Unsung heroes rescue Seahawks

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The pass bounced first off a receiver’s hand, then a teammate’s forearm, and that’s right about when everything slowed down for Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner.

“The ball just happened to be floating in the air,” Browner said. “It was almost like slow motion.”

It just hung there. That was as true for the ball as it was for this game. The Giants stood 10 yards from a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes to go until Browner grabbed hold of that ball and ran 94 yards untouched for the final touchdown of a 36-25 Seattle victory.

“I just grabbed it, got out of there,” Browner said.

The same could be said of the Seahawks, who came back from two fourth-quarter deficits after losing starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson to a strained pectoral muscle. Jackson, who will have an MRI exam when the team returns to Seattle, was one of three starters Seattle lost to injury, as tight end Zach Miller was out with a concussion and linebacker Leroy Hill had an ailing hamstring.

But the Seahawks were fighting history, too. Seattle had not won in the Eastern time zone since 2007, and the Seahawks were facing a Giants team that had beaten Seattle by a combined score of 85-13 in their two regular-season meetings the past three years.

Despite all that, Seattle rallied to score two touchdowns in the final three minutes. And the Seahawks head into the bye at 2-3 for a coach who hopes his team turned a corner when Browner turned on the jets.

“It takes a moment like that to turn things some times,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I don’t know how many seconds that took. It seemed like an eternity, but that was a freakin’ blast.”

There was more than one moment Sunday. There was backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst leading two fourth-quarter scoring drives, and giving Seattle the lead on a 27-yard touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Doug Baldwin with less than three minutes left.

Seattle’s offense had scored just 13 first-half points in the first four games combined, yet the Seahawks rung up 14 in the first nine minutes Sunday.

The defense had forced just two turnovers in the first four games, and the Giants had committed only four. Yet the Seahawks wound up taking the ball away from the Giants five times.

And this was a landmark victory for a Seahawks team that has regularly been listed among the worst in the league.

“We need to play with the guys we have, and feed off the guys that we have, and we can win football games,” Carroll said.

Seahawks 36, Giants 25

Seattle	14	0	2	20	—	36
N.Y. Giants	7	7	0	11	—	25

Sea—Obomanu 11 pass from Jackson (Hauschka kick).

NYG—Ballard 12 pass from Manning (Tynes kick).

Sea—Lynch 1 run (Hauschka kick).

NYG—Nicks 19 pass from Manning (Tynes kick).

Sea—Hargrove safety.

Sea—FG Hauschka 51.

NYG—Cruz 68 pass from Manning (Bradshaw run).

Sea—FG Hauschka 43.

NYG—FG Tynes 26.

Sea—Baldwin 27 pass from Whitehurst (Hauschka kick).

Sea—Browner 94 interception return (Hauschka kick).

A—78,650.

	Sea	NYG
First downs	22	21
Total Net Yards	424	464
Rushes-yards	29-145	25-69
Passing	279	395
Punt Returns	6-69	2-12
Kickoff Returns	3-71	3-82
Interceptions Ret.	3-111	1-0
Comp-Att-Int	26-41-1	24-39-3
Sacked-Yards Lost	6-36	3-25
Punts	7-44.6	7-49.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-2	3-2
Penalties-Yards	10-70	7-52
Time of Possession	28:46	31:14

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Seattle, Lynch 12-98, Jackson 4-17, Washington 3-10, Forsett 4-9, Whitehurst 2-6, Robinson 3-5, Rice 1-0. N.Y. Giants, Bradshaw 17-58, Manning 3-5, Ware 4-3, Cruz 1-3.

PASSING—Seattle, Jackson 15-22-1-166, Whitehurst 11-19-0-149. N.Y. Giants, Manning 24-39-3-420.

RECEIVING—Seattle, Baldwin 8-136, Obomanu 6-51, Rice 4-38, Lynch 4-33, Tate 2-31, A.McCoy 1-20, Washington 1-6. N.Y. Giants, Cruz 8-161, Manningham 5-56, Nicks 4-65, Ballard 3-72, Bradshaw 2-27, Ware 1-22, Pascoe 1-17.