Seahawks take aim on 12th straight victory

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Michael Boulware didn’t blink, and he didn’t stutter. His tone was no-nonsense and matter-of-fact serious, even if his words seemed preposterous.

“We’re going to look at this game as just as big as the Super Bowl for us,” the Seattle Seahawks safety said last week. “We’re not going relax at all.”

The Super Bowl? A meaningless game against the lowly Green Bay Packers?

Boulware wasn’t kidding around.

“I believe that you have to prepare for every game like that,” he said, his gaze burning as he sat at his locker at the team’s Kirkland, Wash., facility. “We’re competitors. You don’t ever want to say you got beat by somebody. Especially this year. If, in the end, we win the Super Bowl, we want to say that we knocked out as many as we could.

“Anytime I step out on that field, I play to win, and I’m going to give it everything I have.”

While many of the Seahawks have promised to give it their all at Lambeau Field today, no one would blame them for letting their 11-game winning streak come to an end.

Seattle’s victory over Indianapolis eight days ago clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, which means that many of the Seahawks’ starters will see only token playing time in today’s game against the Packers (3-12). With no chance of changing their postseason standing – for better, or for worse – Seattle can approach the game without the kind of desperation that weighs down many teams this time of year.

“That’s great when you control your own destiny and don’t have to wait for that team to lose or this team to win,” said cornerback Marcus Trufant, one of several starters who won’t even play today while resting injuries. “It feels pretty good right now.”

Players and coaches are vowing not to head into the postseason on cruise control, but it will be almost impossible for the Seahawks (13-2) to resist the urge to ease off the gas pedal. Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Alexander and Walter Jones are among many starters who might not even play into the second quarter.

Coach Mike Holmgren said that he’s going into today’s game with the intent to win the game, but it is clear that his main priority is to avoid injuries heading into the playoffs.

“I’m not worried about continuity so much,” Holmgren said during his Wednesday press conference last week. “We’ve just got to get healthy and get our minds right for the playoffs.

“Winning 12 games in a row, though, and finishing the season with a record of 14-2, those are all good things. Those are real positive, good things. So we’d like to do that.”

Among the Seahawks who were not expected to make the trip were cornerbacks Andre Dyson (high ankle sprain) and Trufant (back contusion). Alexander was not on the team plane, either, but he was scheduled to be here sometime Saturday after attending an aunt’s funeral near his hometown of Cincinnati.

Not all the starters will get to see extended rest, if only because the 45-man, game-day active rosters limit what the Seahawks can do. Certain positions have less depth than others, so starting defensive ends Grant Wistrom and Bryce Fisher might be forced to play most of the game, while the same could be said for Boulware at safety.

“We’re still a young defense, and we still have a long way to go to get better, so we have to take advantage of every opportunity,” Boulware said. “Whether or not this game counts for the Seahawks, it counts for our defense.”