SEATTLE — Inside Julian Peterson’s locker at Qwest Field, the Seattle Seahawks linebacker had two championship T-shirts Sunday afternoon. One was from the 2007 NFC West division championship that the Seahawks had clinched a few minutes earlier. The other, which commemorated the 2006 division title, was one Peterson had never bothered to take home.
“I was so disgusted,” Peterson said while looking at the 2006 shirt that had been draped on a hanger in his locker for almost a full year. “We might’ve won a championship, but we didn’t play worth a crap.”
That was last year, when a three-game losing streak in December forced the Seahawks to depend on other teams’ struggles to secure a third consecutive division title.
On Sunday, when the Seahawks had their first chance to wrap up a fourth NFC West championship, there was no need for any we’ll-get-‘em-next-time speeches.
The Seahawks dominated the second-place Arizona Cardinals from the opening few minutes and never let up, manhandling the only team that still had a remote chance of winning the West. Seattle’s 42-21 victory clinched another division title and assured that the city would host a playoff game — most likely on the opening weekend of Jan. 5-6.
This time, Peterson planned to bring his T-shirt home.
“I’m definitely taking this one,” he said Sunday, dressed in a suit and tie while cleaning out his locker for the night.
The Seahawks (9-4) didn’t leave anything to chance Sunday, jumping out to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter. After that, there was no reason to look back — not at the Cardinals, or at anyone one else in the division.
“We have to put everything together, but we’re on a roll now,” said cornerback Marcus Trufant, who had a return touchdown among his career-high three interceptions Sunday. “Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
With the win, the Seahawks matched the third-longest winning streak in franchise history and also joined Indianapolis, New England and Philadelphia as the only teams to win four consecutive division titles over the past 10 years.
And they did it in impressive fashion. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw touchdown passes to four different receivers, and the Seahawks also added their first defensive touchdown of the season and got a safety on special teams.
At the same time last season, Seattle lost a potential division-clincher at Arizona, then dropped games against San Francisco and San Diego in successive weeks. The division title the Seahawks clinched in Week 15 was bittersweet in that it came only after NFC West opponents lost.
This year’s Seahawks didn’t want any such drama down the stretch.
That motivated wide receiver Deion Branch to address his teammates after last Wednesday’s practice, imploring them to “put the pedal to the metal” and not let up until the season was over.
“A lot of people can give those kinds of speeches,” tight end Marcus Pollard said. “But when Deion says it, you say, ‘Hey, this guy’s been a Super Bowl MVP and gone to some Super Bowls.’ Everybody took it upon himself to listen to what he said.”
After Sunday’s game, Branch said he had sensed a level of satisfaction after close wins over St. Louis and Philadelphia in the two previous games. He didn’t want his team to think those victories were good enough.
“When you’re sitting around letting certain teams stay in the game with us, you can’t do that,” Branch said after catching a touchdown pass in Sunday’s win. “In order to be a champion, you have to think like a champion. You can’t just think you can go out on the field and make plays.”
Branch didn’t mind getting specific.
“I’ll give you an example: us struggling with St. Louis,” he said, referring to the 24-19 win 15 days ago. “It’s not OK to struggle with St. Louis. If you get satisfied with barely beating St. Louis by two or three points, that’s a problem.
“I’m not taking anything away from (the Rams); they are hurting right now. They’re missing a lot of key guys with injury, and we have to take advantage of those things.”
The Cardinals (6-7) weren’t struggling before Sunday’s game, but they were certainly reeling afterward. Following a one-sided game that featured several incidents of pushing and shoving between the teams, a report surfaced that two Arizona players — defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and linebacker Darryl Blackstock — got into some kind of an altercation in the visiting locker room.
The home locker room was on the other end of the emotional spectrum, with several players proudly wearing shirts that commemorated a fourth division title in as many seasons.
“It means a lot,” linebacker Kevin Bentley said while looking down at his new apparel. “They’re getting harder and harder to win.”
On Sunday, the Seahawks made it look easy. And with their recent track record, the NFC West champs four years running have had an easy time living up to preseason goals.
“I don’t care who you are; you always expect to win,” Bentley said. “Whether you’re the worst team in the league, or the best, you always expect to win.
“We’ve dominated this division for the last four years, and we intend on continuing to do that.”
This year’s Seahawks are on such a roll that they’re setting higher goals for the next few weeks.
“I think people are really starting to think that maybe we can accomplish some things and maybe make it to a Super Bowl,” Pollard said. “… We’ve accomplished one of our goals, but we can’t rest on our laurels. We still haven’t made it. We’ve taken one step.”
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