SEATTLE — Russell Okung knew he wouldn’t let a frustrating rookie season end with him limping off the Qwest Field turf in the second quarter.
Okung, who has battled injuries to both ankles this season, rolled his left ankle again just before halftime and after spending a moment down on the field, he made what has become an all-too familiar walk to the sideline.
But in the final game of the regular season, with his team trying to hold onto the lead and clinch an NFC West title, Okung was determined to play through the pain and finish the game.
“When I went down, I knew I was coming back,” said Okung, selected by Seattle with the No. 6 pick in the draft. “There was no way I was going to sit out this game. I didn’t want to regret anything about it. I knew the team, they needed me, and the guys lifted me up. Just like they’re always there for me, I had to be there for them.”
Okung did make it back to start the second half, and despite whatever pain he was feeling, he helped the Seahawks rush for 119 second-half yards after managing just 19 in the first half, a key to Seattle putting the game away.
“That’s the offensive line’s dream, to have the game put on your shoulders and know that you have to eat up that clock and express your dominance,” he said.
And while Okung was all smiles as his team celebrated a division championship, this year has been anything but easy for the rookie from Oklahoma State. Okung suffered a high ankle sprain on his right leg in the preseason, causing him to miss the first three games of the season. In just his third game back from that injury, he went down with high ankle sprain on his left leg, costing him three more games. Okung has played in the past seven games, though he has never been at 100 percent.
“Fortunately he could hang in there,” Pete Carroll said. “… He toughed it out. Russell’s making a move now. Even though he’s still hobbling, there’s something percolating in Russell right now. He’s getting his mind right, he’s starting to grasp the feeling of how to match up week in and week out. He has missed so much this year, it’s really been a bad learning experience for him and put him in a really difficult situation.”
Okung’s return was doubly important because Chester Pitts left the game with a head injury in the second quarter and did not return. Pitts, who had started the past two games at left guard, lost his job to backup tackle Tyler Polumbus, but came in when Okung went down, moving Polumbus to left tackle.
Dropping in the draft
While no one in the Seahawks locker room would complain about it, there was one negative that came out of making the playoffs. Had Seattle lost Sunday, it would have picked eighth in April’s draft. Because playoff teams all pick after non-playoff teams regardless of record, the best Seattle can pick now is 21st.
On the money
Seattle punter Jon Ryan had a modest day in terms of punting average (34.7), but four of his seven kicks ended up at or inside the St. Louis 10-yard line.
In the first quarter Ryan punted to the Rams 10 (fair catch) and 3 (downed). He followed with a second quarter punt to the 10 (fair catch) and a fourth quarter kick to the 9 (fair catch).
Pinning opponents deep “is definitely a strength of mine,” Ryan said. “Earlier in my career I hit a lot of balls (into the end zone) and had a lot of touchbacks, and this year I really wanted to work on that. And this season I’ve only had one touchback.”
From inside midfield, Ryan said he aims for the 10-yard line. And if he hits it a little farther, as he did in the first quarter, it might take a reverse bounce and end up near the goal line, as did his early kick that was downed at the 3.
“That’s the way you draw it up,” he said. “Some days it bounces forward, some days it bounces back, but I guess it was just my day because that kick bounced back just the way I wanted to.”
Lynch gets first shot at postseason
Few players in the Seahawks locker room were more excited following Sunday’s win than running back Marshawn Lynch. When he was traded from Buffalo to Seattle on Oct. 5, he hoped that it would lead to the first playoff appearance of his four-year career.
It didn’t look good for most of the season. After the Seahawks won the first two games after Lynch arrived, they went 2-7 before Sunday’s win. But though his team backed into the postseason and he hasn’t had quite the impact many had hoped for, Lynch was thrilled to be playing beyond the regular season for the first time.
“Every year I expected my team to be in the playoffs and it didn’t happen,” said Lynch, who ran for 75 yards on 20 carries against the Rams Sunday. “To finally do it, this is what it’s all about. We’re in and now we have a chance and that’s what we wanted.”
After being drafted in the first round by the Bills in 2007 out of California, Lynch ran for over 1,000 yards his first two seasons only to have Buffalo finish 7-9 both seasons. Last year, Lynch managed just 450 yards and served a three-game suspension and the Bills finished 6-10. After starting three games for Buffalo this season, he was shipped to Seattle and led the Seahawks with 573 rushing yards and six touchdowns. And this time, a 7-9 record was good enough, and that’s fine with Lynch.
“It doesn’t matter, we did what we had to do,” said Lynch, who fumbled after a pass reception that led to a St. Louis field goal. “Two wins, seven wins, 10 wins, we’re in and that’s all we care about. It’s a new season now.”
Mare handles the chill
For a guy who spent the first 11 seasons of his career kicking in warm weather or a dome for his home games, Olindo Mare sure didn’t seem like he minded the cold. Mare made all three of his field goals and his extra point.
“I’m used to it by now,” said Mare, who is in his third season with Seattle. “It wasn’t bad because it wasn’t windy. It was just cold but I would rather have that than for it to be windy.”
The temperature was 39 degrees at kickoff and dropped as the game went on. Mare, a native Floridian who spent his first 10 years playing for Miami before moving to New Orleans for a season, handled the cold well, making field goals of 31, 38 and 34 yards in the second half. For the season, Mare is 25-for-30 and he’s 73-for-83 in his Seahawk career.
“You just have to get ready maybe a little earlier than you would on a warmer day,” Mare said. “Get your foot ready to kick, stretch your leg a little more. And then you just kick. I don’t think about the cold, I think about the kick and block the rest out.”
Herald writers Rich Myhre and Mike Allende contributed to this report
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