SEATTLE — As concession speeches go, what Julian Peterson lacked in timing was made up in candor.
The Seattle Seahawks are finished, the linebacker reminded reporters Sunday afternoon, in case anyone was still holding out hope.
“They won the division — plain and simple,” Peterson said after the Seahawks lost 26-20 to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. “They beat all of us, and that’s something we’ve got to deal with.”
Make no mistake about it. The NFC West title came through Qwest Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinals’ locomotive journey toward their first division title in 34 years mowed through Seattle, surviving a late rally before putting the Seattle Seahawks out of their misery.
Arizona’s win all but guaranteed an NFC West crown for the Cardinals while cementing the Seahawks’ first non-winning season since 2002.
“What we did here today speaks for itself,” Arizona receiver Anquan Boldin said after the Cardinals improved to 7-3 for the first time in 32 years. “They say the road comes through here, and we came in and took care of business.”
While Arizona did not mathematically clinch the division title — that will probably come in Week 13, unless the second-place San Francisco 49ers can make a miracle run down the stretch — it certainly knocked Seattle (2-8) further out of contention. The Seahawks’ four-year run as NFC West champions is essentially over.
“We’re not idiots. We can do the math,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said Sunday, after playing in his first game since Oct. 5. “But I’m not going to change the way I come to work and what I do.”
Not even the return of two offensive stars — Hasselbeck from a back injury and wide receiver Deion Branch from a bruised heel — could save the hapless Seahawks. Seattle lost its third consecutive game, matching the franchise’s longest losing streak since 2000. The Seahawks’ 2-8 record marks the worst start of Mike Holmgren’s career as head coach and Seattle’s worst start since 1992, when the team started 1-8 on the way to a 2-14 record.
On Sunday, mistakes continued to weigh down the Seahawks. Three interceptions, including one on the final possession, and a third-quarter fumble helped seal the Seahawks’ fate. At one point in the third quarter, the Seattle defense had just 10 players on the field, resulting in a 12-yard run by Cardinals running back J.J. Arrington.
Most of all, the Seahawks were plagued by an inability to stop the Arizona passing game. Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner piled up 395 passing yards, while star receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin both put up double-digit receptions and went over 150 receiving yards.
“They kind of did what they wanted,” Holmgren said of Arizona’s offense.
Through it all, the Seahawks responded to deficits of 13-0 and 26-7 by making a furious rally in the fourth quarter.
A pair of T.J. Duckett touchdown runs within just over three minutes of each other put Seattle back in the game down the stretch.
Duckett’s first touchdown came after Hasselbeck threw an interception in the end zone, only to have the Seahawks get the ball back when Arizona linebacker Karlos Dansby fumbled during the return. Duckett added a second touchdown 3:03 later, after Seahawks defensive tackle Brandon Mebane caused a fumble at the Arizona 14-yard line. That pulled Seattle within 26-20 with 9:41 remaining in the game.
But the Seahawks’ final two drives came up short when Hasselbeck misfired on key passes. His third-down throw was almost intercepted by cornerback Ralph Brown to end a drive with four minutes left, and then Hasselbeck’s first pass of the final drive got intercepted by rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to clinch Arizona’s win with 1:55 remaining.
Afterward, Hasselbeck took the blame for the loss.
“I don’t think I finished the game very strong,” he said. “It’s disappointing, because I feel like my team really needed me to finish it strong. I felt like I let my teammates down that way.”
Most of the players inside Seattle’s locker room noted that the Seahawks are not officially finished yet, like when Duckett said: “Anything’s possible.”
But a few, like Peterson and Hasselbeck, were able to see the loss for what it was.
“It didn’t help that earlier in the season, we didn’t get the wins we needed,” defensive end Darryl Tapp said. “So, yeah, I guess it is the passing of the torch to the Cardinals right now.”
Middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu admitted that the Seahawks’ five-year postseason run is about to come to an end.
“It’s tough,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anybody in the history of the game that goes to the playoffs every single year.
“There’s only one team that’s happy at the end of the year, and that’s the team that wins it all. So 31 other teams are going to have the same feeling I’m going to have; it’s just postponed.”
For now, the Cardinals are still in celebration mode. The NFC West is theirs, and the season still matters.
The Seahawks couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“It’s been a good run,” Holmgren said of Seattle’s four consecutive division titles. “We are very proud of that fact. Those banners are nice in the facility. But this year has been an unusual year (because of numerous injuries).”
After four years, and one last fight down the stretch, the Seahawks had to hand the division title over to someone else on Sunday.
“We had a good run with it,” Peterson said. “But we’re not going to sit there like this is the end of the season. We’ve still got six games to try to improve. We look forward to next year, to winning the West again.”
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