Seahawks Give Erickson First Pro Victory : AFC:They defeat the Bengals when Pelfrey misses 49-yard field-goal try in the closing minutes.

The Seattle Seahawks found some offense and finally gave Dennis Erickson his first NFL victory.

Held to a pair of touchdowns in their first two games, the Seahawks used Rick Mirer’s passing and Chris Warren’s running to defeat the previously unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals, 24-21, Sunday.

The Seahawks had 406 yards on offense, their highest total since they had 490 on Dec. 18, 1988, in a 43-37 victory over the Raiders.

Seattle hung on to win when Doug Pelfrey missed a 49-yard field-goal attempt in the closing minutes.

“It’s always nice to get your first win no matter where you’re at,” said Erickson, who coached a total of 13 seasons at Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State and Miami before moving to the NFL. “We’re happy. But we’re not satisfied with one win.”

Mirer, who had the AFC’s second-worst quarterback rating of 49.8 in Seattle’s 0-2 start, completed 21 of 30 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

It was Mirer’s third-best passing day with the Seahawks. He passed for 287 against Kansas City last year and 282 against San Diego as a rookie two years ago.

“There was a lot of pressure to get that first win after a couple of bad outings,” Mirer said. “This is just a start, though. I think we’re going to continue to get better.”

Mirer had a 50-yard scoring pass to Robb Thomas and a five-yard touchdown pass to fullback Steve Smith in the first half.

Warren, the No. 2 rusher in the NFL last season, had his first 100-yard rushing game for Erickson.

He picked up 109 yards on 24 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run with 6:44 left, after rushing for only 110 yards in his first two games.

“I’m glad to finally get it,” Warren said of his 100-yard day, the 14th of his career. “It’s a relief for me. But I’ve got to realize that some days aren’t going to be my day. This one was.”

For Erickson, it was his happiest day in the Kingdome since deciding to come back to his home state from Miami, where he coached the Hurricanes to two national championships.

The crowd (39,492 with 10,826 no-shows) was small, but noisy. That’s why Erickson was hired--to put some enthusiasm back in the half-empty Kingdome with a high-scoring offense.

“It helps to have the crowd into it,” linebacker Terry Wooden said. “It really helps your adrenaline.”

Cincinnati (1-2) tried to rally as Jeff Blake, who completed 22 of 42 passes for 286 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, connected with Carl Pickens on a 22-yard touchdown pass play with 3:18 left.

Trailing by three points, Cincinnati got the ball back on its 17 with 2:37 to go and drove to the Seahawks’ 31, where Pelfrey was wide right.

“I didn’t do my part today,” Pelfrey said. “I hit the ball solid. I just missed it.”