One and Done: Seahawks stun Saints with 41-36 win
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on January 8, 2011
Just 6 days ago, nobody thought the Seahawks deserved a playoff berth after their NFC West clinching win despite a 7-9 record.
Now, they’re moving on after stunning the defending Super Bowl champion Saints.
Matt Hasselbeck threw for 4 touchdown passes, while Marshawn Lynch’s electrifying 67-yard run put the finishing touches on Seattle’s 41-36 upset win over New Orleans.
The Saints got off to a quick start, as they scored in their first two drives with Heath Evans’ 1-yard touchdown catch putting them up 10-0 with 6:21 left in the 1st quarter.
Seattle bounced right back, as Hasselbeck found a wide-open John Carlson in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown.
New Orleans responded with Julius Jones’ 5-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to 17-7, but Hasselbeck again connected with Carlson from 7 yards out to make it 17-14.
Olindo Mare connected on a 29-yard field goal to tie it at 17 with 7:03 left until halftime.
The Seahawks then took their first lead of the game, as Hasselbeck hit a wide-open Brandon Stokley for a 45-yard touchdown, as it put Seattle up 24-17 with 1:15 remaining.
Garrett Hartley’s 22-yard field goal with no time remaining made it a 24-20 game at halftime.
Hasselbeck continued to roll in the second half, as he found Mike Williams for a 38-yard touchdown despite being draped by two Saints defenders.
Mare added his second field-goal of the game, as his 39-yarder made it 34-20 Seattle with 5:27 left in the 3rd quarter.
That’s when New Orleans tried to put together a comeback, as 10 unanswered points put them down just 34-30 after Garrett Hartley’s 21-yard field goal with 9:13 left.
Marshawn Lynch delivered the knockout blow, as his dazzling 67-yard touchdown run broke 8 Saints tackles, as it gave Seattle a 41-30 lead & Lynch’s biggest rushing total (131 yards) on the season.
New Orleans had one more chance to rally, as Drew Brees hit Devery Henderson on a 6-yard touchdown with 1:30 remaining.
After a failed onsides kick though, the Seahawks began to celebrate as the Saints now become the first Super Bowl champ to lose in the Wild Card round since the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who ironically lost to New Orleans in the 2000 playoffs.
As for Seattle head coach Pete Carroll? He knew his team had a chance to win:
“We kind of expected to win. I know that sounds crazy, but we did expect to win. The fact that it happened, it’s just kind of like, we want to take it in stride and go to the next one. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s the way the mindset of this team was.”
Seattle will now either travel to Atlanta or Chicago for the Divisional Round next week, depending on who wins tomorrow’s Wild Card game between Green Bay & Philadelphia.
