Seahawks finish regular season with 8-0 home record

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks took care of one bit of history Sunday afternoon. Now they’re hoping to avoid another.

A convincing 28-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals finished off the first unbeaten season at home in franchise history.

The Seahawks (9-6) are now in position to become the second team since the 1970 NFL merger to go 8-0 at home and not make the playoffs – a dubious feat only the 1981 Denver Broncos achieved.

Seattle did everything it needed to do Sunday, but didn’t get any help from other teams. The Dallas Cowboys’ win over the New York Giants on Sunday, combined with Minnesota’s victory Saturday, means the Seahawks need Oakland to upset the Green Bay Packers tonight if they are going to head into the final weekend with a lead in the NFC wild-card race.

“You can’t really count on anybody,” Seahawks wide receiver Koren Robinson said. “We just have to handle our business and see what happens in the end.”

In order to get into the playoffs, the Seahawks:

1) Need a win over the 49ers on Saturday, combined with a loss by either Green Bay or Minnesota.

2) Need Green Bay to lose its final two games.

Minnesota and Green Bay each hold the tiebreaker over the Seahawks because of head-to-head wins over Seattle.

One of the scenarios the Seahawks are hoping for involves the Vikings (9-6) losing next Sunday at Arizona. If the Cardinals look anything like they did at Seahawks Stadium, that’s about as likely as Randy Moss getting an endorsement from Vidal Sassoon.

The Cardinals (3-12) looked flat from the get-go, and Seattle took full advantage. The Seahawks scored touchdowns on three of their first four drives, with the only stop coming when Shaun Alexander fumbled the ball away at the Arizona 2-yard line.

Aided by a pair of missed field goals from Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers, Seattle went into halftime with a 21-3 lead.

Alexander more than made up for the fumble, rushing for 107 yards and two touchdowns before the third quarter even began.

The Cardinals put a slight scare into Seattle with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but the Seahawks were able to hold them off even without quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (injured ankle and shoulder) and leading receiver Darrell Jackson (sprained left ankle). Bobby Engram caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Trent Dilfer with 3:21 remaining in the game to put a nail in Arizona’s coffin and keep Seattle’s playoff hopes alive.

Alexander finished with 135 rushing yards, and the Seahawks rambled to 23 first downs and a relatively comfortable win.

The victory was Seattle’s eighth in a row at home, helping them achieve a feat that only the 2002 Green Bay Packers had accomplished in the previous three seasons.

“We’re starting to establish a pretty good feeling here,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “Part of it is the fans. After a couple years here, they were kind of mad at me, but I kind of gathered them in. The same folks who used to throw a couple things at me were giving me high fives today.”

No matter what happens from here on out, the Seahawks will not play another home game until the 2004 preseason. They close out the 2003 regular season at San Francisco on Saturday and then – if they win and get one of three other games to go their way – go on the road for a playoff game.

“Obviously, you want to be able to control your own destiny,” guard Steve Hutchinson said. “But we can only do what we can do. We’re going to have to go on the road this week against San Francisco.”

The home-friendly Seahawks have a 1-6 record on the road, with six consecutive losses away from Seahawks Stadium. That trend will have to end for Seattle to have any shot of extending its season beyond Saturday.

“It’s the same time zone,” Hutchinson said of San Francisco, “so maybe the jinx won’t apply this week.”

Having to win a road game might not be the easiest way for Seattle to get into the playoffs, but it’s the most fitting. Unlike the team’s last postseason appearance, in 1999, there will be no backing in this time around.

“Everyone is talking playoffs, and our playoffs start this week,” said Hasselbeck, whom Holmgren said he expects to be available for the San Francisco game. “This is a playoff game to us. If we lose, we’re out.”