Seahawks' backup plan
Seahawks' backup plan

By Cris Carter, Yahoo! Sports
January 14, 2006




More Six Points: Patriots-Broncos | Steelers-Colts | Panthers-Bears

The Seattle Seahawks won their first playoff game since 1984 despite losing Most Valuable Player Shaun Alexander to a concussion and having to battle against a good Washington Redskins defense. But I can't say I was surprised.

I think we have forgotten how good of a head coach Mike Holmgren is. Yes, he struggled for awhile in Seattle, but his altering of the Seahawks' game plan after Alexander got hurt was the difference in Saturday's 20-10 victory over Washington.

Without Alexander – Holmgren went to more play-action passing and put the game in the hands of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. It's something Holmgren had to do because the Seahawks weren't going to be able to run the ball against Washington, but his ability to adapt to his lack of personnel was a great move.

Alexander's absence also gave Seattle's defense a chance to step up against a very limited Washington offense. But shutting down any team in a playoff game and holding it to 10 points – and it should've been only three points if Mark Brunell's tipped touchdown pass had been intercepted and not caught by Santana Moss – is the type of defensive effort that championship teams are made of.

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Seattle definitely deserves to be in the NFC championship game.


CARTER'S SIX POINTS
GO ROUTES


1. Hasselbeck the hero. Hasselbeck led the Seahawks more so with his legs than his arm. We all know he can throw the football, but his mobility is taken for granted. He can get out of the pocket and make plays on the run. Against Washington, he made great decisions under duress and got rid of the ball in throwing for 215 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-26 passing. He didn't look like a quarterback who was trying to force it. He made a lot of good reads and really put the Seahawks on his back and carried them in the second half.

2. Seattle's favorite D.J. It wasn't long ago when we talked about the receivers as the Seahawks' weakness. Darrell Jackson had his share of problems holding onto the ball, but he stepped up his game at the right time, catching nine passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. I figured Seattle would be a dangerous team in the playoffs due to the return of Jackson, who missed a significant amount of the regular season due to injury. Sure, Joe Jurevicius had a career-best 10 touchdowns, but he's no Darrell Jackson. The Seahawks will need that type of performance from Jackson to get to the Super Bowl.

3. Seahawks' O-line. Alexander gets all the headlines, but Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson showed why they are Pro Bowlers. They're so good that they were able to pave the way for fullback Mack Strong late in the game when the Seahawks had to keep possession of the ball. Strong, in fact, broke off a franchise-playoff-record 32-yard run to help set up Josh Brown's game-clinching field goal.

FADE ROUTES


1. Absent Alexander. I'm disappointed that Alexander got hurt. The league's MVP carried the ball only six times for nine yards and fumbled early in the game before leaving with a concussion. I was disappointed we couldn't see his talent on football's biggest stage – the NFL playoffs.

2. Hall of shame. It hurts anytime you lose points, and John Hall's miss on a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter was painful for Washington. At that point, the game was really on the edge of a momentum switch after the Redskins pulled within 17-10. That miss by Hall proved to be pivotal because it also allowed Seattle's crowd to get back into the game.

3. Redskins' secondary. Shawn Springs was healthy and Carlos Rogers was back. Outside of Sean Taylor, the Redskins' pass defense was very, very average. A loose coverage allowed the Seahawks' receivers to find huge creases downfield. I thought Washington's secondary would've matched up better.


Cris Carter is Yahoo! Sports' NFL analyst. Send him a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.