KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Three weeks ago, the Seattle Seahawks thought they were a cinch to make the playoffs. Three losses and 12 turnovers later, they're wondering when their next victory is going to happen.

	Mike Holmgren and Jon Kitna must find a way to end the Seahawks' slump.

Coach Mike Holmgren, hired by billionaire owner Paul Allen to end the Seahawks' 11-year playoff drought, acknowledged Monday that he doesn't know whether the team can right itself to reach the playoffs.

"The most important thing is that I'd be very, very happy for the players," he said a day after Todd Peterson missed three field goals in the fourth quarter in a 19-16 loss to San Diego in the Kingdome.

"I've been to the playoffs a lot," said Holmgren, who coached Green Bay into two Super Bowls. "It's a great thing. It marks a sense of what you've accomplished during the season and not everyone can get there. So it means a great deal."

With three consecutive losses to Tampa Bay, Oakland and the Chargers, the Seahawks have gone from a three-game lead in their division to a tie with surging Kansas City, which beat Minnesota on Sunday night.

From an 8-2 team, the Seahawks have dropped to an 8-5 team that has turned the ball over a dozen times in the last three games. Nine turnovers came from quarterback Jon Kitna and three from running back Ricky Watters. Watters' third lost fumble in two games led to San Diego's winning field goal.

The Seahawks can still make it to the playoffs for the first time since 1988, but Kitna has to quit throwing interceptions, Watters has to stop fumbling and Peterson has to start making crucial field goals when the offense can't get into the end zone.

Holmgren's Packers made it to the playoffs in the last six seasons of his seven-year coaching tenure there, before Allen made him the highest-paid coach in the NFL.

"It is the next logical step for this team so when it happens it's going to be a great thing," he said. "Now, is it this year, next year or whenever? I want to earn it. That's for sure. And we have a chance to get there, but we must take care of business, and we haven't done that the last couple of weeks."

In Green Bay, Holmgren's teams had three three-game losing streaks, but the Packers never lost four in a row. The Seahawks are in Denver next Sunday, play Kansas City the day after Christmas in Seattle in what might be the division decider and wind up their schedule the day after New Year's on the road against the New York Jets.

Holmgren has no idea how well his team will play in the next three weeks, but its lack of playoff savvy won't help the players get his message this week.

He watched Peterson hit the left upright with a 38-yard field goal try with 1:10 left on Sunday. And during the past three weeks, he has watched the interception total grow while Seattle's defense has had only two takeaways.

"I hope they play well. We have to," Holmgren said. "I think the more you've been through it as a player and the more you know how things get cranked up in the end, the better you handle the pressure-type situations. I just think that's part of being experienced. I just trust they won't tune me out."

In the Seahawks locker room on Monday, there was a mood of anxiety.

"We've got to find some way to get there," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "Everybody needs to look at himself and realize what a tough situation it is."

Said linebacker Chad Brown, who made the playoffs for four consecutive years in Pittsburgh before signing as a free agent in Seattle three years ago: "It's not a good day. December is when you want to play your best football."

Holmgren said the Seahawks had a chance to get back starting cornerback Willie Williams (sprained foot) and reserve cornerback Chris Canty (concussion) back for the Denver game. Both missed Sunday's game.