Hasselbeck knows score: Seahawks need more next week

That didn't happen as much as it should have, but it happened when the Seahawks absolutely, positively needed it. And that's important to remember. Because they're going to need a lot of big plays next weekend, and they may be forced to turn to Hasselbeck again.

Only this time they won't be in Seattle. They'll be at Lambeau Field, and I don't need to remind you how the Seahawks struggle on the road in the playoffs. They're 1-5 there (1-6 if you include the Super Bowl) and 0-1 in Green Bay. The last time they won on the road in the postseason? Try December 1983.

The Green Bay loss was the scene of the infamous Hasselbeck guarantee, and there's no need to remind you or him what he broadcasted to the nation that afternoon. Not only did he reiterate it Saturday; he never backed down from it.

"No, not at all," he said when given the chance. "I thought it was funny ... until I threw that interception."

Ah, yes, that interception. That would be the pass Al Harris returned for a touchdown to send the Seahawks home for the playoffs. Hasselbeck insisted he's a different quarterback today -- a smarter quarterback -- but he didn't prove it until it was almost too late against Washington

Twice he was intercepted by safety LaRon Landry on what Hasselbeck and coach Mike Holmgren agreed were forced throws, but where he escaped a Redskins team struggling to find an offense he will have trouble extricating himself from Brett Favre and the Packers.

That will not come as news to Hasselbeck. He started his career in Green Bay. He was schooled under Favre. And he gained a first-hand lesson of how difficult the environment at Lambeau Field can be on opponents.

"Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a special place to me," he said. "I think it's the greatest venue in all of sports. If it wasn't for that organization I would never have gotten a chance. I would be wearing a suit to work every day. They helped me to fulfill my dream of playing in the NFL.

"It's just a special thing when you get to play your friends. But they're a good team, and I don't know that, at this point, I'm hoping to play a good team at their place."

I don't blame him. The Packers lost once at home this season and finished with the NFC's second-best record. They're rested. They're good. And they're home. And that combination will make them tough to solve, especially if Hasselbeck doesn't improve on his latest performance.

"I was off a little bit," said Hasselbeck, who injured his hand when he hit it on a defender's helmet. "Most of that is just me. I think it was a collection of things, and I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be."

Neither were his teammates. While Holmgren said this year's Seahawks are the most resilient club he has coached, he also acknowledged they may have to dial into a better effort next weekend to stay alive.

"I would like to play an error-free game," he said. "I think that gives us our best chance, obviously, to win, but I'm hopeful we can improve on today's game and play better when we go back there."

He should be. Another performance like this from the Seahawks and Hasselbeck might not cut it, especially on the road. Sub-par performances don't beat the Packers in Green Bay. Extraordinary ones do, and Hasselbeck tapped into the extraordinary only on occasion against Washington.

He did four years ago, too, only the question now is: How much different is Matt Hasselbeck than the last time he met Green Bay in the playoffs?

"I'm probably not too different as a person," he said, "but I'm a little bit smarter.

"As an example, they were jumping our audibles today, and we didn't wait around for them to jump one and then say, 'Oh, we need to run by them.' We saw them sit a little bit and said, 'We're going to run by them.'

"Back then I would wait to see if they would jump one, and, obviously, Al Harris jumped one. And we all know what happened."

We do now.