Seahawks Taking Care of Themselves

The Seattle Seahawks don’t want to worry about what any other team in the NFL is doing.

With each victory, they are closer to making that reality.

Matt Hasselbeck threw three touchdown passes, including a two-yarder to Darrell Jackson in the fourth quarter, and the Seahawks rallied for a 28-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday that clinched a first-round bye for the NFC West champions.

Seattle (12-2) has won 10 consecutive games for the first time in team history and also matched the 1984 squad for most victories in a season. That left the Seahawks hoping for Chicago to lose to Atlanta Sunday night, which would have given them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, another club first. But the Bears beat the Falcons, 16-3.

“Instead of rooting for teams, it’s been nice not to have to worry about teams,” Hasselbeck said.

The quarterback finished with 285 yards passing as the Seahawks beat the Titans (4-10) for the fifth straight time in the teams’ first meeting since 1998.

Shaun Alexander also ran for a touchdown, giving him an NFL-best 24, and the league’s leading rusher became only the fifth player in NFL history to rush for 1,600 yards in consecutive seasons. He finished with 26 carries for 172 yards.

“It’s great to know I’m going to be in the second round of the playoffs,” Alexander said. “This is a new door for us, but it’s something we’ve been preparing for for a long time.”

The Titans weren’t happy with coming close. They have lost five games by eight points or fewer this season.

“I’m not going to sit here and say we’re four points behind a team that’s got the best record in the NFC,” Titan Coach Jeff Fisher said. “I can tell you this. I’m proud of the fight and proud of everything I got out of our football team.”

The Seahawks had to work a little harder in this game after blowing out Philadelphia and San Francisco the previous two weeks.

Steve McNair, playing perhaps his final game in The Coliseum with a $50-million bonus due in the off-season, chewed up one of the NFL’s better defenses by attacking a secondary missing three injured players.

He led the Titans to 24 consecutive points and a 24-14 lead midway through the third quarter. He threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, and Jarrett Payton also ran for a touchdown.

The Titans had a chance to pad their lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Facing fourth and one at the Seattle six, Chris Brown tried to run right and was stopped for a one-yard loss.

Hasselbeck responded with a 13-play, 93-yard drive that ended when Jackson scored the go-ahead touchdown with 8:59 to go.