SEATTLE — In a receiving corps that includes standouts like Nate Burleson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Deion Branch, Seattle Seahawks rookie wide receiver Deon Butler doesn’t usually get the chance to be a hero.
But on Sunday, Butler made maybe the biggest offensive play of the day for the Seahawks, making a 32-yard reception from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck with 12 seconds to play, setting up Seattle’s game-winning field goal as time expired in a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle’s final possession began at its own 48-yard line with 21 seconds remaining. After a 5-yard penalty on the 49ers for defensive holding, Hasselbeck threw a deep pass to Butler streaking down the right sideline. Butler’s catch moved the ball to San Francisco’s 15-yard line.
The Seahawks’ Julius Jones carried for 3 yards, moving the ball to the middle of the field, and Seattle called a timeout with four seconds on the clock.
Kicker Olindo Mare’s 30-yard field goal was good as time expired.
Later, Hasselbeck explained that Butler was not necessarily the first option on the play. But as the Seahawks came to the line of scrimmage — Seattle sent three wide receivers to the left and Butler to the right — Hasselbeck noticed Butler had single coverage against San Francisco cornerback Keith Smith.
Sometimes, Hasselbeck said, “when looks are too good to be true, they are. … But that one was legit. And we won the matchup.”
“I was really hoping that Matt came to me because I was one-on-one with (Smith),” said Butler, who began the day with just seven catches for 64 yards this season. “It was just a great matchup. I just went out there and (beat) the guy, and Matt made a great throw to keep it away from the safety (who was coming over to help).”
Butler caught the ball, stepped out of bounds, “and then everybody got really excited,” he said.
Big play
With the Seahawks trailing 7-0 and badly in need of a jump start early in the game, backup defensive end Nick Reed provided the spark.
Reed, a rookie, was covering a punt when the 49ers tried a reverse, with Arnaz Battle attempting to hand the ball to teammate Brandon Jones. The ball popped free at the San Francisco 23 and rolled back to the 15, where it was gathered by Reed, who managed to advance the ball another 2 yards.
“Even a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes,” Reed said modestly.
The 49ers had executed a fake handoff on an earlier kick, Reed said, “so I figured if they were going to run it again I thought they might switch it up. And they did, but they fumbled it and the ball was on the ground.”
Did he have visions of scoring?
“No, I knew that recovering the ball down in the red zone was the first priority,” Reed said. “But no one touched me, so I jumped up and tried to take it as far as I could.”
Rising star
The 49ers threw the ball 45 times against Seattle, and their primary target was tight end Vernon Davis, who had six catches for 111 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown reception.
“He’s fast,” said Seattle linebacker Aaron Curry, who moves well himself. “He’s very fast. A lot of people don’t understand how quick he is either. He’s a unique tight end. Very unique.”
Davis has 63 receptions for 781 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, all career bests for the fourth-year player.
Overcoming distractions
Seahawks players found out this week that the man responsible for bringing most of them to Seattle, team president and general manager Tim Ruskell, was resigning. After practice on Thursday, players spoke of not letting that news become a distraction, and on Sunday they backed that talk up with a victory.
“There were obviously distractions,” Seattle head coach Jim Mora said. “I think that maybe it shows that we’re developing some mental toughness… . That’s what we’re trying to develop as a football team, that’s what we’re asking those guys to do every day. So when you can have this type of situation and come and get a win, then it’s, ‘OK, all right, we can do this.’”
Paying tribute
Mora wore a Lakewood Police Department hat during Sunday’s game as a tribute to the four police officers who were slain a week earlier.
“I just felt like it was the right thing to do, to bring attention to those people that every day, uncelebrated — there’s no cheering crowds for them, there’s no press conferences — they just go out there and unselfishly lay it on the line for all of us. I think it’s important that we recognize that.”
Jones returns
Julius Jones started at running back after missing the last two games with a bruised lung. He finished with 20 carries for 67 yards, and caught five passes for negative-3 yards.
Justin Forsett, who left Friday’s practice with a quadriceps injury, carried five times for nine yards and caught three passes for 25 yards, including an 8-yard score on a screen pass.
The Seahawks finished with 107 rushing yards on 29 attempts, seemingly finding some middle ground after extremes in the last two games. Two weeks ago in Minnesota, Seattle was held to a franchise-low 4 rushing yards. The Seahawks followed that with a season-high 170 rushing yards in St. Louis.
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