Hawks wrap it up
SEATTLE – In a regular season that’s become about little more than formalities, the Seattle Seahawks took care of business Sunday to add two numbers – three and 10 – to their 2007 resume.
The 10 represents the number of victories the Seahawks have this season, after Sunday’s 27-6 win over the Baltimore Ravens. It’s only the fifth time in franchise history that Seattle has won 10 or more games in a season. The 2007 Seahawks (10-5) joined teams from the 1984, 1986, 2003 and 2005 seasons in reaching double-digit wins – only the 12-4 team in 1984 and the 13-3 squad in 2005 had more than 10 wins.
As for the three, that marks the seed that Seattle wrapped up with the win. That victory, combined with Tampa Bay’s loss to San Francisco on Sunday, means the NFC West champion Seahawks earned the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs and will host Washington, Minnesota or New Orleans on Jan. 5 or 6.
“We were still fighting for (the No. 3 seed), so that was big,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said after Sunday’s blowout win. “… That’s kind of a respect thing. You want to go in as high a possible seed as you can. The other two are locked up (by No. 1 Dallas and No. 2 Green Bay), so third’s the best (available). We were playing for that, and we got it.”
Coming off a loss to Carolina the previous week, the Seahawks bounced back in impressive fashion Sunday. Playing against a Ravens team that was missing several injured stars – among them quarterback Steve McNair, middle linebacker Ray Lewis and three other Pro Bowlers on defense – the Seahawks showed no mercy.
Seattle came out in a no-huddle offense designed to expose the young Baltimore secondary. Despite two first-half interceptions from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, the Seahawks built a 21-0 halftime lead. Two Josh Brown field goals in the third quarter put the Seahawks ahead by 27 before several Seahawks starters – Hasselbeck and left tackle Walter Jones to name two – were taken out because the game was under control.
The Ravens (4-11) finally got on the scoreboard with a 79-yard touchdown pass from rookie Troy Smith to Derrick Mason with 4:41 left in the game.
For the second week in a row, Seattle’s defense set the tone early while facing a backup quarterback. Baltimore’s Smith had a decent outing, but didn’t get much help from an offense that was plagued by dropped passes and fumbles. The Ravens fumbled away the ball three times, including a loose ball that Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill scooped up and returned 20 yards for Seattle’s second touchdown.
Baltimore had just 293 yards, almost half of which came in the meaningless fourth quarter.
“Our thing is, we just mess up on the small things,” safety Deon Grant said. “When we fix that, we’ll be one of the best defenses in the league.”
One recipe for success that hadn’t been cooked in weeks was a Shaun Alexander-led running game. The struggling runner had 71 rushing yards in Sunday’s game, and he also saw a rare screen pass that that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown.
The Seahawks finished with a season-high 144 rushing yards and dominated the first-down battle 21-13.
Hasselbeck threw for two scores to set a career high with 27 touchdown passes in a season. Hasselbeck also eclipsed franchise records for attempts in a season (537) and closed within 22 yards of his own franchise record for passing yards in a season (3,841).
Hasselbeck, of course, was most concerned with the victory.
“It’s been a pretty good year, but it’s not over,” he said. “What will determine the success of this year is what we do from this moment forward. We really haven’t done much.”
What’s first up is a relatively meaningless game against Atlanta on Sunday. After that, the playoffs begin.
And that’s when the wins start getting important again, no matter which team is playing against the Seahawks.
“I know we have one playoff game, and we have to win that one to get anywhere,” linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “It just doesn’t matter (whom the Seahawks play in the first round). You know you’re going to have to go on the road eventually if you get out of the first round.”