Terry Blount, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Seahawks working to fix O-line problems

RENTON, Wash. -- San Francisco 49ers rush linebacker Aldon Smith had two sacks last weekend in his first start of the season after a nine-game suspension. He now has 44 sacks in 45 career regular-season games.

That’s a scary thought for the Seahawks, coming off a game where quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked seven times in the 19-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

“We had all kinds of problems,” Seahawks coach Pete Carrol saidl. “We got beat one on one, we had some scheme issues, and we held the ball too long. To have that kind of an onslaught it took a lot of stuff.”

Two of the five starters could change for Thursday’s game. Left guard James Carpenter, who was having his best season before spraining his ankle and missing the last three games, is expected to return.  He will replace Alvin Bailey, who struggled last week in pass protection.

It's also possible Lemuel Jeanpierre could start a center for Patrick Lewis. Jeanpierre spent the last three seasons with the Seahawks before being released in August with an injury settlement.

He is healthy now and was re-signed last week. Jeanpierre played well in three starts last year when Max Unger was hurt, so he could return to that duty now. Jeanpierre didn’t play last week, but had been back for only three days of practice after being gone three months.

“We will find out,” Carroll said about the starter at center. “We will let these guys battle again this week. Lemuel will be a week older with us this time around. We will see how it goes.”

Whoever plays up front, they’ll have to do a much better job against the 49ers than the line did last week against Arizona.

“It’s a totally different team we’re playing and a whole new week,” Carroll said. “We have to keep working to fix everything. It’s hugely important. We can’t survive those kinds of games, game in and game out. We have to find a way to get the ball out and make sure that [Wilson] is not getting hit.”

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