"I think two teams that cared a lot slugged it out," Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. "And we won it."
Seattle, 8-1 at home, set aside concerns about a cream-puff schedule by beating a team that finished with a winning record for the first time since Week 1.
The Seahawks will travel to Green Bay Saturday, a rematch of a 2004 wild-card game remembered for Matt Hasselbeck's proclamation of, "We want the ball and we're going to score!" after the Seahawks won the overtime coin flip.
Instead, Hasselbeck threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
"I'm just saying it right now: We want the ball and we're going to score," Hasselbeck said with a laugh as he opened his postgame news conference yesterday. "OK, I said it."
The Redskins had been on a mission since the death of safety Sean Taylor, who was shot in Miami Nov. 26 and died a day later. Determined to win for their fallen friend, they went 4-0 after his funeral to claim the NFC's final playoff berth and appeared to have unstoppable momentum when two quick touchdowns gave them a 14-13 lead with 12:38 to play.
"I can't believe it's over with for us," Washington linebacker London Fletcher said. "It just seemed our story was going to be written all the way to the Super Bowl."
The Redskins' offense had come alive with a no-huddle drive capped by Todd Collins's 7-yard touchdown pass to Antwaan Randle El. Then came an interception by LaRon Landry, who took over at free safety after Taylor's death, to set up a 30-yard pass to Santana Moss that gave the Redskins the lead. In the end zone, Moss held up his fingers to signify the No. 21, Taylor's jersey number.
Then came a bizarre play that made the Redskins really look charmed. Seattle returner Nate Burleson couldn't field a windblown kickoff. The Redskins recovered and were primed to score again. A pass to Chris Cooley just missed, and kicker Shaun Suisham had his shortest miss of his young career - wide left from 30 yards.
"We have the perfect opportunity, getting that turnover, deep in their territory," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "Not to score on that turnover, that changed the momentum of the game."
Another special teams gaffe swung the momentum for good back to the Seahawks when a 33-yard punt by Derrick Frost gave Seattle good field position.
Taking over at Washington's 42, the Seahawks scored five plays later. Hasselbeck pumped right and threw left to D.J. Hackett, who had safety Pierson Prioleau beaten by 5 yards. A pass to tight end Marcus Pollard gave Seattle a 2-point conversion and a 21-14 lead with 6:06 to play.
Then Collins, who engineered all four victories in the winning streak despite not having started a game since 1997, finally had a pass land in the other team's hands. When Moss appeared to give up on a route deep down the right sideline, Marcus Trufant easily hauled in the ball and returned it 78 yards for a score.
