Seahawks shut down the Raiders

Mike Holmgren showed a new side of his coaching persona. The passing game guru motivated his defense by dressing down his players and made sure he stuck to a game plan for the Seattle Seahawks that relied heavily on a backup running back.

It was the same old Oakland Raiders. They capped yet another Monday night meltdown with a knee to the groin that led to defensive end Tyler Brayton’s ejection.

Craig Terrill had three of Seattle’s nine sacks and Maurice Morris ran 30 times for a career-high 138 yards to help the Seahawks end a two-game skid with a 16-0 victory over the Raiders.

The victory got the Seahawks (5-3) back on track after injuries to reigning most valuable player Shaun Alexander and Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left the defending NFC champions struggling to match last season’s success.

But it was the defense that had Holmgren most concerned and led to the harsh talk after last week’s 35-28 loss at Kansas City.

“They took it to heart,” Holmgren said. “Our defense had a few things to prove. I think they played very hard and very smart, which is something we needed.”

His players heeded the message and took advantage of Oakland’s weak offensive line to pressure Andrew Walter relentlessly.

“Right now it should be on us,” linebacker Julian Peterson said. “On offense, we’ve got guys banged up. We’re missing a lot of Pro Bowl guys. It’s on us to make plays ... that’s what we’ve been missing.”

The Raiders (2-6) looked just like they did in the season opener, when they also gave up nine sacks in a 27-0 loss to San Diego on a Monday night. They became the first team to be shut out twice in one season on “Monday Night Football.”

The lasting memories from this loss will be Walter on his back after numerous sacks and Brayton kneeing Jerramy Stevens in the groin in the final minutes to earn an ejection and likely further punishment from the NFL.

“I made a mistake,” Brayton said. “I’ll be the first to admit I made a mistake. I let my emotions get the best of me, and that’s not a good thing when you do that.”

Seattle, which had lost three of four with Alexander sidelined because of a broken foot, took a one-game lead over St. Louis in the NFC West heading into Sunday’s game against the Rams.

While Seneca Wallace threw a touchdown pass to get his first win as an NFL starter, the offense relied mostly on Morris. After rushing a season-low 18 times for 47 yards last week, Seattle had 39 carries against the Raiders and finished with 207 yards rushing.