Hasselbeck shows resiliency in victory

Midway through Saturday's fourth quarter, Matt Hasselbeck was staring into the abyss. Trailing the Washington Redskins 14-13. Looking into the darkness of another disappointing January.

In the fourth quarter of the biggest game of the season, Hasselbeck had made two of the worst decisions of the season, of his career. Two fourth-quarter picks by Washington's talented rookie strong safety LaRon Landry.

For Hasselbeck it was déjà Al Harris.

But on this Saturday, Hasselbeck made mistakes and then he made the difference.

He made throws he shouldn't have made, then made throws that win playoff games. In the most difficult moments of this unusual Seahawks season, Hasselbeck shined, Brett Favre-like.

He was all high-wire and high-anxiety.

"As soon as he let [the second interception] go, I was screaming, 'No.' And then disaster happened," Seahawks quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn said.

Inside Qwest Field, a sense of loss was building.

After the second interception, coach Mike Holmgren sadly mumbled, "Matt," into the headset and did a semi-deep-knee bend on the sideline at the 50-yard line.

After taking a 13-0 lead into the fourth quarter, the Seahawks' season was slipsliding into despair.

"He was trying a little too hard, which I think is something Matt does on occasion," Holmgren said. "He was trying to make big plays. He's a good enough player, at this stage of his career, the plays will come."

Maybe after that second interception, the doubts about Matt Hasselbeck began to swirl like the wind. But he never doubted himself.

After a short punt by Washington's Derrick Frost, Hasselbeck came into the huddle preaching "tempo."

"He gets back in the huddle and he's looking at us with fire in his eyes, knowing that we were going to score," wide receiver Bobby Engram said after the Hawks' 35-14 NFC wild-card win over Washington. "He wasn't down on himself. He couldn't care less what had happened on the previous play.

"Some quarterbacks, those two interceptions could have definitely rattled their confidence. Some would be devastated after throwing a pick like that, but he has enough confidence in his ability. He has thick skin. Quarterbacks have to be tough like that, and Matt's been battle tested."

Hasselbeck converted a third-and-six pass to Nate Burleson for 15 yards, beating cornerback Shawn Springs on an out route. Then Hasselbeck pump-faked and threw down the middle to a wide-open D.J. Hackett for the 20-yard go-ahead touchdown.

As soon as the ball left his hands, before it rested softly in Hackett's, Hasselbeck lifted a fist in the air and ran toward the sideline.

Then he came back to slip a two-point conversion into tight end Marcus Pollard that gave Seattle a 21-14 lead.

Five plays, 42 yards, no doubts. A drive as close to a defining moment as Hasselbeck has had in his five-year playoff run.

"He hung in there. He did not go in the tank," Zorn said. "He didn't try to blame somebody else. He stayed in there. He'd like to have those two plays back. I would, too, but I'm not frustrated with him at all."

This is what next Saturday's opponent, Brett Favre, routinely has been doing in Green Bay for almost two decades. Favre knows about the abyss and how to escape it.

"The guys who are the better quarterbacks in the league, and Matt is certainly one of them, they feel they can hit everything," Zorn said. "And they feel they can move the ball whenever they see what they see.

"But the thing that sets these guys apart from the guys who aren't quite as good, is that they don't get in the tank when things go wrong. And they don't try to pass the buck to somebody else."

Hasselbeck, who understudied Favre for three years in Green Bay, rescued his team from the brink the way playoff quarterbacks, from Bart Starr to Phil Simms to Tom Brady, have done. He gave away the lead, then he got it back.

His passer rating was a tepid 68.4, completing 20 of 32 passes for 229 yards, a touchdown and those two interceptions. But his cool was immeasurable.

On a blustery Saturday afternoon, a decidedly unblustery Matt Hasselbeck did what he hasn't done in some other playoff games. He rescued the season.

"Matt Hasselbeck is one cool cat," Pollard said.

Ultimately quarterbacks are measured by what they do in the postseason. These are the games that matter. And, almost always, the team with the better quarterback advances.

"After he threw that second pick, Matt didn't just check out," Zorn said. "When I talked to him on the phone, he was able to hold a conversation. He wasn't yelling at anybody. Sometimes, you don't take responsibility and blame it on somebody else, but he hung in there tough.

"It wasn't a shaky performance to me. Those two decisions were shaky. He made two poor decisions, but if you look at the overall picture, it wasn't a shaky performance."

It wasn't shaky. It was Hasselbeck playing as pure Favre.

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