Seahawks belong with cream of NFC
Seattle’s days of being a tease may be over
That was some football game out there on the Pacific coast yesterday, eh?
East vs. west. Big marbles on the line ( of scrimmage). National TV audience tuned in. Stand and deliver time.
Yeah, the Grey Cup game was a big one, too.
Reference here is to the four- down game in Seattle, rather than the threedown champeen- ship of Canada that was contested across the border at B. C. Place.
It may not have had the same biggameat- the- end- of- the- season significance as the Grey Cup being contested a couple of hours later and a couple of hours’ drive north, up in Vancouver. But folks in Washington state were still viewing yesterday’s Seahawks vs. New York Giants game as a tell- tale late- inNovember, playoff- style test. They passed it with flying greeny- blue colours, hanging tough through one of the more dramatic overtime finishes you’re likely to see on either side of the border, 24- 21. Coming into yesterday, a Seattle win combined with a St. Louis loss would have made the Seahawks the first team in ’ 05 to clinch a playoff position. But the Rams pulled out a dramatic overtime victory at Houston. Still, the way they’re going, it’s only a matter of time for the 9- 2 Seahawks — even though everyone knows they have been shameless teases for years.
Seattle appeared to have clinched the victory when Shaun Alexander plunged over on fourth down for his 20th TD of the season to give the Seahawks an eight- point lead late in the fourth quarter. But Eli Manning, who had been criticized for his play on the road, coolly led the Giants back, hitting Amani Toomer with a toe- hold TD pass that set up a two- point conversion to tied the score 21- 21. With time running out, the Giants somehow got the ball back and worked their way into position for Jay Feely to kick a 40- yard field goal to win the game. He hooked it wide, forcing overtime.
Feely had another chance to win it, but missed again, on a 54- yard attempt. Then a third attempt, a miss from 40. What’s that they say about three strikes? Given his own chance, Seattle’s Josh Brown finally kicked a 37- yarder to end the roller- coaster ride
Despite some decent regular seasons, the Seahawks haven’t won a playoff game since 1984. Under Dennis Holmgren, due to earn an NFL record $7 million ( U. S.) next season, the last year of his eight- year mega- contract, the Seagulls are 0- 3 in post- season play. But this year, things are shaping up differently. They might really, truly, finally have a team capable of going all the way. Hell, winning just one postseason game would seem like a triumph for the ages, sort of the way the Leafs get treated in Toronto when they win a round, any round, in the Stanley Cup playdowns. The Seahawks have won seven games in a row and have for weeks boasted the NFL’s No. 1 offence, averaging 390 yards per game before yesterday. They are 6-0 at home. Until Tiki Barber rolled up 151 yards yesterday they hadn’t allowed any opponent to top 100 yards rushing. With the Giants visiting, the Seahawks drew the spotlight of the likes of Marcus Allen, who did a feature on them for the NFL Network. “ It’s that East Coast- bias thing,” Marcus said of the lack of respect being accorded the Seattle-ites. “They should be mentioned in the same breath with the Panthers, Falcons and Cowboys.” The Panthers beat Buffalo yesterday, sealing the 4- 7 Bills’ fate while improving to 8- 3, one game better in the NFC South than both the Falcons and Tampa Bay, which lost to the for- real 8- 3 Bears. As for the Cowboys, they are 7- 4, same as the Giants.
Still, they like their coffee strong in Seattle: In 1999, the Seahawks were 8- 2 and looking pretty, then lost five of their remaining six regular-season games. They made the playoffs, but went one- and- out.