The Titans came up short in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday falling 28-24. One day later we take a look to see what the Seattle sportswriters have to say about the Seahawks knocking off the Titans.

''Halfway through the third quarter Sunday, the Seahawks' lyrical season collided with a country song.

First, the dog died.

Then the truck ran out of gas.

Then the girlfriend in the tight jeans left town with the last bottle of hooch.

Talk about heartaches by the number. The Seahawks fell behind the Tennessee Titans 24-14 and looked -- dare we say it? -- remarkably ordinary, and on the verge of charting with a remake of ''Make the World Go Away.''

Without some serious rocking and rolling in the final 21 minutes, the Seahawks would be providing persuasive aid to all those who doubt this team has the stuff of a champion.

So they rolled, scoring a touchdown in three plays over 83 yards to cut the lead to 24-21.

And they rocked, stopping the Titans on a fourth-and-1 play deep in Seattle territory.

And they rolled some more, scoring on a 93-yard, six-minute drive that gave them back the lead and, much more importantly, a sense that they truly possess something this team hasn't known since the Reagan administration.

Call it discipline. Maturity. Courage. A disdain for country music.

Whatever it is, the Seahawks showed substantial quantities of it against a Titans team playing loose, nothing-to-lose football in front of their home fans.

The Seahawks' defense, stars of Seattle's blowout victories the previous two weeks, played badly for much of the game. They sleep well tonight, however, knowing the guys on the offensive side of the ball have got their backs.

''It helped us grow up a lot,'' said defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs.

''If you never had a game that humbles you or you never have a game that makes you step back and really understand that you are not invincible, you are not living realistically.''

Consider Tubbs and his teammates avowed realists this day. They came to Music City a little full of themselves, maybe looking past the Titans to Saturday's game with the newly vanquished Indianapolis Colts, and nearly choked on their own hubris.

''It shows the togetherness that we have,'' Tubbs continued. ''It shows that we are a team of brothers, not individuals.

''We are going to be there on and off the field. We are going to continue to grow together and continue to build a Seahawks team that is going to be known for years.''

Tubbs can be allowed the hyperbole. The Seahawks are 12-2, have won 10 in a row, have earned a bye in the first round of the NFL playoffs, have energized a community, have made football the new baseball in the Seattle area.

Still, the 28-24 final score -- against a 4-10 team -- suggests a defense in need of some serious tweaking in advance of what is probably the most anticipated regular-season Seahawks home game in 20 years.

''We can't let them have the cushions we were giving them,'' said rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu of Titans receivers who repeatedly exploited Seattle's coverage. ''I don't think, collectively, we played well as a defensive body.''

Tatupu's read, as usual, is on the money.

But he also was correct when he said: ''We showed a lot of heart.''

It's that thing that can't be measured in a 40-yard sprint, can't be weighed, can't be seen with the naked eye.

Fullback Mack Strong said his teammates actually joked after the game that the 93-yard drive that led to the Seahawks' winning points was the sort of character-building, crowd-quieting drive the Seahawks would have bungled in previous years.

Not this year.

The Seahawks go on more long drives than a teenager with a new convertible. With two more Sunday, it's now 19 touchdown drives of 80 yards or more this season.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, never one to lavish praise on anyone without making it look like he's having a tooth pulled, acknowledged that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is largely the reason, even as Shaun Alexander runs away with the rushing accolades.

''He's played well all year,'' Holmgren said of Hasselbeck. ''He's just come of age, in my opinion. This is his third year of playing all the time and he is making the most of it. We have good people for him to hand the ball to and things like that, but I'm very pleased at how Matt's playing.''

He's not the only one.

Hasselbeck's teammates have been singing the praises of their quarterback all year, as much for his toughness and leadership as for his throwing ability. Hasselbeck showed his toughness in the second quarter, when Titans tackle Albert Haynesworth, listed at 320 pounds but more resembling a Honda Civic, jumped offside and flattened him like a grilled-cheese sandwich.

Hasselbeck stayed on the ground for a moment to conduct a personal inventory, but he got back up and stayed in the game.

''It was kind of like being in a prizefight,'' Strong said afterward. ''We took their best shot and we didn't go down.''

He's got that right.

And if this keeps up, someone might have to write a song about it.''
John Levesque
Seattle Post Intelligencer

''• PLAYER OF THE GAME: Matt Hasselbeck's quarterback rating was 147.7. He threw for 285 yards, three touchdowns and has gone six consecutive road games without committing a turnover.

• TURNING POINT: First play of the fourth quarter. Tennessee faced fourth-and-1 on the Seattle 6, and handed the ball to Chris Brown. Defensive tackle Craig Terrill penetrated into the backfield and linebacker Leroy Hill made first contact with Brown and then Michael Boulware finished Brown off. Seattle's offense took over and drove 93 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

• IT WAS OVER WHEN: Shaun Alexander picked up a first down on third-and-1 with about 2:30 remaining. Alexander has carried the ball 14 times on third-and-1 situations this season and he has converted 14 first downs, most in the league. Tennessee was out of timeouts at that point, and after the first down Seattle took a knee three times and called it a day.

• TUNE-UP: Music City was the setting so Alexander played a little tune with a violin charade after his first-quarter touchdown, his 24th of the season. He is three away from matching Priest Holmes' single-season record of 27 touchdowns.

• FISHER'S FOUL: Bryce Fisher was penalized for roughing the passer after he hit quarterback Steve McNair following a pass that fell incomplete. Fisher did knock McNair down, but it appeared he was trying to hold the Titans QB up. ''Yeah, I tried,'' said Fisher, who's second on the team with eight sacks. ''I was so frustrated because I hadn't gotten to the quarterback in about a month. It was just a bad decision.''

• HOMECOMING: Tennessee isn't home for Alexander, but it's close enough for plenty of friends and family from Kentucky to make the trip. Alexander bought about 50 tickets, and there were another 50 or so folks he knew who bought their own.

• KEEPING UP WITH JONES: Nicknames are great and all, but isn't it a little ridiculous to put "Pacman" on the team's depth chart? That's rookie Adam Jones, but he should have to at least eat a few power pellets before he gets to have P. Jones on his jersey.

• SIGN LANGUAGE: Hasselbeck jawed with Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck after Hasselbeck scrambled for 5 yards on a third-down play in which the Seahawks needed 10. Bulluck and Hasselbeck played against each other in the Big East, and when Hasselbeck was asked about what numbers he flashed to Bulluck, Hasselbeck joked it was a hand sign for Kirkland, where the team's practice facility is located.''
Danny O'Neil
Seattle Post Intelligencer

''Steve McNair's passing stats were a troubling dose of reality for the Seahawks.

In what has otherwise been a mediocre year for the veteran quarterback on a young team, McNair had a breakout game against the Seattle secondary Sunday in the Titans' 28-24 loss at the Coliseum.

''We looked at film, and they play a lot of man to man,'' McNair said. ''I told the guys early in the week we have to win outside. We have to win the one-on-one battles.''

McNair's 310 passing yards were his second-highest total of the season, next to a 343-yard day at San Francisco's expense. His 104.1 passer rating was well above his 83.6 average.

So if McNair's arm can direct touchdown drives of 84, 84 and 78 yards during a 24-0 run by the Titans, what will Indianapolis' Peyton Manning do to Seattle on Saturday? Perhaps it doesn't matter as much now that the Colts have a loss.

''In my mind, it might be a preview of the Super Bowl,'' Titans tight end Ben Troupe said.

''I don't see them getting far in the playoffs,'' said linebacker Keith Bulluck of the Seahawks. ''They're a good offense. They definitely can be rattled, though.''

Troupe (six catches, 116 yards) enjoyed the first 100-yard receiving game of his career in a season when new offensive coordinator Norm Chow has made tight ends a priority. The Titans have three tight ends with 30-plus catches, but this was the first game Troupe was able to get vertical for big gains.

Drew Bennett reeled in eight passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores came against third-year cornerback Jordan Babineaux.

McNair found Bennett on a 4-yard slant pass with four seconds remaining in the first half to tie the score 14-14. He went back to Bennett for a 14-yard strike to put the Titans up 21-14 with 10:55 left in the third quarter.

The Titans used Babineaux's aggressive style to get by him on a handful of sideline stop-and-go routes.

''The offense needed a game like this, but it's bittersweet,'' Bennett said. ''I think we took some chances downfield. They had aggressive corners, and we did a good job of taking advantage of that.

''It was nice to have some catches and get down field a little bit. Mac [McNair] was in a rhythm. Everything was working. I felt like he and I were on the same page. I think Mac has been solid the whole way through.''

The Titans' nothing-to-lose mentality showed on a successful fake punt and their willingness to keep McNair on the field on fourth downs. But the gambles eventually quit paying off about the time Tennessee's oft-abused defense finally crumbled.

On the first play of the fourth quarter tailback Chris Brown was stuffed by the Seahawks' defense on fourth-and-one at the Seattle 6. The Titans' final drive stalled at the Seattle 34 when McNair's awkward lob pass to a covered Bo Scaife was well off the mark.

With that, Tennessee's bid for a third win in four games was gone.

''This is where we are at,'' McNair said. ''We matched up with one of the best teams in the NFC and we felt like if we can play with that same intensity week in and week out in the past weeks, things probably would have been different.''
Jeff Lockridge
The Seattle Times

‘’The Seahawks called for a blitz on the fourth-down stop that turned this game on its ear.

The first play of the fourth quarter, backup defensive tackle Craig Terrill stuffed Tennessee's Chris Brown at the line of scrimmage, forcing Brown into futility.

The Titans running back ran along the line looking for a sliver of light that wasn't there. Rocky Bernard grabbed his ankles, Michael Boulware pushed him backward, and Grant Wistrom finished him off a yard behind the line.

At their 6-yard line, trailing by three, the Hawks thwarted a fourth-and-one.

''We just rallied to the ball,'' Bernard said after the Seahawks clinched a bye in the first round of the playoffs with this 28-24 victory. ''It's a pride thing with us. Everybody getting to the ball. If somebody's not there to make the play, somebody else is there to back you up. We make plays.''

Greatness is fragile. Not every win comes as easily as Philadelphia in the snow or San Francisco at home. Sometimes the "A" game stays on the plane. Leads are surrendered. Mistakes are made. Field-goal attempts are blocked. Yardage is given up in huge, ugly chunks.

Sometimes the wins aren't glamorous. Sometimes, especially in December, these games become tests of wills.

On Sunday, the Seahawks' pass rush was non-existent. Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair turned back the clock and pickled Seattle's banged up and inexperienced secondary for 310 yards. The bend-but-don't-break defense bent and broke, allowing 417 total yards.

But in the fourth quarter, when it needed a stop, it snuffed Brown and started the march that gave the Hawks their 10th straight victory, the longest living streak in the NFL.

''The road to the Super Bowl isn't always going to be roses,'' defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs said. ''If you never have a game that humbles you or you never have a game that makes you step back and really understand that you are not invincible, you are not living realistically.''

The good teams keep grinding. When they need a defensive stop, they get it. When they need to cobble together a game-winning march, they do it. This is how it has been for the Seahawks of 2005.

Down 24-21, after the defense's last, best stand, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck found Joe Jurevicius for 12 yards. He threw to Darrell Jackson, back from knee surgery after missing nine games, for 12 yards.

''A drive like this says that we're a legitimate football team,'' said Jurevicius, who had three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown.

This drive was as real as a championship trophy. It was the Hawks' league-leading 19th touchdown drive of 80 or more yards this season.

Steady as a marathoner's pulse, Hasselbeck threw to Jackson again for 8 yards and to Jerramy Stevens for 6. Shaun Alexander, en route to 172 rushing yards, cut back across the heart of Tennessee's defense for 33.

One play fed off the other. Hasselbeck audibled to different formations, keeping the Titans' defense off balance. This drive was the Seahawks at their best.

''We handled it like a veteran troop,'' said Hasselbeck, who was a pristine 21 for 27 for 285 yards and three touchdowns.

Alexander ran up the middle for 8 yards. Hasselbeck tossed a first down to Bobby Engram at the Titans' 4. Finally, Hasselbeck rolled to his right and threw to Jackson, crossing left to right, for the Coliseum-silencing touchdown.

The Hawks drove 93 yards in 13 plays, over 5 minutes, 54 seconds for the game-winning touchdown.

''It's unique. I don't know what other word to use,'' said offensive coordinator Gil Haskell, who has been coaching in the league since 1983. ''We've had so many drives in the fourth quarter when we needed a drive and we put it together and we got it. I'll tell you what, I've been in the league a long time and I know I've never been on a team that's had so many drives in the fourth quarter.

''You'd rather not have to have that happen, because you don't know if you can do it every time. But a lot of the credit goes to the quarterback for keeping his patience and being able to handle the pressure of the clock going down and what [coach] Mike Holmgren's giving him to call.''

They make game-changing plays. They build drives that are as sturdy as skyscrapers. Week after week, they win.

These are the Seahawks of 2005.''
Steve Kelley
The Seattle Times