(My Sportsbook) - If you're a card-carrying pessimist who also happens to follow the Seattle Seahawks, then congratulations. You must be in your element right about now.

What is going wrong with the reigning NFC Champs? Let us count the ways:

-Sunday's 35-28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Seahawks to 1-3 since running back Shaun Alexander went down with a cracked bone in his left foot.

-Since going into the half ahead of the Giants, 35-3, Seattle has been outscored by a composite of 158 to 84 over its last four-and-a-half games.

-In the past two weeks, the Seattle defense has allowed career performances from a running back that had started eight games in four NFL seasons coming into 2006 (Chester Taylor) and a 33-year-old journeyman quarterback who almost didn't play against them because of a groin injury (Damon Huard).

-Alexander is out for at least one more week, and starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will be absent for at least another two, robbing the team of its best two offensive weapons.

-The similarly 4-3 Rams come to the Emerald City in two weeks, at which point they'll likely be in position to seize control of the NFC West race.

Pretty harrowing stuff, though because for every point there is a counter- point, we offer the projected musings of the glass-half-full types:

-The backup quarterback, Seneca Wallace, was far from terrible against the Chiefs, keeping his team in the game in a difficult environment and throwing a trio of touchdown passes in his first career start.

-Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren projected that Alexander will be back in time for the all-important date with St. Louis, and other wounded warriors such as guard Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack (sprained left knee) and wide receiver Bobby Engram (thyroid condition) should return as well.

-The secondary has struggled, but there is still tremendous talent on defense, beginning with omnipresent outside linebacker Julian Peterson.

-The schedule gets easier, beginning with Monday night's home date with the Raiders. Six of Seattle's final nine opponents have losing records: Oakland (2-5), San Francisco twice (2-5), Green Bay (3-4), Arizona (1-7), and Tampa Bay (2-5).

As for Holmgren's point of view, it remains positive because, well, what other approach can a head coach take with more than two months left in the season?

"I don't know what more we can do but keep battling, and we're going to keep battling," said Holmgren after Sunday's loss. "We'll keep talking about it. If we can make some changes, we will. If you can't make changes, sometimes you can't make changes. Then you've got to coach them better and get them to be more aware, and technically more sound.

"I just told the guys, this is a long season, we're just starting here. We've played seven games and we've got more games to play than we've played, so we've got to get better."

WALLACE WATCH

Wallace's play in his first NFL start probably didn't make Hasselbeck fear for his job to any significant degree, but it did leave the Seahawks confident that they could win with the 5-foot-11 signal-caller under center.

Wallace completed 15-of-30 passes for 198 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions, also rushing for 18 yards and rallying Seattle from a 27-14 deficit to take a 28-27 lead on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Jackson with 6:30 to play. The fourth-year-pro ran out of magic on the team's final drive, when he could advance Seattle no further than the Kansas City 41 and threw an ill-advised short pass to fullback Mack Strong on 4th-and-15.

"I thought he did a great job," said Holmgren. "He misfired a couple of times, but [Arrowhead] is a difficult stadium to play in. Their fans are tremendous. For a young guy in his first start, I think he handled most things pretty well.

"The outcome of this game, in a negative fashion, wasn't because of Seneca Wallace. He kept us in it, and I think given the circumstances he did a fine job."

DEFENSE OFFENSIVE

Sunday's loss had much to do with the work of a defense that allowed the Chiefs to pile up 499 yards of total offense, including a career-high 312 passing yards from Huard and a 155-yard, three-touchdown day from Kansas City running back Larry Johnson.

The Seahawks allowed 6.3 yards per offensive play, surrendered 30 first downs, and were dominated in time of possession, 42:15 to 17:45.

Seattle was particularly clueless against the Kansas City passing attack, allowing wideout Eddie Kennison to log 132 yards through the air (his first 100-yard game of the season) and tight end Tony Gonzales to go over 100 as well. Compounding the deficiencies of the secondary was a pass rush that had just one sack all day, that going to Peterson midway through the first quarter.

When asked about the play of the defense after the game, Holmgren replied tersely, "I thought we would have played these guys a little bit better."

The Hawks now rank 28th in the 32-team league in both passing defense (237.3 yards per game) and scoring defense (25.3 points per game).

CH-CH-CHANGES

Seattle's starting lineup featured a different look on Sunday, with strong safety Michael Boulware benched for his shaky play against Minnesota in Week 7 and right tackle Sean Locklear out of the game while serving a one-game NFL suspension stemming from a domestic violence arrest last Jan. 15th. Jordan Babineaux started in place of Boulware, registering a minimal impact with five tackles, while ex-Patriot Tom Ashworth replaced Locklear.

Locklear should return this week, while Womack should also be back after missing the past five games. Chris Spencer and Rob Sims both played left guard in Womack's place, with mixed returns, but it is possible that the team could stick with the former first-round pick Spencer and keep Womack on the bench.

Of Spencer and Sims, Holmgren said, "I think they did OK. Now 'Chop' comes back this week. We'll look at how these two young 'uns played and then make a decision."

ALEXANDER UPDATE

On Monday, Holmgren broke the disappointing news (to everyone but the Oakland Raiders and perhaps the St. Louis Rams) that Alexander would miss his fifth straight game due to injury. The cracked bone in the Pro Bowl running back's fourth left metatarsal is healing, but Alexander has not yet been cleared for game action.

"I'm a little disappointed he can't play this week, certainly," said Holmgren. "But we've been playing without him for a while, so it's not that big a shock," he added.

Backup Maurice Morris' struggles continued on Sunday, when he carried 12 times for just 25 yards. Morris now has 183 yards on 63 attempts (2.9 yards per carry) without a touchdown in his four starts.

If he is able to return against the Rams on Nov. 12th, Alexander (187 yards) would need to average 101.6 yards per game over the second half in order to record his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season. The three-time Pro Bowler averaged 93.8 yards per game between 2001 and 2005.

STEVENS SIGHTING

A bright spot in the Seahawks' loss to the Chiefs was the work of tight end Jerramy Stevens, who saw his first extensive action since undergoing offseason knee surgery. The former first-round pick caught three passes for 20 yards, including a two-yard TD catch from Wallace with 4:55 to play in the second quarter.

The ex-University of Washington standout had the best season of his career in 2005, catching 45 passes for 554 yards and five touchdowns. The No. 28 overall pick in the 2002 Draft scored Seattle's only touchdown in Super Bowl XL, though he also fell victim to a couple of key drops in the contest.

UP NEXT: OAKLAND

Oakland, which has followed up an 0-5 start with consecutive wins over the Cardinals and Steelers, will travel to Qwest Field on Monday night.

The Raiders hold a 27-22 advantage in their all-time regular season series with the Seahawks, including a 31-17 home victory when the teams last met, in 2002. The Hawks have won the last three matchups between the clubs played in Seattle, including a 34-27 decision in the last such matchup, in 2001. Oakland's most recent win in Seattle took place in 1998, at the Kingdome. The Seahawks and Raiders met twice a year when both resided in the AFC West, from 1978 through 2001.

In addition to the regular season series, the franchises have met twice in postseason play, splitting a pair of meetings. The then-Los Angeles Raiders were 30-14 winners in the 1983 AFC Championship at the Coliseum, while Seattle returned the favor with a 13-7 home victory in an AFC First-Round Playoff the next year. Prior to last season's run to the Super Bowl, the 1984 game had marked the Seahawks' most recent postseason victory.

Oakland head coach Art Shell was 9-2 against the Seahawks during his first tenure with the franchise (1989-94). Holmgren is 4-4 in his career against the Raiders, including 3-4 since coming to Seattle in 1999. The only head-to-head matchup between Holmgren and Shell occurred in 1993, a 28-0 victory for Holmgren's Packers at Lambeau Field.