Jersey boys

SEATTLE – It was frustrating. Then dizzying. Then nail-biting.

When it ended, though, there was simply celebrating as the Seattle Seahawks beat their rival San Francisco 49ers 23-17 to advance to play the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey on Feb. 2, doing so to the delight of a CenturyLink Field-record crowd of 68,454.

“It doesn’t get any better,” said Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, who overcame a fumble on the first play of the game to lead Seattle back from an early 10-0 deficit, throwing the go-ahead touchdown on a 35-yard pass on fourth-and-7 to Jermaine Kearse with 13:44 left.

But victory wasn’t sealed until a Colin Kaepernick pass in the end zone intended for Michael Crabtree was tipped by Seattle’s Richard Sherman into the hands of linebacker Malcolm Smith with 22 seconds left.

The play came on first down after San Francisco had driven from its own 22-yard line, seemingly poised to spoil the party.

Seahawks players, though, said they never doubted, remembering all the times this season when the NFL’s No. 1-rated defense had come through when it mattered most.

“Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of playmakers all over the field, so we knew somebody was going to make a play,” said middle linebacker Bobby Wagner. “I thought he was going to pick it or tip it. It was dumb (by Kaepernick). He didn’t really throw it far enough to where the player could catch it, and you know we’ve got corners.”

Indeed Seattle does, and Sherman let everyone know it afterward, giving a choke sign he said was meant for Kaepernick, and taunting Crabtree.

“When you try the best corner in the game with a mediocre receiver, that’s what happens,” Sherman said. “Game.”

It was then left to Wilson to take three snaps to run off the final seconds and fulfill a goal he had presented to his teammates during a players-only meeting before the season. In that meeting, Wilson said he told them, “Why not us?”

It didn’t look good early, though, when Wilson fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, leading to a 49ers field goal.

Kaepernick then used his running (98 of his 130 yards came in the first half) to set up a 1-yard TD run by Anthony Dixon.

A 51-yard Wilson-to-Doug Baldwin pass set up a Steven Hauschka 32-yard field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 at halftime. Still, there were nervous murmurs throughout the CenturyLink Field crowd at the half.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, though, said it was business as usual in the locker room.

A 40-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch on Seattle’s first second-half possession that tied the game got it started.

After a Kaepernick 26-yard TD pass to Anquan Boldin made it 17-10, a 69-yard kickoff return by Baldwin set up another field goal (of 40 yards) to make it 17-13 entering the final quarter.

On its first possession of the fourth quarter, Seattle faced a fourth-and-7 at the 49ers 35, and a big decision: attempt a long field goal, or go for it?

Initially, the field goal team went out, with Wilson saying “I’m begging on the sidelines” to instead go for it. After a timeout, Carroll changed his mind. As San Francisco’s Aldon Smith jumped offsides on a double-count by Wilson, Seattle changed its play on the fly, receivers running deep instead, knowing there was no risk to an interception.

“If they jumped offsides we were going to try to take a shot downfield, and sure enough they did,” Wilson said.

Wilson threw into the end zone, where Kearse caught it in traffic, tumbling to the ground.

Cliff Avril then forced a Kaepernick fumble that Seattle returned to the 6. But a bad exchange between Wilson and Lynch led to a fumble on a fourth-and-goal from the 1.

Kaepernick was then intercepted by Kam Chancellor at the 40. But Seattle was held to a 47-yard field goal that made it 23-17 with 3:37 remaining.

Seattle’s defense had another opportunity to end it with 2:01 left when San Francisco had a fourth-and-2 at its own 30. But Kaepernick hit Frank Gore for 17 yards, and then the 49ers began to move, eventually moving to the 18 with 30 seconds left.

Crabtree ended up matched up on Sherman.

“As soon as the ball went up in the air I knew we had a chance to make that play,” Sherman said. “We stood up when it counted. None of us wanted to feel what we felt in Atlanta (when the Seahawks allowed a winning field goal in the final seconds of the playoffs last year) ever again.”

Sherman said he intentionally tried to tip the ball high. “I knew one of our guys would have a chance at it,” he said.

That turned out to be Smith, who got what was Seattle’s third forced turnover of a raucous fourth quarter, and said, “I was just happy to be the guy to catch it. That’s just the way our defense works.”

Then the realization hit that they were off to the Super Bowl.

“It’s a dream come true,” said safety Earl Thomas. “I always dreamed about this since I was a little boy. I’m just happy, man.”

San Francisco	3	7	7	0	—	17
Seattle	0	3	10	10	—	23

SF—FG Dawson 25

SF—Dixon 1 run (Dawson kick)

Sea—FG Hauschka 32

Sea—Lynch 40 run (Hauschka kick)

SF—Boldin 26 pass from Kaepernick (Dawson kick)

Sea—FG Hauschka 40

Sea—Kearse 35 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick)

Sea—FG Hauschka 47

A—68,454.

	SF	Sea
First downs	16	14
Total Net Yards	308	308
Rushes-yards	28-161	29-115
Passing	147	193
Punt Returns	1-0	3-10
Kickoff Returns	4-92	3-109
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	2-0
Comp-Att-Int	14-24-2	16-25-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	2-6	4-22
Punts	4-42.0	2-45.5
Fumbles-Lost	3-1	3-1
Penalties-Yards	7-65	8-66
Time of Possession	28:32	31:28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—San Francisco, Kaepernick 11-130, Hunter 3-16, Gore 11-14, Dixon 2-1, James 1-0. Seattle, Lynch 22-109, Turbin 2-6, Wilson 5-0.

PASSING—San Francisco, Kaepernick 14-24-2-153. Seattle, Wilson 16-25-0-215.

RECEIVING—San Francisco, Boldin 5-53, Crabtree 4-52, V.Davis 2-16, Gore 1-17, V.McDonald 1-13, Patton 1-2. Seattle, Baldwin 6-106, Tate 4-31, Miller 3-25, Kearse 2-44, Turbin 1-9. MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.