SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks’ fans haven’t had much practice in playoff environments, but just three games into the 2003 season, they already look to be in postseason form.
Playing a game with January intensity, Seattle’s NFL team rewarded the 65,841 fans at Seahawks Stadium with a riveting 24-23 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
The win provided further evidence that the Seahawks (3-0) may, in fact, be the team to beat in the NFC West, and that they may have what it takes to give their fans a genuine playoff game for just the second time in 16 years.
“We’re not pretenders,” tight end Itula Mili said after the Seahawks improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1998. “We saw the little write-ups about the Seahawks, and how even though they’re 2-0, they haven’t really played anyone. And we went out and proved ourselves, because we know we do have something special here. We knew that now was the time to go out and show everybody.”
It is still too early to dust off the “It’s NOW Time” banners from the 1999 season, but this year’s Seahawks are at the very least proving to be the most exciting team local NFL fans have seen in a long time.
The way Seattle won its third consecutive game was impressive as well as entertaining, with the Seahawks rallying from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win behind a key late turnover and Koren Robinson’s 3-yard touchdown reception with one minute to go.
But what may have been even more eye-opening was the scene that followed.
Defensive tackle John Randle slapped as many fans’ palms as he could reach. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck uncorked an impressive 30-yard pass of a Gatorade bottle into the stands. Coach Mike Holmgren pointed an index finger around the stands and mouthed a message to the fans.
“I wish I could get out in the middle of the field with a microphone after a game like this,” said Holmgren, who safety Ken Hamlin said teared up in the post-game locker room. “It was wonderful. It was exciting, the atmosphere was great. No one left even when it got a little dark near the end. And we needed them all the way.”
Things got the darkest over the first 11 minutes of the second half, when the Rams (1-2) went on two long scoring drives to turn a 17-10 halftime lead into a 23-10 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Seahawks, who struggled on offense most of the day, responded to the two St. Louis field goals by marching 70 yards in nine plays to score a momentum-turning touchdown one minute into the fourth quarter. Darrell Jackson’s 15-yard catch cut the St. Louis lead to 23-17 before Seattle gave momentum right back.
On their next two possessions, the Seahawks had a missed field goal and a failed fourth-down play that seemed like it would be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. Rams cornerback Aeneas Williams batted away a Hasselbeck pass on fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 41-yard line with just 4:12 left in the game.
“They just needed to get a couple first downs,” Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson said, “and the game was over.”
St. Louis got neither a first down nor into field-goal range, as a third-down pass intended for former Washington Husky Dane Looker got popped free when defenders Hamlin and D.D. Lewis converged on the Rams receiver. Linebacker Anthony Simmons hauled in the loose ball for his first interception of the season with 3:15 left on the clock.
Seattle then went 74 yards in 10 plays, aided by two key third-down conversions, to score the game-tying touchdown. Bobby Engram caught a 14-yard pass on third-and-10, giving the Seahawks a first down at the St. Louis 30-yard line with about three minutes to go. About a minute later, after an incomplete pass on third down at the Rams’ 13, a holding penalty on a St. Louis defensive lineman kept the drive alive again.
Hasselbeck hit Robinson on a slant pattern three plays later, then Josh Brown kicked the extra point to give Seattle its first lead since the end of the first quarter.
“We prefer those types of situations,” Jackson said of the comeback. “We don’t ever want to make it close, but if it is, we have the confidence level to know that we can get it done.”
Robinson was especially happy to catch the game-winner in that it helped atone for last week, when he was benched for a game against Arizona because he had been late to a team meeting.
“I wanted to come back and show my team that I want it just as bad as anyone on the team,” he said.
St. Louis was unable to respond to Robinson’s touchdown, going four-and-out on its final possession.
The victory puts Seattle at 3-0 for the first time in five years and just the second time in franchise history (the other was 1986). When the Seahawks won three consecutive games at the beginning of the 1998 season, they went on to finish 8-8 and missed out on the postseason. And of the seven teams that started last season 3-0, only the Oakland Raiders moved on to the playoffs (Denver, Miami, New England, San Diego, Carolina and New Orleans all failed to advance).
Keeping those statistics in mind, it would probably be unwise for the Seahawks to start selling postseason tickets anytime soon.
“You can’t start patting yourself on the back this early in the season,” linebacker Chad Brown said. “This is a marathon. Just because you’re first in the marathon after the first block, there’s still a long ways.”
Still, winning a marathon is a lot easier coming from first place than last place.
And the Seahawks, who have a two-game lead heading into the bye week, aren’t hearing any footsteps.
“Three-and-oh, bye week,” running back Maurice Morris mused in an emotional locker room, “what more can you ask for?”
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