By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
KIRKLAND – They listened to the players’ words, then scribbled frantically as if etching them in stone. As the Seattle Seahawks talked about the upcoming game, local reporters recorded their every thought.
“This is a must-win game,” safety Reggie Tongue said.
“You win, you’re in,” teammate Christian Fauria offered, “you lose, you’re out.”
The cliches aptly describe this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. But they’re not quite that fresh.
Tongue was talking about a Dec. 9 meeting with the Denver Broncos, a game the Seahawks thought they absolutely had to win to have a chance at postseason play. Seattle lost that game.
Fauria’s words came during the week of a crucial Dec. 23 matchup with the New York Giants – another “must-win” game. Of course, the Seahawks lost that one, too.
But they’re miraculously still alive.
Now, as the Seahawks prepare for their season finale this week, Seattle is truly on its ninth life. When the Kansas City Chiefs come to town Sunday, the season is officially on the line. A victory wouldn’t necessarily put the Seahawks into postseason play, but a loss would – finally – eliminate them.
“If we don’t win, it’s all for naught,” defensive lineman Antonio Cochran said. “We’ve just got to take care of business, it’s as simple as that.”
The season looked lost when the Seahawks dropped the game at Denver, then things appeared to be even more irrevocable when the Giants surprised them two weeks ago. But things have certainly taken a turn for the better.
“The Giants game was heart-breaking, and obviously things looked bleak,” said quarterback Trent Dilfer, who may make his fourth start of the season Sunday. “But I’ve been around some pretty amazing things, and a lot can change. Two weeks left in the season, there’s a lot of football left. That’s kind of the approach that we have. And with one week left, there’s still a lot that can happen.”
The fact that Seattle is still alive is due to a combination of fortune, good timing and resolve. Oh, and the losses by Baltimore and the New York Jets last weekend didn’t hurt, either.
“We were due for a break,” Cochran said. “We’ve been playing hard, but we just haven’t had a lot of breaks this year. We’ve finally got a break right now, and hopefully it works out for the best.”
On paper, this hardly looks like a playoff team. The Seahawks rank 25th in the NFL in offense, 20th in defense. Furthermore, Seattle only has two wins against teams with winning records, and both those teams (Denver and Oakland) have also defeated Seattle this season.
The Seahawks have succeeded on just 7 of 36 third-down conversions over the past three weeks, and have lost four of their past five games played in a different time zone (an especially crucial factor since New England and Miami are the most likely candidates to host Seattle in a possible wild-card game).
Yet somehow, the Seahawks find themselves in position to advance to the playoffs.
The scenarios are not too far-fetched, either, as long as the Seahawks take care of their own business this Sunday against the Chiefs. Seattle would need one of two teams to lose: the Jets, who play at Oakland on Sunday, or the Ravens, who host Minnesota on Monday Night Football.
The last time Seattle played a win-and-you’re-in game to end the season, the Seahawks lost to the Jets in 1999. But a Kansas City loss later that afternoon helped Seattle back into the playoffs, where they promptly made a first-round exit by losing to Miami at the Kingdome.
Only 18 players on the current roster were a part of that team, and the inexperience could be a factor this Sunday.
“I don’t even know how big or important this game is,” second-year running back Shaun Alexander said of the upcoming game. “I’ve never been to the playoffs before, our team has never been there. We’ve got potential to do something great, and if we do get into the playoffs, we have the potential to do a lot of damage because our team really matches up well with anybody in the AFC.
“It’s big, but do we really understand it in this locker room? No.”
Coach Mike Holmgren has certainly been in this position before, and he’s relishing the somewhat surprising fact that the Seahawks are still alive with one game to go.
“I’m happy we’re playing,” Holmgren said. “We’ve got a chance still, and I would really encourage the fans to come out and help us. It has been an up-and-down year – a lot of heartache. But I really like this team. I like this season.
“It has been a little bit like dealing with your kids, watching them grow up. Putting your arms around them, holding them. But they’ve hung in there really well.”
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