Seattle Sports: In the Morning

Hawks won 27-6, clinching the #3-seed in the NFC. My thoughts, and a game diary.

The Hawks will play either Washington (if they beat Dallas), Minnesota (if they beat Denver and Washington loses) or New Orleans (if they beat the Bears and Washington and Minnesota lose). Here's the full playoff picture.

Leroy Hill on his fumble return: "I was thinking at first that I was going to fall on it because it was in the pile. But then I was like, '(Expletive) it. I'm going to pick it up.' And I made the best of it."

"NFL players kid about times during the season when they simply need to 'strap on the big-boy pads.' [Shaun] Alexander certainly wore his on Sunday," writes TNT's Dave Boling.

Holmgren reveals what he told the offense during the week: "For us to reach our goal, we had to run the ball a little bit better. Let’s see if we can do this. It was a little bit of a challenge, kind of a soft-pedal challenge. They came out and I think they did a pretty good job."

Hasselbeck says the Hawks just played hard: "There were times today where they were calling out our play, and we would still gash them."

This was the best rushing game for the Hawks all year, writes the Times' Danny O'Neil.

Brian Russell explains to the P-I's Jon Naito the Hawks' strategy for dealing with rookie QB Troy Smith: "We're going to disguise everything we can and try not to show him what coverages we're in. He has to think twice about his reads. We want to pressure him in certain situations. He lost his starting running back there, and it made it tougher on him."

The Seahawks are "the one Seattle franchise that has gone after the free agents that are the envy of New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C.," writes Steve Kelley. Tim Ruskell gives the credit to Paul Allen: "He [Paul Allen] has been very supportive. When I came in, in '05, I said, 'I really think we have to attack the defensive side of the ball.' We had an inordinate amount of holes, sometimes even vacuums, places that had nothing, like inside linebacker, and he [Allen] told me, 'Go get it. I want a championship. I want to be a winner. A longtime winner.'"

Statistical events of note, courtesy of the P-I's Clare Farnsworth: Engram set a team record for receptions, Hasselbeck set a team record for pass attempts, the Hawks weren't penalized for only the third time in franchise history, and if the Hawks hold the Falcons to less than 14 points, they'll set a new team record for fewest points allowed. The current record is 261, held by the 1991 D. That team had only one Pro Bowler, Cortez Kennedy.

Just because Orioles GM Andy McPhail says Eric Bedard isn't likely to be traded, and Bavasi says the same about Morrow, doesn't mean the two won't end up getting traded for one another, writes the Times' Geoff Baker.

Sene's going to the NBDL. Carlesimo tells the P-I's Gary Washburn: "I hate to say it but he's doing (now) what these guys (the other Sonics) did when they were growing up. I'm imagining he didn't spend a lot of time in playgrounds playing five-on-five." Also in that notebook, news that Delonte West will play tomorrow against the Blazers.

Gary Payton thinks he can help the Celtics.

Jamal Crawford tells the Times' Jayda Evans he's not keen on a Sonics move: "I hope they can stay. I couldn't imagine Seattle without a basketball team, especially growing up there and stuff. All those years of Lenny Wilkens and Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp and Nate McMillan. I couldn't imagine it."

Boise State lost to East Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl, 41-38, on a last-second field goal.

Wazzu blew out Idaho St., 75-45. The Huskies play Idaho St. next Monday.

There were nine Pac-10 games on Saturday--most notably Oregon's upset loss to Oakland (Detroit).

Former major league pitcher Tommy Byrne, who died last week, had a memorable 20-win season for the Seattle Rainiers, writes the P-I's Dan Raley.