For Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, the irony had to slap him in the face Sunday night.
The previous Monday night, Alexander pranced and danced for 201 yards on a snowy field in Seattle – where it rarely snows.
He then came to Denver and found tough sledding on a firm, dry surface.
“They played us well,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said of the Broncos’ run defense. “They’ve got one of the best run-stopping strong safeties in John Lynch. It’s tough. They had a great game plan. It took us a while to get going.”
Alexander found no running room in the first half. He netted 15 yards on nine carries. Eight of those carries netted just 8 yards. The perennial all-pro got going after the break and finished with 90 yards – but with an uncharacteristically modest 3.5 per-carry average.
“We didn’t sustain anything,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “We weren’t able to mix things up. We were just counterpunching out there.”
Alexander came through in crunch time. He scored on a 1-yard run with 8:13 remaining to put the Seahawks up for the first time, 14-13. And he ran three times for 16 yards in the game-winning drive. His final carry, 8 yards off left tackle, put Josh Brown in position to kick the clincher, a 50-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.
Hasselbeck also had a rough start. He completed just 6-of-14 passes for 39 yards in the first half. His long gain was a 15-yarder to Darrell Jackson. With the Seahawks trailing 13-7, Hasselbeck was intercepted in the end zone by Champ Bailey on a 40-yard pass intended for Jackson with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter.
But Hasselbeck got into rhythm after the break. He threw for 129 yards in the second half. Hasselbeck didn’t expect to post big numbers in this game. The Broncos’ defense, especially at home, can be stingy. And Hasselbeck said the Seahawks’ game plan was to play conservatively and see if new Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler would make mistakes.
“We didn’t execute things we’re usually pretty good at,” Hasselbeck said. “But we hung in there. (The Broncos) had a young quarterback. He’s going to be a good player, but we basically knew how they’d play it tonight.”
Hasselbeck earned his second Pro Bowl selection last season. He tied a Seahawks record with five touchdown passes against the New York Giants on Sept. 24 but missed four games after injuring a knee (medial collateral ligament) on Oct. 22.
This was his second start since returning. Last week against Green Bay, Hasselbeck threw for 157 yards and three touchdowns. But he also was intercepted three times.
“We did a nice job of moving the ball at the end,” Holmgren said. “Our kicker (Brown) gives us confidence that we don’t have to move the length of the field.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
