ATLANTA — The most important moment of Sunday’s regular-season finale was not Alge Crumpler’s 7-yard touchdown reception to put the Atlanta Falcons ahead to stay early in the fourth quarter of a win over the Seattle Seahawks. It wasn’t even the Seneca Wallace fumble that preceded that play, or the Wallace interception that allowed the Falcons to tack on another score 15 seconds later.
The big moment happened not on the second-quarter turnover in which Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck scrambled to his right, got hit from behind and fumbled away the football. The most important moment of Sunday’s game came a second or two later, when Hasselbeck, who was already nursing a sore wrist, got up.
In a game that was more about resiliency than results, the Seahawks came out just fine Sunday despite a shoddy performance. The 44-41 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was not nearly as important as the clean bill of health that came shortly afterward.
“It’s always dangerous to play these games when you’ve already won the division and all those things,” running back Shaun Alexander said, “because you want to win, and we’re all competitors. But at the same time, it’s a game of inches. And if you’re one inch off, it can mean a broken bone.
“We avoided that, and we’re ready to go.”
The Seahawks will host the Washington Redskins in a first-round playoff game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game will be televised by NBC (Ch. 5).
In the regular-season finale, Hasselbeck provided the most jaw-clenching moments for Seahawks coaches and fans. He hurt his right wrist early in the second quarter, well before the fumble, but continued to play through the rest of the first half. X-rays were negative, and he watched the second half with a wrap on his right hand.
Afterward, the Seahawks’ quarterback said he’s in no danger of missing any practice time leading up to Saturday’s playoff game.
“I’m fine,” Hasselbeck said before a flight back to Seattle that undoubtedly included some ice on the wrist.
The Seahawks (10-6) entered the game having already clinched a playoff berth and the NFC’s No. 3 seed, so Sunday’s result meant nothing to their postseason standing. Three starters — left tackle Walter Jones, wide receiver Deion Branch and defensive tackle Rocky Bernard — did not suit up because they were nursing minor injuries. Most of the offensive starters sat out the entire second half, while the No. 1 defense got some rest in the fourth quarter.
The stakes — or lack thereof — were obvious on several offensive plays throughout the first half. During one Alexander run that saw the running back change directions, Hasselbeck was out in front ready to throw a block when the quarterback held up and let the defender go by him.
A few minutes later, while scrambling from a trio of pass rushers, Hasselbeck threw the ball away and was flagged for a 30-yard penalty for intentional grounding. Head coach Mike Holmgren gladly took the penalty and loss of yardage over the possibility of his quarterback getting hit.
The Seahawks dodged a bullet late in the third quarter, when Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Trufant got hurt at the end of a pass completion. Trufant knelt on one knee, helmet-less, as trainers attended to him before he rose and jogged off the field after getting the wind knocked out of him.
As far as the actual game, the two incentive-starved teams played a competitive first three quarters before Atlanta (4-12) put the game away with three touchdowns in the first 1:45 of the final period.
After Seattle’s Maurice Morris broke off a 29-yard touchdown run to put the Seahawks ahead 27-20 with 1:19 left in the third quarter, the Falcons responded in a big way. Atlanta’s Crumpler caught a pass over the middle on the first play of the fourth quarter, bounced off Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu, and sprinted into the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown.
Wallace fumbled away the football on Seattle’s next snap, after Falcons defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux knocked the ball out of his hand. Another Crumpler TD, from 7 yards out, gave Atlanta a 34-27 lead three plays later.
Wallace then threw an interception, setting up a Roddy White touchdown reception that all but put the game out of reach.
“I basically gave them 14 points,” Wallace said. “My big thing coming into the game was to protect the ball, not give them easy points. Unfortunately, I did that (Sunday). But it happens.”
Two Nate Burleson touchdown receptions in the final 7:49 weren’t enough to stage the comeback. He scored for the second time with 53 seconds left, but Atlanta recovered the onside kick to secure the win.
Despite a season-high 501 yards of offense, Seattle came up short in its bid to become the third team in franchise history to win 11 games in a single season. The Seahawks’ defense allowed more points than it had in any game this season, as only the Cleveland Browns (in a 33-30 overtime win on Nov. 4) had scored more than 30 in a game against Seattle this year.
Falcons quarterback Chris Redman threw for 251 yards and four touchdowns as Atlanta closed out a largely forgettable season with a rare victory.
“They will head into the offseason with a win and will be able to come back next season and show people that they still have life in them,” said Falcons interim head coach Emmitt Thomas, who was showered with Gatorade after the game.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, still have some football to play. The Redskins will be at Qwest Field this weekend for a playoff opener.
“We’ve got to re-focus,” Trufant said. “We have to get this game out of our head and focus on the playoff game. We have to look forward and get ready for the playoffs.”
Said Holmgren: “We would have liked to have won (Sunday’s) football game. But we came out of it healthy, and that was a big plus.”
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