Saturday, January 14, 2006
ENJOY THIS, SEAHAWKS FANS
It's been a long time coming.
After near-triumphs against Miami in 1999, Green Bay in 2003, and St. Louis last season, the Seahawks were absolutely due for a win in the postseason.
The long playoff drought of 21 years is over. With today's 20-10 win over the Washington Redskins at Qwest Field, the Seahawks will play in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday, Jan. 22 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific. Seattle's opponent will either be the Carolina Panthers or Chicago Bears, to be determined tomorrow afternoon at Soldier Field.
When Shaun Alexander went out in the first quarter with a concussion, past Seahawks teams would have panicked. Not this team. Sure, Alexander is the NFL MVP. If you know the Seahawks, however, you know how valuable Matt Hasselbeck is to this offense. He understands everything that there is to know about this offense. He was labeled as Mike Holmgren's guy when he was acquired by the Seahawks in March 2001. For the first year and a half of his career in Seattle, Hasselbeck didn't live up to expectations.
I really believe that the final game of the 2002 season for the Seahawks was the beginning of Hasselbeck's success in Seattle. In the final game of the 2002 season in San Diego, Hasselbeck was 36-for-53, threw for 449 yards with 2 touchdowns as the Seahawks defeated the Chargers 31-28. It wasn't the stats from that game that led to this conclusion for me, though. It was the fact that when he jawed with then-Chargers defensive back Rodney Harrison, I knew that the Seahawks had their man.
Since that game in San Diego, Hasselbeck has led the Seahawks to three straight appearances in the postseason. This season, he finally can say that he has a playoff win on his resume.
While Hasselbeck was a main reason why the Seahawks won today, I can't help but credit the defense enough for their effort. It doesn't matter that the Redskins' offense isn't that good. To hold a team to 10 points in the playoffs means that you're doing your job. Sure, the Seahawks defense had their lapses, with the 51-yard completion by Chris Cooley and the 4th-and-16 play by Santana Moss. But when I think about defenses, I think about one key stat: how many points did they allow? The 2005 Seahawks will allow a few yards, but they seldom allow too many points. I'll take that anyday.
What a day in Seattle sports history. The job isn't done yet, however. Just because the Seahawks have ended their playoff victory drought doesn't mean that the season is over. As Alexander has said, this season will be a failure if this team doesn't get to the Super Bowl. (By the way, Alexander should be able to play next week.)
Enjoy this.
And remember, this feeling NEVER gets old. Let's hope this isn't just a once-in-21-years deal.
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