21

The Washington Redskins had devoted the rest of their season to the memory of Sean Taylor, shot and killed in his own residence in Miami. They needed to win all the games heading to the end of the season, and with Todd Collins, a veteran backup QB, a guy who hadn't started a game in ten years, they won 4 games in a row, and barely made the wildcard.

They earned a trip to meet the Seattle Seahawks, a team that had beaten them two years ago in the playoffs. This year, they seemed a lot more solid, despite not playing the elite teams in their streak. Matt Hasselbeck (which everyone seems to pronounce "HasselBACK") is a very good quarterback. But really, what won it for the Seahawks was defense.

The defense harassed the Redskins, hurrying, hitting, and knocking down Todd Collins. The offensive line wasn't giving him the kind of protection he's had the last few weeks. Two years ago, Clinton Portis was contained by the Seahawks, and they did a good job containing him again. Unlike the game with the Vikings where they ran against a very good run defense, Portis never quite got on track, and Collins ended up throwing.

Still, after a half, with Seattle up 13-0, there was a sense that if the Redskins could get momentum, they could still come back. Two scores isn't awful.

Then, they scored 7. And then 7 more. And pretty soon, they were up 14-13.

Then, a weird kickoff where the Seattle players couldn't handle the bounce. The Redskins picked up the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. Or not. As it turns out, you can't advance the ball in what amounts to be an onsides kick (though in this case, an unintentional onsides kick, i.e., a regular kick that the defense didn't get a hold of).

So the Redskins had the ball on the opposing team's 14 yard line, and this should be, for any playoff team, a gimme. Great field position should mean a touchdown, and at worst, a field goal. And yet again, the defense held stout. The Redskins had to settle for a 30 yard field goal, and Suisham was there to deliver a 4 point lead.

Only the ball hooked just a touch, and there was no score, and so the Redskins hung to their 1 point lead, when they had a great chance to make it 8 points and take control of the game.

Instead, buoyed by their luck, Hasselbeck drove down the field to move the Seahawks up 19-14. The decided to go for 2 points to move the lead to 7 points, or the equivalent of a standard TD and extra point conversion. That was successful, and they were up 21-14.

But it was simply one score now, and it looked to be a dogfight to the end. Except Collins lofted a long pass on a play that Santana Moss simply gave up on, figuring the play was broken, and figuring Collins wouldn't dare make the pass. Moss's defender didn't think so, caught the pass, and blazed past a befuddled Moss, and weaved his way to the endzone. 28-14. And that huge turnaround blew the momentum from the Redskins.

Let's face it, the Redskins had their chances. They blew it by not scoring, and then by turning the ball over. To add insult to injury, they turned the ball over once more for a touchdown, and the Seahawks were up 35-14.

As much as the Redskins saw their 21 point victory last week as a sign of their fallen comrade, Sean Taylor, who wore the number 21, the number 21 appeared again. This time, in a loss.

The Redskins lost by 21 points.