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Wire servicesSt. Louis gets a break from an official's trip in beating Seattle.
ST. LOUIS - An official made perhaps the biggest stop at the end of the Rams' NFC West-clinching victory over the Seahawks.
Running a deep pass pattern in the final minute of St. Louis' 27-22 victory Sunday, Seattle receiver Bobby Engram tripped over a back judge who had fallen and was rolling. Instead of a chance at scoring the go-ahead touchdown, the ball was nearly intercepted by Tommy Polley in the end zone.
"I thought I had it," Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. "We liked the matchup, one on one, Bobby on a middle linebacker who's kind of turned around. It's just a real bad break for us."
Back judge Greg Steed said his feet got tangled as he cut across the field.
"What I did was I looked up, and as I turned, my feet got caught," Steed said. "I went down to the ground and began rolling, and that is all that I remember on the play."
It was tough luck for the Seahawks.
"We are just part of the field, and unfortunately if we get in the way, we just get in the way," referee Walt Coleman said. "We try not to, but if we do, it is just part of what happens."
The Seahawks stalled on the Rams 34 as St. Louis clinched the division with two games to spare.
"I'd appreciate a blowout every now and then," defensive end Grant Wistrom said. "It would make it a little easier on the stomach. But as long as we keep winning, we'll take them any way we can get them."
The Rams have 13 consecutive home wins, tying a franchise record set from 1998-2000, and are 7-0 in St. Louis this season. They did just enough to continue Seattle's road woes and put a dent in its playoff hopes.
Seattle fell a game behind Dallas for the first wild-card spot and is tied with Green Bay for the sixth and final seed in the NFC.
The Bucs and Saints are a game behind both and tiebreakers aren't in Tampa Bay's favor.
Marshall Faulk did the most to clinch the Rams' third division title in five years, leading a final, clock-killing march. He more than doubled his yardage for the first 31/2 quarters, when he was held to 34 yards on 20 carries.
Shaun Alexander had 126 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown for the Seahawks, who also are 7-0 at home but 1-6 on the road.
Seattle played much better than the previous game, a 34-7 loss to the Vikings, even with four replacement starters on defense largely due to injuries.
The Rams avenged a one-point loss at Seattle in September in which they squandered a 13-point second-half lead. In the rematch, the Seahawks cut a 12-point halftime deficit to two early in the fourth quarter on Alexander's 2-yard run. Then the Rams put it away.
Faulk had 85 yards on 28 carries, ending a string of four 100-yard games. But he had the ball on all nine plays in the clinching drive that started on the St. Louis 15 with 5:57 to go.