Seahawks Must Wait to Learn Fate

The Seattle Seahawks need the help of the Minnesota Vikings to get into the playoffs.

Trent Dilfer passed for two touchdowns and Shaun Alexander scored on a 44-yard run as the Seahawks scored a 21-18 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Seattle gets into the playoffs as an AFC wild-card team tonight if the Baltimore Ravens lose at home to the Vikings.

Mike Tice, a tight end for the Seahawks from 1981-88 and 1990-91, is the interim coach of the Vikings.

“Hopefully, Randy Moss will go crazy tomorrow night and catch about five touchdowns and we’ll be in,” said Dilfer, who quarterbacked the Ravens to their Super Bowl victory last season.

The Seahawks (9-7) would have made the postseason if the Oakland Raiders had beaten the Jets, but New York won, 24-22, to clinch a spot.

Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren sounded more realistic about Minnesota’s chances of winning in Baltimore.

“They’ve got their hands full,” Holmgren said. “They’re going to play hard, but the trouble is they’re playing a real fine team in Baltimore.”

Dilfer, replacing the injured Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback for the second consecutive week, had touchdown passes of 12 and 18 yards to Darrell Jackson in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead at halftime.

It was Dilfer’s 15th consecutive victory as a starter, including 4-0 this season, when he mainly was Hasselbeck’s backup. He hasn’t lost a start since October 2000.

“We did what we had to do today and we should be proud of that,” Dilfer said. “We played a really fine game. We can’t control what happens tomorrow night. We can’t beat ourselves up thinking about what could have been earlier in the year.”

The Chiefs blocked a punt to set up a touchdown and then added a field goal in the third quarter, making it 14-10. Alexander broke outside and ran down the right sideline on his 44-yard touchdown, his 16th touchdown of the season.

Kansas City’s Priest Holmes won the NFL rushing title with 1,555 yards, finishing ahead of Curtis Martin of the Jets, who had 1,505 yards. Holmes had 117 yards in 23 carries, breaking the franchise mark of 1,480 set by Christian Okoye in 1989.

“It means a lot,” said Holmes, signed by the Chiefs as a free agent in April after playing four seasons in Baltimore. “I think whenever you have an opportunity to have something, it’s worth grabbing.”

Kansas City (6-10) scored a touchdown in the final minute on a short run by Tony Richardson and got a two-point conversion on a pass from Trent Green to Eddie Kennison.

The Chiefs’ onside kick was recovered by Bobby Engram of the Seahawks.

Alexander, who had his right ankle X-rayed after his first carry of the game, finished with 127 yards in 20 carries. It was Alexander’s fourth 100-yard rushing game in 12 starts filling in for the injured Ricky Watters.

Dilfer, signed to a one-year contract as a free agent in August, completed 22 of 38 passes for 248 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Dilfer passed for five touchdowns in Seattle’s last two games, four to Jackson.

Trent Green of the Chiefs was 15 of 33 for 184 yards and one touchdown, with one interception.

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He Just Wins, Baby

Seattle’s 21-18 victory against the Chiefs was Trent Dilfer’s 15th consecutive win as a starter, which prompts the question: why wasn’t Dilfer named the starter much earlier this season? Mike Holmgren’s loyalty to Matt Hasselbeck may have cost the Seahawks a playoff berth should the Ravens defeat the Vikings tonight. Below is a look at how Hasselbeck and Dilfer have fared as starters this season.

Roy Jurgens