Seahawks stuff Falcons

SEATTLE – Shaun Alexander came up one yard short of an NFL rushing title. But it was the one yard Seattle’s defense refused to yield on the final play that caused the charismatic Alexander to hop up on a bench on the sideline and orchestrate a post-game celebration with 66,740 fans Sunday afternoon at Qwest Field.

Seattle linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski turned back Atlanta’s Warrick Dunn on a potential game-tying two-point conversion to preserve the Seahawks’ wild 28-26 victory, securing the NFC West Division title and another date at Qwest Field.

“It’s just exciting, it really is,” said Alexander, whose 80 yards rushing gave him 1,696 for the season, one behind the New York Jets’ Curtis Martin. “This was part of our plan, first to get into the first playoffs and then win the division. This is the second step.”

Seattle (9-7) was forced to make that step when it learned midway through the second quarter that St. Louis had knocked off the Jets in overtime. The Rams’ victory meant Seattle had to win if it wanted to host a first-round playoff game.

Seattle did just that, barely, and now entertains division rival St. Louis (8-8) at 1:30 on Saturday.

The Seahawks seemed safely in front 28-20 until reserve quarterback Matt Schaub led the Falcons on a 69-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran with no time remaining.

Schaub handled the last two-plus quarters in relief of the electrifying Michael Vick, whose health was more important than the outcome to the Falcons. Win or lose, Atlanta (11-5) was locked into the NFC’s second seed.

Schaub played fairly well, but Vick’s absence was apparent on the two-point conversion. Atlanta ran the same play in the second quarter with Vick sprinting left only to hand the ball off to Dunn, who was running right. Dunn gained 14 yards.

On the deciding play, Seattle’s defense didn’t have to pay as much attention to Schaub, who lacks Vick’s jet-propelled feet. Kacyvenski had a read on the play before it unfolded.

“I was kind of ready,” Kacyvenski said. “It was the same formation, the same everything. We were alerted to it when they came out in the formation.”

Dunn, who torched Seattle for 132 yards, was dropped by Kacyvenski at the 1-yard line.

“A lot of people thought (Atlanta) was going to take everybody out,” Kacyvenski said. “They left their defense in and everybody but Vick on offense, but they’re still a tough team. Granted, Vick is a big part of the offense but the other quarterback did a pretty solid job.”

Vick departed after three possessions. He was 6 of 7 for 35 yards and added 13 yards on three rushing attempts. He had one of the most dazzling one-yard scrambles in league history when he jitterbugged through several Seattle pass rushers. His exit was probably expedited after he tweaked his throwing shoulder on a crunching hit from linebacker Chad Brown.

“I talked to (former San Francisco coach) Bill Walsh on Friday night and he’s been in this situation many, many times,” Atlanta coach Jim Mora said. “I just accumulated all that information and played it by gut when we got into the game.”

Vick took a 17-7 lead to the sideline, but Atlanta’s defense quickly yielded a touchdown. Seattle then moved in front midway through the third quarter as Jerramy Stevens made a tumbling grab in the end zone on a low pass from Matt Hasselbeck.

Atlanta’s Jay Feely, who had made 14 of 15 field goal attempts inside 40 yards, missed a 39-yarder, but atoned with a 40-yarder to narrow Seattle’s lead to 21-20.

Hasselbeck, who sat out last week with an injured elbow, completed three straight passes and Alexander rushed for 15 yards as Seattle marched to the 3. Alexander, needing three yards to share the rushing title, picked up two on his last carry. Hasselbeck scored on a keeper on the next play to put Seattle up 28-20 with 4:28 left.

“I didn’t know,” Alexander said. “It would have been sweet to get it. I feel worse because we had a quarterback sneak for a touchdown. That hurts, but I’ll be all right. It’s one of those things where we took care of business.”

Seattle’s defense bent on Atlanta’s scoring drive, but didn’t break on the two-point attempt.

“It’s kind of a sense of renewal,” said Brown, who had a team-high 11 tackles and his first sack of the season. “We’ve got something going. We just have to bear down this week.”