Seahawks Remain Alive With Victory

The Seattle Seahawks jumped for joy when Jeff Garcia skipped a fourth-down pass off the turf at midfield with 1:06 left. Several Seahawks charged onto the field waving their helmets, and several others threw most of their uniforms into the crowd in celebration.

The Seahawks’ 24-17 victory over San Francisco on Saturday earned them a chance at the playoffs -- and an uneasy day of waiting today.

Matt Hasselbeck passed for 315 yards and threw scoring passes to Koren Robinson and Alex Bannister to keep the Seahawks’ postseason hopes alive.

Seattle’s first win in San Francisco since 1979 wasn’t pretty, with both teams struggling to move the ball on a chilly day at 3Com Park. But Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander came up with enough big plays to give the Seahawks (10-6) their second road victory of the season and a sweep of the 49ers.

Now the Seahawks need Minnesota to lose at Arizona, or Denver to beat Green Bay at Lambeau Field today. Seattle also could get in if Dallas loses at New Orleans, kicking off a complicated scenario that would eliminate the Packers.

“You win, and you give yourself a chance to go the playoffs,” said Alexander, who rushed for 60 of his 85 yards in the fourth quarter. “I thought, ‘I can’t let this opportunity slip away to do something this organization hasn’t done for a long time.’ ”

The Seahawks haven’t made the playoffs since Coach Mike Holmgren’s first season in 1999, but they’re ready to end that frustration with consecutive season-ending victories over NFC West rivals Arizona and San Francisco.

“We needed to win the last two to have a chance,” Holmgren said. “They did what I asked them to do. Now it’s out of our hands. I told the fellas if they don’t normally go to church, I want them in church tomorrow.”

Jed Weaver and Cedrick Wilson caught touchdown passes from Garcia for the 49ers (7-9), who wrapped up only their third losing season since 1983 with a roundly dismal effort.

San Francisco lost for only the second time at home because of a nonexistent rushing game and a fragile defense that couldn’t stop Hasselbeck or Alexander.

“The future is really unclear right now,” said Garcia, who completed 22 of 38 passes for 248 yards. “It’s really going to be up to the management side of things. The nature of the business is that things are going to change.”

So the 49ers struggled into the off-season as Garcia missed open receivers and settled for the short passes that caused 49er fans to boo the home team repeatedly.

“We just had a lot of injuries this season, and we never overcame them,” left tackle Derrick Deese said.