprain and possible knee damage while making a tackle on Alexander in the second quarter of the loss. Young attempted to return in the second quarter, but lasted just one snap before departing again.

Young, the final remaining player on San Francisco's roster from the 1994 Super Bowl team, ranks among NFL leaders with eight sacks on the year.

LEARNING ON THE JOB

On Sunday, the 49ers started a secondary of Shawntae Spencer at one cornerback, Bruce Thornton at the other corner, Mike Adams at free safety, and Ben Emanuel at strong safety. The foursome came into the contest with a combined 33 games of starting experience in the NFL, including a combined 12 starts from the trio of Thornton, Adams, and Emanuel.

The group held up generally well, allowing Hasselbeck to complete 19-of-31 passes for a modest 233 yards and a touchdown, while avoiding big plays for most of the afternoon. Hasselbeck's longest completion of the day was a 28- yarder to Bobby Engram, and he also posted a 12-yard touchdown toss to D.J. Hackett in the second quarter.

UP NEXT

The 49ers will have a realistic shot at their first road win of the 2005 season on Sunday, when they travel to meet similarly 2-8 Tennessee. San Francisco has a 7-3 lead in its all-time series with Tennessee, and has won the last two in a row.