Seahawks facing pivotal Final Four

  • Scott M. Johnson / Herald Writer
  • Monday, December 10, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

By Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writer

KIRKLAND – The Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

With a combined record of 17-32 this season, they’re not exactly the NFL equivalent of Duke and North Carolina. But as far as the Seattle Seahawks are concerned, this group of sub-.500 teams make up the Final Four.

The most realistic Seahawks playoff scenario this season includes four victories over their four remaining games, meaning they need to run the table to have a shot at the postseason.

“It’s difficult,” coach Mike Holmgren said, “but I think it’s realistic. We’ve already played two of the teams. So we’re familiar with them. We already beat San Diego once, but it’s going to be tougher down there. We get Kansas City coming in here. We have Dallas coming in here. It helps us playing at home.

“The way our season has gone, though, I wish I could tell you it’s a slam-dunk. But it’s not. But it’s realistic. We’ve got a shot.”

The Seahawks haven’t won four consecutive games since the improbable 8-2 start to the 1999 season – Holmgren’s first year with the club. Other than that, Seattle has won four in a row on only two other occasions: 1984 and ‘86.

In a sport in which there are six days between games, getting on a streak is not as easy as it appears.

“We’ve kind of backed ourselves into the corner, and we’ve got to fight our way out,” tight end Christian Fauria said. “That should be when a person is most dangerous. It should be. That’s going to be the challenge for us.”

Had the Seahawks beaten Denver on Sunday night, they would be in control of their own playoff destiny and would have the luxury of being able to lose one more game. But now that they’re 6-6, another loss could mean the end of the playoff dreams.

“I think what’s frustrating to all of us is, we had a chance to really position ourselves pretty well at this point of the season, and maybe buck the odds a little bit and go beyond expectations a little bit,” Holmgren said. “We really had a chance and we didn’t take advantage of it. That’s as disappointing as anything.”

Despite the emaciated records of the remaining teams – none of them has more than five wins, and they are all below .500 – the Seahawks have no reason to get overconfident. Some of this team’s worst performances this season have come against struggling opponents, with losses to Washington, Kansas City and Denver serving as reminders that you have to come to play every Sunday.

“We’ve played to their levels,” middle linebacker Levon Kirkland said. “You can’t play down to someone’s level, and we’ve played to their level. That’s why we’re 6-6. We’re playing to the level of other teams. As long as we do that, we’re going to win one game, lose another, win one, lose one.”

Road games have been especially tough for the Seahawks, but this Sunday’s home game against the Cowboys is hardly a gimme. Dallas has won two games in a row and boasts the seventh-ranked defense in the NFL.

“If we don’t take care of Dallas, then it’s over,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “We have to take care of Dallas this week.”

That’s easier said than done. And the Seahawks would still have three to go.

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