Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh doesn't care if his remarks earlier in the week have fired up the Bears. "I didn't think it was a big deal, but hey, if they want to make it a big deal I'm fine with it," Houshmandzadeh said on the "Waddle & Silvy" show on ESPN 1000. The Bears will travel to Seattle on Saturday to face off against the Seahawks. Houshmandzadeh said earlier in the week that he would punish the Bears for not pursuing him this past offseason. "[General manager] Jerry Angelo probably didn't think I could play, so I'm going to show him Sunday," Houshmandzadeh said Wednesday. "I didn't hear from Chicago, I don't think my agent did, I know I didn't. "It is what it is, they got good receivers there. Devin Hester is going to develop into a pretty good receiver. He has great quickness, great lateral movement, great speed, great hand-eye coordination. So, he should be able to develop into a pretty good receiver, if he has the coaching and they open up the pass game for him." Bears linebacker Lance Briggs responded to Houshmandzaheh's comments on Thursday. "Sounds like a bitter guy," Briggs said. "If he's going to show what he's going to do on Sunday, tell you what, so are we, so am I. I've been playing against T.J. since college, so I know what type of competitor he is, the guy can play."

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has a fractured rib, according to a league source. It is not yet known whether Hasselbeck will miss Week 3's game against the Bears. Seattle lost to San Francisco 23-10 on Sunday.

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left the team's loss to the 49ers on Sunday with an apparent rib injury. Seneca Wallace took over at quarterback and San Francisco began to pull away in the Week 2 divisional battle. Hasselbeck went to the hospital, but was released later in the evening. He posted a message on his Twitter page, along with a picture of him in a bed, saying that he'll be just fine. "Going to be alright. Thx to staff at Stanford and Dr. McAdam for snapping this photo," he wrote.

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left the team's game against the 49ers on Sunday with an apparent rib injury. Hasselbeck suffered the injury late in the second quarter when he was hit in the back by San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis. FOX reported soon after the injury that he wouldn't return to the game. Seattle replaced Hasselbeck with Seneca Wallace.

By Christopher Reina The scoreboard is where games are officially won and lost, but they are largely decided by the team that wins the battles of yards per pass, yards per carry, penalty yards lost, first downs, and turnovers. For this reason, I created the following formula called the ?Trench Counter? to look at which team truly controls the game: (2x Yards per pass) + (2x Yards per carry) + (.5 First downs) - (Penalty yards/10) - (2.5 Turnovers) - (Opposing Team's Trench Counter) Click here for more information on the Trench Counter For the 2009 season, our weekly team rankings will be based solely off this formula. 1. New Orleans Saints: 27.2 The Saints were universally expected of having one of the most powerful passing attacks in the NFL, but six TDs from Drew Brees and 143 yards from Mike Bell went beyond even the wildest expectations. 2. Philadelphia Eagles: 16.0 The Eagles struggled to run the ball in 2008, ranking 21st with a 4.0 yard average, but they gained 185 yards on 32 rushes (5.8 average) on Sunday against Carolina. 3. Seattle Seahawks: 14.4 Matt Hasselbeck had only one game last season in which he had a passer rating over 71.0 and that came against the Rams, so it wasn't a huge surprise when he went 25-for-36 with 279 yards and three TDs. 4. New York Jets: 13.7 The Jets haven't started the season 2-0 since 2004, but hope to do so Sunday as they catch the Patriots on short rest. 5. Baltimore Ravens: 10.0 Baltimore, like the Patriots, allowed a passer rating of over 100, but still pulled out the victory. 6. Minnesota Vikings: 9.6 Percy Harvin's line from Week 1 should become a familiar one; three receptions for 36 yards, two rushes for 22 yards and three kick returns for 99 yards. 7. Atlanta Falcons: 7.9 Matt Ryan improved his home record to 8-1 with Sunday's win over Miami; in six of those games, Ryan had a passer rating of over 90. 8. Tennessee Titans: 5.7 The Titans defensive line certainly did not miss Albert Haynesworth, even if they were facing Pittsburgh's offensive line and anemic running game. Blame Rob Bironas for being in the Trench Counter top-8 despite the 0-1 record. 9. Denver Broncos: 4.8 Kyle Orton had a 100.7 passer rating against the Bengals, but is a 75.5 rating in 'non-tipped for TD' passes. 10. Dallas Cowboys: 4.2 Tony Romo and the Cowboys averaged 22.1 yards per completed pass. 11. Indianapolis Colts: 3.2 The Indianapolis running game continues to struggle, with just 2.3 yards per carry against Jacksonville. 12. New York Giants: 3.1 Steve Smith caught six balls for 80 yards as he attempts to separate himself from the other receivers for the Plaxico Burress role. 13. New England Patriots: 3.1 The Patriots were one of three teams to complete at least 10 3rd down opportunities, but still needed a miracle to beat Buffalo. Tom Brady was at first hesitant on that knee and the way the passing game methodically chipped yards away from Buffalo effectively moved the chains, but they are still a few games away from their dominant 2007 powerhouse. 14. San Francisco 49ers: 2.4 Mike Singletary has to be happy with the win, but 0.8 yards per rush isn't the type of smash-mouth football he promised. 15. Green Bay Packers: 2.4 Despite the inefficiencies of his line, especially on the right side with Allen Barbre, Aaron Rodgers finished the game with a 92.0 passer rating. 16. Oakland Raiders: 2.3 My full Week 1 postmortem on the Raiders' loss can be read here, but one nugget I didn't include was Darris Heyward-Bey's three drops. If he ever becomes a possession receiver, I will be completely shocked and will almost strictly be effective trying to beat his man 40 yards downfield on play action when the safety cheats up. 17. San Diego Chargers: -2.3 The Chargers improved to 3-0 when Darren Sproles rushes for a touchdown, which he did on Monday with his game-winner. 18. Chicago Bears: -2.4 Jay Cutler threw at least one interception in 13 of his 16 starts in 2008 and 10 of his 16 in 2007, so it will always be a large part of his game, but he will absolutely need to avoid those interceptions that had utterly no chance of reaching their intended target. 19. Arizona Cardinals: -2.4 The 49ers' upset of the defending NFC Champions wasn't nearly as surprising as Tim Hightower's 12 receptions, which was as many as both Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Hightower finished the 2008 season with just 34 total catches. 20. Buffalo Bills: -3.1 Terrell Owens atypically offered no comment following Monday's loss after catching just two balls and one trademark drop. 21. Washington Redskins: -3.1 London Fletcher led all defensive players in Week 1 with 18 tackles. 22. Jacksonville Jaguars: -3.2 Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 6.3 yards per carry in the first half and just 3.6 yards in the second half, which could prove typical until the Jaguars find a replacement for Fred Taylor. 23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -4.2 Cadillac Williams' 7.5 yards per rush average (even better than Peterson) on 13 carries was very nice to see as he continues his comeback from injury. 24. Cincinnati Bengals: -4.8 Cincinnati allowed just 10 1st downs by the Broncos and were a stingy 9-for-12 in stopping Kyle Orton's offense on 3rd down. 25. Pittsburgh Steelers: -5.7 The Steelers and Chargers were the only teams to win in Week 1 despite having a negative Trench Counter score. 26. Miami Dolphins: -7.9 Chad Pennington was one of 22 quarterbacks to have a passer rating over 80.0 in Week 1, which is fairly impressive given how defensive units typically are further along than the passing game at the start of the season. 27. Cleveland Browns -9.6 The Cleveland offensive line gave up five sacks to the vaunted Minnesota pass rush. 28. Kansas City Chiefs: -10.0 Ryan Succop was one of six place-kickers to knock one through the uprights from 50 or more yards out. 29. Houston Texans: -13.7 A vogue sleeper pick to reach the playoffs, by myself included, were completely inept offensively; but a lot of that can be blamed on how Darrelle Revis completely locked down the previously unlockable Andre Johnson. 30. St. Louis Rams: -14.4 While their old NFC West rival Saints scored 48 points and are on pace for 768 this season, the Rams were the only team who failed to score in Week 1. 31. Carolina Panthers: -16.0 If Jake Delhomme is looking for a silver lining heading into Week 2, it is the fact that he has five touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last three games against Atlanta. 32. Detroit Lions: -27.2 Matthew Stafford had a 27.4 passer rating in his debut, which couldn't quite compare to Matt Ryan's 137.0 and even Joe Flacco's 63.7 from 2008.

It has been reported that the Seahawks are looking to trade wide receiver Deion Branch. Branch, who was rumored to be a possible cut, remains on Seattle's roster. The Chiefs could be a possible destination for Branch, according to ESPN.com's Bill Williamson.

The Seahawks cut safety Brian Russell, but appear to have signed veteran Lawyer Milloy. "It's official ... .I'm a Seahawk! Let's go!!!!" Milloy posted on his Twitter page on Saturday. The deal is not yet official, but is expected to become so soon.

Deion Branch will not be among Seattle's roster cuts this weekend. There was some speculation that Branch could be released by the Seahawks, but the Seattle Times is reporting that he's safe. In addition, Seattle is expected to retain all of their 2009 draft picks.

The Seahawks have a number of options at wide receiver, and veteran Deion Branch may not be long for Seattle. The team usually keeps six wide receivers, but new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp like two-tight end sets and just five receivers could be retained. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Nate Burleson, Branch, Deon Butler, Courtney Taylor, Ben Obomanu and Jordan Kent are fighting for the five spots. Branch will make $5 million this season, likely as a third receiver.