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Seahawks boost themselves into playoffs
By Jeremy Harness December 31, 2003 |
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The Seattle Seahawks were longshots to get into the postseason, especially going into a road game they were not expected to win, even if it was against the San Francisco 49ers. In fact, the Seahawks had only won one road game the entire season and desperately needed one more to stay alive for the playoffs. Well, the Seahawks did what they had to do on Saturday afternoon to keep their hopes alive with a dramatic 24-17 win at Candlestick Park. Seattle came back from an early 14-0 deficit to earn the victory. A week after shocking the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, the 49ers nearly pulled another spoil job in the fourth quarter against Seattle. On a third-down play on the 49ers’ final drive, receiver Brandon Lloyd made possibly the catch of the season, controlling a pass with only his left hand while keeping both of his feet inbounds. However, the play was all for naught when the ensuing fourth-and-one pass from Jeff Garcia fell incomplete and allowed the Seahawks to stumble out of San Francisco with a narrow victory. Seattle will head to Green Bay to take on the Packers next weekend during the wild card round of the NFC playoffs. Matt Hasselbeck completed 24 of 37 passes for 315 yards and tossed two touchdowns against a pair of interceptions. Meanwhile, Shaun Alexander ran for 84 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Garcia went 22-for-38 for 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns but was unable to get that one last yard to keep the final drive going and possibly play spoiler one last time. Lloyd, who has a real chance to become the 49ers’ No. 2 receiver next season, had 63 receiving yards on three catches, while Cedrick Wilson and Jed Weaver each caught touchdown passes. The 49ers face a multitude of tough decisions to make on free agents this offseason, most notably receiver Terrell Owens and emerging linebacker Julian Peterson. Reportedly, the 49ers are seriously leaning towards re-signing Peterson while letting Owens, who has been more and more of a locker room distraction in recent years, walk via free agency. Besides those two, both of the 49ers’ starting cornerbacks, Jason Webster and Ahmed Plummer, are now free agents, as is receiver Tai Streets. Streets is likely to be re-signed while the fate of Webster and Plummer is very much up in the air. |
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