Last-second boom keeps Hawks alive in playoff race

By Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writer

SAN DIEGO – The Seattle Seahawks looked the gift horse in the mouth too often on Sunday afternoon, and eventually its teeth had to clamp down.

They had almost effectively erased earlier losses by the two teams they were chasing in the AFC wild-card race, and had given up another late scoring drive that nearly cost them a game for the second week in a row.

So when kicker Rian Lindell lined up for an improbable 54-yard field goal attempt with the score tied and just six seconds left on the clock, you couldn’t help but feel like lady luck would only deal the Seahawks this one final hand.

The players gathered on the sidelines looking as if the season was on the line, which it was. Coach Mike Holmgren watched with an understandably skeptical expression. Even Lindell himself had grabbed his kicking tee a few seconds earlier in preparation for overtime.

Then Lindell addressed the ball for the biggest attempt of his young career, legged out a kick that cleared the crossbar by at least five yards as time expired, and all was forgiven. The Seahawks defeated the San Diego Chargers 25-22 and effectively kept their hopes alive.

“We still have a chance at the prize,” linebacker Levon Kirkland shouted to no one in particular as he jogged off the Qualcomm Stadium field looking like a beaten prizefighter who had nonetheless been awarded the judge’s decision.

This was a day that sent the Seahawks on so many emotional waves that they could have succumbed to seasickness. The game continually gave Seattle second and third opportunities, and eventually they took advantage.

When the dust had finally settled, the game came down to a San Diego kickoff with 16 seconds left, after the Chargers had tied the score at 22 on a 36-yard Steve Christie field goal. Standing near the Seattle goal line was a 5-foot-9 kick returner who hadn’t returned one across midfield all season long, and who later admitted that he had been praying Christie would keep the game alive.

Charlie Rogers got his opportunity, and made the most of it. He took the kickoff at his own goal line, found a seam in San Diego’s kick coverage, and ran untouched to the Chargers’ 36-yard line before Ronney Jenkins caught him from behind. Lindell immediately came out on the field, and nailed the game-winner.

“I prayed (Christie would) make it so I would get another opportunity to win it,” Rogers unabashedly admitted afterward. “I didn’t win it, but I gave us a shot to win it.”

Now Seattle can make its second playoff appearance in three years by beating Kansas City next week and getting a little bit of help from either the Oakland Raiders or Minnesota Vikings. Should the Seahawks and either one of those teams win, the postseason will include a young Seattle team that continues to weather the storms of inconsistency and quarterback controversy.

Trent Dilfer led the victory Sunday, but starter Matt Hasselbeck said afterward that he hopes to return this week from a shoulder injury. Based on how many times he has bailed out Seattle this season, Dilfer would seem to be the most logical choice to start this Sunday against Kansas City.

Dilfer stood as the calming influence against San Diego, even after it looked as if the Chargers had effectively ended Seattle’s playoff drive. He threw three long touchdown passes to help rally Seattle from the early 13-0 deficit in what might be the most exciting Seahawks-Chargers game since the days of Krieg and Fouts.

“Every time the Seahawks play the Chargers, the game goes down to the end,” said wide receiver Darrell Jackson, who caught two long touchdown passes from Dilfer in the second quarter to rally Seattle to a 14-13 lead. “We knew it was going to be a long game, and we knew we would have an opportunity to make some plays. When we had the opportunities, we made them.”

Despite being handed the equivalent of a royal flush because Baltimore lost Saturday and the New York Jets lost Sunday morning, the Seahawks nearly folded Sunday afternoon. The first quarter was filled with so much ineptitude that Seattle appeared on the verge of getting blown out.

How bad did it get?

Jeff Feagles shanked a punt so horrendously that San Diego started its second drive at the Seattle 26. Four plays later, the Chargers scored the game’s first touchdown.

The next drive featured a botched handoff in which Dilfer and running back Shaun Alexander ran into each other, resulting in a 3-yard loss after Alexander fell on the loose ball.

Dilfer threw a pass so badly that cornerback Ryan McNeil nearly had an interception and subsequent touchdown (instead, McNeil stumbled out of bounds and ran smack into the ailing shoulder of Hasselbeck).

Cornerback Willie Williams basically tackled San Diego wideout Curtis Conway on a deep pass, but Conway still found a way to make a 38-yard reception, setting up a field goal that would give San Diego a 10-0 lead.

Alexander took a pitch from Dilfer and promptly fell on his face for a 2-yard loss – despite the fact that no Chargers were nearby.

Seattle’s secondary got burned on four consecutive first-down completions to help set up another Chargers field goal and a 13-0 deficit.

Along the way, the Seahawks went three-and-out on their first four drives, gave up at least a field goal on three of San Diego’s four drives, and generally bumbled their way to the brink of elimination.

But just when everything looked lost, Seattle’s offense came alive behind the passing of Dilfer. Two long touchdown passes to Jackson – both of which came at the expense of McNeil – gave the Seahawks a 14-13 lead with 7:19 remaining in the first half.

The teams went back and forth the rest of the way, with Seattle finally putting itself in position to go up by six points with 2:43 remaining. But Lindell’s 48-yard field goal attempt went wide right, and the Chargers promptly went on a long drive that looked a lot like the game-winning one the New York Giants pulled off against Seattle last week.

“I thought about the Giants game on that last series. I think everybody on the defense thought about it,” Williams said. “We put ourselves down there, and we had to find a way to make a play. And we found a way to win the game.”

After Doug Flutie’s pass to Conway sailed out of bounds on third down, the Chargers had to settle for Christie’s score-tying field goal with 16 seconds to go. Then Rogers and Lindell came through to save the season.

“Anything can happen once you get in the playoffs,” Williams said. “Once you get in the playoffs, everybody’s 0-0. We won’t worry about anybody else. We just have to take care of the Seahawks this week.”