Seahawks take 14-0 lead, then get buried

Sunday, January 13, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

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ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck manages to get a pass away while under pressure from Green Bay's Aaron Kampman in a driving snowstorm at Lambeau Field on Saturday.

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Green Bay's Brett Favre did all the right things against Seattle's defense, leading his team to six consecutive touchdowns on a snowy day.

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Seattle's Leonard Weaver can't hang on to a pass as he is hit by Green Bay's Nick Barnett. Weaver was part of a Seattle running game that struggled to 28 yards on 18 carries.

Seahawks take 14-0 lead, then get buried

By José Miguel Romero
Seattle Times staff reporter

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Two Green Bay fumbles. Two Seahawks touchdowns. Two injured Seahawks. All in the first four minutes of the game, all in the snow.

It was a wild start, and before the Packers knew what hit them, they were down by 14 points.

Then they struck back with a vengeance and buried the Seahawks in an avalanche of offense. Green Bay rolled off 21 consecutive points, outscored Seattle 42-6 the rest of the game and ended the Seahawks' season with a 42-20 win Saturday in the NFC divisional playoffs at Lambeau Field.

It was the most points the Seahawks have ever surrendered in the postseason.

"We could not stop them," coach Mike Holmgren said.

And yet for those four minutes, the Seahawks looked primed for an upset. They lost special-teams contributor Josh Scobey on the kickoff to a left ankle injury, but on the first play from scrimmage, Packers running back Ryan Grant fumbled a catch when Seattle's Leroy Hill drilled him. Lofa Tatupu recovered and ran the ball to the Packers' 1-yard line. Shaun Alexander scored on the first play for a 7-0 Seahawks lead.

The next time the Packers got the ball, Grant fumbled, hit hard by Seahawks safety Brian Russell. Jordan Babineaux recovered, and the Seahawks took over at the Green Bay 49.

The Seahawks began moving the ball, and on the fourth play of the drive, wide receiver Deion Branch went down with a left knee injury. Branch, like Scobey, had to be carted to the locker room, and didn't return.

Branch's replacement, Ben Obomanu, gained 16 yards on a pass play. Then Matt Hasselbeck found Bobby Engram in the back of the end zone for another touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

"On the road, up 14 like that, I said, 'This couldn't be better right now,' " Holmgren said.

The Seahawks were on their way to the franchise's first road postseason win since the 1983 season. Or so it seemed.

"I was excited," wide receiver Nate Burleson said, "but I knew at some point they were going to start playing Packer football on both sides of the ball, and that's exactly what they did."

There were reasons the Packers finished 13-3 in the regular season, and quarterback Brett Favre was a big one. His 15-yard pass to Greg Jennings made it 14-7 with 7:08 left in the first quarter. On the Packers' next drive, Grant had runs of 26 and 15 yards, setting himself up for a 1-yard scoring run.

The Seahawks gave the ball up when tight end Marcus Pollard fumbled after a catch, and it took the Packers three plays to take the lead. Favre threw to Jennings 2 yards for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead at 13:22 of the second quarter.

Aided by a roughing-the-punter penalty, the Seahawks managed a field goal to make it 21-17. But by that time, the Packers' defense was hitting hard, and the offense was hitting its stride.

When Favre avoided a sack, stumbled, righted himself and flipped a pass to tight end Donald Lee as he was hit to gain key first down, the Packers had all the momentum. They scored on Grant's 3-yard run on the next play to go up 28-17 with 26 seconds left in the first half.

Grant, who was on the New York Giants' practice squad in 2005 and on injured reserve with them in 2006 before coming to Green Bay in a trade on Sept. 1 this season, was all the difference despite his two fumbles. He scored three touchdowns and trampled a befuddled and snowbound Seattle defense for 201 yards on 27 carries.

"We had bad gap control and at the same time, we weren't making good tackles. That's something we haven't done the whole year," Seahawks safety Deon Grant said. "They exploited us, and they ran with it."

Grant's yardage total was the most the Seahawks have ever allowed in a playoff game, ahead of Marcus Allen's 154 rushing yards for the Los Angeles Raiders on Jan. 8, 1984.

The Packers went up 35-17 when Favre connected with Brandon Jackson for a 13-yard pass play, the score set up by a pair of 24-yard gains during the drive. The snow began coming down in blizzard-like form, and the Seahawks were caught up in the storm.

Their last chance to get back into the game went through Pollard's hands in the end zone, and the Seahawks settled for a Josh Brown field goal with 2:46 left in the third quarter. Grant's third TD made it 42-20 at the 13:26 mark of the fourth quarter.

Green Bay didn't punt until there was 9:15 left in the game.

"Whatever team you're on and you don't win the Super Bowl, it's tough," Hasselbeck said. "It's a real hollow feeling."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com