Hawks stuff Jags, streak

SEATTLE – All week long, the Seahawks talked about how big this game was. How critical it was to get a win and take a step toward improving to .500 by the bye week.

On Sunday, the Seahawks delivered in a big way.

Buoyed by the return of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, the Seahawks ended their three-game losing streak in dominant fashion, rolling over Jacksonville 41-0.

If the Seahawks’ words this week didn’t indicate strongly enough the importance of Sunday’s game, their pregame behavior certainly did. When the starters were introduced one-by-one, the Qwest Field crowd of 67,288 saved its biggest cheer for Hasselbeck, who was returning to the field after missing two games with a fractured rib. Numb to any pain thanks to a pregame adrenaline rush – not to mention a few painkillers – Hasselbeck came out of the tunnel jumping up and down and waving his arms to excite the crowd.

“I was probably a little too excited,” said Hasselbeck, who completed 18 for 30 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns before sitting out the fourth quarter. “Emotions were running high. I tried to do my best to stay calm, but it really mattered to me.”

When fullback Owen Schmitt was introduced, he bashed himself in the forehead with his helmet repeatedly before running onto the field, sending a stream of blood down his face and onto his jersey. It may have been a bit of an over-the-top method to fire up his team – “The thing is, he was our only active fullback…” Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. “He’s running out on the field banging his head, and I said, ‘Hey pal, if you get hurt, we don’t have anybody else’ ” – but it was certainly effective.

“Myself, D.D Lewis, we were sitting there and we said, ‘That’s a bad man right there,’ ” linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “I guess that’s a guy you want on your side. A man willing to bloody his own face, you know he’s willing to put it all on the line.”

Needing a win to avoid a 1-4 start that would put them in a huge hole five games into the season, the Seahawks responded to their fired-up teammates and overwhelmed a Jacksonville team that had won its last two games in convincing fashion.

Seattle’s offense, which struggled in Hasselbeck’s absence, piled up 379 yards and four passing touchdowns. The defense, a unit that spent last Sunday chasing the Colts up and down the field, pitched its second shutout of the season by holding the Jaguars to 199 yards, forcing two fumbles and coming up with five sacks.

“It was a big game for us,” said receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had 77 yards on five catches, including his first two touchdowns since joining the Seahawks. “We all knew going into the game that we didn’t want to drop to 1-4. I thought (Hasselbeck) was just real excited. He’s always real calm, but before games I’m starting to realize that Matt gets really excited. I think when Owen bashed himself in the head and cut himself open with his helmet, everybody was like, ‘Man, if he’s going to do this in pregame, we got to play.’ ”

And play they did.

A beat up offensive line lost another player Sunday, as Brandon Frye – aka the backup to the backup left tackle – went down with a neck/shoulder injury. But the patchwork line kept Hasselbeck upright.

One of the key moments early in the game came with the Seahawks leading 3-0 and Jacksonville facing fourth-and-one on the Seahawks 2-yard line. Jacksonville went for it, but Jaguars quarterback David Garrard was pressured by Tatupu and Aaron Curry and had to throw the ball away.

“That was a huge play,” Mora said. “You know, we’re up 3-0, we stop them, keep them out of the end zone, they decided not to go for a field goal. That was really big. There were a lot of good things in this game, but when you look back and you ask what play started it, that might be the play.”

At 2-3, the Seahawks still have their work cut out for them, but the blowout win certainly changes the outlook for a team that seven days earlier was on the receiving end of a lopsided score.

“It only changes if you validate it,” Mora said. “So our job is to go out and validate this thing, and that’s what we have to set our minds to doing.”

Seahawks 41, Jaguars 0

Jacksonville	0	0	0	0	—	0
Seattle	3	17	14	7	—	41

Sea—FG Mare 47

Sea—FG Mare 27

Sea—Houshmandzadeh 34 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick)

Sea—Burleson 44 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick)

Sea—Houshmandzadeh 13 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick)

Sea—Burleson 5 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick)

Sea—Reed 79 fumble return (Mare kick)

	Jac	Sea
First downs	10	24
Total Net Yards	199	379
Rushes-yards	15-38	40-143
Passing	161	236
Punt Returns	2-(-1)	6-7
Kickoff Returns	7-169	1-25
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	0-0
Comp-Att-Int	19-32-0	18-30-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	5-29	1-5
Punts	8-46.4	3-44.3
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	2-0
Penalties-Yards	9-73	1-10
Time of Possession	25:16	34:44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Jacksonville, Jones-Drew 12-34, Jennings 2-3, Garrard 1-1. Seattle, James 16-46, Forsett 6-43, J.Jones 12-34, Hasselbeck 3-23, S.Wallace 3-(minus 3).

PASSING—Jacksonville, Garrard 18-31-0-188, McCown 1-1-0-2. Seattle, Hasselbeck 18-30-0-241.

RECEIVING—Jacksonville, Holt 7-95, Jones-Drew 5-23, Lewis 3-13, Dillard 2-29, M.Thomas 1-28, Miller 1-2. Seattle, Burleson 6-98, Houshmandzadeh 5-77, Carlson 2-31, Branch 2-23, James 1-7, Schmitt 1-3, J.Jones 1-2.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.