Surprising Dolphins face injury-plagued Seattle

"I'm hopeful in the second half of the season that we can flip it a little bit if we get some of these guys back," Holmgren said. "My training staff and my doctors are not cooperating with me very well."

Struggling Seneca Wallace will start again for three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who has missed the past four games with knee and back injuries. Seattle ranks last in the NFL with an average of 141 yards passing per game.

"Right now, because of our unique situation and our roster, we almost have to play a perfect game," Holmgren said. "When we get a chance to make a big play, we have to make it. We're not good enough right now offensively to sustain anything for very long and make up for a dropped ball or a bad penalty or a bad call by the officials maybe. That's too bad."

To compound this week's challenge, the Seahawks must make a 2,700-mile flight. Teams from the Pacific time zone are 0-11 this season in games in the Eastern time zone, and Seattle is 0-3, losing on the road to Buffalo, the New York Giants and Tampa Bay by a combined score of 98-26.

The game will start at 10 a.m. Seattle time.

"If you have a good enough team, you can overcome that," Holmgren said.

And if the Seahawks' legs are rubbery, will the Dolphins be able to take advantage? They've gone from consistently awful last year to inconsistent this season.

The Dolphins beat last year's AFC finalists, New England and San Diego, as well as the Bills and Broncos. But two of the losses came against teams with losing records at the time.

"There's a lot of talk that we play down to the competition and we get excited for big games," Crowder said. "Great teams don't do that. Good teams beat the teams they shouldn't beat, and kill the teams that they're supposed to beat. That's what we're trying to get to. We're trying to get back to that great Miami Dolphins franchise."

They don't quite resemble the Don Shula juggernaut yet.

The defense has made strides in recent weeks, quarterback Chad Pennington is a model of efficiency and Miami has been finishing fast, outscoring opponents 49-23 in the fourth quarter. But the Wildcat formation is no longer puzzling opponents, the running game often sputters, the secondary remains suspect and kick coverage is awful.

It's tough to take the Dolphins too seriously until they can boast of a winning record. The franchise hasn't been above .500 since the end of the 2005 season.

That could change Sunday.