As a team, the Seahawks ended the year ninth in the NFL in total offense, averaging 348.9 yards a game. The only teams ahead of them were New England, Green Bay, Dallas, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Jacksonville and Cleveland.

They also were in a ninth-place tie with Pittsburgh, averaging 24.6 points a game. The two teams that produce more less yardage but score more often are San Diego and Arizona.

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The dates have not yet been determined, but this is who the Seahawks will play next season:

Home: Arizona, St. Louis, San Francisco, New England, Green Bay, Washington, Philadelphia, New York Jets

Away: Arizona, St. Louis, San Francisco, Miami, New York Giants, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Dallas

That's a combined opponent record of 122-134, with games against the worst team in the league this year; the best team in the league this year; four division winners; and six teams in this year's playoffs. As we saw this year, those things can quickly change, with injuries or outside influences having an affect.

On the Falcons ending their season with a win:
”This was a great win to end the season and especially knowing that everybody put up their best effort. This has been a tough season, but everybody showed great resolve through it all. Coach Jackson (Hugh) spoke in front of the team and gave us a great speech about not quitting and showing pride as professionals. I am glad for Arthur Blank and the organization to all go out on a winning note despite all that has happen.”

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RB JERIOUS NORWOOD

On the Falcons ending their season with a win:
”It feels real good. I’m glad to get a victory today. We came out fired up and have a little time off now. We can kind of get ready for next year. It’s going to be a different team next year. We’ll be ready to roll.”

On the play of the Falcons offense:
“The offense played really good today. I feel like everybody stepped up and did their job. We moved the ball well and I feel like we ran the ball pretty well. The offensive line protected well and it seemed like everybody was playing as one today.”

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On the Gatorade shower:
”I knew it was coming, but I was trying to get away. They managed to hold me up and get the job done, but after a win like that I will take it. I was so happy that it didn’t even matter.”

On the play of the team after going through so much adversity this season:
“Everyone on this team is a professional. When Mr. Blank asked me to take over this team, I wanted to make sure we prepared this team the best we could, install some character to the team and show the players some love. I am so happy that we got a win this week because we were so close last week. They will head into the off-season with a win and will be able to come back next season and show people that they still have life in them.”

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This is the unedited version of my game story that will appear in tomorrow's editions of the News Tribune:

By FRANK HUGHES
Frank.hughes@thenewstribune.com

ATLANTA – The Seattle Seahawks say they accomplished their primary objective in their 44-41 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon at the sparsely attended Georgia Dome.
Namely, that they didn’t get anybody injured as they head into their first-round playoff game against the Washington Redskins on Saturday at Qwest Field.
But there certainly was some hand wringing along the way.
Or, perhaps more accurately, wrist wringing.

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CB JORDAN BABINEAUX

On not underestimating the opponent:
“It’s not like we didn’t measure our opponent today. We knew we had a game on our hands before we got here. But they just made more plays than we did today. That’s the long and short of it.”

On playing against his brother, though they both play defense:
“Wow, it would be an interesting thing to see me square off against him some day. Especially if he was a receiver or something. But it’s been a long time since we did that. We both like to play defense and we like to hit instead of getting hit.”

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According to Fox, the Seahawks will play the Redskins on Saturday, with the Giants-Tampa Bay game going on Sunday. The game is at 1:30.

LB JULIAN PETERSON

On losing to a three-win team:
“I take my hat off to the Falcons, but it’s not going to change our momentum. We don’t enter the postseason on a positive note, but we will do what we’ve got to do. Listen, we were ready to play today. They were ready to play too. You know they get paid just like we get paid. They’ve got pride just like we do. They came out to play in their last game before a home crowd. They executed, and made more plays than we did. I’ll tell you, I thought Chris Redman did a good job for them. He scrambled away from pressure a few times. He was faster than I thought he was.”

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I’m OK. I banged my wrist a little bit early in the second quarter. Got x-rays. Negative. Iced it. Threw some tape on there. Probably throw some tape on there on the flight home so it doesn’t swell. But I’m fine.

How he got injured: “I was throwing the ball away and I hit the ground. I don’t know if I landed on it or somebody else landed on it. But I fell awkwardly. It happened early in the second quarter. It was the first drive.”

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First and foremost, both Mike Holmgren and Matt Hasselbeck said he was fine. They said he banged up his wrist but that he will be able to play next week. Matt said he injured it early in the second quarter, then went in after halftime to get the wrist x-rayed. Matt said he would be able to practice this week. He said he was going to tape the wrist on the plane ride home to keep the swelling down. I will take what they say at face value, but I will also say there seemed to be an awful lot of concern on the sidelines during the game for something that they say is trivial. The week, obviously, will tell as it plays out. Hopefully he is OK and the wrist does not affect his ability to throw the ball.

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Morten Anderson just kicked a 32-yard field goal to put Atlanta ahead 44-34 with 3:23 left. I am heading down to the field, but it appears the Seahawks are going to drop to 10-6. Of more concern is the health of Matt Hasselbeck, who looks as if he is nursing a wrist injury on his throwing arm. As soon as I get word on the injury, I'll update the blog, plus provide more postgame stuff.

Seneca Wallace hit Nate Burleson for a deep curl, after which Burleson made a nice out move to go 45 yards for a touchdown. The Seahawks trail, 41-34.

The rookie was tackled hard on that kickoff return, then did the wavy line walk back to the sideline. He was walking so slowly that trainers had to come out on the field and escort him to the bench, where they are now administering to him. I think he is mostly just woozy.

To quote Michael Ray Richardson. Seneca Wallace just threw an interception to Chris Crocker, and on the next play Redman threw a touchdown to Roddy White after Marcus Trufant missed a tackle. The Falcons lead, 41-27.

Jonathan Babineaux, brother of Jordan, beat Ray Willis and grabbed Seneca Wallace, who fumbled. It was recovered by the Falcons at Seattle's 15. Three plays later, Redman hit Alge Crumpler for another TD pass, giving the Falcons a 34-27 lead.

Chris Redman hit Alge Crumpler with a pass up the seam, he bounced off Lofa Tatupu's big hit like Lofa was a mite and Crumpler then rumbled in for a 55-yard touchdown reception, tying the score at 27.

Mo Morris ran up the middle, ran a little more, ran some more and before he knew it, 29 yards later, he was in the end zone, giving the Seahawks a 27-20 lead with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

Several trainers just came over and, and security personnel are holding up towels around Hasselbeck while they do something to him on the sideline. We can't see what they are doing.

Hasselbeck took the towels off his arm and had his right wrist wrapped in ice and an ace bandage. He is sitting next to Walter Jones and they are discussing the arm. He doesn't look particularly happy. Still no official word on what is wrong.

Matt Hasselbeck is sitting on the bench with towels over his lap and it appears he has ice on his right hand. We are trying to get verification on why exactly he came out late at halftime. I'll keep you updated when I know something more.

After a nice sustained drive that was helped out by a pass interference call on Atlanta's Stephen Nicolas, Josh Brown booted a 51-yard field goal to go with his 54-yarder. Too bad most fantasy leagues are over, he'd be putting up the numbers if he was on your team.

Pork Chop, Rob Sims, Chris Spencer, Ray Willis, Sean Locklear

Seneca Wallace is in for this possession, so the game is his to win or lose. Matt Hasselbeck gets a break for the second half. Hasselbeck was 15-for-25 for 147 yards and a touchdown. He set the single-season mark for yards with 3,966 yards this year.

Atlanta kicked a field goal at the end of the first half to tie the game at 17. It has been an eventful first half, with Seattle dominating early, but the Falcons' pass rush changing the momentum. They got to Matt Hasselbeck a bunch of times, forced a fumble that enabled them to briefly take a 14-10 lead, and have not stopped pressuring Hasselbeck. Atlanta QB Chris Redman has found some holes in the secondary to exploit. It is a game that looks like the Seahawks know doesn't matter and are hoping they can win on talent alone. Of course, Walter Jones and Deion Branch sitting on the side does not help matters. Shaun Alexander scored his 100th rushing TD. And Bobby Engram has four receptions and a touchdown. The biggest thing to keep a watch on is who Mike Holmgren chooses to play and who to rest in the second half.

Patrick Kerney does not have a sack yet today, but neither does Houston's Mario Williams, a half sack behind Kerney. Kanas City plays later this afternoon.

With John Abraham in his face, Matt Hasselbeck lofted a perfect 30-yard TD pass to Bobby Engram to give the Seahawks a lead just before the half. Engram beat Antoine Harris for the score. Engram has four catches. He needs six more to reach 100. He also is one TD shy of his career high.

Floyd Womack was removed at left tackle and Ray Willis replaced him.

The Falcons linebacker has an ankle injury and his return is questionable.

A 27-yard pass to Roddy White and a five-yard run by Warrick Dunn resulted in a TD, preventing the defense from setting the single-season record for fewest points in a season. Falcons lead 14-10 and the Seahawks look discombobulated, with QB Matt Hasselbeck getting constant harassment.

With no Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck is under assault. John Abraham, who came back in the game, sacked Hasselbeck from behind, creating a fumble. It was picked up by Jonathan Babineaux, who was then stripped by Leonard Weaver. Chris Spencer jumped on the ball but it squirted out, then was kicked out of bounds. The ball goes to Atlanta, which had possession last.

The Falcons running back pulled a hamstring. His return is doubtful.

The Falcons drove 71 yards in seven plays, scoring on a pass from Chris Redman to Joe Horn. The big play was a screen pass to Warrick Dunn that went for 35 yards, several Seahawks defenders getting sucked inside on the play. The defense has only six more points it can yield to get the single-season record for fewest points allowed in a season. Matt Hasselbeck is on the sideline warming up so he is coming back in the game.

Falcons defensive end John Abraham, who already had one sack, suffered a blow to the head and is questionable to return. Meanwhile, Josh Brown just kicked a 54-yard field goal to give the Seahawks a 10-0 lead. Matt Hasselbeck has been hit on several occasions in this game, and the Seahawks need to be careful with that.

In case you are not watching the scoreboard, the Saints are losing to the Bears, 10-0. If that holds up, the Saints are eliminating themselves from the playoffs, and the Seahawks' opponent in the first round is down to Washington and Minnesota.

On an impressive first drive, Alexander went in from two yards out to score his 100th TD. He becomes only the eighth player in NFL history to reach 100 TDs, breaking a tie at 99 with Barry Sanders. Seattle leads 7-0.

On his first run from scrimmage, Shaun Alexander appears to have injured his right hip. After getting worked on on the sidelines for a bit, he i back up and is going back in the game.

Here is a link to the story I wrote for today's News Tribune looking at Mike Holmgren's future as the Seahawks' coach.

Lukeglasset asked a question yesterday about the futures of Joe Newton and Jason Babin, and Papahawk did I think a pretty good job of answering it. Newton has good size and pretty decent hands and I think the Seahawks see a future for him. Some of it will depend on what happens with tight end this summer. Do they bring back Marcus Pollard for another year? Do they go elsewhere for a tight end? Do they think that Will Heller is good enough to start? As for Babin, I don't think he has much of a future. They brought him in as a straight trade for Michael Boulware, thinking it wouldn't hurt to take a look. But he has not shown a great deal in practices -- though, to be fair, he is going against Walter Jones most of the time.

Referee Ed Hochuli
Umpire Chad Brown
Head linesman Mark Hittner
Line judge Tom Symonette
Field judge Tom Sifferman
side judge Don Carlson
Back judge Scott Helverson
Replay Bill Vinovich
Video Roger Ruth
Trainer Dean Look

QB Byron Leftwich
WR Michael Jenkins
CB David Irons
LB Marcus Wilkins
OL Pat McCoy
OL D'Anthony Batiste
OL Kurt Quarterman
TE Courtney Anderson

Charlie Frye
Mike Green
Jason Babin
Niko Koutouvides
Mansfield Wrotto
Walter Jones
Deion Branch
Rocky Bernard

This is the first time that OT Walter Jones has not played since the last game of '05. It also is only the fifth time that OT Jones has missed a game in his career. OT Jones will be resting his sore shoulder. Floyd Womack will be playing left tackle in place of OT Jones. Locklear will man the right side.

Me, Dave Boling and Ted Miller all are on the same flight to Atlanta, which takes off in about 35 minutes, so for those looking to get into the business if you hear about a plane going down there will be a lot of openings in the Seattle journalism world. Just a thought.

I actually can't believe we have to travel so far for such a meaningless game, and I'm sure the Seahawks feel the same way. But it won't be meaningless if Patrick Kerney can get a few sacks against his old team and win the sack title. That's a pretty good ride home for him if that happens. The weird part for the Seahawks is that they won't know until they hit the ground who they play in the playoffs. I'm sure the pilot will be communicating with the ground to get updates but you get the idea. They are taking off from Atlanta and still won't know if they have Washington, Minnesota or New Orleans. I'm sure Holmgren has scouts prepping on all three teams, with Washington the focus since a win there means they play the Redskins, and Dallas is calling off the dogs early. But, as Holmgren said earlier this year, whoever they think they are going to play, they never end up playing. So that probably means the Saints.

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Mike Holmgren said after Friday's practice that Rocky Bernard and Niko Koutouvides will not play Sunday against Atlanta, and there is a chance that neither Walter Jones nor Deion Branch will either. "I have not yet decided about Jones and Branch," Holmgren said. "They are going on the trip."

Holmgren said three of the four will be available for the playoffs, Koutouvides is a question mark there.

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The Seahawks' quarterback has been wearing a titanium necklace for much of the season, which some athletes apparently believe improves recovery from injury. A reporter was doing a story on the company that makes the necklace and asked Hasselbeck about it. Here is the explanation, offbeat but interesting:

“It’s really embarrassing why, to be honest. A bunch of the Red Sox pitchers were wearing them during the World Series. I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was just some childish thing and then I was talking to Damon Huard who’s a friend of mine who plays in Kansas City and he told me that he had just gotten one. I think it was during the bye week. I had an oblique muscle injury and so did he and he told me he was wearing the necklace for an oblique so we went down. There’s like three Phiten stores in America and one happens to be in Seattle. The other is in like Honolulu and the other is in L.A. (Los Angeles) somewhere. So we went down there and bought a couple necklaces and now I’m kind of hooked. Yeah, there’s a bunch of guys. In fact, Darryl Tapp stole my other one, the one I ordered online, my blue one. It’s titanium. Golfers wear them a lot on their wrists like a bracelet but a lot of the baseball players have been wearing them, a lot of throwers, for recovery. Actually, I was a little embarrassed so I sent my wife into the store and then I bought my other one online but I’ve since gone to the store. It’s kind of impressive. They have a lot of, a lot of the baseball players will come in and take pictures so that kind of gave it credibility for me.”

SEAHAWKS

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

Rocky Bernard
Deion Branch
Walter Jones

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

Niko Koutouvides

FULL PARTICIPATION

Shaun Alexander
Mike Green

FACLONS

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

Alge Crumpler (team decision)
David Irons (hamstring)
Michael Jenkins (quad)
Lawyer Milloy (hip)
Marcus Wilkins (shoulder)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

Jamaal Anderson (knee)
Tim Anderson (knee)
Antoine Harris (knee)
Joe Horn (team decision)
Chris Houston (knee)
Byron Leftwich (team decision)

Mike Holmgren and his coaching staff continued to mix and match combinations of players during practice as a game approaches that likely will not see the starters last the entire time.

Rocky Bernard, Walter Jones and Deion Branch did not practice. Niko Koutouvides banged up his knee in practice, colliding with a teammate on a play where he tried to pull up and looked like he knocked knees with somebody. It did not look super serious, but the guy is the captain of the special teams and a very important player.

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Single-game playoff tickets will go on sale on Monday, Dec. 31, at 10 a.m. for the Seahawks NFC Wild Card Playoff Game. The game will either be on Saturday, Jan. 5, or Sunday, Jan. 6.

Tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster (206-628-0888) or online at www.seahawks.com There will be no sales at Qwest Field box office or Ticketmaster outlets.

There is a limit of four tickets per person and tickets must be purchased by credit card only. Tickets are limited and are expected to sell out in the first 30 minutes.

If you haven't read Dave Boling's Thursday column you might want to check it out. Boling talked to Falcons linebacker Keith Brookings on the Wednesday press conference and Brookings had lots of interesting things to say about former coach Bobby Petrino and Petrino's early exit this season. Here are the transcripts in case you're curious:

On this season: “I don’t know if I can really put it into words. Tough season is probably an understatement. But it’s been quite a season, there’s no doubt about it. As the season progressed, it seemed like every few weeks we were getting bad news. About the eighth or ninth week of the season I was thinking it just absolutely can not get any worse but then obviously with what happened a couple weeks ago it did. That proved me wrong. It’s been tough, there’s no doubt about it."

On how he feels about Bobby Petrino: “For me, speaking from a personal standpoint, I was one of the guys that guys on this team joke with me all the time. They say, kind of jokingly laughing, that I’m a company guy. That’s not the case at all but I feel like my responsibility at a professional level and what I’m paid to do is to buy in to what my head coach wants to do. That doesn’t mean I agreed with everything that he did or he wanted us to do and I talked to Coach (Bobby Petrino) about some of those things and he did a pretty good job of trying to change a few things. He kind of catered to us. That’s part of my role as a leader on this football team and I felt like the quicker that everyone bought in to him, if you have everybody pulling on the same end of the rope the more chances you have at being successful at winning ball games. I know football enough to know that. You have to have everyone buy in. You can’t have a few guys not believing in it. My goal, my responsibility was to try my best to try to get everybody to do that and that’s what I did. I believed in him.

I didn’t agree with some of it and I talked to him about that but as a leader I had to go out here and work everyday and show everyone, hey, if we do it this way we’re going to get this thing right. Then we have that mentality and to do everything in my power to do that as a player, as a leader of this football team and then to have him back out on me like that and quit and go against everything that he talked about, shoot man, it floored me. It hurt me bad. Betrayal came to my mind; coward, quitter, so many things. It was tough. I’ve never had that happen. I can’t explain it. I can not put it into words what would make him do something like that. In saying that, it’s probably not right for me to say that because as a man I shouldn’t judge anyone. I don’t know what was going on with him and his family. Who knows? I don’t know but at the same time I still think about all that and I try to create scenarios and I still can’t believe that he would do something like that with three weeks to go. If you do do it come in and look us in the eye and tell us. There’s so many things that run through my mind. It absolutely shocked me. I was pissed off.”

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On the last couple weeks: “It’s been hectic, but very exciting. I have a great support staff here on the coaching staff, and in the front office, and in the PR department. So everybody has been very supportive. So it has been tough, and disappointing we haven’t come up with a win. But other than that it’s been ok.”

On becoming the interim head coach: “When Mr. (Arthur) Blank asked me to do this I told everyone here, ‘don’t take it for more than it’s really worth.’ I’ll be 65 in June, I still enjoy the game, but I know I was just holding the seat, keeping it warm until they find their guy. Hopefully we can get them ready to play this weekend and have a good ballgame.”

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Transcript of Mike Holmgren's press conference:

On the motivation for Sunday's game:
"Once you have clinched everything that’s possible to clinch, then it boils down to the most basic fundamental thing that you talk about with every player that you have. Is that, when I’m on the field how do I play? I really don’t believe that any of the football players that I’ve ever known, line up – whether you’re rushing the passer, going out for a pass, you’re the quarterback – and in their mind, at that particular time, they’re thinking, 'Now, if I complete this pass we could be the third seed in the playoffs.’

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INJURY REPORT

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
DID NOT PRACTICE
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
S Mike Green (knee)
LT Walter Jones (shoulder)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
WR Deion Branch (calf)

ATLANTA FALCONS
DID NOT PRACTICE
DE Jamal Anderson (knee)
WR Michael Jenkins (quad)
S Lawyer Milloy (hip)
LB Marcus Wilkins (shoulder)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
DT Tim Anderson (knee)
CB Antoine Harris (knee)
WR Joe Horn (foot)
CB Chris Houston (knee)
QB Byron Leftwich (ankle)

Hawks wrapped up a practice that featured a lot of participation by the backups despite coach Mike Holmgren's claim that he's approaching this game like any other. At times you saw Courtney Taylor, David Kirtman and Ray Willis working with the first-team offense.

DT Rocky Bernard did not practice and LT Walter Jones took part in the first few minutes before calling it a day. S Mike Green, who has been bothered by a knee injury recently, also was out. Also, WR Deion Branch was limited.

WR D.J. Hackett got the most action he's seen in some time. He's running pretty good on his ankle, which seems to indicate he's ready to go.

CB Josh Wilson also worked in on some drills, primarily the 7-on-7 drills although he did get time in with the scout team.

Mike Holmgren made it pretty clear in his press conference that the Seahawks won't take Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons like a day off. He said he's approaching the game against the 3-12 Falcons that has no bearing on the Seahawks' playoff position like any other.

"We are going to play the game like we have played all season," Holmgren said.

The reasoning is that he wants to keep momentum and cohesion, especially with the offensive line. The Seahawks ran for a season-high 144 yards vs. Baltimore last week and Holmgren would like to see the beleaguered unit build on that.

The one factor he will take under consideration is players with current injury issues. That means DT Rocky Bernard (groin) and LT Walter Jones (shoulder) won't practice much this week and their status is uncertain.

Holmgren said he'll play QB Matt Hasselbeck but like what happened last week, there's a point in the game where he would consider taking him out in order to protect him.

WR D.J. Hackett (ankle) and CB Josh Wilson (quad) will practice this week, Holmgren said, and he would like to see them get some time on Sunday. That, however, depends on how they get through this week.

Holmgren said C Chris Spencer has a thumb issue, but that won't keep him from playing.

Almost noon at Seahawks HQ in Kirkland, which means we are minutes from the weekly Mike Holmgren press briefing. Today is the first back at practice for the Hawks, who got two days off after Sunday's 27-6 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

We'll have highlights from Holmgren when he's done and we'll post some of the press conferences we had with the Atlanta Falcons interim coach, Emmitt Thomas, and linebacker Keith Brooking.

And, we'll have all the regular Wednesday stuff: Practice notes, injury report, etc. ...

Merry Christmas. The Seahawks are off both today and tomorrow, with no availability. With that in mind, I interviewed Patrick Kerney on Sunday night about him returning to Atlanta for the first time since signing with Seattle as a free agent. Here is that interview:

On choosing to come to Seattle as a free agent: “The recent history was a big draw. Every year I played in Atlanta, I expected to win the Super Bowl. Certain teams you target as the best and knowing you have to go through. The past few years it has been Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle. And so when the chance came to jump on one of those three teams, it was an easy sell.

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ASSISTANT COACH—RICK NEUHEISEL
(On Being in Seattle again…) “It was exciting to be in Seattle. As I have said before, I have had a lot of great memoires here. Unfortunately we didn’t make another one today. But that is a really good team. It wouldn’t shock me if they went very very far in the playoffs. They are the overlooked team in the NFC. I think they have as good of a chance as anybody.”

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G JASON BROWN

(On the challenge of sustaining a running attack . . . ) “It’s tough. Of course, we had the usual setbacks with turnovers. But we still have to have faith and keep fighting.”

(On if players on offense feel frustrated . . . ) “Well, the way things have been going, of course there’s going to be frustration. But you have to be mature and manage that frustration. You can’t allow it to affect or worsen your performance. You have to be mature and keep chipping away.”

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(On the challenges faced today…) “I think it was incredible. First you have to give respect to the Seattle Seahawks because what they came out and did today was incredible. Coming from a year ago and watching guys like Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander, incredible guys like Lofa Tatupu the list goes on and on and then being out there on the field its incredible. Being a Baltimore Raven we have a lot of work to do as a team, as an offensive, as a defense the whole way around. Our nucleus of our team is still yet to be made. We still have some things that we have to iron out as a team. I had fun today I really did.”

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(Opening statement…) “Good football team. Obviously we didn’t have enough to compete with them (Seattle) today. I congratulate them and we move on.

(How was the team’s effort…) “It’s a challenge, you have to unbreak the challenge. You have to focus on the fact that you have to learn some things today, that you can go forward. It’s the only way you can learn, otherwise there is no value in it.”

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DE PATRICK KERNEY
(On bouncing back from last week…) “Absolutely. You have to get momentum going into the playoffs. This was a crucial game for that, obviously, coming off of the loss. Not just getting a win, but putting an exclamation point at the end of it.”
(On next week…) “Like I said, you have to have momentum. The team that wins the Super Bowl, year in and year out, is the team that has a lot of momentum going into the playoffs. It’s not secret that we’re going to the playoffs and that’s our goal. So we’ve got to be that team that’s running hot.”
(On if he’ll play next week…) “I’m up for whatever coach deems best for this team. If it means playing every snap next weekend, I’m more than happy to do that. If it means not playing, whatever is best for the team.”

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(On setting the team receptions record…) “It all came together. This team is really coming together as a family. We’ve been through a lot this year. A lot of stuff that we keep in house. This team has battled this year. We’re getting cranked up at the right time. We had a little bit of a bump in the road last week. But it was great to set a personal record, it feels really good.”

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(On the touchdown reception…) It’s kind of funny, Floyd Womack wanted to play on the beginning of that drive. I said I would try to say something to Mike, and I did, but Mike calls the play and I come out there, and I see him running downfield, so I have to make this one really count, and it was just a good play.

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(On the success of the rushing game…) It’s great. Going into this game, we knew that it was tough to run on these guys. They’re ranked very, very high against the run. We knew that our opportunities to run against them would probably be when they tried to blitz us. That is when you really have the opportunity to gash them. They are a little bit of an overload blitz team. They’re moving around, they’re very active. I thought the coaches did a nice job of giving me the leeway to quick count them a bunch, so it makes them tougher to disguise when you change your tempo. We went No Huddle to start it, and that was a pretty good thing for us running the ball. I thought it was a decent thing. Like we did a couple of years ago, on Third and 7, they’re overloading blitz, we ran right up them, right up the gut to Leonard Weaver and got about 7 or 8 yards. Those are opportunities that we had, and we had big plays that way and it helped. When you play these guys, they’re never lined up where you expect them to line up. They just walk around. They are confident in their coverages and their scheme. They have some really good players who know where they need to fit. There were times today where they were calling out our play, and we would still gash them. That’s just guys up front saying, hey I know who my guy is and I’m just going to go hard. I know the quarterback is not going to change the play, or if I had changed the play, then they knew where it was coming. OK, who cares. We’re just going to go hard, we’re going to play hard, and our running backs ran hard, they ran downhill, and that’s good. But it is tough to play against these guys defensively. They are well coached, they have a good defensive coordinator. When you think about the great defenses around the league, I mean Baltimore is always, always up there.

=> Read more!

(opening…) Well, we’re very pleased with the win. It was as complete a game as we’ve played in a while, as far as offense, defense and special teams and their contributions. I think it was pretty even that way. Josh kicked the ball right down the middle on his field goals. He drilled them, we had good snaps. Our coverage teams did a nice job, against a real good return man. The field position thing was good for us. Offensively, we got the running game going just a little bit. Now, they were without Ray Lewis, who is a great player for them. I’ll take any improvement in that area that comes our way, and I think we did improve just a little bit today in the run game. I am very happy for Bobby Engram, he set a Seahawks record for catches. He’s having a great year. So, there is a lot to like. I’m giving the players off tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and Christmas, and then we’re back to work on Wednesday to prepare for Atlanta.

=> Read more!

This is the unedited version of my game story that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

The Seattle Seahawks’ 27-6 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon at Qwest Field meant very little for practical purposes.
But it meant everything for their psyche.
Against a Baltimore team decimated by injuries, the Seahawks rediscovered a run game that had been noticeably absent for much of the season, a point of contention that has forced coach Mike Holmgren to repeatedly throw up his hands in exasperation and proclaim, “What can you say?”

=> Read more!

Seahawks Notes

The Seahawks were not penalized in a game for the third time in team history and the first time since December 16, 2001, versus Dallas. Seattle also did not have a penalty called on December 6, 1987, versus Pittsburgh.

Seattle rushed for 144 net yards versus Baltimore today nearly doubling their season average (77.0). It marked the most yards allowed by the Ravens defense since allowing 162 at Tennessee last November 12.

=> Read more!

Mike Holmgren said he thought this was the most complete game of the season in terms of contributions from offense, defense and special teams. Darrin Beene spoke with Ryan Plackemeier and Josh Brown, who basically said the difference in the special teams is Jeff Robinson over Boone Stutz because previously they had no idea where the ball was going. Holmgren downplayed the run game, which produced 144 yards, saying he thought it made some steps but was not where he wanted it to be to be competitive in the playoffs. Shaun Alexander said this game was the best he has felt all season, and the offensive line said things just clicked today for whatever reason. Speaking of the playoffs, Holmgren said he is leaning toward not changing anything against Atlanta, though if the Seahawks play like they did today they could have a big lead by halftime and then cruise the rest of the day. Nate Burleson said he didn't know how he got so open on that touchdown pass, he said he threw a nice move at the corner at the line of scrimmage, but he wasn't sure if it was the move that got him open or if the corner thought he had safety help. Burleson said that was supposed to be a run play but Hasselbeck audibled out of it to the pass then threw a perfect strike. Willis McGahee did fracture two ribs. Lofa said he knew he was hurt because on a previous play he hit McGahee about as hard as he could hit somebody and he popped right back up. So when he didn't pop up they knew he was hurt, though they didn't know what the injury was. He didn't know in the locker room until I told him, then he felt badly because it sounded like he may have been responsible. Mike Holmgren said he has never had a season like this where he has played so many second-, third- and fourth-string quarterbacks, and that they feel fortunate to do so. In case you didn't realize it, the Seahawks are locked into the third spot now with Tampa losing in San Francisco earlier today. Next week's game means nothing -- though it is the return of Patrick Kerney and Jim Mora Jr. to their previous team. Sorry for this long runon. I just started spouting thoughts and never hit the paragraph button. Hope you could follow it. I'll post quotes and notes as they become available.

I am heading down to the field with Seattle leading 27-6. The ball is on the 18. Not sure if they are going to score again. It also appears a good chance that Tampa loses to San Francisco, which would clinch the third seed for Seattle. I'll provide postgame stuff in a while.

Troy Smith hit Derrick Mason for a 79-yard score, beating Kelly Jennings. The two-point conversion failed. Seahawks lead, 27-6.

I'm assuming that the Ravens are going to do an onside kick coming up.

Mike Holmgren took the prudent course of action and yanked Matt Hasselbeck with 7:40 left. Seneca Wallace will be guiding the Seahawks.

The drive after the fumble went no where and Josh Brown kicked another field goal for a 27-0 lead. You have to wonder how long Matt Hasselbeck, now sacked twice in the second half, is going to stay in the game.

On a day when things are going really poorly for Baltimore, a fumbled exchange led to a recovery by Brandon Mebane. The Seahawks started on the Ravens' 20.

After a bunch of nice runs by Shaun Alexander, Josh Brown hit a 42-yard field goal to give Seattle a 24-0 lead.

On that drive, Bobby Engram set a career high in single-season receptions, getting Nos. 89 and 90. His previous high was 88 in 1999 in Chicago.

McGahee injured his ribs. With the way the Seahawks players were waving to the Ravens' sideline, my guess is they are broken. He will not return.

The memories of that loss in Carolina are long gone as the Seahawks have dominated the Baltimore Ravens in the first half, taking a 21-0 lead. With a rookie QB in Troy Smith and RB Willis McGahee out with an injury, the defense does not look at all intimidated by Baltimore's offense. Matt Hasselbeck, while not particularly sharp, has thrown TDs to Nate Burleson and Shaun Alexander -- Alexander's first TD reception since the 2005 season. Leroy Hill also has recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. But the big story is Shaun Alexander, who has runs of 19 and 17 yards and has 42 yards on six carries. He is hitting the holes and the offensive line is getting a push. Against the second-ranked run defense, the Seahawks have 77 yards rushing, which is what the Ravens average giving up. As Chick Hearn used to say, You can put this one in the refrigerator.

Matt Hasselbeck threw a screen pass to Shaun Alexander, who went 14 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead. That was NOT Alexander's 100th rushing touchdown, though it was his first score since Dec. 2 in Philadelphia.

With Willis McGahee out, Mike Anderson fumbled the ball. Leroy Hill picked it up at the 20 and ran into the right corner for a 14-0 lead. The play is being reviewed because Baltimore challenged whether it was a fumble.

After Nate Burleson returned a punt 37 yards, and after the Seahawks got to Baltimore's 16, Hasselbeck made a poor decision, trying to force a ball to Deion Branch. It was intercepted by Derrick Martin on the 2.

By the way, Pork Chop has been in for Rob Sims the last two series.

Matt Hasselbeck hit Nate Burleson on a fade pattern to the corner from 21 yards out. It was Hasselbeck's 26th TD pass of the season. He needs one more to set a single-season high.

Not sure what the injury is but all the Seahawks players immediately waved to the Ravens sideline as soon as the play was over. I'll update when I know the injury.

Hasselbeck's pass was intercepted by Ed Reed. He was gesturing to the officials after the play like Nate Burleson was held. Hasselbeck does not look good right throw, slinging some sidearm passes and throwing off his back foot. I wouldn't be surprised if Holmgren doesn't jump on him at some point.

Rookie defensive tackle Brandon Mebane has had trainers working on his right elbow during the entire last offensive series. He has been wearing a brace on it for a few weeks. Mebane is not in on this next series. Howard Green is in the game.

The Seahawks tried to run on third and 1 yet again, and Mo Morris was thrown for a four-yard loss, forcing a punt. It should be pretty evident that running on third and 1, third and 2 is not a positive thing.

The former center turned insurance agent gets the honor this week.

RB Cory Ross
LB Ray Lewis
T Jared Gaither
DT Amon Gordon
TE Daniel Wilcox
TE Todd Heap
WR Demetrius Williams

QB Kyle Boller

Nick Griesen will start for Ray Lewis at LB
Quinn Sypniewski will start for Todd Heap at TE

K Rhys Lloyd was waived on Saturday
LB Robert McCune was added to the active roster and is active for today's game.

Rocky Bernard was placed on the inactive list because of a chronically sore groin. Craig Terrill will start instead. Here is the full list:

Rocky Bernard
Josh Wilson
Jason Babin
Mansfield Wrotto
Ray Willis
Courtney Taylor
Charlie Frye

For those of you not in the Pacific Northwest, it is a nasty day here in Seattle, cold, extremely wet, with very little chance of break it seems. There is a solid layer of gray as far as the eye can see.

Today officials: (check out the back judge)

Referee Bill Carollo
Umpire Bill Schuster
Head linesman John Schleyer
Line judge Gary Arthur
Field judge Bill Lovett
Side judge James Coleman
Back judge Phil Luckett
Replay Bob Boylston
Video Dave Coleman

KIRKLAND, WASH. - The Seattle Seahawks and their partners will show appreciation for the fans during Sunday’s game vs. the Baltimore Ravens by awarding prizes to fans and sections throughout the game. Fans and seating sections will be randomly selected.

50,000 “12” flags provided by Qwest, 50,000 team posters, 35,000 playoff rally cards, and over 3,500 prizes will be distributed throughout the game.

Fan giveaways include the following:
- 4,000 Jones Soda Holiday Packs
- 2,000 Jones Soda/Seahawks co-branded lime green t-shirts
- 1,100 gift cards from Lowe’s
- 500 Wells Fargo/Seahawks co-branded t-shirts
- 400 Vienna beef hot dogs
- 250 Washington State Lottery knit caps and scratch tickets
- 120 Seahawks Crocs courtesy of Joe’s Sports, Outdoor & More
- 100 Xbox “Scene It” games
- 50 gift certificates for free submarine sandwiches from Subway
- 4 round-trip gift certificates from Amtrak Cascades
- Xbox 360 Elite, Xbox Live one year subscription and VIP accessories kit
- Xbox Rock Band game complete with guitar, drums and microphone
- BBQ Tailgating Package, courtesy of Johnsonville
- Round-trip airline for two, Seattle to Hawaii, courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines

This is the last opportunity for Shaun Alexander to score his 100th career regular-season touchdown at home. When the season started, it certainly seemed like a no-brainer that Alexander would reach the mark. Now, with a mere three touchdowns through 14 games, you have to wonder if it is going to happen, especially against Baltimore's run defense, ranked second in the NFL. If Alexander gets it, he will become only the eighth running back to score 100 touchdowns, along with Emmitt Smith, Marcus Allen, LaDainian Tomlinson, Walter Payton, Jim Brown, John Riggins and Marshall Faulk. Alexander is currently tied with Barry Sanders. That is pretty elite company. Mike Holmgren said this week that if the opportunity presents itself, he would call a play for Shaun to score so he could celebrate in front of the home crowd. After the type of year he has had, it would be nice to see him be able to reach the plateau at home.

=> Read more!

The Seattle Seahawks will partner with Salvation Army to
collect donations for southwest Washington flood victims this Sunday, December 23, at Qwest Field prior to kickoff of the Seahawks game against the Baltimore Ravens.

There will be volunteers in green vests and Salvation Army buckets at various gate locations along Occidental Avenue and throughout the stadium.

OUT

QB Kyle Boller
CB Samari Rolle
WR Demetrius Williams

DOUBTFUL

TE Todd Heap
TE Daniel Wilcox

QUESTIONABLE

LB Ray Lewis
LB Gary Stills
LB Terrell Suggs

PROBABLE

CB Mike Flynn
FB Le'Ron McClain
S Gerome Sapp
T Adam Terry

I thought this interview was humorous enough that I decided to post it, in part because Walter Jones is never very animated. I asked him where he and Ravens tackle Jonathan Ogden rank among left tackles of all-time. The best part is where I ask him who's the best and he says, "I was going to say me because it's me."

Friday's practice was pretty uneventful, the team going through its regular routine. Needless to say, no game balls were distributed. Bill Macatee, who is announcing the game for CBS, commented that he missed the Seahawks since realignment because he does mostly AFC games. He was saying that he was impressed with the organization and how it was run, particularly compared to other teams, where the players are goofing around at practice. Mike Holmgren runs a very disciplined, clean practice where the players all are engaged.

=> Read more!

Besides QB Kyle Boller not starting, the Ravens apparently are not going to have LB Ray Lewis, CB Samari Rolle or TE Todd Heap. Here is the link to the story.

I had a conversation with Julian Peterson on Thursday in which I asked him if he felt the Seahawks matched up better with one particular playoff team over another. He brought up Dallas, and he said he thinks the Seahawks match up well with New England.

"I think we match up better when it comes to teams like Dallas, even the Patriots, I think we match up real well with them," Peterson said. "Other teams, they might say, ooh, the Vikings, the run game, but if we stop the run game then they have to pass and then that is to our advantage. With the Patriots, I think we just match up better with athletic guys all across the board. We have big, tall safeties to kind of counter the jump ball when it comes to Randy. We have speed corners that can run around with the Stallworths, the Wes Welkers. Plus, we have good pass rushers where we don't have to blitz to create pressure. I think we match up very well with them. But time will tell."

Of course, there is only one round where the Seahawks could face the Patriots.

My humblest apologies for not posting the links from the Carolina debacle, but like many of you, I was mildly disgusted and also overwhelmed by the coming holiday season.

As I type now, I am in my hometown: scenic Havre, Montana — a dollar for anyone who's been here before. Anyway I thought I'd keep you up on the game even though it lacks some meaning, and I was sampling a few drinks to warm the body and soul earlier this evening.

From the News Tribune, your newspaper for the South Sound ....

Darren's story from Tuesday. DAve wrote about Rocky Bernard and his plowing past expectations.

From this week's opponent, the Baltimore Ravens.
It won't be Kyle Boller starting, but former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith will get the start. . It might be the best decision head coach Brian Billick has made in three years. His decision not to go for it on first and goal from a foot is reprehensible.

Tackles Haloti Ngata, an Oregon standout, and Kelly Gregg are making life miserable for opponents.

Here's a story on how loud Qwest Field can be.

OUT

WR Demetrius Williams (ankle)

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

QB Kyle Boller (head)
LB Ray Lewis (Hand/back)
CB Samari Rolle (shoulder)
LB Gary Stills (knee)
LB Terrell Suggs (thigh)
TE Daniel Wilcox

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

CB Mike Flynn (foot)
TE Todd Heap (thigh)

FULL PARTICIPATION

FB Le'Ron McClain (back)
S Gerome Sapp
T Adam Terry (ankle)

Last week's game against Carolina apparently served as a wake-up call because the offense stayed after practice to get in a little extra work against a scout team that included Charlie Frye at safety. It didn't seem overly involved, but the fact that the offense did stay after is telling.

=> Read more!

As always, these are courtesy of my friends at Bodog.com:

Who will lead the NFL in Sacks?

Patrick Kerney 5/2

Mario Williams 3/1

Osi Umenyiora 3/1

Aaron Kampman 4/1

Trent Cole 5/1

How much longer will Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson date?

Under a month 6/1

1-3 months 9/2

4-6 months 4/1

6 months – 1+ year 2/1

Engaged but not married in 2008 3/1

Married by end of 2008 7/2

=> Read more!

With Kyle Boller missing practice again today, rookie QB Troy Smith will start against Seattle on Sunday. Here is the story.

The Ravens linebacker may have been the most humorous opposing player we interviewed this season. Chad Johnson was pretty good, but Scott was very animated. Here are a few examples:

On the flag he threw into the stands against New England…) “That’s the best question you can come up with? That was four weeks ago man, what do you do read a column and recycle questions? The reason I through the flag, it was just a combination of emotions. Feeling like you had won the game four times in a row, the calls didn’t go your way, at that point it just felt like what we had worked for so hard, and something that we could have grabbed onto to maybe have salvaged some type of respect and dignity, from the league and for ourselves, was all taken in 1:40 seconds. I never could have done what I did as a role model. You always have to keep your cool no matter what your circumstances, that’s what I preach to the kids. Is that mature enough for you?"

=> Read more!

In case you missed it, here is a Q&A I did with the former UW coach and current Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator, who might be the frontrunner for the UCLA opening.

Hawks practice at 1:30 today. I'll have stuff after that.

INJURY REPORT

SEAHAWKS
DID NOT PRACTICE
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
S Mike Green (knee)
T Walter Jones (shoulder)
CB Josh Wilson (quad)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
WR D.J. Hackett (ankle)

BALTIMORE RAVENS
OUT
WR Demetrius Williams (ankle)

DID NOT PRACTICE
QB Kyle Boller (head)
LB Ray Lewis (hand/back)
CB Samari Rolle (shoulder)
LB Gary Stills (knee)
LB Terrell Suggs (thigh)
TE Daniel Wilcox (thigh)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
CB Mike Flynn (foot)
TE Todd Heap (thigh)

Wednesday's practice took a little longer than usual because the team worked through some offensive formations in what o-coordinator Gil Haskell called "teaching" speed. Nothing unusual, Haskell said, just stuff they would have done earlier in the day but they decided to do it later.

Other stuff:

WR D.J. Hackett worked in individual drills but did not participate in any of the team activities. He said his ankle injury is progressing just fine and that he wants to get back ASAP.

DT Rocky Bernard did not practice, and although T Walter Jones and CB Josh Wilson were out in the bubble, I didn't see them do anything. Jones apparently did some drills in the early portion of practice. Also, S Mike Green did not participate.

Working at Jones' spot was Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack. No surprise; he's done that now on Wednesday's for weeks.

Wednesday's press conference with Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren had the usual onslaught of different questions but three themes stood out: Talk about the Pro Bowl selections, the Seahawks struggling running game and how the team prepares the last two weeks heading into the playoffs.

On Pro Bowl related stuff, Holmgren said he's proud of the six Seahawks who were selected to the game. And, he's disappointed that a few other Hawks – Deion Grant and Bobby Engram – did not get in. That said, he understands how it works and that some deserving players get passed over. He notes that anyone who makes the game is deserving and that it was a treat to coach those guys, which he's done a couple of times in his career. He called Engram a special guy and he had did some "pushing" to get him in and that the honor would be "frosting on the cake" for Engram, who's having a career year one year after being KO'd by thyroid problems.

The running game.. gee, we haven't talked about that for a while. Well, Holmgren said that careful viewing of the film from Carolina shows that Shaun Alexander did not have any room to run. Holmgren continues to stick up for Alexander, noting the injuries have hurt him this season more than he's let on. On one question about Alexander slowing down now that he's 30, Holmgren said injuries more than age is the factor for any decline this year. And, that offensive line, too. Holmgren said Alexander has handled this season about as well as anybody could given the heat the former MVP has taken from the fans.

As far as the last two regular season games go, Holmgren said he's told the players they are playing and that any resting of guys won't occur until the final game. Even then, he said, it won't be wholesale. He said even though coaches fear having star players get hurt playing it safe and not playing guys goes against the competitive nature of him and other coaches. He said he wants the No. 3 seed because it means the Seahawks will have finished with momentum and help their cause to have a home game beyond the first round should the top seeds stumble. He said he's not going through different scenarios about whether it's better to be No. 3 or 4 and any potential matchups, saying whoever they play in the playoffs is who they play.

Ravens head coach Brian Billick spoke at length about former UW coach Rick Neuheisel, calling the whole thing "bull----," ridiculing the fact that the whole thing happened over a basketball pool. Other agendas were clearly at play, Billick said, and he was happy that the NCAA exonerated Neuheisel. Billick said he thinks Neuheisel is better suited to the college game because of his enthusiasm, and that he would be a formidable opponent for Pete Carroll in LA.

Billick said it is pretty clear that injuries have devastated the Ravens this year, and that if they had things intact there is no doubt they would be a better team.

=> Read more!

Here is a link to a story on former Washington State receiver Devard Darling, who is playing for the Baltimore Ravens, this week's opponent.

We have a teleconference with Brian Billick in a few minutes, followed by an interview with linebacker Bart Scott. Mike Holmgren meets with the media at noon. I will post updates from each after the fact.

Bill Macatee
Steve Beuerlein

AFC Offense
Pos. Name Team
WR Randy Moss* New England
WR Reggie Wayne* Indianapolis
WR Braylon Edwards Cleveland
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh Cincinnati
OT Matt Light* New England
OT Jason Peters* Buffalo
OT Jonathan Ogden Baltimore
OG Alan Faneca* Pittsburgh
OG Logan Mankins* New England
OG Kris Dielman San Diego
C Jeff Saturday* Indianapolis
C Dan Koppen New England
TE Antonio Gates* San Diego
TE Tony Gonzalez Kansas City
QB Tom Brady* New England
QB Peyton Manning Indianapolis
QB Ben Roethlisberger Pittsburgh
RB LaDainian Tomlinson* San Diego
RB Joseph Addai Indianapolis
RB Willie Parker Pittsburgh
FB Lorenzo Neal* San Diego

AFC Defense
Pos. Name Team
DE Jared Allen* Kansas City
DE Kyle Vanden Bosch* Tennessee
DE Jason Taylor Miami
DT Albert Haynesworth* Tennessee
DT Vince Wilfork* New England
DT Jamal Williams San Diego
OLB James Harrison* Pittsburgh
OLB Mike Vrabel* New England
OLB Shawne Merriman San Diego
ILB DeMeco Ryans* Houston
ILB Ray Lewis Baltimore
CB Champ Bailey* Denver
CB Asante Samuel* New England
CB Antonio Cromartie San Diego
FS Ed Reed* Baltimore
SS Bob Sanders* Indianapolis
SS Troy Polamalu Pittsburgh

AFC Special Teams
Pos. Name Team
Punter Shane Lechler Oakland
Kicker Rob Bironas Tennessee
Kick returner Josh Cribbs Cleveland
Special Teamer Kassim Osgood San Diego

* denotes starter

Matt Hasselbeck, Walter Jones, Marcus Trufant, Patrick Kerney, Lofa Tatupu and Julian Peterson all were named to the NFC Pro Bowl team today. Here is the complete list of NFC players:

WR Terrell Owens* Dallas
WR Larry Fitzgerald* Arizona
WR Donald Driver Green Bay
WR Torry Holt St. Louis
OT Flozell Adams* Dallas
OT Walter Jones* Seattle
OT Chris Samuels Washington
OG Leonard Davis* Dallas
OG Steve Hutchinson* Minnesota
OG Shawn Andrews Philadelphia
C Andre Gurode* Dallas
C Matt Birk Minnesota
TE Jason Witten* Dallas
TE Chris Cooley Washington
QB Brett Favre* Green Bay
QB Matt Hasselbeck Seattle
QB Tony Romo Dallas
RB Adrian Peterson* Minnesota
RB Marion Barber Dallas
RB Brian Westbrook Philadelphia
FB Tony Richardson* Minnesota

NFC Defense
Pos. Name Team
DE Aaron Kampman* Green Bay
DE Patrick Kerney* Seattle
DE Osi Umenyiora N.Y. Giants
DT Kevin Williams* Minnesota
DT Pat Williams* Minnesota
DT Tommie Harris Chicago
OLB Julian Peterson Seattle
OLB DeMarcus Ware* Dallas
OLB Lance Briggs Chicago
ILB Lofa Tatupu* Seattle
ILB Patrick Willis San Francisco
CB Al Harris* Green Bay
CB Marcus Trufant* Seattle
CB Terence Newman Dallas
FS Sean Taylor* Washington
FS Ken Hamlin Dallas
SS Darren Sharper* Minnesota

NFC Special Teams
Pos. Name Team
Punter Andy Lee San Francisco
Kicker Nick Folk Dallas
Kick returner Devin Hester Chicago
Special Teamer Brendon Ayanbadejo Chicago

* denotes starter

Bobby Engram, who on Sunday went over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career, will be interviewed in a KIRO 7 news Profiles feature tonight at 10 p.m.

You can go to this link -- http://www.kirotv.com/profiles/index.html -- for more information, including an extended interview with Engram.

Just handed this press release:

Former Seahawks fullback Mack Strong has undergone successful neck fusion surgery on Sunday, the team announced.

Strong had felt some pain last week and underwent an MRI on Friday. The exam revealed the herniated discs in his neck, suffered in Pittsburgh on Oct. 7, had herniated further.

After consulting with Dr. Sohail K. Mirza of HarborView Medical Center and team physician Stan Herring, Strong decided to have the surgery to protect the integrity of his spinal cord.

A herniated disc was removed and this third and fourth cervical vertebrae were fused.

Strong, who is resting comfortably, is expected to make a full recovery.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren just finished up his Monday press conference. He said the 13-10 loss to Carolina looked as bad on film as it did in person. The why the Seahawks played so poorly seemed to be several reasons instead of just one.

Complacency, maybe, considering the Seahawks had already wrapped up a playoff spot. Travel, probably, considering the Seahawks had been on the road in three of the last four weeks. And, for whatever reason, the deadly combination of poor start and low energy was also a big factor.

Holmgren said he thought the team had a good week of practice but for whatever reason, that didn't carry over into the game. He said the defensive effort was solid but the lack of sacks and turnovers, which can spark a team, didn't help the cause.

"If you're just going through the motions, you're not going to win," Holmgren said. "Hopefully, if guys haven't learned it already, there's a lesson here."

=> Read more!

I am flying most of the day and don't get back in time for Mike Holmgren's afternoon presser, but the very capable Darrin Beene will be covering that and passing along the information to the blog.

Here are a few day-after thoughts. First, I think the loss is understandable. You can't forget that they have been traveling back and forth across the country all season, and so a clunker was inevitable. Better now than at some time of more importance. It was doubtful they were going to catch Green Bay anyway. I am a firm believer in a loss rejuvenating a team, keeping them from getting complacent.

=> Read more!

RE: Defensive play today

We did alright in the first half, and not good in the second half. We just got to put it together in all phases of team. I didn’t get to check out special teams because we were making adjustments, but we just got to stay consistent. There is no reason to give up 13 points after not giving up any in the first two quarters. We got to get back to work, and get ready for next week.

=> Read more!

RE: Injuries
The only thing we have to report at this point is Julius Peppers’ knee sprain. He was not able to return there at the end.

RE: Defense
This game is a lot about confidence. It’s a lot about belief. I think our offense did an excellent job of kindling that belief and I think it kept our defense going. We played well in spots this year. I thought today was the most complete against a very capable opponent.

=> Read more!

RE: Nervous?
A little bit. I was more anxious. I wanted to get the first series done and start from there. I had some jitter bugs. That pass to Dante (Rosario) kind of settled me down, and I kind of rode from there.

RE: Was that pass an audible?
It was. We had a lot of plays like that. They gave us a certain look, so we just switched to the second play.

=> Read more!

This is the unedited version of my game story that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck stood before his locker after the Seahawks dropped a humbling 13-10 decision to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon, a look of puzzlement and confusion rendered across his face.
“I don’t even feel like I played a full game today,” Hasselbeck said. “I feel like we should go back out there and play again.”
It was that kind of day for the Seahawks at windy Bank of America Stadium, an afternoon of fits and starts and ultimately frustration because their five-game win streak ended in a rather desultory fashion.

=> Read more!

RE: Carolina’s offensive play

They kept the chippers and tight ends in a lot. The quarterback set short and got rid of the ball. He did a good job of that, and you have to give credit to their whole blocking unit. They did a good job, and we didn’t get any sacks.

RE: Difference in preparing for Vinny Testaverde and Matt Moore

He is a little more mobile then Vinny. He is a young guy that got coached well to get rid of the ball quick. You got to give credit to him and the coaches. He did a good job of staying out of pressure. We got to speed up our rush a little more. They did a good job of mixing in screens.

RE: Coming into the game with 13 ½ sacks, and receiving extra attention

If someone is able to put up big numbers, you got to give credit to the whole team. I am blessed to be doing well. But, they did give me a lot more attention. I knew that coming in, but you have to be able to overcome the pressure, and I wasn’t able to do that today. I give a lot of credit to Jordan Gross, he did a good job protecting. We just have to make some adjustments, and get back to work.

RE: The reason behind the loss
They kind of dominated third down today, that’s obviously a pretty big statistic. We went into this game focusing on not turning the ball over. We felt like if we didn’t turn the ball over we’d have a pretty good chance to win. The other quarterback had a great game, they had good success converting on third down and that was a big part of it.

=> Read more!

It was a very unhappy locker room, needless to say. The players seemed both angry and disappointed in themselves for playing so poorly. Matt Hasselbeck said he felt like he only played half a game, like he felt like he should go back out there and play again. Mike Holmgren said he thought the team took a breath after clinching the division, though the players did not admit to that. They said, "We just didn't execute plays today," which to me is semantics. Mo Morris said Thomas Davis just made a better play than he did on the sack that forced Hasselbeck to fumble, Hasselbeck seemed pissed, saying he still hasn't gotten an explanation about what happened.

=> Read more!

Matt Hasselbeck got hit from behind by Thomas Davis and fumbled the ball, giving the Panthers the ball with just 1:38 left. I am heading downstairs but it appears the Seahawks' five-game win streak is over. I'll be back up in a bit to post postgame stuff.

A long drive that started with a poor kickoff by Josh Brown ended with a 37-yard field goal by John Kasay. The Seahawks have 2:59 left in the game to try to tie the game or take the lead.

After a nice sustained drive that was aided by a pass interference penalty on Richard Marshall, Josh Brown made a 23-yard field goal to tie the game. Somewhat questionable play call on third and five at the 8, handing off to Mo Morris, who gained 4. A pass may have been a better call there given they were so close to the end zone. At least the offense knows now it can move the ball.

With the wind at his back, Panthers K John Kasay made a 53-yarder that gives Carolina a 3-0 lead. This is usually when Matt Hasselbeck is at his best, when he knows something needs to be accomplished. We'll see if that spurs the offense.

That was a pretty boring first half, where both teams for the most part played in their own end of the field and were unable to generate much offense. The score is 0-0. Carolina kicker John Kasay missed a field goal, the only time either team has come close to scoring. The time change seems to have affected the Seahawks, who appear as if they are sleep-walking. Matt Hasselbeck, crisp all week, has been off the mark most of the day, though two drops by Leonard Weaver did not help him out any. The defense has played well, bottling up DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams and containing QB Matt Moore. This game has the feel of whoever makes the first big play is going to win. Let's hope the second half is more entertaining than the first.

I'm guessing that Pork Chop is going to come in for Rob Sims on the next series because he is warming up on the stationary bike.

The offense looks pretty bad right now, with receivers dropping balls and no running game to speak of. The Seahawks do not yet have a first down, and Sean Locklear kept them from giving the Panthers the ball at Seattle's 20 by recovering a fumbled lateral. The good news is the defense is playing pretty well.

As you may be able to tell on the broadcast, the wind is playing a big role in this game. From where I sit, on the opposite side of the Seahawks' sideline, it is blowing right to left. It enabled Josh Brown to put the opening kickoff out of the end zone, and it just had a big effect on John Kasay's missed field goal, pushing it left. Something to keep an eye on as the game progresses.

Vinny Testaverde
James Anderson
Brandon Jamison
Evan Mathis
Stanley McClover
Frank Omiyale
Keary Colbert
Gary Gibson

Matt Moore will start at QB for Vinny Testaverde
WR Drew Carter will start in place of Keary Colbert

Charlie Frye
DJ Hackett
Josh Wilson
Jason Babin
Mansfield Wrotto
Ray Willis
Courtney Taylor
Ellis Wyms

Referee Walt Anderson
Umpire Butch Hannah
Head linesman Phil McKinnely
Line judge Byron Boston
Field judge Terry Brown
Side judge Rick Patterson
Back judge Billy Smith
Replay Dale Hamer
Video Brian Matoren

It was cold and windy this morning, but the weather has cleared some, the sun just popped out and it has turned into a nice, brisk day here in Charlotte.

Luggage got here, thankfully, along with the cold, wet weather. It was 80 degrees in Charlotte a few days ago, now it is about 45, raining and windy -- perfect for the Seahawks.

The first thing to Seahawks need to guard against is the natural complacency that comes with not having a great deal left to play for. I have to believe that there is not the same sense of urgency now that there was six weeks ago. Not that the Seahawks should not win this game, they clearly are far superior, even if Vinny Testaverde plays, but the Panthers have some talent and could steal this game away, particularly with the travel.

=> Read more!

SEAHAWKS
OUT
WR D.J. Hackett
CB Josh Wilson

QUESTIONABLE

S Brian Russell (abdomen)

PROBABLE
RB Shaun Alexander (wrist)
S Mike Green (knee)
T Tom Ashworth (illness)
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
OT Floyd Womack (hamstring)

PANTHERS

DOUTBFUL

WR Keary Colbert (knee)

PROBABLE

QB Vinny Testaverde (team decision)
G Jeremy Bridges Tooth (FP)
WR Dwayne Jarrett Knee WR

I have been flying most of the day, spending the last hour looking for my luggage, which is somewhere between snowy Denver and hot Charlotte. Excited about the prospect of wearing the same clothes for three straight days. I may have to take a lesson from my friend Clare Farnsworth and "hang loose" for a couple days.

In any case, here are some notes from today's practice:

Brian Russell didn't practice because of an abdomen issue and was wearing a stim pack. Mike Holmgren said Russell's a game-day decision. Jordan Babineaux was playing safety in the base defense, with Mike Green back there in the nickel and dime.

Rocky Bernard also didn't practice but Holmgren says he'll play.

Chris Gray and Tom Ashworth were back after sitting out Thursday.

Game balls went to Chris Gray (offense), Marcus Trufant (defense) and Josh Scobey (special teams). Pretty nice first game for Scobey. Holmgen also got a photo mural from the team captains to commemorate his franchise-record 81st victory.

Matt Hasselbeck continued to look very sharp and Holmgren was giving lots of encouragement, still trying to keep the team focused. It'll be interesting to see what happens next week if Green Bay wins this weekend.

SEAHAWKS
OUT
WR D.J. Hackett
CB Josh Wilson

DID NOT PRACTICE
T Tom Ashworth (illness)
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
G Chris Gray (team decision)
S Brian Russell (abdomen)

LIMITED PRACTICE
S Mike Green (knee)

Note: Walter Jones was back at practice today.

PANTHERS
DID NOT PRACTICE
WR Keary Colbert (knee)
QB Vinny Testaverde (team decision)

Note: Testaverde also missed Wednesday's practice. Wire reports from Charlotte said Panthers coach John Fox probably would not name a starter until later in the week. Undrafted rookie Matt Moore – yep, the guy from Oregon State – could be the fourth different starting QB this season

A rundown of Thursday's practice:

Six players did not practice. WR D.J. Hackett (ankle) and CB Josh Wilson (quad) are out for Sunday's game so it was no surprise that they didn't go. T Tom Ashworth, who was ill and did not practice Wednesday, was out again. DT Rocky Bernard (groin) was a spectator. And Brian Russell and Chris Gray did not practice.

Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack filled in for Gray while Jordan Babineaux got time at safety for Russell.

If intensity at practice is defined by bodies flying around then Thursday's was intense. Several times players collided going for the ball in drills causing coach Mike Holmgren to remind everyone to be careful.

Here's the transcript of Fox's presser with the Seattle area media from Wednesday:

On Deon Grant’s time in Carolina (Grant played there from 2000-03): “Deon was an excellent player. He was a guy that was with us my first year, and second year- our Super Bowl year, and played very well for us. He got a better deal to go to Jacksonville, and it sounds like he probably got a better deal to go to you guys. Deon played the game with a lot of energy, has good ball awareness, he’s an excellent athlete. He’s kind of how you draw them up as a safety. We played him more free, I think you guys are playing him a little more strong.”

On Matt Hasselbeck's play this season: “Well back when I probably looked at most tape was the ’05 season preparing for the (NFC) championship game. I thought he was excellent that year too. Not taking anything away from him this year. I think he’s been excellent both times that I’ve viewed him, that’s prior to the championship game and prior to do the work for this week. Then we had him over in the Pro Bowl, so I’ve got nothing but respect for Matt Hasselbeck.”

On the differences in the Seahawks offense from 2005: “I think, as far as schematically, it’s the same. A lot of the run games the same, a lot of the pass game is the same. I don’t think Mike’s (Holmgren) changed a lot, and I’m not saying that in a bad way at all, it’s been very efficient. I think any time you lose a player like (Shaun) Alexander you have to adjust, just like we lost Jake Delhomme and we’ve had to adjust. We all you don’t rewrite your playbook, you just do some other things a little bit more, that you might be more capable of doing. I think in ’05, if you just look at the statistics, they leaned a little bit more on the run-game, not that they weren’t functional with the pass game. But this year with the injuries they went more to the pass game, and they’ve been very effective with it.”

On Patrick Kerney: “He’s got a great motor, number one. He’s obviously got great skills or he wouldn’t be doing the things he’s doing. I think the last year, maybe year and a half, he’s had some injury bugs. But, what I’ve seen on tape, he looks to be 100 percent healthy. Any time you change systems it takes you a minute, but I don’t think he’s thinking too much anymore. Not to say he was, but it looks like he’s doing just fine.”

Mike Holmgren meets with us on Wednesdays, then meets with the other team's reporters. This is a transcript of his meeting with the writers from Charlotte:

On the Seahawks five-game winning streak: I felt we had a good football team in the first half of the season that played very inconsistently, and there wasn't just one thing you could put your finger on. Each phase of the game, offense, defense and special teams, took their time in the barrel so to speak. It kind of coincided with Shaun Alexander getting hurt a little, and we got our receivers back who had been hurt, (Deion) Branch and (D.J.) Hackett. I said, ‘We're going to change this a little bit and kind of simplify some things. Maybe change the emphasis slightly and pass the ball a little bit more." The guys just started playing better and we started making fewer mistakes. It happens. We won a couple real close games on the road, and you gain momentum from wins like that to where it just happens to the point where now they have a much better feeling about themselves. I think that's the key in this business, and we're relatively healthy now. You put all of that together and you can play some better football.

=> Read more!

I am going to start a debate here, something to do until the Seahawks have their afternoon practice session:

If there is nothing to play for in Atlanta in the last game of the season, and you want to rest the starters and keep everybody healthy, would you start Seneca Wallace at quarterback or would you let Charlie Frye play the whole game?

The arguments are pretty obvious: Letting Seneca go risks him getting injured, and then he may not be available for the playoffs -- though the flip side of that is if you need Seneca for a playoff game you are probably going to lose that game anyway. Seneca has put his time in this season, just like everybody else. Do you let him play and risk him getting injured, or let Frye start? Here's another option: Let Frye play quarterback and let Seneca start at wide receiver.

This is a Seahawks press release

WHAT:Seahawks coaches and players will visit Virginia Mason Athletic Center (VMAC) for the first time.

Coaches and players will walk-thru the indoor practice facility and view the outdoor practice fields.

Coaches and players will not be available for interviews or comments.

WHEN: Friday, December 14, 1:15-1:30 p.m.

Sometimes I like to provide insight into what is happening in this job as it relates to what's happening with the team. With that in mind, I will tell this story.

So every week this season -- at least every week he has been healthy -- Shaun Alexander has his own meeting with the media. Everybody else but Matt and Shaun were available every day, but those two have their own news conferences. For obvious reasons, it was something you needed to be there for just in case he said something. But yesterday, the pr folks come in the locker room to announce that Shaun is about to meet with the media, and virtually every writer didn't move, just stayed in the locker room because they had someone more important to speak with. I was not there, but apparently Shaun had to wait for Jeff Robinson to finish speaking before he could even start his news conference. I thought it was a pretty good indication of how things have changed. In any case, here were a few of the things he said about the running game:

=> Read more!

Wednesday's official injury report
SEAHAWKS
OUT
WR D.J. Hackett (ankle)
CB Josh Wilson (quad)

DID NOT PRACTICE
T Tom Ashworth (illness)
DT Rocky Bernard (groin)
S Mike Green (knee)
T Walter Jones (team decision)

PANTHERS
DID NOT PRACTICE
G Jeremy Bridges (tooth)
WR Keary Colbert (knee)
QB Vinny Testaverde (old)

Practice just finished up. It was pretty uneventful today.

Six players did not practice. Four were expected – WR D.J. Hackett, S Josh Wilson, DT Rocky Bernard and LT Walter Jones – and two not-so-much (T Tom Ashworth and S Mike Green).

Watching new long snapper Jeff Robinson ply his trade ... and he seemed fine. To use one of Mike Holmgren's expressions, there were no adventures.

Player of the day was practice squad WR Jordan Kent. Kent made a tremendous catch along the sideline, snatching a ball over Marcus Trufant and then later had another good grab.

Make it two straight NFC player of the week honors for the Seattle Seahawks.

On Wednesday, Marcus Trufant was selected for his three-interception game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Last week, Lofa Tatupu won the honor for his three-interception game against the Philadelphia Eagles. it marks the first time in team history the Seahawks have recorded back-to-back three-interception games. The last time a pair of teammates had three interceptions in consecutive games was in 1962 when the Buffalo Bills’ Marv Matuszak and Carl Charon did it.

Trufant also had six tackles and scored on an 84-yard return-touchdown as the Seahawks clinched their fourth consecutive division title with a 42-21 win over Arizona. The touchdown marked the first score of his career and the return tied for the third-longest in team history.

In his fifth year from Washington State, this is Trufant’s first career Player of the Week Award and he is the second Seahawk in a row to be honored on defense (Tatupu). The last time two Seahawks were named Defense Player of the Week in consecutive weeks was 1997 when linebacker Chad Brown (Week 3) and safety Darryl Williams (Week 4) were selected.

He is one of five finalists. If he wins, it will run during the Super Bowl.

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Given the time of year, that the Seahawks already have won their division and that this week's opponent is less than inspiring, not a great deal of news came out of Mike Holmgren's news conference. The questions were mostly for feature stories that folks are working on.

Newsside, DJ Hackett and Josh Wilson will not be available for this Sunday's game. Also, Holmgren said Derek Rackley was one of the snappers who tried out with Jeff Robinson yesterday. Holmgren did not say who the third was. Nick Novak was one of the kickers who worked out. Holmgren said he is a little worried about bringing in a 37-year-old guy who has not snapped in two years, but they did not really have a choice. With his wording, it was clear that Josh Brown and Ryan Plackemeier were uncomfortable with Boone Stutz, whose velocity was great but whose accuracy was not. Holmgren said they wanted Robinson to be very honest with them about if he thought he could do the job or not.

=> Read more!

There were a few rather humorous moments during Ken Lucas' teleconference with Seattle reporters this morning. When he was asked about the contract he was given from Carolina, he said something to the effect, "Man, I don't play for money, I play for the passion of the game." Then, later, when he was discussing his time in Seattle and his decision to leave, he invoked the "you have to take care of your family" line. I'll post the exact quotes a little later.

=> Read more!

Dick Stockton
Brian Baldinger

Yes, the Hawks just officially announced the signing of Jeff Robinson and the release of Boone Stutz.

Frank had wind of it Monday but Coach Holmgren said that nothing had been done officially at that point, that they were taking a look at some guys.

About Robinson. He's not a kid, at 37, which makes me realize I'm REALLY not a kid. I covered him back when he was at the University of Idaho. He's made his living as a snapper with the Broncos, Rams and Cowboys, although I believe he saw a little spot duty at tight end, too. The thing few will remember was that he was one of the best defensive players in the Big Sky Conference as an all-league defensive end who was a real nightmare to block on the pass rush. So, he was really a fine athlete.

I remember when he was finished up at Idaho, the word was that he just didn't quite have the size and quickness to play DE in the NFL, so he spent all that winter before the draft working on his deep snapping in the Kibbie Dome. Smart cookie. It's continuing to pay off.

Apparently, he's still got some zip on his snaps. Stutz had plenty of velocity and was a pretty good long snapper, but he was absurdly inconsistent on the short snaps. There's no reason those shouldn't be automatic, but he was all over the place. The fact that he had good steam on it worked against him in those cases, because they were harder to handle. I have to believe that the customarily accurate Josh Brown has been significantly affected by his worries about where the snaps are going.

We'll have a good look at him at the Wednesday practice.

Frank's laptop is "in the shop" today getting some updates so he asked me to let you know the blog will be a little light today.

Deion Branch has more than 4,000 yards receiving and his teams are 19-3 when he catches a TD.

Josh Brown scored 100 or more points for fifth time of career, a team record.

Matt Hasselbeck moved past Jim Zorn (2,990) into 2nd place with 3,016 attempts. He only needs 64 attempts for most in a season. Dave Krieg had 531 in 1985. He only needs 22 completions for most in a season. Warren Moon had 313 in 1997/Hasselbeck 313 in 2003.

Hasselbeck only needs 496 yards for most in a season. Hasselbeck 3,841 in 2003.

Niko Koutouvides has a career-high 18 special teams tackles.

Mo Morris has a career-high 14 receptions.

Josh Wilson and DJ Hackett are making progress but it didn't sound like they are ready to be back this week. Otherwise, they are looking pretty healthy, something that Holmgren is obviously very happy about.

=> Read more!

Mike Holmgren said that the scuffle between two members of his staff on Sunday occurred when the Seahawks and Cardinals got into a melee on the field. It is the responsibility of a few members of the staff to make sure everybody stays back and does not go on the field or get involved. In the process of that happening, one guy says to the other guy, "I am back." Things escalated from there, requiring Holmgren to go over and break it up. "I did remind them in a very nice way, I am coaching a game here, I don't really need this right now," Holmgren said.

Mike Holmgren clarified in his Monday afternoon press conference that the Seahawks are looking at long snappers this week, but Boone Stutz has not been let go, which is what KJR was reporting earlier and which I erroneously re-reported. Holmgren said if somebody shows something in the workouts then they will sign him, otherwise they will go with Stutz. Apologies to Stutz.

The Seahawks clinched their fourth NFC West Division title with a pretty solid performance. Matt Hasselbeck was fantastic last night. Think about this, if only two QBs get pro bowl honors, which two would you take from Matthew (damn you Raible, now you've got me saying that), Tony Romo or Brett Favre.

Anyway let's get to the links, from your newspaper for the South Sound, The News Tribune ....

Frank's game story ran with the headline "Defense!" It's a double entendre — you know as in good defense by the Hawks and a NFC West title defense. Yeah, it had to be explained to me too.

Anyway, here's Darren's story on Matt Hasselbeck's stellar night. I had the pleasure of going into a tense Cardinals' locker room (more on this later), and did a story on Kurt Warner and his habit for throwing the ball to Seahawks, particularly Marcus Trufant. It was career-worst five interceptions for Warner, who took the blame for the loss.

The game notebook led with another great performance by Patrick Kerney, who schooled Cardinals top draft pick Levi Brown. It also includes notes about former Hawk Jerheme Urban, who had a big game for the Cards, and a postgame locker room fracas between a couple Cardinals players.

Dave wrote about Mike Holmgren surpassing Chuck Knox as the winningest coach in franchise history.

John McGrath wrote about Tacoma native Marcus Trufant and his monster night.

The professor John Clayton was at the game and filed this column.

Let's see how the opposing team's papers covered the game.

From the Arizona Daily Republic....
Here's the game story from Kent Sommers, which ran with the headline, "Cardinals flop in Seattle" The game notebook leads with Levi Brown's tough day. Here's the game rewind. Columnist Dan Bickley posted a pretty critical blog about the game. They also have a fan blogger who does a running blog from the game. Here is his post.

From the East Valley Tribune ...
Here's the game story from Mike Tulumello. Here's the game notebook that leads with Levi Brown's struggles and also mentions the locker room flare up. Columnist Scott Bordow writes about the Cards blowing it in their biggest game of the season.

QB KURT WARNER

(On this game being disapointing…) “Yeah obviously. Especially when you make mistakes that cost your team the game. I am very frustrated very disappointed. You know like to let my team down. Made some crucial mistakes that really hurt our team in a big game. Extrememly disappointed about it. But I will take this one on my shoulders and get back to work on Monday and get ready to go for the last three.”

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT

(On the outcome . . . ) “Give the Seahawks their credit. They played well today. Leonard Pope dislocated his ankle. We don’t know the extent of how much damage there is with that, but obviously he’ll be out, and that’s where we are.”

=> Read more!

LB JULIAN PETERSON

(On Marcus Trufant…) “Like everybody said, he’s our most improved player, I would say, from last year to this year. We were very excited about Tru (Marcus Trufant) in the beginning of the season. He wasn’t probably getting the interceptions like he was earlier but it really has picked up for him now. I think the games have really slowed down for him. There just happen to be two new safeties there for him, veteran guys who can talk and relate to him and tell him what’s going on. I think that makes him a lot more comfortable out there. Plus, you have Jim Mora who’s pretty much a secondary guru. We have him breaking down certain formations and how to play leverages. You see Tru being a totally different player. Now you see him playing to his potential. Hopefully he can grow up some more and continue to make plays.”

=> Read more!

DT ROCKY BERNARD

(On the defense…) “When I first got here it was all about the offense. Here, lately, we’ve been adding certain people and different pieces in and the defense has really been stepping up big. Anytime we have both sides of the ball going I think we’re pretty much unstoppable.”

=> Read more!

RB SHAUN ALEXANDER

(On appreciating the success…) “When I first got here we were in six-and-ten. I tell everybody six-and-ten season, seven-and-nine. Now we’re rolling this thing up pretty well and it’s almost like people can sometimes forget. It was hard work to put the team together and get the right chemistry and it’s a lot of fun right now so we’re not taking it for granted at all.”

(On winning the division…) “Definitely. It’s the first of many goals that we have but you can’t get to your second one until you get the first one so we’re happy we’re here.”

=> Read more!

QB MATT HASSELBECK

(On the win today…) Our guys played really well. We had to prepare very hard for this game. It’s a tough team to prepare for, they’ve had some injuries on defense that, believe it or not, have made it a little bit harder for us. We had to figure out who was going to be playing where and what there plan was going to be. They played us many different ways over they years, and Clancy [Pendergast] does a nice job. But guys made plays, and made big catches. Our equipment staff did a phenomenal job of rubbing down the footballs for us. They used a new technique, and that was really big. I think everyone felt good, and I think everything was kind of going our way a little bit.

=> Read more!

Regarding the sideline scuffle, I did not know it had happened until after I got back up to the media room. The games are broadcast in the media room but there is not sound, so reporters watching the game did not know about it. Somebody did send me this link to it. It is something that we will ask Mike Holmgren in Monday's news conference. Holmgren was not asked about it in his postgame news conference and there were no coaches around when I was in the locker room. Tune in tomorrow afternoon for a follow-up.

This is the unedited version of my game story that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

As the Seattle Seahawks celebrated their 42-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck ran off the frozen turf at Qwest Field with four fingers raised on his left hand.
Following his best performance of the season, it could have signified the number of touchdowns Hasselbeck tossed through the frigid air, thrilling the 68,193 on hand with his potent accuracy.
Instead, Hasselbeck was reminding all those still cheering from the stands that the Seahawks had earned their fourth consecutive NFC Division title and with it a guaranteed spot in the postseason.

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN

(Opening…) Needless to say, it is a very happy locker room. It is my understanding that we are the division champs, and that was our first goal for this season. But I cautioned the team, that as happy as they are right now, and I believe we played pretty well against what I consider to be a very fine Arizona team, a team that is one the rise, and very well coached, but we have three games left in the regular season, two on the road. We have to finish the regular season strong. I think we have built up something, and we are building on something that we established halfway through the season, and now we must continue to keep doing that. That was my message. Some great individual efforts, and I am very, very proud of the team. They did a nice job today

=> Read more!

SEAHAWKS POSTGAME NOTES

DE Patrick Kerney leads the NFL with a career high 13.5 sacks. His total is the most for the Seahawks since Michael Sinclair posted an NFL high 16.5 in 1998. His total is tied for the fourth highest total in club history. He has had 3.0 or more sacks in three games this season, San Diego’s Shawne Merriman also accomplished that feat last season.

NFL Sack Leaders PLAYER
13.5 Kerney Seattle
12.0 Umenyiora NY Giants
11.5 Allen Kansas City
Ellis Dallas
10.0 Ware Dallas

=> Read more!

Obviously a happy bunch after the game, so happy in fact that Paul Allen addressed the team in the locker room after the game -- a rarity -- and presented Mike Holmgren with a game ball. Holmgren became the franchise's all-time winningest coach today, passing Chuck Knox with 81 victories.

The compliments were abundant for Matt Hasselbeck after the game, everybody knowing that he was extremely accurate today. He had a 131.6 passer rating after going 22 for 33 for 272 yards, four TDs and no INTs. The WRs felt he was especially focused today because of what was at stake.

=> Read more!

Marcus Trufant just returned his second interception of the day 84 yards for a touchdown. The extra poiint was an adventure, Plackemeier dropping the ball, but the Seahawks still hold a 42-14 lead. Trufant now has six interceptions on the season. Kurt Warner has four INTs. And Qwest Field is electric.

After, as the ref called it, "all the hassle," Matt Hasselbeck hit Marcus Pollard on a post pattern from the 3, Matt's fourth TD pass of the day. After the score, Chris Spencer, whose helmet was ripped off for the penalty that kept the drive alive, took the ball from Pollard and spiked it himself. Seahawks lead 34-14.

The Cardinals just drove down the field after two Marcus Trufant pass interference calls. Kurt Warner hit former Seahawks WR Jerheme Urban for a 2-yard TD.

Arizona's tight end has a sprained ankle and is not coming back.

The Cardinals are going to have to give their right tackle help because Brown can't handle Kerney's speed. I have now watched Kerney go right around him about five or six times. A few times, Warner has stepped up into the pocket. But Brown's foot speed is too slow to keep up with Kerney, who now has two sacks.

Mike Holmgren spent some time with the offensive line and line coach Bill Laveroni after that last drive. He was angry about something, maybe that Matt got ransacked on that last play.

They should probably present the division title at halftime. In a game the Seahawks had to have to win the division for the fourth straight year, they have dominated the Arizona Cardinals in the first half, holding a 27-7 lead, the only blemish of which was a 21-yard punt out of the end zone by Ryan Plackemeier, setting up a Kurt Warner to Bryant Johnson touchdown with a minute left. Josh Brown tacked on a field goal at the end of the half, throwing his arms in the air in relief after missing three of his previous four attempts. Matt Hasselbeck has been fantastic. I don't have his passer rating yet, but Boling was guessing it must be about 140, maybe better. The defense has been stout, with Deon Grant getting an early interception, Patrick Kerney and Brandon Mebane getting sacks and John Marshall starting to send blitzes at Warner more often because the Cardinals don't have a choice but to pass. The crowd here at Qwest has been very vocal, having an effect -- though it did boo Plackemeier after that punt. More of the same in the second half, and the Seahawks start eyeing Green Bay, particularly since Tampa Bay lost today, dropping to 8-5.

Matt Hasselbeck just threw another TD pass, this one to Deion Branch for 17 yards and a 24-0 lead. Hasselbeck has now thrown three TDs, to Burleson, Engram and Branch. This last one was a wobbler as Hasselbeck was about to get hit. He is 13-15 for 188 yards and 3 TDs.

Keep an eye on the left side of the line, Womack has come in for Rob Sims at guard.

Floyd Womack is warming up on the stationary bike. Could mean he's coming in on the Seahawks' next offensive series.

After a great catch by Deion Branch set up a first and 10 at the 15, Matt Hasselbeck threw a ball to the middle side of the end zone, which Engram picked off the ground for a TD. The Seahawks are dominating, 17-0, with 11:47 left in the first half. It was Engram's fifth TD catch.

After a 25-yard run by Shaun Alexander on fourth and 1, Matt Hasselbeck hit Nate Burleson for a seven-yard TD in the back corner of the end zone for a 10-0 lead.

With second and goal on the 3, Shaun Alexander was thrown for a 2-yard loss and Matt Hasselbeck had a pass knocked down, forcing a field goal for a 3-0 lead with 8:51 left in the first quarter.

Kurt Warner overthrew Ben Patrick, allowing Deon Grant to pick off the pass. Plus, Grant was facemasked, adding another 15 yards. Seattle gets the ball at Arizona's 33.

Hansen is the captain of the boat on Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch."

Oliver Celestin will start at SS for Aaron Francisco

Bryant Johnson will start at WR for Anquan Boldin

Weather

35 degrees
83% humidity
Wind is calm

Bhawoh Jue
Tim Castille
Aaron Francisco
Elton Brown
Anquan Boldin
Bo Schobel
Ross Kolodziej
Tim Hasselbeck

D.J. Hackett
Josh Wilson
Jason Babin
Masfield Wrotto
Ray Willis
Courtney Taylor
Baraka Atkins
Charlie Frye

Here is the link to my story in today's News Tribune, which goes over with offensive coordinator Gil Haskell the plan for the offense in coming weeks. After speaking with Gil, I fully expect the Seahawks to try to throw a balanced attack at teams in an attempt to keep them off balance. If the run fails, Holmgren can easily resort to the passing game. But I think he does not want to become too predictable, and if Shaun Alexander and Mo Morris run like they did last week vs. Philadelphia, it should enable Holmgren to mix the run with the pass, or the pass with the run, or however you want to view it.

=> Read more!

KIRKLAND, WASH. – The Seattle Seahawks will partner with Salvation Army to collect donations for southwest Washington flood victims this Sunday, December 9, at Qwest Field prior to kickoff of the Seahawks game against the Arizona Cardinals.

There will be volunteers in green vests and Salvation Army buckets at various gate locations along Occidental Avenue and throughout the stadium.

Fans are also encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game or make a donation to any of the U.S. Marine volunteers at various gate locations throughout the stadium for the 31st annual Toys-for-Tots drive. There will also be a collection booth inside Touchdown City.

Some of the toys donated will be allocated to families in southwest Washington.

This was Mike Holmgren after practice discussing the three-game losing streak that the Seahawks incurred at this exact same time:

“I know that we had San Francisco and Arizona. Those were the two games. San Diego was the third game and I thought we played a great football game and I thought we had a chance to win that and they threw a home run over the head. The other two games were bothersome. I didn’t think we played very smart. I thought we made a lot of mistakes and I think the week before we started that little deal we had reached a point where we had a fairly comfortable situation and here come a couple teams that are building and getting better. We just didn’t play very well. I don’t think, emotionally, we handled that very well as a team. We had all the crazy weather and the lights went out in Seattle. It was a nightmare but I think we bounced back and finished strong. Now, I reminded them of that during the beginning of the week. I would be very surprised if we didn’t approach things a little bit better this year.”

Seattle, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Bobby Engram will be on hand at the Northwest Builders Show to promote the Turf Evolutions brand of artificial turf at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue on Tuesday, December 11 from noon to 6 p.m.

Engram is part owner of Turf Evolutions’ Seattle division. The company sells and installs environmentally friendly artificial turf for golf course, athletic field, putting green and landscape applications for residential and commercial properties.

=> Read more!

SEAHAWKS

OUT

D.J. Hackett
Josh Wilson

PROBABLE

Shaun Alexander
Rocky Bernard
Mike Green
Will Herring
Walter Jones
Chris Spencer

CARDINALS

OUT

Ross Kolodziej
Aaron Francisco

QUESTIONABLE

Anquan Boldin
Larry Fitzgerald

PROBABLE

Jerheme Urban
Kurt Warner

Game balls went to Kevin Bentley on special teams, Bobby Engram on offense and Craig Terrill on defense.

Walter Jones did not practice. But Mike Holmgren said it was only precautionary and that Walter will play Sunday. Chris Spencer was back at practice and will play Sunday. Will Walter out, there was more shuffling along the offensive line, with Pork Chop getting time at left tackle and Ray Willis at right guard. Holmgren however, said Willis is not likely to get any time along the line in the game.

=> Read more!

This is a Seahawks press release

KIRKLAND, WASH. – Seattle Seahawks WR Bobby Engram has partnered with Canon to showcase
his talents as a photographer the team announced today. Engram has been interested in photography for
a while but started devoting more of his free time to learning the craft in the past year-and-a-half.

“My hobby as a photographer is a great non-contact sport,” said Engram. “I have a new appreciation
for the professional sports photographers who line the sidelines on game day.”

=> Read more!

The NFL is doing commercials of 240 players, and they have recorded interviews asking players when they knew they arrived in the NFL -- or, in the case of Matt Hasselbeck, when he knew he didn't arrive. The following are audio links of Hasselbeck, which is pretty funny, and Nate Burleson.

Hasselbeck:
http://play.rbn.com/?url=nfl/nfl/open/nflfilms/demand/superbowl/nflcom/sb42/seahawks_matt_hasselbeck_mail_300k.rm

Burleson:
http://play.rbn.com/?url=nfl/nfl/open/nflfilms/demand/superbowl/nflcom/sb42/seahawks_nate_burleson_300k.rm

If you want to vote on the ads, go to www.nfl.com/superad.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was in a, how shall I say, feisty mood at Thursday's practice, upset at the offense for not being precise in its practice habits. He jumped on them several times, an intensity that I have not seen for a while now. I have to think it's because, as he said in Wednesday's press conference, that he has asked the players to ratchet it up a notch in the last quarter of the season.

=> Read more!

Here's the transcript of Warner's press conference with Seattle-area media:

On the importance of Sunday's game: “I don’t think it’s a season defining game, but obviously our backs are to the wall in regards to the playoff hunt. So really the next four games are all important to us. Obviously within our division the team that’s pretty much held the top spot for a number of years now, and a team that’s playing as well as anybody. I think it’s a big game for us, it’s a big game conference wise, it’s a big game in the big picture of what we want to accomplish. Any more hits that we take along the way put a big dent in our chances to try to get into the playoffs. So there are a lot of things there involved, but most important is us staying on track and winning, and trying to do it against another good football team.”

On if Arizona fans are beginning to believe in the Cardinals: “I think compared to what it’s been for a number of years there is a lot of excitement. I don’t know the last time that this franchise was 12 games into the season and they were actually playing for something, it actually meant something. So, you’re starting feel a little excitement, a little more energy in the stadium, and around town, because we are still involved. It doesn’t sound like much to a lot of teams, especially a team like Seattle that is there every year. For an organization like this, to be in the hunt after 12 games is extremely important, and it’s important for our community, and the team, and I think people understand that and they’re getting excited about that.”

=> Read more!

Here's the transcript of the Cardinals coach's press conference with the Seattle-area media:

On if he expected the Cardinals to be in contention in December: “I felt like we had a chance to be a good team. It’s kind of a funny question because if we’d had a couple of kicks go through we’d be sitting here with a little bit different record and then we’d really be talking about another thing. I think that our football team, we’ve come a long way in a year and we still have a long way to go. I think that this game against a quality opponent like the Seahawks will tell a lot about where we are."

On the health of Arizona’s wide receivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin: “A little bit up in the air. It’s going to be certainly questionable with both of our guys, both Larry and Anquan. We’ll have to see how they progress. Hopefully they’ll get better as the week progresses and have a chance. I know that, much like all of our team, they want to play in this game because they’re excited about it.”

=> Read more!

Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck said that because the way the last game in Arizona ended -- the botched handoff to Shaun Alexander -- the team did not do any dummy audibles for about a month. He said they have again been allowed to dummy audible.

"We just said it’s not worth it, to have something like that happen," Hasselbeck said. "It’s really nothing that creative or crazy it’s stuff we all did in high school, or probably even pop warner football. But on that day, as professional football players, we didn’t do it well. So we had to go back to basics, and I’d say for about a month we did nothing. We just sort of earned the responsibility back to be allowed to do that, and focused a little bit more.”

As always, these are courtesy of Bodog.com:

How many Interceptions will Lofa Tatupu have in his final 4 games?

0 3/2

1 1/1

2 2/1

3+ 3/1

=> Read more!

Sam Rosen
Tim Ryan
Chris Myers (sideline)

We speculated about this yesterday following Mike Holmgren's press conference, but Jim Mora is being mentioned as a candidate to replace Karl Dorrell at UCLA. Here is a link to a story in the Long Beach paper.

Practice is over. Here are the highlights:

K Josh Brown was not at practice with what the team said was an excused absence. When the team did its field goal drills, none other than punter Ryan Plackemeier kicked. Plack made his first two kicks, hooked a third barely and did not get to try a third when holder Charlie Frye bobbled the snap. Plackemeier, who kicked in college, said in a bind he could do it but wouldn't be comfortable on longer kicks.

With center Chris Spencer being the "oblique injury of the week", Chris Gray was the center for the first-team offense. Filling in at his right guard spot was Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack. Spencer spent his time at practice wearing a backpack with an electric stimulation machine hooked up to his injury.

Other players not practicing were WR D.J. Hackett (ankle), CB Josh Wilson (quad) and DT Rocky Bernard. LB Will Herring (hamstring) was at practice but did not do much, if anything.

Catch(es) of the day belonged Logan Payne, who made two grabs that drew oohs and aahs. His first grab he laid out and made a nice catch about 20 yards down the field. On his second, he made a one-handed grab near the sideline.

It has not yet been announced, but the NFL will honor Patrick Kerney tomorrow with the NFC defensive player of the month award for his seven sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception at a time that the Seahawks have gone 4-0.

KJR's Ian Furness asked Holmgren what his policy is on his coaches being contacted by colleges about head coaching jobs. Holmgren said that one of his coaches have already been contacted about a job, though he was not specific about which one. It leads to some interesting speculation though: Did UW contact Jim Mora to gauge his interest? Did WSU contact Mora? Did UCLA contact Mora? Holmgren did say something about guys' ties, so it would make sense that UW may have talked to Mora. Anyway, it's interesting that he would throw that out there rather than just answer Ian's question generically, particularly since Holmgren now has an allegiance to Mora and Mora and Willingham obviously are not fond of one another.

=> Read more!

To clarify something from Sunday's game against the Eagles, Mike Holmgren said that special teams coach Bruce DeHaven did in fact tell Ryan Plackemeier to not kick the ball to Brian Westbrook, which is weird because I spoke with Plackemeier after the game and he did not mention that when we talked about it specifically. Perhaps I didn't ask the question properly since I was already under the assumption that Plackemeier was not told to punt away from Westbrook. In any case, Holmgren said Plack just messed up and kicked it to him when he should not have. Holmgren still took the blame because he said he should have told Plack specifically not to kick to Westbrook.

I also asked Holmgren about the final series when he ran Shaun three straight times. He said he went into that series knowing that he was not going to throw the ball. He wanted the Eagles to burn their timeouts. He said he tried to get the line fired up before the series, telling them that if the offense can average 3.5 yards a carry on the next three plays, the game is over.

Ken Whisenhunt is having his press conference right now, I need to go listen to that and I'll give the rest of the Holmgren highlights thereafter.

Mike Holmgren said in his weekly press conference that the Seahawks are in pretty good shape injury-wise. D.J. Hackett is coming along much more quickly than they thought, though I don't think that means he will play this week. Josh Wilson is the one, Holmgren said, and is likely out two weeks, though he said they don't know for sure because they don't have a handle on how quickly he heals. Will Herring will be back this week.

Middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu was selected as the NFL defensive player of the week for Week 13. Tatupu had 11 tackles and three interceptions in the Seahawks' 28-24 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tatupu's third pick came with 14 seconds left at the 4-yard line to preserve the win. His first two interceptions, both in the first quarter, set up Seahawks touchdowns.

This is the first time in Tatupu's three-year career that he's won the award. He is the first Seahawks linebacker since Chad Brown in 2003 (Week 17) to be honored.

The Seahawks added Kevin Hobbs to the active roster from the practice squad and signed Omowale Dada to fill the practice squad opening. Dada, who went to Washington State, was in training camp.

The Seahawks also released fullback Fred McCrary, signed running back Josh Scobey and placed C.J. Wallace on injured reserve.

Scobey had played in 28 games in Seattle the previous two seasons, returning 76 kicks for 1,641 yards. He also had 35 special teams tackles.

The Arizona Republic is reporting that both Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin may be out for Sunday's game against the Seahawks, which would be huge since Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings had difficulty with their size in the last meeting. Here is the link to the story, but Fitzgerald has a groin injury and Boldin dislocated a toe in Sunday's win over Cleveland. Even if Boldin is able to play, he certainly will be affected by the injury.

Mike Holmgren press conference is at noon, then practice at 1:35 followed by an open locker room. We'll have updates throughout the day from all those things.

Of the Seahawks' plays on Sunday, 34 were passes and 29 were runs, more of the balance that Mike Holmgren used at the beginning of the season. This was Holmgren's explanation about why it ended up that way:

“I think a little bit of both. It was because I had Shaun (Alexander) back and the weather, I’d say that was the reason. Now, honest to goodness, I do not go in with numbers in my mind, about how I want that to go. But over my history, if I have a back like Shaun, at the end of the game, when someone tells me what the numbers were, really I had no idea what those numbers are, in a close game. If we’re behind and I know I’m throwing it every time, then I might kind of have an idea. It was because of the weather and Shaun, that’s why it was different than the last two or three weeks.”

There has to be a concern among the coaches about the secondary now that Josh Wilson is sidelined for a few weeks at least with a quad injury. It would not surprise me to see something happen like Kevin Hobbs activated off the practice and, with Shaun Alexander back, David Kirtman (who was inactive last week) reassigned to the practice squad after he clears waivers.

With no Wilson, Jim Mora does not really have a dime back to go to. Jordan Babineaux, a safety-corner, is the nickel back. C.J. Wallace is now hurt. And I have not seen Mike Green get a lot of time as a dime back this year. After Wilson got hurt, I think they pretty much stayed out of the dime against the Eagles. If they went to it, I didn't notice who the sixth D back was. I think they just kept dropping LBs into coverage.

Holmgren gave this update on the Seahawks injured players:

LT Walter Jones ... He said he hadn't seen Walt, but he thought he was OK. Jones had a knee injury that kept him out for a few plays against the Eagles.

S C.J. Wallace ... Not much info but Holmgren said the knee was the same Wallace injured early in the season. Reading between the lines here, I would think Wallace is going to be out for a while.

C Chris Spencer.... Spencer is the winner of the "oblique injury of the week" – Holmgren's words in quotes. Doesn't know if he'll be ready to practice by Wednesday but expects Spencer will play, much like Lofa Tatupu, Patrick Kearney and Matt Hasselbeck did.

S Josh Wilson ... The rookie has a pulled quad muscle and is probably not going to be ready for a while.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren just finished up. He was mostly positive, which is normal for a Monday press conference following a win. He praised the way Shaun Alexander and Maurice Morris have handled the time-share at running back and continued to heap praise on the very deserving Lofa Tatupu.

There were two areas he didn't have much good to say about – short-yardage offense and special teams. He said the team's failure to pick up first downs consistently in short-yard situations is "driving me out of my mind." He promised the issues on special teams – covering kicks, punting, and surprising, Josh Brown – will get better this week.

Also, he said he will likely continue to rotate the left guard spot between Rob Sims and Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack. He said "it's good to have a player like Pork Chop," because he was able to come in and play three positions against the Eagles – left tackle, right and left guard.

What is up with this weather? Frank and Dave are doing their own impersonation of Steve Martin and John Candy in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." (I'll let you decided which is which) And we're here building arks and weathering this deluge of rain. I swear there were salmon swimming in our parking lot.

Anyway let's get to the links, first from your newspaper for the South Sound, The News Tribune.

Here's Frank's game story which ran with the headline "Sudden-Theft Victory."

Frank was wrote another story on the Hawks big goal-line stand, that included stuffing Brian Westbrook on a fourth down. The game notebook led with Pork Chop Womack and the offensive line shuffling.

Dave's column deals with Lofa Tatupu's three interception day. It was funny after Feeley threw the third interception to Tatupu and Moose Johnston tried to offer some reason why. "I, I, I just don't understand how he can't see him. Maybe he's invisible to him."

Let's head back east to Philadelphia — the city that once booed Santa Claus.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer...
The game story ran under the headline .... Crushing Throws. Here's a _quot_We_were_right_there_with_a_chance_to_scoreand_I_thought_we_could_get_it_inquot_.html">story on the Hawks' goal-line stand from the Eagles perspective. Here's the game notebook that leads with Donovan McNabb returning next week.

Columnist Phil Sheridan writes about the Eagles' play calling.

Columnist Bob Ford writes about Brian Westbrook and what could have been.

From the Philadelphia Daily News
the game story ran with the headline "Gift-rapped." Here's the game _Slowed_by_injuriesLito_stuggles_against_Seahawks.html">notebook.
Here's a look into some interesting numbers from the game.

Columnist Rich Hoffman believes Donovan McNabb will have to save the Eagles season.

Columnist Dana Petit-O'Neill writes about the play calling specifically not running Brian Westbrook.

Columnist John Smallwood writes about the dwindling playoff hopes for the Eagles.

Columnist Paul Domowitch writes about Lofa's big day.

Columnists Sam Donellon (jeez is everybody a columnist at the Daily News) writes about AJ Feeley throwing any chance of starting away.

UPDATES in PROGRESS

Well, we got hit by the storm moving toward the Northeast. I have had two plane delays and don't get back into Seattle until about 6 tonight, assuming my planes go where they are supposed to go. I saw Clare Farnsworth in the airport and he has already had four flights canceled and had been standing in line for an hour trying to find another route home. I hope he makes it OK but the weather is a drag. Needless to say, I will not be at Holmgren's afternoon news conference, scheduled for 2:15. I think Darrin Beene will be there for that.

=> Read more!

On the play of LB Lofa Tatupu:

“He’s great. He’s doing a great job. [Head coach Mike Holmgren] could use him at fullback if he wants. [Tatupu] did a nice job today.”

=> Read more!

RB Shaun Alexander

On scoring a touchdown in the first series in his first game back from injury:

“It’s been a long time, so it’s exciting. I was telling all the boys before the game started, ‘You don’t know how much you miss playing,’ let alone touchdowns or whatever. Just being with the boys and giving everything you’ve got out there, it was just a good feeling. It wasn’t even about the touchdown, it really wasn’t. I was just excited to be there. If you just go back a week, I’m calling [QB] Matt [Hasselbeck] right after the game’s over, and I’m asking, ‘Is he ok?’ I was sweating bullets the whole game with them when they were in St. Louis, and it was good to just be a part of the guys, and go out there and just do my part. It was exciting.”

=> Read more!

On what was going through his mind when RB Brian Westbrook was back for the punt return:

“It was giving ourselves a chance to win the game.”

On what happened on the third interception he threw:

“It was just an inside post move and the guy did a pretty good job, I didn’t see him. He did a good job of going with my eyes, and redirecting and going back and getting the ball. It’s on me. Even with the timing thing you don’t try to force the ball.”

=> Read more!

On injuries sustained during the game:

“[DT] (Brodrick) Bunkley could not play. We tried him out yesterday, and he tweaked his knee in the walk-through. He couldn’t go today. Then obviously [QB] Donovan (McNabb) and Q [S] (Quintin Mikell). [CB] Lito Sheppard irritated his knee. It looks like it’s structurally sound, but we’ll have to see how that goes.”

=> Read more!

This is a copy of my unedited game story that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune

PHILADELPHIA – Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was asked in the wake of his team’s 28-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon how this year compared to the 2005 season, the last time the Seahawks played at Lincoln Financial Field.
“That,” Hasselbeck said, “was a special year. Everything was going right for us. It was almost too easy. This year has been a little tougher.”
Indeed, the difference between that Super Bowl season and this year can be distilled into the way the Seahawks captured the two games against the Eagles.
That year, they beat Philadelphia 42-0 on Monday night, a win so complete the Seahawks almost felt compelled to apologize for it.
On Sunday afternoon, with a steady rain falling in temperatures hovering around freezing, the Seahawks were not able to claim their fourth consecutive victory until the end – and even then it was in doubt.

=> Read more!

On his thoughts on the game:

“Well I told the team if nothing else we are interesting. These games going down to the wire, obviously they don’t care about me or my health. What a great win. This is always a difficult trip for any team coming in here. We respect this organization, their staff and their players so much it is a great win for us. We knew we had to win some of these games on the road that we have coming up. This was one of them. Close ball game, I think the Eagles did a nice job, clearly winning the field position battle all day. [LB] Lofa Tatupu had one of the great games I have ever seen a linebacker play with 12 tackles and three interceptions. We needed all those. We had a good goal line stand at the end of the first half. Clearly there are some things we have to shore up if we want to reach our goals. I am very happy about the win, a great win for this team.”

=> Read more!

Obviously, the locker room was pretty happy afterward, though with a great sigh of relief. Mike Holmgren took the blame for punting to Brian Westbrook, saying he kind of lost track of that and he should have done with Westbrook in that situation the same thing he did with Devin Hester. Plackemeier -- who I apparently jinxed by doing a story on him for Saturday's paper -- said he wanted to get off the punt because they had an eight-man front, indicating a heavy rush. He said Mike and Bruce DeHaven would talk to tell him to punt it away from Westbrook. In any case, Lofa saved both their hides. I did not talk to Lofa because Boling is doing a column on him and took care of that part of the locker room, but I will post some quotes later from him.

=> Read more!

Whew, that was a scary ending. Lofa Tatupu gets his third interception of the game to seal a 28-24 victory that was in doubt because of a 64-yard punt return by Brian Westbrook. It was Seattle's fourth straight win and maintains for now a two-game lead in the division. As always, I'll be back up later with postgame stuff from the locker room.

The Eagles' corner is being looked at on the sidelines. This may be a bad thing for Seattle because Hasselbeck has picked on him all day.

Maurice Morris took a sweep 45 yards, throwing a serious juke on Sheldon Brown at about the 20, to give the Seahawks back the lead. Walter Jones made a fantastic block on the play, swallowing J.R. Reed. Morris now has 62 yards on three carries.

After Bobby Engram fumbled, the defense once again could not stop the Eagles, allowing Brian Westbrook to run 29 yards for the go-ahead score. Brian Russell and Kelly Jennings both missed tackles but that was deep into the secondary.

It has been an eventful first half that ended with Seattle stopping the Eagles four straight times from the 1, enabling them to maintain a 21-17 lead. The game started out well for Seattle, with Lofa Tatupu intercepting A.J. Feeley twice to set up Seattle scores. But the Seahawks' defense has had some difficulty stopping Philly's offense from running up and down the field, though the final goal line stand has to give them confidence. It was Seattle's third goal line stand in two games. Beyond that, the Seahawks have gotten no pressure on Feeley, with zero sacks, and Feeley has done a pretty good job of picking apart the secondary. At one point he completed six straight. Should make for a very interesting second half. Shaun Alexander's impact has been that Seattle has tried to run the ball more, but other than the first series Alexander has had little success. Matt Hasselbeck looks pretty, finding Bobby Engram for one touchdown and Nate Burleson for another. The weather seems to have eased some. In the second half, the defense needs to get some more stops and it appears that the pass is far more successful than the run, which has been the case most of the year.

This is why Holmgren hangs on to Pork Chop. He has now played left tackle, right guard and left guard. He is in right now for Rob Sims.

The Eagles aren't letting Seattle run away with this. Feeley hit Kevin Curtis for a 24-yard TD pass, beating Kelly Jennings and Deon Grant.

Matt Hasselbeck threw a pretty routine pass over the middle to Nate Burleson, and he threw a move on Lito Sheppard to get into the end zone for a 43-yard score.

The Seahawks have run 22 plays from scrimmage. 12 of them were intended to be passes and 10 were runs. Shaun being back has taken away some of the passing influence.

Also, Pork Chop is now playing right guard in place of Chris Gray.

Going back to last week, Brown has now missed two straight field goals and three of the last four. The snap on this miss was OK.

During that timeout, Walter came back in the game. It is something to keep an eye on.

Walter Jones is getting left knee looked at, we think.

Wilson has a leg injury. No specifics on what it is. But he will not return. Ben Obomanu took over for Wilson on kickoff returns.

After A.J. Feeley hits Kevin Curtis for a 37-yard pass that beat Marcus Trufant, who then missed the tackle, Seattle's defense held, forcing a 31-yard field goal by David Akers. On the play before the pass to Curtis, the Eagles got away with an offensive pass interference that probably saved a third interception.

On third and goal from the 12, Matt Hasselbeck hit Bobby Engram for a touchdown down the middle. It was very straightforward, looked too easy, though Matt did audible on the play.

Lofa Tatupu jumped in front of another Feeley pass and returned it 49 yards to the 8.

The rookie looks like he might be hurt pretty badly. They are carrying him off the field. His right leg is hurt.

Correll Buckhalter just ran 30 yards to tie the score. That came after a 15-yard run by Brian Westbrook. Lofa missed a tackle on Buckhalter's run. Players are slipping all over the place on the field.

After Lofa Tatupu intercepts A.J. Feeley's first pass, Shaun Alexander goes for 16 yards to the 2, then scores his first TD since Week 2 of the season. Seahawks lead, 7-0.

By the way, Alexander did not start the game. Mo Morris was in for the first play from scrimmage, a pass that almost was intercepted by Takeo Spikes.

They just spent a few moments at Lincoln Financial Field honoring the memory of the slain Washington Redskins safety.

The Eagles press box had a firewall up that would not allow us access to the blog. The issue obviously has been resolved. Thanks for the patience.

Inactives for Seattle:

Charlie Frye
D.J. Hackett
David Kirtman
Jason Babin
Will Herring
Mansfield Wrotto
Ray Willis
Howard Green

Eagles inactives

Donovan McNabb
Quintin Mikell
Tony Hunt
Max Jean-Gilles
Scott Young
Victor Abiamiri
Montae Reagor
Brodrick Bunkley

The weather here is pretty bad, very cold, rain mixed with snow falling, and it just picked up and is really coming down. The grass on the field looks a little thin to me, it's been down two weeks.

Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid were standing at midfield chatting for about 10 minutes. Reid is one of the few people who can make Holmgren look small.

Stay tuned for developments. Hopefully we don't encounter any more web troubles.

Frank and Dave (and other reporters) are having problems with blog access from the stadium in Philadelphia. It appears to be some kind of firewall issue there, preventing them from accessing certain sites (like this one). They are asking for quick fix from the Eagles' media relations staff. Hopefully, they'll get one.

- Mark Briggs

First and foremost, can the Seahawks wake up early enough to compete in this game from the start. Mike Holmgren is trying not to make an issue of this, and the players say they are aware of the struggles in the past, the reason Matt Hasselbeck this week spoke about setting his alarm clock earlier all week. They also left on Friday afternoon, so they get two nights to adjust.

=> Read more!