All the Seattle Seahawks needed to do was win one game to clinch the division. They had two chances to do it against two teams that they dominated over the last two seasons.
They failed to come back against the Cardinals last Sunday in Arizona, but many expected them to bounce back at home when the 49ers came to town. Seattle was 5-1 at home and weren't going to let Frank Gore repeat what he did to their defense in their last game.
Almost a month ago Gore set a team rushing record when he ran 212 yards and pushed the 49ers to a 20-16 victory in San Francisco.
Seattle's defense held strong in the first half. San Francisco only managed three first downs and were 1-of-9 on third-down conversions. Gore was held to 34 yards rushing and the 49ers were only able to put up 3 points on a 39-yard field goal from Joe Nedney. Seattle took the lead in the first on 3-yard touchdown by Shaun Alexander, but after that the offense would be stymied.
Seattle still held the 7-3 lead as they went into the fourth quarter, but then the wheels came off. Or were blown off. Or completely disintegrated.
Alex Smith passed to Vernon Davis for a touchdown and San Francisco took the lead for the first time. Seattle got the ball with great field position after Davis picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for celebrating in the end zone and Nate Burleson got a 28-yard return.
Three plays later the Hawks found themselves at 4th-and-1 on San Francisco's 27 yard line. Mack Strong got the ball and pushed, but San Francisco held. They turned it around and drove 73 yards to the end zone to lead 17-7.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
You must be a big Hawks fan in as much as I see each of their games faithfully covered here each week. That said, I dont think the Seahawks are getting anywhere near a Superbowl this year. Too inconsistent. Theres big problems there, and it aint just the injuries either (though they didn't help matters). They looked absolutely awful on Thursday night. We've been saying it for a long time here in Seattle but I guess there is always next year....
-Glen
2 - Erynn
You're right, Glen. There is definitely something wrong. You can still see the flashes of last season from time to time, but it all seems to be mis-firing.
The defense held strong for three solid quarters last night, but the offense couldn't do anything with the great field position that Nate Burleson kept getting for them.
I can't really blame the defense for the fourth quarter melt-down because they were on the field for too long the first three quarters. They were run into the ground, then the niners ran away with it.
I still think they'll make the first round of playoffs -- maybe the optimist in me -- but I doubt they'll make it to round two.
Maybe next year they'll at least stay healthy.
But it could be worse -- they could be the Mariners.
3 - RJ Elliott
Seattle's last two games:
San Diego (probable loss)
@ Tampa Bay (probable win)
San Francisco's last two games:
Arizona (probable win)
@ Denver (probable loss)
So, Seattle probably still wins the division with a 9-7 record, while San Fran probably finishes in second place with a 7-9 record.
Of course, this season is nuts, so who knows?
4 - RJ Elliott
Of course, Seattle could lose their last two games, and the Rams could win their last three, and there would then be a tie at 8-8 atop the NFC West...but the Seahawks hold the tie-breaker over the Rams because they already beat them twice this year...only the 49ers have a shot at overtaking Seattle in their division...so the Seahawks look playoff-bound...