Seahawks left to wonder, what if?

KIRKLAND — A half-dozen blue trash cans lining the Seahawks locker room were nearly filled to the brim with the remnants of an abruptly ended season.

Mail, calendars, equipment and all else that had accumulated during the season's 19 weeks had to go as the players cleaned out their lockers after a morning meeting Sunday.

But less than 24 hours after their blizzard-ridden, 42-20 loss at Green Bay in the NFC divisional playoff round, the Seahawks' regret couldn't be thrown away so easily.

"There's a very nasty taste in our mouth," linebacker Julian Peterson said. "We felt like we had Super Bowl potential."

Yet the what-ifs Sunday had little to do with the plays the Seahawks couldn't make Saturday at snowy Lambeau Field. Instead, they focused on the plays during the season that forced them into the NFL's winter wonderland in the first place.

They thought about a botched handoff at Arizona or a yard they didn't gain in Cleveland. They remembered disappointing afternoons in Pittsburgh and Carolina.

"If we don't lose that game in Arizona, or Cleveland, or Carolina or Atlanta — take your pick — we're looking at a different postseason," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.

When Peterson walked out of his home on a sunny Sunday morning, he could only wonder what could have been. He envisioned a raucous Qwest Field on an unusually gorgeous winter day, and thought about what playing there could have meant to the Seahawks instead of in the snow shower in Green Bay.

"I really reflect back to if we take care of those games earlier in the year, then we won't have to play in that kind of weather," Peterson said.

The Seahawks lost four games — all on the road — by three points. At 10-6, they were three games behind the Packers and Cowboys, who secured first-round byes each at 13-3. The Seahawks, who were 3-5 away from Qwest Field this season, have not won a playoff road game since 1983.

"If there's one thing we've learned from the last three years," Hasselbeck said, "it's that if you can get that first-round bye and you can get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, that's the easiest way to make it to the Super Bowl.

"We just didn't get it done, and we had to go and play on the road, play in a blizzard, and it didn't have to be that way."

Few players had taken a look at the tape from Saturday's loss, and most indicated they would rather wait a couple of days to let the sting fade before they did. The soreness from the season will likely take much longer to go away. If the players are lucky, they will be back to full health by March 1, when voluntary workouts begin.

"I can tell the difference each year," fourth-year offensive lineman Sean Locklear said. "It's really gotten harder and harder."

Early March will also bring free agency, and Locklear is one of several Seahawks — kicker Josh Brown, cornerback Marcus Trufant and wide receiver D.J. Hackett among them — who could hit the market.

Receiver Nate Burleson hopes they don't. Rather than relive the low points Sunday, Burleson elected to evoke the highlights of the season and the potential he thought the team had — and still has.

Despite the score in Green Bay, Burleson doesn't think the Seahawks are far from going back into the Super Bowl.

"We need to take advantage of what we have right now, together," he said. "Nowadays, with business and how football goes, it's tough to keep a team together."

Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twyrwich@seattletimes.com