Tue Nov 20 16:06:46 2007

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Seahawks still in the driver's seat

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(Sports Network) - The Seattle Seahawks know that the NFC West is there for their taking.

At 6-4, the Seahawks own a one-game lead over the 5-5 Arizona Cardinals in the division standings. Both of those clubs are ahead of the distant San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams, both of whom are 2-8.

Seattle was in danger of losing that advantage when the club faced a tough out-of-division test this past Sunday against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year, the Chicago Bears. However, the Seahawks got some revenge by the way of a 30-23 victory at home.

"I'm comfortable with where we are, we control our own destiny in terms of the division," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said after the win. "We've just got to keep winning and just worry about us. That's all we have to worry about, we just need to just win games and if we win games, good stuff happens.

That good stuff would likely include Seattle's fourth straight division title.

The Seahawks now hit the road for two straight games against St. Louis and Philadelphia, and the club has lost its last two road tilts. After that, the Seahawks face off with Arizona in a big home game before wrapping the season with three games outside of the division.

Seattle won't have its 12th man for much of that time, though, as the team plays four of its last six on the road.

"We have our work cut out for us...it's going to go right down to the wire I suspect," Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren said on Monday. "To make sure that that happens, we have to play well on the road. How we handle our road games will determine our season, our regular season for sure, and any playoff hopes we may have."

Holmgren also said he isn't a fan of how the schedule shakes out the rest of the way.

"I wish the schedule had kind of flopped differently. I don't think it's real great to have to go on the road four of your last five -- or whatever it is -- at the end of the season. But that's what it is, so we have to be able to handle it."

While playing on the road isn't a great way to wrap up the season, all four road contests feature clubs with records currently worse than the Seahawks. And the club's two toughest games down the stretch, against Arizona and Baltimore, are at home.

The ball is in Seattle's court.

PASSING GAME GETS BIG

With star running back Shaun Alexander struggling this year and now hurt -- he missed his second straight game due to knee and ankle injuries -- Hasselbeck has been under pressure to make plays. And he did that on Sunday versus the Bears.

The former Pro Bowl quarterback threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns, hooking up with D.J. Hackett and Nate Burleson on scoring plays.

Hasselbeck's first touchdown pass, a 19-yard strike to Hackett, started Seattle on the comeback road, as the club was down 10-0 early. The Seahawks eventually went up 14-10 and the game was tied at 17-17 at the half. Seattle then outscored the Bears 13-6 in the second half to claim victory.

"The Bears gave us some problems, we had some adjustments we had to make at halftime in our protections and Matt got banged around a little bit," said Holmgren after the win. "But he had a very fine football game."

Holmgren expanded on his "banged up" statement on Monday, saying Hasselbeck has some bruised ribs and probably wouldn't practice all week. Holmgren said he will play this weekend.

One has to wonder who Hasselbeck would prefer to have in the backfield with him, Alexander or Maurice Morris. Morris ran for 87 yards and a score on 18 carries in the win.

Morris now has two touchdown runs on the season, matching Alexander's season total. Morris is also averaging 4.1 yards per carry, as opposed to Alexander's 3.3 average.

It will be unknown until later in the week if Alexander can play this Sunday, as the Seahawks will not practice until Wednesday.

BRANCH RETURNS

An ongoing mystery for the past few weeks was when wideout Deion Branch would return. Branch got off to a great start, making 22 catches for 343 yards and a score through the season's first four games before suffering a sprained foot on October 7 versus the Steelers.

Each week, it seemed as though Branch would get closer and closer to returning, but ultimately he would end up on the inactive list. However, the former Super Bowl MVP finally found the field this past weekend, and made four catches for 31 yards.

Hackett, meanwhile, paced the receivers with nine catches for 136 yards. Those two, combined with Burleson and Bobby Engram, give Seattle a very deep and talented wide receiving group.

DEFENSE SETTLES IN

Seattle fell behind early and it seemed as if the Bears may have their way with the Seahawks defense after Chicago running back Cedric Benson took the second play from scrimmage 43 yards for a score.

Chicago had 185 yards of offense in the first half, including 83 on the ground. However, the Bears managed just 24 rushing yards in the second half.

"Defensively, after the first couple of runs, we settled in and did a nice job stopping the run," Holmgren said on Monday.

Linebacker Leroy Hill suffered a hamstring strain two weeks ago and it was unknown if he would be able to play on Sunday. However, he did and led the team with 10 tackles to go along with a sack.

In fact, Seattle ended the game with five sacks, getting three from defensive end Patrick Kerney.

UP NEXT: RAMMING HOME A WIN

The Seahawks hit the road to battle the 2-8 Rams this Sunday. St. Louis, which began the season 0-8, won its second straight game by besting the San Francisco 49ers this past weekend.

Seattle dominated St. Louis, 33-6, at Qwest Field in Week 7 behind a pair of touchdowns by Hasselbeck. Darryl Tapp notched four sacks and a forced fumble in the contest. He had a sack versus the Bears this past weekend.

The Rams played that game with a banged-up Marc Bulger under center and no Steven Jackson.

St. Louis still leads the all-time series by just a 10-9 margin, but Seattle has won five in a row over the Rams, who haven't beaten the Seahawks since the 2004 playoffs.