Notes: Hawks know importance of winning

KIRKLAND — The 1984 talk just keeps coming up, day after day, as the Seahawks prepare for another attempt at winning the franchise's first playoff game since that season.

They've failed to do so the past three times, all with Mike Holmgren as coach, in 1999, 2003 and 2004.

A win over the Washington Redskins on Saturday will stop all of that chatter and end the streak of futility.

"Of course everyone has to be intense and get ready to play," running back Shaun Alexander said, "but we're also going to go out there and have fun and be ready to go."

A win Saturday extends the season and pays tribute to the fans, Alexander said.

"It's a great responsibility that we have," Alexander said, "But the thing I am proudest of [with] this team is that we have accepted every challenge. This is the new challenge, to try to go out there and be the first since 1984 to win a playoff game."

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he now understands what a win would mean.

"The thing I've learned, I guess, through the course of this week, is that it means a lot to a lot of people," Hasselbeck said. "Some of those people are former players here. Some of those people are coaches that have been around or people in the [team headquarters] building. Or maybe it's just some of the people from Seattle that have followed the team since 1976. It would mean a great deal to them.

"For that reason, to see the kind of support that those people have given our team, makes it a little more special if, in fact, we are able to get it done."

Seattle mayor Greg Nickels offered his own tribute to the 12th man Thursday. He proclaimed the day as Seahawks 12th Man Day.

"The fans are certainly a part of what's happened this year so far," Holmgren said.

All aboard

The Seahawks will go into the game with all of their regularly active players available.

Wide receiver Darrell Jackson will start. Outside linebacker D.D. Lewis returned to practice Thursday despite right foot pain and was pronounced ready to play, though it has yet to be determined if he will start. Right tackle Sean Locklear was back in practice and will play after missing Wednesday with a sore hip.

Weather or not

Asked about the depression of Seattleites after 25 straight days of rain, which is forecast to continue through Saturday, Holmgren dismissed the notion as it related to his team.

"Not in the Pacific Northwest," Holmgren said. "In fact, we're going for the record. What is the record? Thirty-three straight days of rain? We're going for the record. We set a lot of records this year, we're going for that one, too."

Notes

• Defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes watched practice from the field this week, but stood far away from players and coaches so as to avoid stress after two stroke-like episodes earlier this season.

• The E-Force Touchdown City, the Seahawks pregame entertainment area inside the Qwest Field Event Center, will move outside the building to Occidental Avenue on Saturday. The move is being made because of the ongoing Seattle Boat Show, which is using the facility.

• In a local promotion sponsored by Motorola, former Seahawks DE Manu Tuiasosopo will surprise a lucky fan at his or her workplace today when he delivers two playoff tickets in person. The following day, he'll escort the two fans to Qwest Field for the game in a limousine.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com