THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Issues in the trenches exposed in Seattle's loss

Sorry, but this was worse than just a single, disappointing loss.

The Seahawks’ 33-30 overtime capitulation to Tennessee proved that they can be bullied — and teams with championship aspirations aren’t the kind to be pushed around.

Evidence…

Seattle could not run the ball, despite a 24-9 halftime lead (built basically on a couple of fluke plays), nor could they stop the Titans and Derrick Henry from gashing them at will throughout a dismal second half.

That, my friends, is the deadly equation in football.

You can’t control the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball.

What it means — and what we saw — is that you’re faced with an impossible task.

If you load up the box to stop the run, huge gaps open up between the front seven and your secondary.

Any competent quarterback will fill that open space with mid-range completions, as Ryan Tannehill did repeatedly during the second half.

THE IRONY on Sunday was that Pete Carroll, who has embraced the running game almost since birth, got to see it executed almost perfectly for 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, it was the Titans who put on the show.

They owned the trenches, and it’s a helpless feeling to know you can’t stop the run — because that means almost every play in the book will be open.

On the other side of things, the Seahawks scraped together almost nothing on offense.

As noted, they got stuffed trying to run the ball.

Despite a sluggish first half and a lost fumble that ultimately cost a touchdown, the Titans were the big boys here, rushing for 212 yards to just 77 for the Hawks.

Seattle only managed its 30 points courtesy of two whiffed tackles on a second-quarter bomb to Tyler Lockett, then a totally blown coverage that allowed Freddie Swain to come open deep to the point where it looked like the Titans thought he had body odor.

Tennessee held the Hawks to four third-down conversions on 12 tries — numbers that make it obvious you’re being pushed around and physically dominated.

SO NOW what?

Obviously, Carroll and his staff will work on toughening up the Seahawks — top to bottom.

To be fair, it’s unlikely they’ll see the beast Henry (two-time NFL rushing king) again anytime soon.

Small mercies.

Still, it’s fair to be suspicious about how well the Hawks will stack up in head-to-head, smashmouth matches — say, against the 49ers and Rams.

In fact, Tennessee’s second half mugging looked quite a bit like last year’s playoffs, when the Rams more or less bludgeoned the Seahawks out of the postseason party.

Going forward…

The truth is that Seattle will need to get tougher at the line of scrimmage, perhaps using different schemes — but possibly finding new personnel and some useful depth (practice squad, waiver wire, etc.)

It’s a shame the Seahawks blew a 15-point lead and let this game get away.

But on the bright side…

You hope they learned a lesson from it.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the off season, and weekly beginning in October.