Seahawks Clinch Playoffs

The Seattle Seahawks are back in the playoffs, led by Shaun Alexander and Darrell Jackson.

Alexander rushed 30 times for 154 yards with three touchdowns and Jackson caught six passes for 101 yards, leading Seattle to a 24-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

With the victory, the Seahawks (8-7) secured no worse than a wild-card, and they’ll win the NFC West and get a first-round playoff game at home if Philadelphia beats St. Louis tonight.

“We accomplished our first goal for the season, getting into the playoffs” Alexander said. “It’s a good feeling to know we may get another one accomplished by the end of [tonight].”

It’s the first time Seattle has made the playoffs in consecutive years since 1983-84.

The Cardinals (5-10) sure made things interesting again before being eliminated from playoff contention.

Josh McCown threw a pair of 29-yard touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter, pulling the Cardinals to 24-21 with 2:30 to play.

“This is just a game where we didn’t hit on all cylinders for four quarters,” Cardinal Coach Dennis Green said.

Neil Rackers was wide left on a 52-yard field goal attempt midway through the period for Arizona, or things could have turned out differently.

“If you bought a season ticket to the Seattle Seahawks, you got your money’s worth,” Coach Mike Holmgren said. “It was a great win. The guys were very excited in the locker room, as they should be.”

Alexander has a career-high 1,616 yards rushing this season, breaking Chris Warren’s 1994 franchise record of 1,545. His 19 touchdowns are a franchise mark, beating the 18 he set two years ago.

Jackson has 84 receptions, breaking the franchise record of 81 by Brian Blades in 1994. His 1,186 yards receiving this season also are a career-high.

“I’ve been doing this every year,” said Jackson, a fifth-year pro. “I think I’ve been very consistent. It’s not like I’ve been having a big jump from 600 to 1,300 yards.”

The Seahawks won without quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, limited to one day of practice after hurting his right elbow in last week’s loss to the New York Jets. Replacement Trent Dilfer completed 10 of 26 passes for 128 yards with one interception.