SEATTLE 29, PITTSBURGH 10 : Stewart, Steelers Stumble

The Seattle Seahawks aren’t supposed to win this way--not on the road, not in this stadium, not so convincingly. At least they weren’t until Mike Holmgren was hired as coach and general manager.

The Seahawks scored the first two times they touched the ball, on Merton Hanks’ 23-yard interception return and Charlie Rogers’ team-record 94-yard punt return, in romping over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-10, Sunday.

The Seahawks (2-1) chased error-prone Steeler quarterback Kordell Stewart by halftime, when they led 26-0.

Holmgren spent the week yelling after a tight 14-13 victory at Chicago, which followed an upset loss to Detroit.

“Sometimes we need a wake-up call, and he rang the ball,” defensive end Phillip Daniels said. “It was red alert. This is a tough place to play and we did it in a pretty good fashion.”

Todd Peterson made a club-record five field goals, four in the first half, and Seattle’s defense, which held Jerome Bettis to 39 yards, accounted for five interceptions.

The Seahawks were 1-5 in Three Rivers Stadium going into the game but had Steeler fans booing with only 3:20 gone after taking a 14-0 lead before their offense ran a play.

“That was huge for us,” said quarterback Jon Kitna, who was 18 for 29 for 265 yards. “We talked all week about wanting to start fast. And it didn’t matter if it was on offense or defense.”

The Steelers (2-1) flashed back to their season-ending five-game losing streak of last season. They didn’t penetrate Seattle’s 38-yard line until late in the third quarter and their only points came in the fourth quarter.

Stewart was seven for 14 for 61 yards with three interceptions. Mike Tomczak wasn’t much better, going 14 for 27 for 159 yards with two interceptions.