In praise of Tatupu: Not many have seen a better linebacker

PHILADELPHIA — Standing in the locker room, with players hurriedly dressing for the long flight home, Niko Koutouvides' jaw dropped as he took his first look at the final stat sheet.

Koutouvides traced Lofa Tatupu's line with an index finger. He tapped Tatupu on the chest and pointed to the numbers because they told the truth.

Tatupu: 11 tackles, three interceptions.

"One of the great games I've ever seen by a linebacker," said Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, who has seen a lot of them.

In the muck and the gloom of Philadelphia in December, Tatupu had a middle linebacker's dream game.

Playing with ribs so sore it hurt to take a deep breath, hurt so much he couldn't practice all week, Tatupu played all day like the picture of health.

He picked off A.J. Feeley's first pass and returned it 33 yards to the Eagles' 18. He picked off Feeley's fifth pass and returned it 49 yards to Philadelphia's 8.

The game barely was six minutes old and Tatupu was responsible for 14 Seahawks points.

"He can make plays that a lot of guys can't," Holmgren said.

And, after the Hawks made a colossal blunder by punting the ball to Brian Westbrook and allowing him return it 64 yards to the 14, Tatupu made the play that saved the cold and soggy day.

He read Feeley's mind as if he had been in the Eagles' huddle and intercepted the backup quarterback's final pass in the last 20 seconds.

A hat trick for Tatupu in the Seahawks' 28-24 victory.

"When you're a player as good as he is, it's just a matter of opportunity knocking," defensive end Patrick Kerney said of Tatupu. "He's been playing so well for us all year and the opportunity came today. He did an awesome job and just took over the game for us.

"I'm not surprised. His second game of his career was against Atlanta when I was playing for the Falcons and all I kept hearing was, 'Tackle by Tatupu for a gain of 1. Tackle by Tatupu for no gain.' And I kept asking, 'Who is this rookie and why can't we move the ball against him?' "

The defense is setting the tone for this team. And Tatupu is setting the tone for the defense. In a wildly erratic year, he has been the closest thing to a sure thing.

A team that has been struggling to find an identity now has four consecutive victories. A defense that was underachieving is rising to the level of its talent.

Three quarters of the way through the season, the Seahawks are 8-4 and have become the second-best team in the NFC. Only the Dallas Cowboys are playing better.

"In years past, not that you couldn't count on us, but we weren't exactly the best defense," Tatupu said. "But we're working our way there. We've got our goals set toward that and we're trying to achieve them. Year in, year out we have one of the top offenses, and now we have to complement them."

The Eagles' offense is a replica of Seattle's and, after spending three training camps defending against it, Tatupu knows it as well as Feeley.

He spent Sunday shadowing and containing Westbrook. He read the Eagles' underneath routes, which are the heartbeat of the West Coast offense. He took away most of Feeley's best options.

"He was amazing," safety Brian Russell said. "Every pick was really earned. He knew the routes. He's as good as any linebacker I've ever seen, let alone played with, as far as covering those underneath routes. And he really sealed the game for us in the end. The guy's just a great playmaker."

Every tackle he made, Tatupu paid for in pain. It hurt to hit. It hurt to breathe. It even hurt when his teammates hugged him. Tatupu practically pitched a perfect game, but his postgame evaluation of himself?

"I missed a tackle," he said.

That's how tough Tatupu is. He's as tough as Rocky. Tough on himself. Tough on quarterbacks. Tougher still on his body.

"He played an amazing game and it just shows how much film he watches and how prepared he was," Koutouvides said. "That's why he's going to be flying over the seas to the Pro Bowl for a third straight time.

"He was playing hurt, but you'd need a bulldozer to take him out of the game. Any little nicks, pain, bad back, whatever it is, he wants to stay in the game. That's the kind of attitude, toughness he has. The way he reacts to pain, a lot of us feed off that."

Suddenly the defense is voracious. Suddenly it is making stops, making plays, taking over.

And always, in the eye of this hurricane, middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu lurks.

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