Seahawks make the playoffs with room to spare

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, December 28, 2003

SEATTLE – The team that seemed destined to ponder what might have been for another year has finally taken a step forward.

The Seattle Seahawks are back in the NFL playoffs.

The Seahawks, who beat San Francisco 24-17 Saturday to finish with a 10-6 record, got the help they needed Sunday to qualify as one of the NFC’s two wild-card teams.

The Seahawks, who in the playoffs for the first time since 1999, play the Green Bay Packers at 10 a.m. PST Sunday at Lambeau Field.

“It’s a sigh of relief that we’re in the playoffs, but at the same time, we’re really where we always thought we should be, and that’s in there fighting for the big trophy,” running back Shaun Alexander said. “I told everybody from the beginning that with our team’s backs against the wall, I’d take us over anybody.”

It took Saturday’s victory plus at least one of three possible scenarios to fall in their favor for the Seahawks to return to the playoffs for the first time in four years.

The Dallas Cowboys lost at New Orleans, combined with victories by Cleveland and Miami, to give the Seahawks the NFC’s fifth seed over Dallas based on a strength-of-victory formula. A team’s strength of victory is determined by the combined winning percentage of the teams it beat during the regular season.

It was the most complex of the three developments that could extend the Seahawks’ season. Two other scenarios also would have gotten them in, a Green Bay tie or loss against Denver, and a Minnesota tie or loss against Arizona.

Green Bay won but Minnesota lost on the final play of the game at Arizona, giving the Packers the NFC North title and a first-round matchup against the Seahawks. Had the Vikings won, they’d have clinched the North and hosted the Seahawks.

The Seahawks’ 35-13 loss at Green Bay on Oct. 5 was the start of six straight road defeats. The Hawks, however, believe they’re far from first-round fodder.

“I feel like we’ve got a lot of momentum right now,” center Robbie Tobeck said after beating the 49ers. “I feel like if we get in the playoffs, we can continue this run.”

Seattle won its last two games after overcoming a 3-5 midseason stretch that undermined a 5-1 start. Among the Seahawks’ troubles was a 1-6 road record entering Saturday.

That’s all forgotten now, they say.

“I think we’re capable on any given day of playing pretty well and giving anybody a run for their money,” coach Mike Holmgren said.

The Seahawks proved that with their first 10-victory season since 1986, including victories in all eight home games. Now they must try to win a postseason game for the first time since 1984.

“We know if we get a chance, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with,” rookie cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “And that’s all we want, a chance.”