With a little luck
SEATTLE – It played out like a highlight reel from the 2005 season.
The Seattle Seahawks defense getting backed up against its own end zone yet failing to give up any points. Fill-in receiver D.J. Hackett catching a deep ball. Shaun Alexander breaking off a long run when his team needed it desperately. Josh Brown lining up for the game-winning field goal.
After 60 minutes of football failed to settle which team deserved the right to call itself the NFC’s best, the Seahawks and New York Giants returned to the playing field for an encore presentation of a true classic. And the overtime session resembled everything that has made the 2005 season memorable.
While the Giants had three chances to kick game-winning field goals on Sunday afternoon, it was the streaking Seahawks that seemed to have destiny on their side – again. Seattle’s 24-21 overtime victory continued an improbable run that still has the Seahawks riding their magic carpet over the rest of the NFC.
“I can’t describe how good it feels,” said fullback Mack Strong, who has spent every one of his 13 NFL seasons with the Seahawks. “That’s why I keep coming back and playing. I really felt like we had the personnel capable of doing this, and we’re finally getting it done.”
In addition to having a seven-game winning streak, Seattle (9-2) is still in position to host that little postseason party known as the NFC playoffs.
“Football in the Northwest is for real,” said receiver Joe Jurevicius, who caught eight passes and tied his career high with 137 receiving yards. “I still don’t think we get enough credit, and I hope it continues that way.
“We don’t play football up here, we’re just winning games.”
If the Seahawks were planning to fly under the radar, Sunday’s game might have been counterproductive. In addition to knocking off another of the NFC’s dwindling number of legitimate Super Bowl contenders, Seattle put on one of the most memorable performances in recent memory.
To borrow a phrase from cable television, this one was an instant classic.
“It was tough – emotionally, physically, mentally,” Seahawks cornerback Andre Dyson said after the win. “But that’s why we get paid to do this.”
Josh Brown’s 36-yard field goal with 2:45 left in overtime finally settled things after Seattle dodged numerous bullets throughout the late afternoon. Whereas Brown was able to celebrate his second game-winning field goal of the season, the Seahawks’ victory was made possible after Giants kicker Jay Feely missed three potential game-winners: one at the end of regulation and two in overtime.
“That,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said afterward, “is a gut-wrenching way to lose a game.”
That Feely even had a chance to win the game at all was a minor miracle in itself. The Giants overcame 16 penalties – one short of the franchise record – and a number of other miscues to stay within striking distance of the Seahawks all afternoon.
After Alexander scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 4:33 left in regulation, Seattle had its biggest lead of the day, at 21-13. But the Giants (7-4) responded with an eight-play, 61-yard drive that culminated in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Amani Toomer with 1:59 remaining on the clock. Manning’s successful two-point conversion pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey tied the score at 21, and a defensive stand gave New York the ball back with 1:23 left in regulation.
The Giants got all the way to the Seattle 22-yard line and let the clock run down to :04 before lining up for what could have been the game-winning field goal. But Feely, who had missed just two of 25 attempts all season, was wide left from 40 yards out as time expired.
Seattle won the coin toss in overtime, but had to punt after just three plays. The Giants then went on another drive, all the way to the Seahawks’ 35-yard line, before Feely came up short on a 54-yard attempt with 10:43 remaining in overtime.
The Seahawks took over again and moved the ball to the New York 40-yard line, but failed to convert on a key third down and opted to pass up a long field goal attempt in favor of a punt.
Aided by Tiki Barber’s 49-yard run on their next offensive play, the Giants got into Seattle territory for the third consecutive drive but came up empty. Feely was short again, this time from 45 yards, with 6:05 left in the game.
Then the Seahawks’ offense finally got into a groove. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck hit Hackett for a 38-yard reception on second-and-21, then Alexander rambled 13 yards to get Seattle into scoring position. Three plays later, Brown lined up for the 37-yard field goal and calmly did what Feely failed to do in three attempts.
“I knew we were going to win that game when Josh stepped on the field,” Seahawks defensive end Grant Wistrom said. “The field goal was almost anticlimactic to the game. It was almost a done deal. I knew Josh was going to do it.”
The field goal set off another celebration at Qwest Field, where the Seahawks are now 6-0 this season. No matter the circumstances, the Seahawks keep on rolling.
“We’ve won blowout games, we’ve won tight games, we’ve won comeback games,” Dyson said. “This team never quits. It’s a team, and I mean that word – team – in every possible way.”
While the city of Seattle has gotten caught up in Seahawks Fever, the rest of the country has been a bit slow to wrap their arms around them.
“They think we’re way out here doing nothing,” safety Marquand Manuel said. “But that’s OK. They don’t know what we do or how hard we work every day. We’re just going to try to keep that going.”
They might keep it going, but after Sunday’s classic, the Seahawks probably won’t be able to do it in anonymity.