Steve Kelley / Times staff columnist
Things fall into place for Jackson

	ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES Darrell Jackson leans for the end zone on a 43-yard pass reception but was ruled out at the two-yard line as Pittsburgh's Chad Scott defends.
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The drops kept coming like more bad news than one man can handle. Three drops last week in Cincinnati, including one potential touchdown pass. Three more in the first half yesterday, including another sure-thing touchdown.

The drops were starting to get to Darrell Jackson. They were seeping into his subconscious, eroding his once rock-steady confidence.

"I thought somebody had something on me, and I can't catch the ball right now," he said.

The drops were stealing his what-me-worry personality. They were robbing him of that enthusiasm he usually spreads around the locker room like candy. They were shading his thousand-watt smile.

At halftime against Pittsburgh yesterday, Jackson was uncharacteristically quiet. "Emotional," coach Mike Holmgren called it. He was punishing himself for each drop. Privately ripping himself for letting down his team.

"A slump is a slump," Jackson said after the Seahawks' 23-16 win. "Once you think about the slump you fall deeper into the slump. My problem is, I'm trying to catch the ball, and I'm worrying about the ones I dropped."

Jackson came back. With running mate Koren Robinson out with a sprained ankle and running back Shaun Alexander smothered by a fierce Steelers defense, Jackson shook off the self-doubt, turned off the boos, shed his frustration and began making plays again.

It started with a simple 4-yard completion late in the third quarter that brought with it cheers — equal parts derision and appreciation — that were as cathartic as a rain shower. A 4-yard catch on first down that Jackson treated like a game-winner, raising his hand to the sky, smiling and nodding his head to the crowd.

He was playing to this crowd. And playing with this crowd. More players should have his attitude. More should enjoy the moment the way Jackson does.

"You know what made me feel so good about today?" center Robbie Tobeck asked. "Darrell made that catch, and the whole crowd started screaming, and you could see that picked him right up. It was like, 'I got one. I'm back.' "

That one catch changed everything. For Jackson and for the Seahawks.

Later in the 13-play drive, which gave the Hawks a 16-6 lead, he made a sliding catch in the end zone. He ended up with two-thirds of his body across the goal line, his helmet pointing back toward the line of scrimmage. It was a 14-yard touchdown catch that was 24-carat.

After the catch, Jackson scrambled to his feet, pointed to the crowd in the back of the end zone and started dancing like rapper Andre 3000, wiggling his fingers at the crowd like a magician, dancing away all of the drops, ridding himself of his demons.

	MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Darrell Jackson catches and protects the ball for a touchdown in the fourth quarter in front of Chad Scott

"It take a lot of confidence in yourself and a strong will to make plays like that." said Bobby Engram, who joined Jackson in the Andre 3000 end-zone dance. "He was pretty quiet at halftime. It bothers you when you drop passes."

Jackson wasn't done. Running a one-man, hot-route toward the sideline, he turned a short pass into a 43-yard play. Running with the resolve of Walter Payton, he stiff-armed a couple of Steelers and took the ball down to the Pittsburgh 2.

"When you're dropping balls and stuff, people tend to shy away from throwing it to you," said Jackson, who had five catches for 85 yards. "But Matt Hasselbeck hung in there with me, and this team hung in there with me and Mike Holmgren hung in there with me, and all I had to do was make them proud of me.

"I think I whipped it (the slump) in the second half. But I don't know. This Brutus is kind of driving me crazy right now. But we got the win, and I made a play that helped us seal it on up. I'll try to forget about the drops and move on to the Washington Redskins."

The drops had gotten to Jackson to the point he was worried how many more passes he was going to see. How long would Hasselbeck keep his confidence in Jackson? How many more plays would Holmgren call for him?

But the Seahawks have been building a belief in each other since July in Cheney. Before each game, the players hold hands forming a chain that symbolizes their belief in each other. Each player is accountable to the player next to him. Hasselbeck kept going to Jackson because he believed in Jackson.

He spoon-fed Jackson's ego. He never let Jackson sulk. Never gave him time to marinate in his mistakes.

"I've never, never, never, never been through a stretch like this," Jackson said. "I had a great half, but in my head, I still think about the drops. I still think about the plays. I still think about the touchdown (drop). Maybe if I had caught that touchdown we wouldn't have been in that situation. But I'm just happy I stayed in there with my teammates."

Darrell Jackson came back from the drops. He made plays when it mattered. And he was smiling again, happy as Christmas Day.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com

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