SEATTLE — Seattle’s NFC West clinching victory didn’t come down to a Steven Hauschka kick, but for a while it looked like it could, and had that been the case, both the Seahawks and their kicker would have been just fine with that scenario.
Last week in Arizona, Seattle’s usually accurate kicker didn’t just have the first multiple-miss game of his career, he went 0 for 3 on field goal attempts. But in a low-scoring defensive battle, he made 42 and 45-yard field goals in the second half to bring the Seahawks back from a 6-0 deficit.
“It was great to get back out there,” Hauschka said. “I was over it early in the week, but it felt good to just get back out there and play and move on.”
“Great to see Hauschka,” added Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. “Hauschka had a really good week. The players really supported him. We talked about how he’d always come through for us. He could feel the support; he said that to the team when he had the opportunity. And he came through and banged the heck out of the football today. It was great.”
Hauschka echoed what his coach said about his teammates, though he didn’t single anyone out, saying “I got a lot of support from key position players and even some young guys. It felt really good and helped me get back on track.”
Hauchka said his misses weren’t the result in technique issues, but that the change this week was, “just attacking the ball and hitting it with confidence.”
As for last week’s three-miss game, Hauschka is ready to put that one behind him.
“I had never had a game like that in my life,” he said. “It was very strange, it was shocking. But I feel great about how I kicked today and how I kicked all week, and I’m looking forward to helping the team in the playoffs.”
Lynch’s career highs
There has been plenty of speculation about Marshawn Lynch’s future with the Seahawks, but at 28, which is considered an advanced age for running backs, he enjoyed one of the best seasons of his NFL career. Lynch finished Sunday’s game with 60 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and three catches for 36 yards, giving him 1,306 rushing yards for the season, the second most in his career behind the 1,590 he gained in 2012. Lynch’s 13 rushing touchdowns, 367 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns were all career highs.
Rookie receivers step up
With receiver Jermaine Kearse sidelined by a hamstring injury, the Seahawks started two rookies when they opened in a three-receiver set, with Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood joining Doug Baldwin in the starting lineup. Richardson finished the game with 60 yards on five catches, including a 32-yarder that set up one field goal, and a big third-down catch to extend another scoring drive. Norwood caught two passes for 34 yards after being inactive for the previous two games.
“They continue to do whatever we call on them to do,” Carroll said. “There has not been a place where you would look and say, ‘oh, these guys aren’t quite ready yet.’ They’ve made their plays. Paul had some terrific plays today, and the one ball up the sideline, it’s great to get him down the field. We’ve been trying and looking for that chance, and then he goes up and makes a great catch on a great throw. Those guys have just continued to step up.”
Tickets on sale Tuesday
The Seahawks announced that tickets for their Jan. 10 playoff game will go on sale to the general public through Ticket Master on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Not many tickets will be available, however, because 98 percent of season ticket holder reserved their tickets, and members of the “Blue Pride” season ticket waiting list will be able to purchase tickets on Monday.
2015 opponents set
While the NFL won’t announce its 2015 schedule until next spring, the Seahawks’ opponents are now set. In addition to their games against the NFC West, the Seahawks will play the AFC North and NFC North teams, as well as the same-place finishers in the NFC South (Carolina) and NFC East (Dallas). Seattle’s home games will be against the NFC West, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Carolina, while the road games will be at the NFC West, plus Minnesota, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Dallas.
Kingco to Kingco
In what is almost certainly an NFL first, a punter kicked to a returner who played his high school football in the same Washington state conference. Rams punter Johnny Hekker, a Bothell High graduate, punted to Bryan Walters, who graduated from Juanita. Walters, who graduated two years ahead of Hekker, doesn’t recall if the two ever shared a field in high school. The two did catch up briefly after the game to talk about Hekker’s Bothell Cougars, who won a state title earlier this year.
Fearing the fake
Having been burned by Rams’ trick plays in the past, the Seahawks did something a little different this time around. When St. Louis’ punt team took the field in situations in which a fake seemed even remotely feasible, the Seahawks sent their regular defense on the field, with Walters in to return the kick in place of free safety Earl Thomas. Those punts resulted in fair catches, as the defense on the field wasn’t the unit that specializes in blocking for a punt return.
But Carroll was just fine with that result if it didn’t mean getting burned.
“We were very wary of this team,” Carroll said. “They’re a great special teams unit in terms of the tricks and all the things that they can do. (Special teams coach) Brian Schneider did a great job orchestrating a way so that they couldn’t affect us. We just didn’t want them to have a factor in the game. We didn’t care about the yardage they gained or how far we kicked it, we just didn’t want them to have a factor in the game. That’s in all due respect to them, because they are really good at it.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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