It was the last gasp for Seattle. If only it were more exciting. Like Matt Hasselbeck stumbling towards the end zone from the five, this drive was clumsy and cost too much. Josh Wilson's kick return, Hasselbeck's stumbling tumble towards the end zone -- someone sit the Seahawks down and read them Henry IV. The better part of valour is discretion, indeed.
- Greg Knapp runs designed plays. Sometimes he runs a wide receiver screen. Sometimes he runs some abhorrent play-action bootleg. Seattle started its drive with an abhorrent play-action bootleg. The Niners were in a four man front. Hasselbeck faked to Julius Jones and then rolled right. The unblocked left end was never fooled and immediately adjusted and pressured Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck found T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but so did Dre Bly. Bly was sitting on the route. Housh took a shot, but Bly wanted the ball. A few years back, Bly cuts the route and takes it to the house. Seattle was in luck. Instead, their $40 million dollar wide receiver with back spasms took a shot for an incomplete pass. That completion could have been big. Four yards big.
- Hasselbeck found John Carlson running a short out in the left flat. Dashon Goldson stopped Carlson in the field of play after four yards, but Carlson allowed the momentum to take him out of bounds. The clock runs when the ball carrier is stopped in the field of play, even if they then run out of bounds. The line judge will windmill his arm to indicate this. Brian Billick ignored all these subtleties, instead admonishing Carlson for running out of bounds. About three seconds into his rant, Billick circled the time clock. It immediately began to run. This didn't deter Billick. He continued, clock running all the while.
- San Francisco rushed four from a front-four and dropped seven deep. Hasselbeck scrambled for seven and slid. Micheal Lewis gave him minor forearm fall and looked around for a flag. Officials can flag almost any contact after a quarterback slides. The quarterback is technically down. That is why even an out of control defender just trying to stop his momentum, like Lewis, efforts to hit the quarterback as lightly as possible. Lewis didn't try too hard to let Hasselbeck get up, though.
- The Seahawks convened and Hasselbeck barked orders. They wanted to set and run a play in the twenty seconds before the two minute warning. Billick didn't think they could. Was so sure, he spoke of the possibility in the past tense. They did. Of course.
- Houshmadzadeh and Nate Burleson ran cascading slant routes on the right. Butler ran a post on the left and Carlson and Forsett complemented routes to the sideline and over the middle, respectively. Hasselbeck pump-faked right, forcing Patrick Willis back, and then found Forsett over the middle. Forsett caught it for seven.
Two minute warning.