Notebook | High praise for the QB

When it was over and all that was left to do was pack up the NFC West champion shirts and caps, the Seahawks heaped praise on their leader and quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck.

For good reason. Hasselbeck has been rock-steady all season long, but he took his game to a higher level in the Seahawks' 42-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Hasselbeck completed 22 of 33 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception.

And he sizzled in the first half, going 14 for 18 for 202 yards and three scores.

Hasselbeck's first-half quarterback rating was 153. A perfect score is 158.3.

"It would be a shame for him not to be in the Pro Bowl this year," said tight end Marcus Pollard, who caught one of the touchdowns. "I'd like to go to the Super Bowl with him and continue to win the rest of our games, but he's playing at such a high level right now."

Hasselbeck was quick to credit his receivers for making plays and his offensive line for good pass protection.

Coach Mike Holmgren was typically guarded in his assessment, as well, though he credited Hasselbeck for being the "right quarterback" in helping the Seahawks win their fourth consecutive division title.

"He's having a great year. He's doing everything that I'm asking him to do and probably a little bit more," Holmgren said.

Hasselbeck threw four touchdowns in a game for the fourth time his career.

"I'm going to vote for him," wide receiver Nate Burleson promised, regarding the Pro Bowl. "I don't know if that's going to count for much, but he'll get mine.

"You really can't put a finger on how much Matt has done within this offense," Burleson added. "Not just throwing touchdowns but controlling the game, keeping everybody focused in the huddle ... just doing a great job of leading this team."

No knocking Knox

Holmgren passed Chuck Knox for most head-coaching victories in Seahawks history with his 81st.

The accomplishment earned the ninth-year coach the game ball, presented to him by Seahawks owner Paul Allen in the locker room.

Holmgren reflected on the milestone.

"Chuck Knox, I've said it before and I'll say it again, when I came into the league, there was a few of the coaches that had already really established themselves that took time for a rookie head coach to give advice, talk to me seriously about what I might expect, and he was one of them," Holmgren said. "I've always appreciated that. I've admired him greatly for what he did as a coach, and so just to be mentioned in the same breath as Chuck Knox is pretty neat."

A slump no more

Seahawks kicker Josh Brown proclaimed that his recent field-goal kicking slump is over after he made both tries Sunday.

Brown had missed five attempts in the past four games, though every one he missed was from 40 or more yards.

"We had some success, and that's definitely where you want to go," Brown said. "I'm very happy and I feel like we're going to just continue to move forward from here, back to where we were."

Snapper Boone Stutz still has work to do, however. His snap led to an aborted conversion attempt in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks had converted 34 points after touchdown in a row until then.

Scobey's special day

Five days after being signed by the Seahawks to fill a special-teams void, Josh Scobey scored two points for his team with a safety in an emotional return to Qwest Field.

Scobey was excited to be back and felt missed by the fans. He spent 2005 and 2006 with the Seahawks before signing with Buffalo in free agency last offseason.

In his first game back with the team he felt he never should have left in the first place, Scobey celebrated clinching a division title.

"I just wanted to go out and show [my teammates and coaches] that I'm not along for no free ride," Scobey said. "I'm a player that's going to come in and contribute and show these guys that I haven't lost a step."

After a high snap and fumble, Scobey drove Cardinals punter Mitch Berger out of the end zone for a safety to give the Seahawks a 36-14 fourth-quarter lead.

Scobey celebrated by waving to the fans with both arms high.

Urban Cardinal

Former Seahawks receiver Jerheme Urban made a nice return to Qwest Field, leading the Cardinals with six catches for 123 yards, a career high.

Urban was pressed into more service because Arizona was playing without injured star Anquan Boldin. Urban caught a touchdown when the ball he was thrown glanced off his hands and into the air, only to come down in his hands before he went out of bounds.

"Scoring a touchdown here is nice, but I would give it up for a 'W,' " Urban said. He spent parts of three seasons, from 2003-2005, with the Seahawks.

"Obviously I wanted to play well coming back here, but it wasn't so much of a personal thing," Urban said.

NOTES

• With 55 receiving yards, WR Bobby Engram moved into fifth place on Seattle's career receiving yards list (6,983 yards), passing John L. Williams.

• S Deon Grant got his third interception of the season in the first quarter, and CB Jordan Babineaux his first. The Seahawks are second in the NFL as a team with 20 interceptions. Seattle is 5-0 this season when it has at least two interceptions.