Seahawk Streak at Nine

Matt Hasselbeck got up wheezing after throwing his first incompletion Sunday. San Francisco’s Derek Smith had just buried his helmet into the Seattle quarterback’s chest and drove him into the ground.

“I was just trying to breathe. I felt like I was under water,” he said.

A few welcomed running plays later, Hasselbeck found his breath -- and then flooded the futile 49ers. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 226 yards and a season-high four touchdowns in only three quarters to breeze his NFC-leading Seahawks past San Francisco, 41-3, at Seattle.

Bobby Engram caught two of Hasselbeck’s scoring throws, as the NFC West champions (11-2) won their team-record ninth straight game. They also showed they might bring along a hot quarterback with NFL rushing leader Shaun Alexander into the playoffs.

“The biggest thing people are missing is, Matt’s been leading us on this nine-game winning streak,” said Joe Jurevicius, who caught one of Hasselbeck’s touchdown passes.

The only other time Hasselbeck threw more than three scores in his 104-game career was a five-touchdown performance on Nov. 23, 2003, an overtime loss at Baltimore.

“I really hate saying good things about him, because it goes to his head,” center Robbie Tobeck said, almost laughing. “All you hear about is Shaun, which is great. He’s deserved it. But Matt’s done a great job leading this team.”

Alexander had 108 yards in 21 carries and his league-leading 23rd touchdown rushing late in the third quarter. He is four touchdowns from the single-season record of 27, set by Priest Holmes of Kansas City in 2003.

The Seahawks completed their division schedule 6-0, the first time in the franchise’s 30-year history it has been spotless within its division. The 49ers fell to 2-11.

Seattle’s perfect day didn’t end there: Chicago and Carolina, its closest competitors for the top seeding in the NFC playoffs, both lost. The Seahawks have a two-game lead for playoff home-field advantage with three games to play.

How important might that be? They are 21-4 in the regular season and postseason at home since the end of the 2002 season.

New York Giants 26, Philadelphia 23 -- Jay Feely’s redemption sent the Eagles out of the playoffs at Philadelphia.

Feely’s 36-yard field goal with 3:55 left in overtime lifted the Giants to victory that put them closer to the NFC East title and knocked reigning conference champion Philadelphia (5-8) out of the playoff chase.

Feely, who cost the Giants (9-4) a victory in Seattle two weeks ago by missing three late kicks, made four field goals. Tiki Barber had 124 yards rushing and one touchdown catch and the Giants overcame Eli Manning’s three interceptions in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Denver 12, Baltimore 10 -- Kyle Johnson made a tiptoe catch for a touchdown, Champ Bailey set a franchise record with an interception in his fifth straight game and Al Wilson made a big hit on the goal line to lift the Broncos (10-3) over the Ravens (4-9) at Denver.

The victory increased Denver’s lead to two games in the AFC West and tied the Broncos with Cincinnati for the second-best record in the AFC. Jake Plummer threw for 236 yards and the touchdown to Johnson.

New England 35, Buffalo 7 -- Tom Brady finished with 329 yards passing and two touchdowns in leading the Patriots over the Bills at Orchard Park, N.Y.

Corey Dillon had a 12-yard touchdown run and 102 yards rushing. Troy Brown and Christian Fauria each caught short touchdown passes as the two-time Super Bowl champions (8-5) scored the first 35 points and closed in on the AFC East title as Buffalo (4-9) lost for the fourth straight game.

New York Jets 26, Oakland 10 -- Curtis Martin sat out his first game since 1998 because of a sore right knee, but third-string running back Cedric Houston and third-string quarterback Brooks Bollinger led the Jets (3-10), who broke a seven-game losing streak, at East Rutherford, N.J.

Bollinger threw for one touchdown and set a team record with 56 yards rushing by a quarterback, Houston scored the first touchdown of his career and John Abraham had two sacks that caused fumbles. The Raiders are 4-9.

Green Bay 16, Detroit 13 -- Given a second chance after an apparent fourth-quarter safety was overturned, the Packers drove 56 yards in overtime to set up Ryan Longwell’s 28-yard field goal to beat the Lions at Green Bay, Wis.

The Packers (3-10) kept themselves in the game with a key fourth-quarter defensive effort when linebacker Na’il Diggs stopped Detroit quarterback Jeff Garcia on a fourth-and-goal sneak. The Lions are 4-9.

Washington 17, Arizona 13 -- Clinton Portis ran for 105 yards as the Redskins rallied from a 10-3 deficit at Tempe, Ariz., to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Portis ran 15 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 10-10 in the third quarter, and Antonio Brown gave the Redskins (7-6) the lead for good with a 91-yard kickoff return with 3:29 left in the third quarter. The Cardinals are 4-9.

Tennessee 13, Houston 10 -- Kris Brown hooked a 31-yard field goal wide left even as Tennessee Coach Jeff Fisher was trying to call a timeout, and the Titans (4-9) held on to beat the Texans (1-12) at Nashville.

Rob Bironas kicked a 21-yard field goal with 10 seconds left that gave Tennessee the sweep of its AFC South rival.