patriots eagles

New York entered the game after losing their last two regular season games, but managed to defeat the Chargers with a Doug Brien field goal in overtime. This game proved to be as close and competitive as the earlier playoff game in Seattle, featuring numerous key plays in the fourth quarter and in overtime that kept it going utill 14:55 had elasped in the extra period.

New York took the opening kickoff and drove to the Chargers 11-yard line. But San Diego's defense kept them out of the end zone and Brien missed a 31-yard field goal attempt. In the second quarter, San Deigo drove 88 yards and scored with Drew Brees' 26-yard touchdown pass to Keenan McCardell, which was initially ruled an incompletion, but overturned to a touchdown after a replay challenge. Later in the quarter, a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against the Chargers on a punt gave New York the ball on the San Diego 37-yard line. Five plays later, quarterback Chad Pennington completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Becht, tying the game at 7. On their ensuing drive, the Chargers mounter a scoring threat by moving the ball to the Jets 37-yard line, but Reggie Tongue intercepted a pass from Brees and the score remained tied at halftime.

After forcing a punt on the opening second half drive, Pennington completed three consecutive passes for 68 yards, the last one a 47-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss. Then after forcing a punt, New York drove 42 yards in eight plays, featuring two receptions by Curtis Martin for 33 yards and scored with a 42-yard field goal from Brien, giving them a 17-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the final period, the Chargers managed to rally back. First they drove 54 yards in 12 plays and scored with a 35-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding. The Jets responded with a drive to San Deigo's 33-yard line, Pennington threw an incomplete pass on third down and they decided to punt rather than risk a 51-yard field goal. The Chargers subsequently moved the ball 80 yards in 10 plays to tie the game on a thrillng drive in which they nearly turned the ball over twice. One the first play, Brees fumbled the ball while being sacked by linebacker Jonathan Vilma, but he recovered it himeself. Then he completed a 21-yard pass to tight end Antonio Gates to pick up the first down. One play later, he completed a 44-yard pass to Gates at the Jets 22-yard line. Two runs by LaDainian Tomlinson for 13 yards and a 7-yard run by Brees brought up third down on the Jets 2-yard line. After Tomlinson was tackled for a 1-yard loss, A fourth-down pass Brees with under 20 seconds left fell incomplet
e into the end zone, but Jets linebacker Eric Barton was penalized for roughing the passer, giving the Chargers a first down from the one-yard line. Brees threw a touchdown pass to Gates on the following play, sending the game into up overtime.

After an exchange of punts in overtime, the Chargers drove to the Jets 22-yard line, but Kaeding missed a 40-yard field goal attempt late in the extra period, allowing the Jets to come back down the field. Two Pennington completions for 29 yards and a 19-yard run by LaMont Jordan then set up a 28-yard field goal from Brien with five seconds remaining in overtime.

Pennington completed 23 of 33 passes for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns. Moss finished the game with 4 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. Brees completed 31 of 42 passes for 319 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception. Tomlinson rushed for 80 yards and caught 9 passes for 53 yards.

The Colts followed up their wild-card blowout of the Broncos in the previous year's Wild Card Round, and also made up for a loss in Denver's INVESCO Field at Mile High a week earlier with another thrashing. Indianapolis scored a franchise playoff record seven touchdowns and led 35-3 at the half. Colt quarterback Peyton Manning, who threw a record 49 touchdown passes in the 2004 regular season, completed 27 of 33 passes for 457 yards (the second highest total ever in a playoff game) and four touchdowns, including two to receiver Reggie Wayne (who had 10 receptions for 221 yards receiving on the day), and one each to tight end Dallas Clark (who caught 6 passes for 113 yards) and receiver James Mungro. Manning and running backs Edgerrin James and Dominic Rhodes scored rushing touchdowns. For Denver, quarterback Jake Plummer threw for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, while receiver Rod Smith caught 7 passes for 99 yards and a score.

Manning dominated the Broncos in the first quarter, completing 11 of 14 passes for 156 yards. On the Colts second drive of the game, he completed two passes to Wayne for 41 yards and a 25-yard pass to tight end Marcus Pollard before throwing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Mungro. Then after a Denver punt, Manning completed three passes to Clark for 63 yards on an 87-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by James, giving Indianapolis a 14-0 lead with 38 seconds left in the first quarter.

On Denver's opening drive of the second quarter, safety Mike Doss intercepted a pass Plummer on the Colts 41-yard line. One play later, Manning threw a 49-yard completion to Wayne at the Denver 9. Rookie defensive back Kelly Herndon ended the drive by intercepting a pass from Manning in the end zone, but it didn't matter. Denver was forced to punt after three plays and Troy Walters returned the ball 9 yards to the Colts 48-yard line. Manning then completed three consecutive passes for 48 yards, the last one a 19-yard touchdown throw to Clark. This time the Broncos managed to respond. Smith caught 2 passes for 41 yards on a 51 yard drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal by Jason Elam, cutting the score to 21-3. Then the Broncos treid to fool the Colts with a surprise onsided kick. But it didn't work. Indianapolis' Nick Rogers recovered the ball on the Denver 40-yard line, and one play later, Manning threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Wayne. Before the end of the half, the C
olts put together another touchdown drive. This time Manning went to Marvin Harrison, who had been dominated all game, completing two passes to him for 41 yards before a 20-yard catch by Wayne moved the ball to the Broncos 1-yard line. Manning finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds left in the half, increasing the Colts lead to 35-3.

The Broncos scored on the opening drive of the second half, moving the ball 75 yards and scoring with Plummer's 9-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Then after forcing a punt, they drove 85 yards and scored with Plummer's 35-yard touchdown pass to Jeb Putzier, cutting the score to 35-17. But on the Colts ensuing drive, Wayne caught a screen pass from Manning and took it 43 yards for a touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 42-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. Denver receiver Triandos Luke returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the 43-yard line, setting up a 57-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Tatum Bell. But Harrison recovered Elam's onside kick attempt and the Colts subsequently closed out the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run by Rhodes.

The Vikings, like the Rams, were a .500 (8-8) franchise during the regular season. Furthermore, they had stumbled into the postseason losing 7 of their last 10 games, the worst performance in NFL history by a playoff team in a final 10-game span. Two of their losses, by identical 34-31 scores, came in last-second games to the Packers. This time, however, there was no denying the Vikings as they avenged their regular-season sweep, coming out with a stellar performance on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw for 284 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 54 yards, while the Vikings defense, who only intercepted 11 passes all season, picked off Green Bay counterpart Brett Favre four times. Wide receiver Randy Moss caught two touchdowns for Minnesota, but drew controversy for his celebration after his second, which decided the outcome of the contest. Moss pretended to "moon" Packers' fans, better known as "cheeseheads" by pretending to pull down his pants,
mocking a move done by Packer fans to the losing team's bus as they leave Green Bay. The NFL was not amused, and docked Moss $10,000 (US) for his actions a few days later.

On the Vikings' opening drive, Culpepper narrowly avoided a sack with a short completion to receiver Moe Williams, who then dodged a tackle attempt from cornerback Moe Williams and took off for a 68-yard touchdown reception. The Packers were forced to punt after Favre was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down by Chris Claiborne, and Nate Burleson returned the ball to the 45-yard line. Three plays later, Culpepper threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Moss, giving Minnesota a 14-0 lead after just 5:05 had elasped in the game. A 30-yard kickoff return by Najeh Davenport gave the Packers good field position on their 42-yard line, but two plays later, defensive back Antoine Winfield intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it to the Vikings 43. After that, Culpepper completed two passes for 19 yards and rushed for 23, setting up a 35-yard field goal by Morten Andersen and increasing the lead to 17-0.

After being completely dominated up to this point, the Packers managed to rally back. First Davenport returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the 38-yard line. Then a 21-yard completion from Favre to Javon Walker set up a 43-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell. The Vikings were forced to punt after Culpepper was sacked on third down by Michael Hawthorne, and Green Bay subsequently drove 54 yads in 12 plays and scored with Favre's 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bubba Franks, cutting their deficit to 17-10 with 10:24 left in the second quarter. But on the Vikings' next drive, a 29-yard reception by Burleson and a 23-yard run by Culpepper helped move the ball to the Packers 9-yard line. Green Bay seemed to catch a break when Anderson slipped on a field goal attempt, resulting in a block. But on the next play, safety Brian Russell intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it 14 yards to the Packers 28-yard line. One play later, Culpepper threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Burle
son, putting the Vikings up 24-10. The Packers subsequently drove to Minnesota's 8-yard line, but while scrambling around looking for an open receiver, Favre threw an illegal forward pass when he could have run for a first down. On the next play, Longwell missed a 28-yard field goal.

After a scoreless third quarter, Davenport's 1-yard touchdown run cut the Packers deficit to 24-17. But the Vikings responded by driving 66 yards and scoring with a 34-yard touchdown completion for Culpepper to Moss. Then after forcing a punt, Minnesota put the game away with an 8-minute drive that ran the clock down to 8 seconds.

Jets came out on the losing end of this overtime game when placekicker Doug Brien missed two consecutive field goals at the end of regulation, setting an NFL record of 3 missed game winning field goals in a single post-season. Despite a subpar performance by Steelers' rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers managed to win after Jeff Reed made a game-winning 33-yard field goal 11:04 into the extra period. Steelers running back Jerome Bettis finished the game with 101 rushing yards and a touchdown, along with a 21-yard reception.

The Steelers opened up the scoring with a 43-yard field goal by Reed. Then after the ensuing kickoff, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu intercepted a pass from Chad Pennington and returned it 15 yards to the Jets 25-yard line, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by Bettis. New York Responded with a 42-yard field goal from Brien on their next drive to cut their deficit to 10-3. Later in the second quarter, Jets receiver Santana Moss returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown to tie the game.

Midway through third quarter, Jets defensive back Reggie Tongue intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown. On Pittsburgh's next drive, they drove all the way to New York's 23-yard line. But then Bettis fumbled the ball and New York's Erik Coleman recovered it. After forcing a punt, the Steelers drove into scoring range for the third consecutive drive, this time scoring with Roethlisbeger's 4-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, tying the game at 17.

The Jets responded with a drive inside the Steelers 30-yard line, but Brien missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with 2 minutes left in regulation. Two plays later, New York defensive back David Barrett gave his team another chance to score the winning points by intercepting a pass from Roethlisberger and returning it 25 yards to Pittsburgh's 36-yard line. But Brien missed another field goal, this one from 43 yards, as time expired in the fourth quarter, and the game went into overtime.

The Jets won the coin toss, but were forced to punt. Pittsburgh then drove 72 yards in 14 plays and won the game with a 33-yard field goal from
SERIES: 11th meeting. Eagles lead series, 6-4. Their last meeting was in February 2005 in Super Bowl XXXIX. Donovan McNabb threw three interceptions in that game as the Patriots defeated the Eagles 24-21.

PREDICTION: Patriots 37-20

KEYS TO THE GAME: The good news for the Eagles is their ability to hold the ball -- they have 24 scoring drives of at least 10 plays. The bad news is QB Donovan McNabb is day-to-day with a sprained ankle and jammed thumb and might have to give way to A.J. Feeley. The key will be RB Brian Westbrook, who is on pace for a career-high 388 touches despite missing a game. He is averaging 29.3 over the past three games and must be productive on the ground and as a receiver to make spectators out of the Patriots' fleet of offensive playmakers. ... The Patriots expect plenty of blitzing from the Eagles' defense. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is aggressive -- and to be honest, Philadelphia doesn't have many options. The Eagles have the pass rushers to cause problems, but if the protection holds up QB Tom Brady is in for another field day, and the Eagles have just one sack the past three games. Philly has a league-low 11 takeaways and starting CBs Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown hav
e historically struggled against taller receivers like Randy Moss.

KEY INJURIES: Patriots: OG Stephen Neal (shoulder) could miss his second consecutive game. Eagles: McNabb is uncertain; S Quintin Mikell is unlikely to play.

FAST FACTS: Westbrook is sixth in franchise history with 312 career receptions. ... The Patriots can clinch the AFC East title with a win or a loss by Buffalo.

PERSONNEL NEWS:
Eagles:
--DE Jevon Kearse, who was a healthy inactive last week against Miami, will play Sunday against the Patriots. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson wouldn't say how much, but said he will use him mainly in passing situations.
--QB A.J. Feeley took all of the first-team snaps in practice Thursday and probably will start Sunday against the Patriots, with Donovan McNabb still nursing ankle and thumb injuries.
--QB Donovan McNabb didn't practice again Thursday. He suffered ankle and thumb injuries in Sunday's win over Miami and is out for this week's prime time game against the Patriots.
--SS Quintin Mikell isn't expected to play Sunday against the Patriots. He suffered an MCL knee sprain last week and hasn't practiced at all this week.
--S J.R. Reed will get his first start of the season Sunday. He will start at strong safety in place of injured SS Quintin Mikell.

Patriots:
--The Patriots had a light practice on Thursday before the players were let go early for the Thanksgiving holiday. DL Jarvis Green (ankle) was the only player who didn't participate in Thursday's practice.
--LB Adalius Thomas, who didn't practice Wednesday due to a team decision, was removed from the injury report. G Stephen Neal (shoulder) and S Eugene Wilson (ankle), who were limited in practice Wednesday, are also no longer on the injury report.
--QB Tom Brady (right shoulder) had limited participation in Thursday's practice. Brady will start Sunday night against the Eagles.

SCOUTING REPORTS:

EAGLES

--The Eagles will have a new playing surface for their next home game at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. With Temple University playing its football games at the Linc in addition to the Eagles, the field was in horrible shape. At the recommendation of head groundskeeper Tony Leonard, the Eagles brought in 4-by-25-foot rolls of sod earlier this week and put it over the old surface.

"It is developed, and we can get it cut thick enough where it's not going to move," Leonard said. "I feel comfortable that the last three games of the season will be fine."

The Linc is one of four DD Grassmaster fields in the league. Those fields are reinforced by polypropylene fibers, which are sewn into the sod. Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Denver also have DD Grassmaster fields.

"What we'll do at the end of the season is remove the sod, and we'll still have the DD Grassmaster field," Leonard said. "The field will be covered for six weeks by the sod, and the Bermuda grass (underneath) will stay alive because it's typically dormant at this time of year anyway."

--RB Brian Westbrook, who had a career-high 322 touches last season, already has 233 this season, despite missing a game earlier this season with an abdominal injury. He's averaged 29.3 touches in the last three games and is on pace to get 388 touches this season. Not bad for a guy who once was considered too small (5-foot-9, 200 pounds) and too brittle to be a heavy-duty running back. Asked whether his days of monitoring Westbrook's touches are over, coach Andy Reid said: "I'm not real worried about that right now. He'll let you know during the game (if he needs a rest). You get a pretty good idea if he wants to be in there or out."

--Westbrook increased his streak of regular-season touches without a fumble to 491. He has just two fumbles in his last 999 touches and just one fumble in his last 902 rushing attempts.

--It would appear this will be TE L.J. Smith's final season with the Eagles. Smith can become an unrestricted free agent after the season and isn't optimistic that the Eagles will try hard to keep him.

"We have different opinions of what L.J.'s value is," Smith's agent, Brian Mackler said.

Said Eagles president Joe Banner: "We just told them we're not in a position cap-wise to do a deal in the middle of the season right now. When the season ends, we'll see how he feels, we'll see how we feel, and if either or both are interested in talking, we'll try again."

Smith missed the entire preseason with a groin injury, then came back too soon and aggravated the injury. He missed three games, two of which the Eagles lost.

"I realized there's no sense in putting 20 bad plays on film," he said. "I'd rather just sit and get healthy. I'd rather play six great games than 10 bad ones."

Smith is finally healthy again, but still seems to be more focused on his uncertain contract situation than playing football. Two weeks ago, he had a costly fumble against Washington. Last week against Miami, he dropped an early pass and committed two bad penalties, including a hold that negated a 46-yard touchdown pass to WR Reggie Brown.

"You basically get 16 days a year to show what you can do," Smith said. "That's why Sundays are so important. You don't get many of them. I try not to think about that and just go out and play. But it's stressful, very stressful."

BY THE NUMBERS: 3 of 33 -- Eagles' conversion rate on third downs of 10 yards or more this season.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Look, if I don't play for the Philadelphia Eagles next year, it's not the end of the world. I'd like to be back there, but whatever happens, I'm not a nobody. I've made a name for myself. It will work out." - TE L.J. Smith

PLAYER NOTES

--DE Jevon Kearse, who was a healthy inactive last week against Miami, will play Sunday against the Patriots. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson wouldn't say how much, but said he will use him mainly in passing situations.
--QB A.J. Feeley took all of the first-team snaps in practice Thursday and will start Sunday against the Patriots, with Donovan McNabb still nursing ankle and thumb injuries.
--SS Quintin Mikell isn't expected to play Sunday against the Patriots. He suffered an MCL knee sprain last week and hasn't practiced at all this week.
--S J.R. Reed will get his first start of the season Sunday. He will start at strong safety in place of injured SS Quintin Mikell.
--LT William Thomas did not practice Wednesday because of illness, but he is expected to be all right by Sunday night.
--WR Jason Avant, who aggravated a groin injury Sunday in the Miami game, practiced Wednesday and appears to making improvement that would allow him to play this week.
--RB Brian Westbrook practiced Wednesday and doesn't appear to be having a flare-up in the knee that kept him out of two practices last week. Westbrook had a career-high 32 carries Sunday against Miami.

PATRIOTS

--With three weeks left in fan voting for the Pro Bowl, Tom Brady has passed Peyton Manning as the AFC's leading vote-getter. Brady has totaled 564,762 fan votes on NFL.com, while Manning currently has 552,845. Brady's total is the second highest among all NFL players, trailing only Packers QB Brett Favre (601,179).

--Randy Moss was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week after his 10-catch, 128-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Bills. Moss' four touchdown receptions in the first half tied an NFL record.

--Las Vegas has installed the Patriots as a 23.5-point favorite over the Eagles this Sunday. That is the largest point spread in NFL history that doesn't involve an expansion team.

--"It's the best offense I've ever seen. I said the other night that Tom Brady is playing the position of quarterback, right now, better than I've ever seen anyone play it in my history. Where they go as the best team (of all time), I think offensively they are right there. I think the best offensive teams that won were probably the San Francisco 49ers, in my mind, and I think this (offense) -- the way they're playing right now -- is probably better. Again, I put the whole thing together with the offensive line and the receivers and the quarterback and everything. When you go to 'team', then you have to put in defense. Their defense isn't the Pittsburgh Steeler defense, it's not one of those. It's not the '85 Bear defense. So you can say historically, when you put it together, I'm not sure they're the best team ever but I am sure -- in my mind, just my observation -- that they're the best offensive team I've ever seen." -- John Madden, on the 2007 Patriots.

--"Basically, you have to ignore those people because this is a job. We're out there, and what are we supposed to do? Like we scored on defense, when Ellis (Hobbs) caught the fumble, should he have taken a knee because we were up by so much? We're out there to do our job, just like they're out there to do their job. It kind of makes me mad when you hear somebody from the other team's defense going 'they shouldn't have done that; that's disrespect.' Do we think it's disrespect when they went and picked up their checks for letting a team score 50 points on them? That should be disrespect, that you went to your owner and said 'All right, pay me for that game I just played.' You can't look at it like that. You have to go out there and do your best. If somebody is blowing you out, you have to play harder. You have to stop them." -- Randall Gay, on teams complaining that the Patriots are running up the score.

--If the Patriots beat the Eagles on Sunday night -- or the Bills lose at the Jaguars -- the team will clinch the AFC East title. If the Patriots do clinch, they would tie the earliest division clinch since the NFL established the 16-game schedule in 1978. Three teams have clinched their division in its 11th game since 1978 -- the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 1997 San Francisco 49ers and the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles.

BY THE NUMBERS: 22 -- The number of times the Patriots have punted this season, the fewest in the NFL.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I don't think I'm going to go hungry, though, if that's what you're worried about. I don't look like I'm undernourished, do I?" -- Bill Belichick on getting some time off for Thanksgiving.

PLAYER NOTES

--RB Laurence Maroney has been criticized for being injury-prone and not being tough this year. Add the Patriots players to the camp who are starting to question Maroney's ability to play through pain. After being taken out of last week's game due to a foot injury, Maroney was greeted by a pile of diapers in front of his locker on Wednesday. It was an obvious attempt by his teammates to send a message that it's time for Maroney to take off the diapers and start playing hurt. We'll see how Maroney reacts this Sunday.
--The Patriots re-signed TE Jason Rader to their practice squad. To make room for Rader, the team released QB David Greene from the practice squad. The Patriots now have two tight ends on their active roster and one on the practice squad.
--LB Adalius Thomas, who didn't practice Wednesday due to a team decision, was removed from the injury report. G Stephen Neal (shoulder) and S Eugene Wilson (ankle), who were limited in practice Wednesday, are also no longer on the injury report.
--QB Tom Brady (right shoulder) had limited participation
Although the Rams barely made the playoffs with an 8-8 record, two of their regular season wins were against Seattle. And they proved they were up to the task again, beating the Seahawks in a back and forth game by scoring a touchdown with 2:11 left to go and then forcing a turnover on their own 5-yard line. With the win, the Rams became the first team in NFL history to win a playoff game after going .500 (8-8) in the regular season. St. Louis' defense held Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, the NFL's second leading rusher during the season, to only 40 yards on 15 carries.

Shortly after the opening kickoff, Rams quarterback Marc Bulger completed a 52-yard pass to Torry Holt at the Seahawks 11-yard line. Three plays later, he threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Holt to give the Rams an early 7-0 lead. Then on Seattle's first play of the game, defensive back Travis Fisher intercepted a pass from Matt Hasselbeck at the Seahawks 44-yard line. Bulger once again tried to go deep, but the Seahawks were ready and Ken Hamlin picked off his pass at the 4. After an exachange of punts, Seattle drove 46 yards in 9 plays ans scored with Josh Brown's 47-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 7-3.

Early in the second quarter, Bulger's 52-yard completion to Kevin Curtis set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Marshall Faulk. But Seattle responded by driving 84 yards in 9 plays. On the eighth play of the drive, Hasselbeck's pass was intercepted, but a 15-yard penalty on Trev Faulk nullified the play and gave Seattle the ball at the Rams 19-yard line. Taking advantage of his second chance, Hasselbeck threw a 19-yard touchdown completion to Bobby Engram on the next play, making the score 14-10.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Seahawks moved the ball 64 yards in 14 plays and scored with Brown's 30-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 1 point. The Rams responded with a field goal from Jeff Wilkins to retake their 4-point lead, but Hasselbeck stormed back, completing five consecutive passes for 75 yards on Seattle's ensuing drive and finishing it off with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Jackson, giving his team their first lead of the game 1:17 into the fourth quarter. But the Rams struck back with an 11-play, 60-yard drive to tie the game with a second field goal from Wilkins. Then after forcing a punt, St. Louis drove 76 yards in seven plays, featuring two key receptions by players who had not caught a pass yet in the game. The first was a 31-yard completion from Bulger to Shaun McDonald on third down and 2. Then three plays later, Bulger threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Cam Cleeland with 2:11 left in regulation.

Hasselbeck started out the ensuing drive with three of four completions for 54 yards, moving the ball to the Rams 11-yard line. But over the next two plays, he threw an incompleted pass and was sacked for a 6-yard loss by St. Louis lineman Jimmy Kennedy. After that, he completed a 12-yard pass to Engram, bringing up fourth down and four on the Rams 5-yard line. With 27 seconds left, Hasselbeck tried to connect with Engram in the end zone, but the pass zipped through his hands and the Seahawks turned the ball over on downs.

Bulger finished the game with 313 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception. Holt caught 6 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, while Curtis added 4 receptions for 107 yards. Hasselbeck completed 27 of 43 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns, with 1 interception, and rushed for 26 yards. Jackson caught 12 passes for 128 yards.