Brown delivers … a big hit?

Published 11:09 pm Sunday, November 18, 2007

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks worked long and hard on a plan of attack for Pro Bowl return man Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears last week, but never once was there mention of trying to get kicker Josh Brown isolated for an open-field tackle.

And yet, when Hester got his one clean shot at a big return Sunday afternoon, that’s the defense that worked in Seattle’s favor.

“You’ll notice, we were kicking it all over the field today,” Brown said after Sunday’s 30-23 win over Hester and the Bears. “We finally kicked deep, deep in the corner, and he showed us exactly why you don’t kick to him. He caught it in the corner and went the other way. I just happened to be where I was supposed to be and held on for dear life.”

Brown fought off a stiff-arm from Hester and made an impressive open-field tackle. Afterward, Brown couldn’t resist the temptation to imitate teammate Patrick Kerney’s pose-and-flex routine while Hester got to his feet.

When asked why he celebrated, Brown said: “It was Devin Hester, are you kidding me? It was cool.”

Brown’s tackle was so impressive that it had teammates talking in the locker room after the win.

“I think a half hour a day, working with me on the blocking sleds, I’ll turn him into the best tackler on the team,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu quipped. “He shows more promise than any of the linebackers.”

The play marked one of the few opportunities for anyone to get a hit on Hester. The Seahawks were so weary of the big-play return man that they squib-kicked on nearly every kickoff and did directional punting as well.

“You have a decision to make there. … The guy is really good,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “I would hope that Josh Brown wouldn’t have to make too many tackles on our special teams.”

Brown had to make a tackle Sunday, and it worked out for the better … this time.

“He slid off my facemask,” Brown said of Hester’s stiff-arm. “Had he made contact, he might’ve gotten around me.

“He’s a great runner, and there’s a reason nobody kicks to him.”

Heads-up finish: As a member of the hands team on kickoffs, Seahawks safety Brian Russell is expected to use his hands to corral the ball. But when it came to the most important kickoff of Sunday’s game, he used his head by letting the ball ricochet off his hands.

Chicago’s final kickoff, with 13 seconds remaining, rolled past Seattle’s front line of special teamers before Russell intentionally punched it backward and out of bounds.

“You can’t hit (the ball) forward, but if it goes lateral or behind you, it’s your ball,” Russell said of the league rule that led to his decision. “The ball was squirting around funny, so I didn’t even want to take a chance diving on it. It might squirt out or hit your hand funny, so I just gave it the heave-ho out of bounds.”

The kickoff came after Chicago’s Robbie Gould nailed a 52-yard field goal to put the Bears within seven points with 13 seconds left.

Drive killers: After giving up fourth-down conversions in losses to New Orleans and Cleveland, the Seattle defense has found a way to get off the field as of late.

Over the past two weeks, opponents are 0-for-5 on fourth-down conversions, including two failed attempts Sunday.

Cornerback Kelly Jennings, who had returned to the field after suffering a calf injury earlier in the game, made a diving pass breakup to end a fourth-quarter drive.

“In that situation, they’re either going to throw the deep ball or go for the (first-down) sticks,” Jennings said of the pass he batted away from receiver Bernard Berrian with 2:06 remaining in the game. “On the play, I was able to read it well and make a break on the ball.”

Linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill stuffed an earlier running play on fourth-and-1.

Engram’s the ‘Man’: Before the game, wide receiver Bobby Engram was honored as the 2007 recipient of the Seahawks’ Man of the Year award. He is one of 32 finalists for the NFL’s Man of the Year, the winner of which will be announced during Super Bowl week.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who happened to be in town for the game, presented Engram with the trophy along with Seahawks president Tim Ruskell.

“To see the people who have won the award in the past, and what the award stands for, and with everything I went through last year, it’s just very gratifying and very humbling,” Engram said last week.

Engram won the award based in part on his charity work. He missed most of last season due to a thyroid condition.

Benson breaks out: Chicago running back Cedric Benson, who hadn’t had a single carry of more than 16 yards heading into Sunday’s game, got off to a great start. He scored a 43-yard touchdown on his first carry, then added a 20-yarder on his second.

But after that, the Bears’ leading rusher was held to just 26 yards on nine carries.

Not exactly perfect: The Indianapolis Colts’ Adam Vinatieri is not the only clutch kicker who’s had some uncharacteristic misses lately.

Seattle’s Brown was wide left on a 44-yarder Sunday, marking the second time he’s missed a field goal attempt in his past two games.

“I really can’t tell you,” he said when asked what went wrong on Sunday’s miss. “I felt like I hit it well, and it just grew a tail and went left.”

Brown made up for the kick with a pair of 40-plus-yarders in the second half.

Leroy’s back: After watching replacement Kevin Bentley get a team-high 10 tackles in his place last Monday, starting linebacker Leroy Hill returned from a hamstring injury and made quite an impact of his own.

Hill had a team-high 10 tackles and a sack in Sunday’s win over Chicago.

“I’m not going to give him any credit,” joked Tatupu, Hill’s closest friend on the team. “He didn’t practice all week, he didn’t play last week, so he’s got fresh legs.”

Hasselbeck plays hurt: Several times during Sunday’s game, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was seen stretching the strained oblique muscle that kept him out of a few practices late last month.

“It was a physical game, so I will be looking for a lot of sympathy tonight when I get home,” Hasselbeck said after Sunday’s game.

Not-so-blabby Brian: Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher is a heck of a player, but he’s not much of a talker. After Sunday’s game, he was abrupt in his comments to the media.

What’s next for the 4-6 Bears? “We have got to play better.”

How did the Chicago defense play against Seattle? “Too many yards.”

How did he rate the play of Bears quarterback Rex Grossman. “He did well.”

And that was that.

Disappointing day: Chicago coach Lovie Smith called the outcome “a disappointing loss,” particularly since the Bears jumped out to a 10-0 lead. “We felt that we needed to get off to a good start to get the fans out of it and all that, but we weren’t able to hold the lead.”

Smith said he was generally pleased with his team’s offensive showing, but “defensively we allowed too many passing yards (337 by Seattle). We were able to get decent pressure, but we weren’t able to keep the quarterback inside the pocket enough. So it’s just disappointing.

“I thought that Hasselbeck had a heck of a game,” he added. “When you give up over 300 yards passing, you don’t like that.”

Quick slants: Two Seahawks defenders got hurt during the course of the game — Jennings and defensive tackle Rocky Bernard — but eventually returned to the field. … Running back Maurice Morris started in place of Shaun Alexander for the second week in a row and had 87 yards on 18 carries. Morris also scored his second rushing touchdown of the season, matching the total that Alexander has in eight games. … The best hit of Sunday’s game might have been when fullback Leonard Weaver flattened Chicago safety Brandon McGowan on an 11-yard Morris run in the third quarter. Weaver had one of his better games as a blocker Sunday. “I’m feeling very confident right now,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been working on every day, and it’s definitely started to pay off.”

Herald writer Rich Myhre contributed to this notebook