LT2 did some damage in PPR leagues (with six catches), but he totaled 67 yards on 20 touches and failed to score. After his Week 9 bye, he has four nice matchups over the next six weeks, but that might be too late for his owners to make a run…Reggie Bush (10 touches, 60 yards) is out for the next 3-4 weeks with a meniscus injury in his knee. This is the downside of drafting Bush. Deuce McAllister looks like he will get the bulk of the work in his absence…Chris Johnson (20 touches, 172 yards, TD) and LenDale White (18 touches, 156 yards, 3 TD) both went nuts against the worst rush defense in the league (KC)…Willis McGahee (21 touches, 152 yards, TD) is still RB1 in Baltimore when he can play…Ronnie Brown’s (14 carries, 28 yards) schedule is pretty easy from here on out, so if you might want to buy low after a bad game against the Ravens…Steven Jackson (27 touches, 176 yards, 3 TD) ran like a madman this week. He’s definitely back in must-start territory…Ryan Grant (33 touches, 117 yards, TD) looked pretty good against a very bad Colts rush defense. His schedule isn’t very favorable over the next several weeks, so you might want to think about selling high…Thomas Jones (25 touches, 159 yards) is looking good and he has a favorable upcoming schedule. It might not be a bad idea to try to snatch him away from an unsuspecting owner…Clinton Portis (28 touches, 183 yards, TD) is looking like a top 5 back. He shrugged off a hip flexor to post big numbers against the Browns…Jamal Lewis (20 touches, 98 yards) played better than his stats would indicate. He almost scored on a catch and had a couple of goal line opportunities, but the Browns’ line failed to get the necessary push…Julius Jones (8 touches, 37 yards) and Maurice Morris (8 touches, 68 yards) are back in a timeshare now that Morris is healthy again.

The Seattle Seahawks rebounded from their 33-30 overtime loss last week to beat NFC West rival St. Louis 37-13 on Sunday.

It was over when…
T.J. Duckett scored on a 1-yard run with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter. The touchdown capped a 15-play, 86-yard drive to give the Seahawks a 21-point lead.

Game ball
Running back Julius Jones’ 29-yard touchdown run in the first quarter gave the Seahawks a 17-0 lead. Jones finished with 140 yards rushing.

Key stat
The Seahawks rushed for 240 yards, while holding The Rams to just 65 yards on the ground.

Noteworthy
Seahawks running back Duckett had his first two-touchdown rushing day in four years. … St. Louis lost for the 16th time in 19 games, and have lost seven consecutive games to Seattle. … The Seahawks avoided starting 0-3 for the first time since 2002.

I know it was against the Rams’ defense, but how good did Julius Jones (22 carries, 140 yards, 1 TD) look? Maurice Morris’s injury has opened the door for Jones to be the feature back and he hasn’t disappointed. Amazing how productive Mike Holmgren’s offense can be with a running game. Matt Hasselbeck even looked good for the first time this season, completing 12 of 20 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.

There isn’t much you can say about the Rams. They easily rival the Chiefs as the worst team in the NFL and at least KC has an excuse as to why they’re so bad; Tyler Thigpen is starting at quarterback for Larry Johnson’s sake. St. Louis is this bad with a healthy Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson and Torry Holt. Amazing.

The Seahawks were supposed to be the favorites to win the NFC West again this year. The Browns were supposed to contend for a playoff berth in the AFC. The Vikings were the chic-pick in the NFC. The Jaguars and Chargers were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders.

But all five of these teams have started the 2008 season 0-2. And all five teams have major issues.

So is it time for these teams to the hit the panic button? Let’s take a closer look.

Cleveland Browns

What’s gone right: Not much. The only real bright spot offensively has been TE Kellen Winslow Jr., who has 12 receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. And DT Shaun Rogers, the team’s top offseason acquisition, has made an immediate impact with 10 tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss.

What’s gone wrong: Everything. The defense was brutal in Week 1 against Dallas, but bounced back in Week 2 against Pittsburgh (thanks in large part to bad weather conditions and Ben Roethlisberger’s bum shoulder). The offense that averaged over 25 points a game last year has managed just 16 points total in two games this year. Turnovers, penalties, poor quarterback play (Derek Anderson currently has a QB rating of 57.1), and bad coaching have buried this team so far.

Time to hit the panic button? Yes. The Browns’ poor preseason play has carried over into the regular season and the schedule doesn’t get any easier with the Ravens, Giants, Jaguars, Broncos and Bills coming up over the next eight weeks. Outside of Rogers, the offseason acquisitions Cleveland made on defense have not paid off and the offense has been non-existent. Worse yet, the Browns aren’t sneaking up on anyone this year and Romeo Crennel is starting to look overmatched once again.

Joe Nedney kicked a 40-yard field goal in overtime to lift the San Francisco 49ers to a 33-30 win over the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field Sunday.

• This is just the third time in the last five seasons in which the 49ers scored at least 30 points in a road game.
• After losing in his first career NFL start a week ago, J.T. O’Sullivan threw for 321 yards on 20-of-32 passing, including a TD.
• The four-time defending NFC West champion Seahawks (0-2) lost their first two games of the season for the first time since 2002.

The Seahawks built an early 14-0 lead, but couldn’t sustain it after losing two more wide receivers to injuries. The Seattle defense struggled for the second straight week, which is a bit surprising given the overall talent the Seahawks have on that side of the ball. On a positive note, Julius Jones rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown, but unfortunately he couldn’t mask Matt Hasselbeck’s (189, 2 INTs) rough day.

You knew it was only a matter of time before Mike Martz’s offense started to click. J.T. O’Sullivan threw for over 300 yards and a touchdown, while the ageless one Isaac Bruce caught four passes for a whopping 153 yards. I don’t think this game should be a ringing endorsement for the 49ers’ chances this year, but it’s always impressive when a team can beat the Seahawks in Seattle.

In the weeks leading up to the kickoff the 2008 NFL Season, I’ll take a look at position groups that could potentially lift teams to new heights, or bury them and their postseason hopes. Today I take a look at what the Seattle Seahawks’ backfield situation will be like this year without Shaun Alexander.

For the past eight seasons, Shaun Alexander has carried the Seattle Seahawks’ running game. But after years of being the Hawks’ rock in the backfield, Alexander succumbed to injuries in 2006 and 2007, which ultimately led to his release in April of this year. Free agents Julius Jones (Cowboys) and T.J. Duckett (Lions) were signed this offseason to compete with Maurice Morris to be Alexander’s replacement.

In four seasons with Dallas, Jones rushed for 3,484 yards on 885 carries (65.7 yards per game) and 18 touchdowns. Over the last two seasons, he split carries with Marion Barber, who often stole Jones’ touchdown opportunities when the Cowboys reached the goal line.

Duckett spent the last two years in Washington and Detroit after sharing a backfield with Warrick Dunn in Atlanta from 2002 to 2005. He was hobbled by nagging injuries most of last year, but he did rush for 102 yards on 15 carries in the Lions’ Week 16 victory over the Chiefs, flashing the kind of speed and power that made him a first round draft pick in 2002.

While splitting time with Alexander last year, Morris finished with 628 yards on 140 carries and four touchdowns in 2007. Until Jones and Duckett were signed, Morris was the favorite to start for Seattle, and still might be.

A potential sleeper candidate that could emerge is 2008 sixth round pick Justin Forsett, who rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown in the Seahawks’ second preseason game against the Bears. Forsett showed decent power running between the tackles and excellent quickness when he saw daylight. He was also effective on kick returns as well, and while one preseason game doesn’t make or break a player, Duckett might be on the outs if Forsett continues to flash this kind of potential.

Can Jones, Morris or Duckett/Forsett carry the Seahawks’ running game this year? All indications out of Seattle this summer have been that the Seahawks will go with a running back-by-committee in 2008. All three of these backs can be effective in doses, but none has shown the capabilities to carry a rushing load on their own. (Although in fairness to Jones, he did rush for 1,084 yards on 267 carries in 2006, which was good for a 4.1 YPC average.)

Seattle was so effective when Alexander was carrying the ball 300-plus times a year, so it’ll be interesting to see how head coach Mike Holmgren uses his backfield this season. There’s no question that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has mastered Holmgren’s West Coast Offense, but will the running back-by-committee work or will one back have to emerge for the Seahawks to make a Super Bowl run this year? The results have been mixed so far in preseason and although the NFC West once again appears to be Seattle’s for the taking, one has to wonder if their backfield situation will cost the Seahawks a chance to make a deep run in 2008.