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The Seahawks took care of business against the Rams in the season finale, winning a chippy, physical game 27-9. The win means the Hawks are the 2013 NFC West Champions and clinch the #1 seed in the NFC Playoffs. With the #1 seed, Seattle gets homefield advantage throughout. The road to the Super Bowl is through Seattle.
This is Seattle's 8th NFC West Championship and second under Pete Carroll. The Hawks have made the Playoffs in three of Carroll's four seasons as Seattle's coach.
A few notables:
Seattle squashed the Rams' run game, and after surrendering 200 yards on the ground in the first matchup between the two teams, the Hawks held St. Louis to a paltry 13 yards on 18 carries. That's pretty good. For their part, the Hawks' run game got back into shape somewhat and put up 111 on the ground on 36 carries.
Russell Wilson and the Hawks offense improved slightly on 3rd downs as well, going 4 for 13, and they converted their only fourth down attempt late in the game to put it away for good.
Wilson finished 15 of 23 for 172 yards, 1 TD and no picks, and Marshawn Lynch ran for 97 yards and TD. Golden Tate caught a career high 8 passes for 129 yards, including a 47-yard catch and score. Tate should have had another score but his touchdown was nullified by a holding call on Russell Okung.
Seattle's defense was suffocating once again, holding the Rams to 158 net yards and 3.2 yards per play. They allowed 9 points, and six of those came in garbage time. Linebacker Malcolm Smith had his second interception in as many games, and this time he got into the endzone on the return (after getting to the three-yard line last week). Byron Maxwell added another pick, and Richard Sherman nearly got a third, but he dropped the ball when he collided with two of his teammates.
Seattle finishes the year allowing 14.4 points per game, better than their NFL best mark from 2012, and close out the year with a +186 point differential.
Injuries:
Brandon Mebane left the game with what was described as a 'hip issue'. Hopefully he'll be back in two weeks. Luke Willson was carted off the game after suffering a leg injury, and his status for the playoffs is now very obviously up in the air.
