Where's the pass rush? Seahawk fans still waiting

Hate to spoil all the excitement and ticker tape, but…

If you peek at that schedule on the horizon, it’s hard to picture the thrill-a-minute Seahawks winning many more games without a pass rush.

Don’t get me wrong, winning seven of the first nine has been decent stuff, and you can happily add Sunday’s 40-34 overtime survival act against Tampa Bay to the list.

Typical of these Seahawks…

It took all sorts of machinations to get this goofball matchup into OT in the first place.

For instance, all the Seahawks needed to win at the end of regulation was a lousy 40-yard field goal from Jason Myers.

And that’s exactly what they got…

A lousy field goal, wide to the right.

In fact, Pro Bowl kicker Myers pretty much kept fans stuck at CenturyLink Field far longer than necessary — missing an earlier field goal to the left and bonking an extra point off the right upright.

BUT LET’S not quibble.

Myers has been terrific most of the year and he’s hardly the reason Seattle might meet some heavy sledding through the seven games remaining.

Besides, Myers’ misses gave Russell Wilson a chance to improve on his obscene stats in OT — which was decided when Tampa Bay lost the coin toss.

After Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf each padded their gaudy numbers for the afternoon with more catches as Russ whisked the Seahawks downfield, suddenly visible tight end Jacob Hollister caught a 10-yard TD pass to end the suspense, Hollister’s second scoring reception of the afternoon.

Metcalf, meanwhile, might have driven poor Bucs backup corner Jamel Dean out of the league.

The fast and massive DK caught a long TD pass, a spectacular third-down fade in overtime and just about anything he wanted as the Bucs stubbornly stayed in man coverage — letting the 6-4, 228-pound Metcalf abuse the rookie Dean (6-0, 195) through four quarters and beyond.

“I guess it was my welcome-to-the-NFL game,” said the philosophical Dean afterward, with the wisdom of a man who had played just three snaps on defense all season before Sunday.

Fun, fun, fun.

But speaking of welcomes, the Seahawks keep getting visits from teams who are displaying what happens when you try preventing giant passing numbers while letting professional dart throwers stand alone in the pocket.

This time it was Jameis Winston, the man with more turnovers than anyone in the league, who took his sweet time and connected on 29 passes on 44 tries for 335 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

Using the base defense with a four-man rush, the Seahawks applied just about zero pressure on Winston — and that’s getting to be a habit.

THE HAWKS haven’t gotten any help from the still-rehabbing Ziggy Ansah, tackle Jarron Reed (10 1/2 sacks last year) still isn’t sharp after a six-game suspension, and Jadeveon Clowney has been hampered by frequent double-teams.

Seattle has a paltry 15 sacks after nine games — against 22 allowed — and only three of those nine matchups have been against teams with winning records (in which they’ve gone 1-2).

The Seahawks’ only sack against the Bucs came from middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, as they were forced to blitz in desperation.

That lack of pressure isn’t going to cut it down the stretch, as the Hawks will play six games — including two with the 49ers — against teams with winning records.

Pete Carroll has insisted each week that his pass rush is ready to explode, and then it goes out and fizzles on the launching pad.

It’s hard to know what the ever-optimistic Carroll is seeing in practice, but whatever it might be, the Seahawks never quite seem to find it on game day.

IF IT’S any consolation, Frank Clark (13 1/2 sacks for Seattle last year) hasn’t fared much better in Kansas City, where he’s been both injured and mostly ineffective.

Every team that comes to town seems to have a few frightening pass rushers — Tampa Bay, too — and it makes you wonder how none of them have landed in the Northwest where they’re so vitally needed.

It’s scary to think how the Seahawks will manage through the second half of this schedule with the feeble sort of rush that Winston basically dismissed while searching calmly for open receivers.

Ironically, Winston DID fumble once and it was snatched up by Seattle’s Rasheem Green — but Jameis managed the feat of bobbling the ball into the air without being touched.

So the Seahawks landed a statistical anomaly: They registered a QB fumble caused and recovered without getting a sack.

That’s not a habit that will serve them well in coming weeks.

Not the last part of it, anyhow.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday during the season.