Home cooking tips scales for Seahawks feast

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, January 14, 2006

SEATTLE – Any doubters of the importance of the home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs need only look at the Seattle Seahawks Saturday.

The Seahawks will play next Sunday for the NFC title and a berth in the Super Bowl despite their most uneven performance at Qwest Field since a 38-9 loss to Buffalo in November of 2004.

Kevin Nortz / The Herald Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander watched the game from the sideline after sustaining a concussion in the first quarter of Saturday’s NFC playoff game.

They prevailed against a geared-up but bruised and dog-tired Washington Redskins team in a 20-10 victory because their home-field advantage outweighed a multitude of sins and misfortunes. By building the NFC’s best regular-season record, the Seahawks not only had an extra week to heal bodies, but also didn’t have to worry about an energy-sapping, cross-country trip.

As opposed to, say, the Redskins.

“The home-field advantage is huge,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said, showing a gift for understatement.

Had anyone told Redskins coach Joe Gibbs before the game that Seattle would lose star tailback and NFL MVP Shaun Alexander in the first period because of a concussion; that his team would force the Seahawks into three lost fumbles; and that Washington would hold the NFL’s highest-scoring team to 20 points, the chronically unruffled one would have paddled his own knees and yelled “Whee!”

But this is how a week’s rest and home cooking tip the scales in favor of the home team.

Seattle was fresh and eager to go. Washington, in effect, was on its seventh straight week of playoff pressure. Tripping around at 5-6 on Nov. 27, the Redskins had to win their last five regular-season games simply to have a prayer of making the playoffs.

So that’s what they did. And they also pulled out a first-round playoff victory against Tampa Bay, despite managing just 125 yards, 40 via the pass.

As impressive as Washington had been post-Thanksgiving, it came at a cost of an injury epidemic.

Clearly, Washington was living on borrowed time. Tailback Clinton Portis labored with two sore shoulders. Quarterback Mark Brunell limped around on a bad knee wrapped in a brace roughly the size of a reservoir. The offensive line was a patchwork operation, with 43-year-old Ray Brown starting the final game of his career, filling in for the injured Randy Thomas. And Brown was injured during the game.

But the Seahawks still had to play. Luckily, it was at Qwest.

“It starts with our fans,” Seattle defensive end Grant Wistrom said. “They were going nuts before the game even started. They felt it was time and we did, too. It would be a shame to play as well as we did all year long and go out there and mess up in this game.”

The Seahawks made up for Alexander’s loss with the fine play of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (16-for-26 for 215 yards, one passing TD, one running TD) and receiver Darrell Jackson (nine catches, 143 yards, one TD).

Holmgren himself went to Hasselbeck at halftime and asked his quarterback to do what he could to compensate.

“We put a lot on Matt’s shoulders, anyway,” Holmgren said. “I told him he was going to have to do a little bit more. We needed the big plays and we hit a couple.”

The turnovers, however, nearly did in the Seahawks.

Most troubling was Josh Scobey’s lost fumble on a fourth-quarter kickoff. The Redskins had just scored on a 20-yard TD pass from Brunell to Santana Moss that cut Seattle’s lead from two touchdowns to 17-10 with 11:51 remaining.

“I was mad at first,” Holmgren said. “You get into those situations where you have a 14-point lead, and one thing that can’t happen is a quick score.”

Clearly, Washington had ample time to tie, but it couldn’t get out of its own way after recovering on the Seattle 40-yard line. Brunell could only drive the offense to the Seattle 18, and, with the 67,551 in attendance screaming him into distraction, John Hall missed a 36-yard field goal.

Game over.

The Redskins’ missed opportunity was reminiscent of the first quarter, when Alexander coughed up the ball on a promising opening drive that ended on Washington’s 11. Instead of taking advantage, the Redskins gained 2 yards in three plays and had to punt.

“That was big,” Brunell said. “That was a real tough way to start a game.”

The Seahawks got away with one Saturday. They probably will have Alexander back Sunday. They have minor nicks and bruises, but are largely healthy.

Yet, if they repeat Saturday’s debacle of three lost fumbles, not even their own home field may give them sufficient advantage.