A few special-teams notes from a story I just finished writing: Josh Brown has made 15 of his last 16 FG tries. Nate Burleson’s 90-yard punt return changed the momentum against St. Louis. His 13.3-yard average ranks third in the NFL among players with at least seven returns. Craig Terrill has blocked two field-goal tries. Ryan Plackemeier has pumped up his net average from 36 yards in the first eight games to nearly 42 yards over the last three. Four of the last five opponents averaged less than 6.5 yards per punt return. Three of the last four opponents

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My absolute favorite comment of the day comes from the guy comparing me to Skip Bayless because I didn’t pick the Seahawks to win in Denver. Unfortunately, in doing my research on Seattle’s chances in the Mile High city, I could not find the game story we ran in the paper the last time the Seahawks won there. I’m thinking it got thrown out with the “Crimson Tide” laserdisc that came out about the same time. …

I had a “feeling” Seattle might lose in SF a couple weeks back, but I could not logically justify picking the 49ers, so the Hawks were the pick. This week the feeling says the Hawks will win this game in Denver, but logic compelled me to take the Broncos. I should just say that every week so I’m covered.

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WR Darrell Jackson rested his sore knee for a second consecutive day. The team expects him to start Sunday night. Jackson watched practice in uniform. … DT Rocky Bernard (foot) also sat out, as did CB Kelly Herndon, who rested a sore toe. The team put Herndon on the injury report as probable. Aside: I would be stunned if he missed this game with anything less than a debilitating injury. He has started every game this season, and this week carries a little extra meaning because he broke into the league with the Broncos. … The rest of the injury

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For years the Seahawks have stuck to their same five offensive linemen almost no matter what (barring injuries). They seemed to do this even several years ago, when the line seemed like it need an infusion of new talent in a couple spots. The line played great last season, ending talk about the need for changes. Injuries have forced some shuffling this season.

Mike Holmgren has also altered his philosophy a little bit. As Holmgren implied yesterday, he envisions Rob Sims as a starter in the not-too-distant future. The team has already experienced lots of turnover at left guard, so Holmgren has decided it wouldn’t hurt to work Sims in there. By his thinking, the team will be better prepared if something happens to Floyd Womack, who has a long history of injuries. And if Sims outplays Womack in the short term, they’ll be in position to make the change outright.

Holmgren: “We like Rob Sims. We think he has a bright future. While ‘Chop’ is doing a good job in there, if you don’t plan for it and you just say ‘Listen, as the game kind of evolves, we’ll stick this player in,’ you forget. Or the emotions of the game kind of get you and you say, ‘No, we better not do that.’ So I said I don’t want to do that. I want him to play a little bit. You never know. With the injuries we’ve had in the offensive line, the experience of playing a guy can help him down the road. I hope we don’t have any more, but it just prepares him for the eventuality that he might play. So we did it. We might do it again, I don’t know that. We’ll have to decide that.”

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Our picks are in for Week 13. Not a lot of variety. My wife and I disagreed on only one game this week. She took the Packers at home against the Jets.

I expected a few more disagreements given that I took chances on the Giants and Raiders this week. She happened to agree on those.

We both picked against the Seahawks. We didn’t really pick for the Broncos, who are struggling, but it’s tough to pick Seattle on the road given its problems this season. Generally it

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The Seahawks love what D.J. Hackett is giving them this season. His contributions reflect a few things.

One, Hackett has always performed well when given opportunities. Two, he is getting more opportunities because veteran WR Bobby Engram remains sidelined by a thyroid condition. The team’s depth and consistency issues at tight end are also getting Hackett on the field more. This happens when the team goes to its two-back, three-wide offense at the expense of a tight end. Hackett plays every snap in this personnel group, plus every snap

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The Jerramy Stevens situation is a talker, but I’m not sure how much more can be said. Let’s see what he does down the stretch. He is a tremendous talent. My own take is that things will even out for him a little, most likely. He is getting himself in position to make plays. He has not made the plays consistently, but he is due for some breaks. Marquand Manuel put a lick on him. That won’t happen every time. I think they’ll hit him on that deep middle route before the season is finished. Logic tells me they should reinforce that position in the offseason no matter what happens with Stevens. They need talented options, plural, at that position. Right now they have talented option, singular. …

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Former Seahawks QB Brock Huard is back with his ninth audio analysis for Seahawks Insider. Click here to listen. Brock breaks down the Seahawks on both sides of the ball. This is another solid segment (about 13 minutes). He even addressed a couple of issues he has seen raised in the comments section on the blog. Note: Be sure to check in with Brock through the Fone Zone postgame show on Northwest Cable News.