Everett, Wash.
Published: Monday, November 26, 2007

A familiar finish

The Seahawks overcome a poor start when Rams quarterback Gus Frerotte fumbles a fourth-down snap on the Seattle 1-yard line -- remember Tony Romo? -- to preserve a come-from-behind victory, their third in a row.

By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer

 ST. LOUIS -- Brandon Mebane had never seen anything like it. And he was the only one.

Just about everyone else in the Seattle Seahawks' locker room had been through an unlikely finish like the one that gave the Seahawks a 24-19 win over St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. For most, a game that ended on a botched exchange between the snapper and quarterback seemed all too familiar.

Instead of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo mishandling the ball, as he did in a first-round playoff game last year, the Rams' Gus Frerotte was the goat this time around. And instead of the Seahawks' Jordan Babineaux wrapping up the quarterback after he regained possession of the ball, it was Darryl Tapp who made the game-ending tackle Sunday.

"You never want to give up on a play," Tapp said, the familiar smile as proud as ever Sunday.

The sense of relief that filled Seattle's locker room on Sunday afternoon was reminiscent of the feeling last January. There were lots of memories, but none for Mebane.

"I wasn't watching that game," said the rookie defensive tackle. "I think I saw the highlights, but I didn't really pay attention to the pro game back then."

In the end, the Seahawks continued to use ill-advised formulas for victory on Sunday. A one-dimensional offense, an early deficit and a last-second fumble are not the recipes for success of most teams. But on Sunday, they worked for the Seahawks (7-4) yet again.

"We needed a little luck," coach Mike Holmgren said after Seattle's third win in as many weeks. "Sometimes it goes against you for a while, and then you get a little lucky and it goes like this."

After falling into an early hole and rallying to take their first lead on a Leonard Weaver touchdown with 5:57 remaining, the Seahawks held on thanks to a familiar miscue.

The Rams had driven 57 yards in eight plays, thanks in large part to a 24-yard pass interference penalty on Seattle safety Deon Grant, but got stopped one yard short of the end zone on third-and-goal from the 2.

Both teams took successive timeouts with 30 seconds remaining, then the Rams lined up for what would be -- barring a penalty -- their final play.

The exchange between backup quarterback Frerotte, who had replaced injured starter Marc Bulger in the first quarter, and backup center Andy McCollum, who had replaced injured starter Brett Romberg in the first half, resulted in the ball rolling out of the quarterback's hands and onto the ground. While Frerotte picked it up cleanly, he was quickly swallowed up by Tapp for a four-yard loss.

"Phew," the Seahawks' Babineaux said afterward. "I don't know what they were getting ready to run, but I don't want to know."

That wasn't the only odd happenstance in the latest installment of an unpredictable rivalry.

The Seahawks fell behind 16-7 during a crazy first quarter that included three fumbles, a safety, a missed field goal, the Rams' longest running touchdown of the season, a kickoff return for a score, and a starting quarterback -- the Rams' Marc Bulger -- lost to injury.

St. Louis added a field goal midway through the second quarter to take a 19-7 lead into halftime. Seattle's only touchdown during the first 30 minutes came when Josh Wilson caught a short kickoff and went 89 yards. The only other time Seattle had much offensive success was when the Seahawks went into the hurry-up offense with four minutes left in the second quarter. But even that drive ended on a sour note, with Hasselbeck throwing an interception into the end zone.

At halftime, the Seahawks had just 89 yard of total offense, 29 of which came on a long, desperation pass to Deion Branch as the clock expired at halftime. Seattle also failed to score an offensive touchdown in the first half for just the second time this season.

"Our defense kept us in there," offensive lineman Sean Locklear said. "It started out ugly."

While Seattle's defense did not allow a point over the final 38 minutes of the game, the offense finally found some way to manage the Rams' pass rush by picking up the tempo and ditching the audibles at the line. The result was two scoring drives on the first three offensive possessions of the third quarter.

That put Seattle within 19-17 before Weaver stepped in while starter Maurice Morris shook off an ankle injury. With the ball at the 5-yard line after a St. Louis penalty, the Seahawks ran one of just 19 rushing plays they had in 62 offensive snaps. Weaver surprised the Rams, breaking through a hole up the middle and into the end zone for his first NFL touchdown.

That gave Seattle its first lead, at 24-19, with 5:57 remaining.

After Josh Brown missed his second field-goal attempt of the game, from 52 yards out, St. Louis got the ball back at the Rams' 42-yard line with 2:44 remaining. After two short completions, Frerotte overthrew receiver Isaac Bruce on a long pass over the middle. The officials flagged Grant for interference on the play to put the ball at the Seattle 15 with 2:06 left.

Three plays later, Frerotte converted a third-and-1 on a quarterback sneak to give the Rams a first down at the Seattle 4 with 1:03 remaining.

Frerotte misfired to an open receiver at the goal line on first down. On second down, he connected with Drew Bennett for a two-yard gain. Jackson got to the 1-yard line on a third-down carry before the teams lined up for the biggest play of the game.

Seattle's Grant said that Mebane's initial push played a part in the fumbled exchange.

No matter how it happened, no matter what may have been planned for the final play of the game, it resulted in a unique ending.

And a somewhat familiar one for the Seahawks.

"The quarterback-center exchange, that's the beginning of every play," Babineaux said. "If that doesn't work, the play doesn't work.

"I don't know if the 12th Man hopped on that airplane and flew out here to give us that extra something again."
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA