Division title clinched, what’s next?

Out they come, like so many winter coats: Comparisons around Seattle between these Seahawks who are storming through December and the 2005 team that did the same en route to the team’s first Super Bowl.

You can put away the parallels.

“I really don’t want to compare the teams,” coach Mike Holmgren said Monday.

Sure, Seattle (9-4) has won five consecutive games to clinch its fourth consecutive NFC West title. The latest triumph was Sunday’s 42-21 domination of Arizona.

But this season has gotten comfortable only in the last month, after Holmgren declared he was going to depend more on Matt Hasselbeck’s passing. Before that, the Seahawks endured three months of injuries and maddening inconsistency, primarily in an offense that relied on a running game that was plodding at best.

“In 2005, things were coming a lot easier,” Hasselbeck said.

Yes, at this point two years ago, Seattle was finishing a franchise-record 11-game winning streak. It was equally lethal with Shaun Alexander’s MVP running and Hasselbeck’s throwing. And it was about to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the postseason. Seattle used the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs to soar to the conference championship.

This season’s Seahawks had better hope three is their magic number. Even though Holmgren said he will begin preparations for Sunday’s game at Carolina (5-8) by emphasizing to his players the need to stay focused through the end of the regular season, Seattle appears locked into the conference’s third seed.

“We have three games left, really, to try to achieve better positioning. I will absolutely talk to them about that,” the coach said.

But the Seahawks are two games behind Green Bay for the second seed and three games behind dominant Dallas for the top seed. The Packers don’t appear ripe for a swoon, not while playing at St. Louis (3-10) and Chicago (5-8) and at home against Detroit (6-7). And the Cowboys are carrying a seven-game winning streak into final games against Philadelphia (5-8), at the Panthers and at Washington (6-7).

As for the only threat behind the Seahawks, Seattle is essentially two games ahead of Tampa Bay (8-5), which is on the verge of clinching the NFC South. The Seahawks beat the Buccaneers in Week 1 and thus would win any tiebreaker with the Bucs for the No. 3 seed.

So even a sweep of the Panthers, Baltimore (4-9) and Atlanta wouldn’t be likely to keep Seattle from having to play in the first round of the playoffs, at home. Then potentially the Seahawks would have to go to Green Bay or, less likely, Dallas in the second round.

Then again, it’s not that No. 3 is so bad. The Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl last January as a third seed.

“We have to put everything together, but we’re on a roll right now,” said cornerback Marcus Trufant, who had three interceptions Sunday.

Trufant has seven picks this season – two fewer than he had in his first four seasons combined. Trufant’s Pro Bowl-caliber play has complemented a recently ferocious pass rush, led by Patrick Kerney, who leads the NFL with 13 1/2 sacks, after a third three-sack day in four games.

So three is his magic number, at least.

“Hopefully, our whole defense is proud of that number,” Kerney said of his sack total, deflecting praise as usual.

No matter what might be at stake in these final games, Holmgren said he will not rest his starters – not even in practice – unless it is because of injury. And the Seahawks are perhaps healthier than can be expected for this late in the season.

Holmgren said receiver D.J. Hackett may return from a sprained ankle sooner than anticipated, but perhaps not this weekend. Hackett’s absence hasn’t hurt. Replacement starter Nate Burleson caught his team-leading sixth touchdown pass in the win over Arizona.

And Bobby Engram, the slot receiver who has been getting more chances because of Hackett’s season-long ankle pain, had a touchdown and four more catches against the Cardinals to up his team-leading total to 76 receptions. He needs 13 catches over the final three games to better his career high set in 1999 when he was with Chicago.

Around the league

Broncos punter Todd Sauerbrun faces an assault charge for an early Saturday morning incident outside a restaurant, a case that could bring more discipline from the NFL. “He was cited for a municipal ordinance violation of simple assault that stemmed from an altercation with a cab driver,” detective John White, a police spokesman, told the Associated Press. “So Sauerbrun was not arrested, but he was transported to a local detox facility.” … Star outside linebacker Shawne Merriman will miss San Diego’s home game against Detroit because of a sprained ligament in his left knee that knocked him out of Sunday’s game at Tennessee, which the Chargers won in overtime. … Chicago’s Kyle Orton, who started 15 games at quarterback as a rookie in 2005, returned to the role ahead of veteran Brian Griese. … Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia is expected to return to the lineup this week after missing two games and most of a third with a lower back bruise that has kept opposing teams guessing about his availability. … Bills safety George Wilson will miss the rest of the regular season with two broken ribs, but the team has no immediate plans to place him on injured reserve while it remains alive in the AFC playoff race.