All good things eventually end

GREEN BAY, Wis. – An NFL record. A monumental upset. The end of an 11-game winning streak. And, quite possibly, the final game of a legendary career.

None of it seemed to matter Sunday afternoon, when the playoff-bound Seattle Seahawks closed out their season with a footnote game that couldn’t make any kind of a mark on the NFL playoff picture.

Seattle’s 23-17 loss to the lowly Green Bay Packers left no reason for immediate concern, despite the fact that the Seahawks never really got into a rhythm. With 10 regular offensive starters watching most of the second half from the sidelines, the C-Hawks crawled toward the regular-season finish line with more important goals in mind.

“It was just weird,” said running back Shaun Alexander, who broke the NFL record for touchdowns in a season when he scored his 28th early in the second quarter. “We’ve never been in a situation where, no matter whether you win or lose, you’re still the exact same seed (for the playoffs). It’s one of those things where you still have to play the game.”

In a game that saw Seattle’s inactive list include six starters – left tackle Walter Jones, wide receiver Darrell Jackson, linebacker D.D. Lewis, defensive tackle Chartric Darby and cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Andre Dyson – the undermanned Seahawks couldn’t get excited because there was nothing on the line. Seattle (13-3) had already wrapped up the top seed in the NFC, as well as homefield throughout the postseason, so the game left them with no sense of desperation.

“You take the emotional factor out of any football game, and I think you’re in trouble,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “I think you need to be on edge. I don’t think we were on edge (Sunday). We went out there and played, and played hard, but I trust we’ll be able to be a little bit more on edge for the playoffs.”

While Seattle still has to wait a few days to have its first postseason opponent determined, it’s a safe bet that whoever comes to Qwest Field in two weeks will face a much different Seahawks team than the one that played Sunday.

In what might go down as the final game of Brett Favre’s career, the Green Bay quarterback delivered an inspired performance by throwing for 259 yards and leading the Packers to the fifth-highest point total scored on a Seattle defense all season. Favre’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Chatman with 3:41 left in the third quarter gave Green Bay a 20-14 lead, and the Packers (4-12) never looked back.

Seattle’s total of 245 yards marked its second-lowest output of the season.

But the lack of motivation and plethora of backups on the field made it easy to chalk this one up to indifference.

“At a different time of the season,” Seahawks offensive lineman Sean Locklear said, “it might have been a different game.”

Seattle opened the game with most of its typical starters, especially on offense. Only Jones and Jackson took the day off to rest minor injuries, and yet the Seahawks could never really get into a rhythm.

Even after Alexander sprinted to his left to score a 1-yard TD early in the second quarter for a 7-6 lead, breaking the NFL record in the process, Seattle continued to sputter.

After falling behind 13-7 at the half, Seattle’s No. 2 offense opened the second half with an eight-play, 78-yard touchdown drive that was engineered by backup quarterback Seneca Wallace.

The Packers scored the next 10 points to take the lead for good, leaving the helpless Seahawks to watch their 11-game winning streak end.

“This game will be different from our first playoff game; it would be ridiculous to say anything different,” wide receiver Bobby Engram said.

The Seahawks’ first playoff game is scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 14-15, when they will face one of three teams: the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers or Washington Redskins.

Any one of those teams is more likely to inspire the Seahawks, who are desperate for their first playoff win since 1984.

Packers 23, Seahawks 17

GB—FG Longwell 26

GB—FG Longwell 32

Sea—Alexander 1 run (Brown kick)

GB—Herron 11 run (Longwell kick)

Sea—Jurevicius 5 pass from Wallace (Brown kick)

GB—Chatman 9 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)

GB—FG Longwell 28

Sea—FG Brown 44

A—69,928.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Seattle, Alexander 20-73, Morris 9-25, S.Wallace 1-0. Green Bay, Herron 23-61, Fisher 7-16, Favre 1-(minus 1), Rodgers 1-(minus 1), Chatman 1-(minus 7).

PASSING—Seattle, Hasselbeck 6-8-0-76, S.Wallace 9-17-1-98. Green Bay, Favre 21-37-1-259.

RECEIVING—Seattle, Hackett 4-39, Engram 3-30, Warrick 2-44, Morris 2-19, Jurevicius 2-11, Strong 1-27, Hannam 1-4. Green Bay, Driver 6-118, T.Fisher 6-44, Chatman 4-33, Gardner 2-44, D.Lee 2-10, Henderson 1-10.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.