Seattle thinks Alexander will play next weekend
By wire services
Published January 15, 2006
SEATTLE - After Shaun Alexander told enough people he felt fine, all eventually became right with the Seahawks.
The NFL MVP missed the last three-plus quarters Saturday after sustaining a concussion. For a while, his injury was the only downer to Seattle winning its first playoff game since 1984.
After the game, coach Mike Holmgren said, "I think he's going to be fine" for next weekend's NFC Championship Game.
Holmgren said doctors will run more tests.
Alexander didn't talk publicly after the game. But on his way off the field at halftime, the sixth-year running back out of Alabama had a brief chat with team president Tim Ruskellthat ended with both men nodding their heads assuredly. Seconds later, Alexander flashed an "okay" sign to fans before he entered the tunnel to the locker room.
Seattle had another injury to a starter, left cornerback Andre Dyson. He left in the second quarter with a right ankle injury. Jordan Babineaux took Dyson's place until 13:10 was left in the game. One play later, a Mark Brunell pass skipped off Dyson's helmet in the end zone and into Santana Moss ' hands for a touchdown. That cut Seattle's lead to 17-10.
SAME OLD STORY: It was a pattern familiar to Washington fans. The Redskins couldn't score.
They couldn't stick it in the end zone, couldn't even make a field goal that might have put some pressure on the jittery Seahawks.
They've gone from 6-10 to 10-6 and into the playoffs in a year's time, which is certainly worthy of praise. But part of last year's story was this season's story, too. The offense still isn't big-league enough, not to beat a good team on the road.
The defense, good but not great, nonetheless kept the Redskins in the game. But the offense, once again, couldn't produce the kind of yardage or plays that scare a good team in the playoffs.
If you can hold the NFL's No. 1 offense to 20 points at home, you've got a shot. It's not like anybody is going to shut out the Seahawks at home.
But if you can't score more than 10 points, you're not worthy of being in the NFC Championship Game.
"That's my responsibility and obviously we wanted to be much more productive than we were in the playoffs," coach Joe Gibbs said of the offensive futility. "That'll be one of the things we look hard at."