Pack sent packing

SEATTLE – They won’t get credit for it, but the Seahawks knocked off a pair of opponents Monday night: Green Bay and Seattle.

For three quarters, it was a toss-up as to which was the tougher foe.

The Seahawks overcame scatter-armed quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, a handful of costly missed tackles by the secondary and a couple more meltdowns by tight end Jerramy Stevens.

They did it with Hasselbeck finally finding his customary accuracy, cornerbacks making their first interceptions since last November and Stevens, who was booed just a few minutes before, delivering a nifty catch in the back of the end zone for the clinching touchdown in Seattle’s 34-24 victory.

How’s that for redemption – all on a wild, wintry night on the frozen tundra of Qwest Field?

Not to be left out, Shaun Alexander, in just his second game back from a broken bone in his foot, was unstoppable – again – in front of the national television cameras. Alexander, who has a habit of huge performances on Sunday and Monday night games, carried the ball a franchise-record 40 times for 201 yards. He came in with 82 carries for 224 yards.

“That wasn’t the plan coming into the game,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “I wanted to be more balanced and I really felt we could throw the ball against them, but things were happening so we kind of took the ball out of Matt’s hands for a while and Shaun carried the load.”

Hasselbeck’s arm was rusty after being out a month with a sprained knee ligament. He completed 10 of his first 12 passes – but three of them were to Green Bay defenders.

His second pass was tipped at the line and picked off by Charles Woodson, setting up Green Bay’s first touchdown. His second interception was the result of poor timing and the third saw Woodson step in front of receiver Deion Branch on a short pass over the middle. Just one play into the second quarter, Hasselbeck had been picked off three times.

However, the Packers didn’t take advantage of Hasselbeck’s second and third interceptions. They went three-and-out after the second and Dave Rayner’s 28-yard field goal was partially blocked by Craig Terrill.

Unfortunately, Hasselbeck’s biggest miscue was still to come. After three Josh Brown field goals had given Seattle a 9-7 lead, Hasselbeck fled the pocket but was hit from behind by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and the ball popped into the hands of Abdul Hodge, who returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.

Seattle, despite gaining 200 yards and enjoying a near seven-minute edge in time of possession, trailed 14-12 at the half. It was 21-12 when Donald Driver took a short pass over the middle, eluded safety Ken Hamlin, who took an incorrect angle, and dashed for a TD.

“We were a little careless with the ball in the first half,” Holmgren said. “Usually when you have (four) turnovers like we did, you don’t have a chance to win. I was very, very pleased with our second half.”

The Seahawks struck a run-pass mix midway through the third quarter as Hasselbeck connected three times with D.J. Hackett – the last covering 23 yards for a touchdown on a 62-yard drive that narrowed Green Bay’s lead to 21-19.

“I just tried to stay positive,” Hasselbeck said.

Seattle moved in front on its next possession. Alexander had a couple of his trademark cutback runs to help move the ball to Green Bay’s 4. Darrell Jackson pulled in a well-thrown Hasselbeck pass in the right corner for the go-ahead score.

Green Bay was within 27-24 when Seattle put it away. Seattle benefited from a questionable roughing the passer penalty on Cullen Jenkins, but it appeared to stall when Stevens, for the second time in the game, was unable to secure a long pass just before getting drilled by a defender.

However, Alexander converted on fourth-and-1 and Stevens redeemed himself by getting both feet down on a 3-yard TD catch in the back of the end zone.

The Seahawks, who have been treading water the last month while waiting for their stars to return, navigated through a steady snowfall in the first half and are two games clear of St. Louis and San Francisco in the NFC West.

In the bigger picture, the NFC’s second seed is there for the taking. Of the 16 NFC teams, only six have winning records. Chicago is 9-2 and the probable No. 1 seed. Seattle joins New Orleans and Dallas with 7-4 marks in the chase for No. 2.

Three of Seattle’s last five games are against teams with sub .500 records.

“Hopefully we can get hot down the stretch,” Holmgren said.

They can – if they can keep the Seahawks off their schedule.