GREEN BAY, Wisc. – If no one outside of Seattle believed in the Seahawks, perhaps there are a few converts now.
The question is whether the believers will have enough memory capacity to carry them through another long offseason.
The Seahawks entered their first playoff game in four years feeling as if no one respected them, then walked off the Lambeau Field grass believing they had earned some. But that wasn’t enough to give them a playoff win for the first time since 1984.
“I can’t say enough about Seattle, the way they played and the way they were coached,” quarterback Brett Favre said after his Green Bay Packers beat the Seahawks 33-27 in a first-round playoff game that had a classic overtime finish. “I can only imagine how they feel over there (in the Seattle locker room), because they played a hell of a football game.”
How the Seahawks felt was sickened by the way the game ended, but also a bit verified after showing they could play with the Packers for more than 70 minutes. The Seahawks rallied for a score-tying touchdown in the final minute of regulation before a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown by Al Harris ended a cold afternoon and a memorable season.
“I feel bad because we played so hard,” Seahawks cornerback Shawn Springs said. “We made some plays, they made some plays, and then a play like that? It just hurts. They didn’t even give us a chance. It was like, boom, game over.”
Much like Seattle’s last two road games of the regular season, the Seahawks looked like they might be in danger of falling into a big deficit. But a stingy defense that limited star running back Ahman Green all afternoon helped Seattle stay within a touchdown, at 13-6, through the first half.
The Seahawks marched down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter to tie the score on the first of Shaun Alexander’s three 1-yard touchdown runs in the second half. Alexander scored again on Seattle’s next possession to give Seattle a 20-13 lead.
But the Packers bounced right back, and eventually took a 27-20 lead, on a pair of 1-yard scores from Green.
The second of those came with 2:44 remaining in the game, leaving the Seahawks with one last drive to show their mettle.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck completed passes of 9, 16 and 34 yards to set up another Alexander touchdown, this time with 55 seconds left, and tie the score.
Although Green Bay got into field goal range on its final possession, kicker Ryan Longwell didn’t have enough leg for the 47-yard game-winner as time expired.
With momentum already tilting in their direction, the Seahawks won the coin toss in overtime. Hasselbeck, unaware that the head referee’s microphone was on for all 71,457 fans to hear, proclaimed, “We want the ball. We’re going to score.”
Seattle’s first overtime drive was actually a three-and-out, but the Packers followed suit. Through two minutes and two drives of the extra session, neither team tallied a first down.
The Seahawks took over and started moving the ball, converting a third-and-3 to put the ball at their own 45-yard line. After a 1-yard Alexander run, Seattle called a passing play that required Hasselbeck to take a five-step drop.
The Seahawks’ quarterback, sensing a blitz, called an audible. He then took a three-step drop and tried to throw a quick pass to Alex Bannister on the left sideline. Harris sniffed out the audible and stepped in front of the pass, intercepting it in stride and going 52 yards for the game-winning score.
” (Harris) gambled,” Bannister said, “and he hit the jackpot.”
While the Packers will advance to face Philadelphia this Sunday, the Seahawks were left to ponder what could have been. No one took the loss harder than Hasselbeck, a former Packer, and ex-Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren.
“It hurts,” said Holmgren, who has taken the Seahawks to two postseasons in his five years as head coach. “I’ll be honest with you: I’m dying inside. It hurts bad to lose this game today.
“But there is hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
The hope comes from the fact that the Seahawks finally got over the playoff hump, making it to their second postseason since 1988, and made a pretty good impression. The nationally-televised game showed a Seattle team that looked much different than the eternally mediocre unit that local fans grew to know.
“We took these guys to the ropes today,” center Robbie Tobeck said. “We’ve gone from the beginning of the year, when we thought we might be good and hoped we were good, to now, where we’re a team that expects to win games every week.”
Unfortunately for the Seahawks, there will be no more expectations until fall. But the expectations should be high, as they are likely to be considered a contender for both the playoffs and the NFC West title.
“We’re really hurt by losing this game,” Alexander said. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t think we were going to shock Green Bay. That was our goal. But at the same time, you have to take something out of every loss. And today I think we showed that we turned the corner.”
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