KIRKLAND, Wash. -- A young father stood holding a football outside the gates of Seahawks headquarters Monday. He was dividing his attention between getting autographs from departing players and the baby that was bundled inside a stroller at his side.
Seattle (10-6) hosts the Washington Redskins (9-7), the NFC's hottest team, in a first-round playoff game on Saturday.
"We don't enter the postseason on a positive note. But we will do what we've got to do," linebacker Julian Peterson said.
That would be tackle better. Block better. Cover kickoffs better.
The Seahawks see lessons that they can turn into positives during their fifth consecutive postseason. And Sunday brought a semester's worth of schooling. Seattle allowed its most points in more than four years, and defensive starters played most of the game.
"In my mind, everything went wrong," said safety Deon Grant, who had been making plays all season but repeatedly bounced off Falcons receivers on missed tackles.
Grant called the final playoff tuneup "embarrassing."
"But you know, the plus part in all of this is that we get to wipe the slate clean," he said. "We can fix the mistakes we made and we go into (this) weekend ... and dominate."
Then Atlanta third-stringer Chris Redman, who until a few weeks ago hadn't played in a game since 2003, torched the defense for four scoring throws. Now, the Seahawks face another backup, Todd Collins. He hadn't started a game in 10 years until leading Washington to the four consecutive, improbable wins that snared the final wild-card berth.
Peterson said the Seahawks stayed in base defenses against Atlanta, a vanilla flavor Seattle obviously will not let the Redskins taste. Instead, Peterson will be playing his usual pass-rush stunts with Kerney and fellow defensive end Darryl Tapp. Their games led to Seattle's 45 sacks in the regular season, fourth in the NFL.
"We'll be ready for the playoffs. By this Friday we will be very ready," Kerney promised.
The only concerns on offense are the apparently minor injuries to Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander. Hasselbeck, who made his third Pro Bowl while setting team records for completions (352), attempts (562) and yards (3,966), landed awkwardly on his right wrist in the first half Sunday. He then left the game as planned at halftime. Seattle's most indispensable player had X-rays at the Georgia Dome, which were negative.
Hasselbeck was wearing a black brace over his throwing wrist during the second half and an ice pack on it later.
He said he will be practicing Tuesday, when the Seahawks return to the field.
Alexander was holding his ribs on his right side following his first carry Sunday, but returned to become the eighth player to rush for 100 touchdowns in a career. He, like Hasselbeck, sat out the second half as scheduled.
"No one got hurt today that will prevent them from playing (this) week," coach Mike Holmgren said.
A bigger issue for Alexander than his ribs may be Maurice Morris' surge. Seattle's new co-lead rusher gained 91 yards on 13 carries and scored on a 29-yard romp, impressing Holmgren and giving the Redskins a more versatile, faster runner than Alexander for which to prepare. Alexander gained 31 yards on eight carries in his one half of play, the sixth time in nine games he totaled fewer than 50 yards.
Hasselbeck was under siege again Sunday, as he has been for much of the season while opponents have blitzed relentlessly. Atlanta charged 10 men from the line of scrimmage at times.
Part of the free shots on Hasselbeck came because Floyd Womack was filling in at left tackle for Pro Bowler Walter Jones, who sat out the game to rest 33-year-old shoulders that have been sore all season. Jones will be back to repel Washington.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
