• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Goal-line stand allows Seahawks to hold off Rams

Nov 25, 2007 - 11:29 PM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- If the Seattle Seahawks go on to win the NFC West title, they may remember this game.

A mishandled snap on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 29 seconds remaining allowed the Seattle Seahawks to hold on for a 24-19 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

"It was just a great win," Seahawks running back Maurice Morris said. "Everybody came together and we kept driving andfighting. Everybody stuck together."

With a 1st-and-goal at the 4, the Rams were in position to win their third straight since Steven Jackson returned to the starting lineup after missing four games with a groin injury.

But St. Louis' offense sputtered on the goal line. On first down, quarterback Gus Frerotte, who took over after Marc Bulger suffered a concussion, threw a pass at the feet of a wide-open Isaac Bruce.

On second down, a pass to Drew Bennett gained only two yards. Frerotte handed off to Jackson on third down, but he was stopped a yard short of the end zone.

At first, Jackson thought he had scored, but admitted the officials made the right call.

"Once they showed it, I saw that when the ball broke the plane (of the goal line), I noticed that I was down," Jackson said.

After each team called a timeout, Frerotte fumbled the snap on fourth down and was dropped at the 5-yard line.

"That's going to be a hard play to live with," said Frerotte, who was 20-of-32 for 161 yards. "It's pretty obvious - it just came out. It wasn't a perfect exchange, it just came out."

"When you have a bobbled snap, both guys (center and quarterback) are the guilty party," Rams coach Scott Linehan added. "We can sit back and watch that 100 times, but it was obvious that it wasn't handled."

The Seahawks (7-4) had taken a 24-19 lead on Leonard Weaver's 5-yard touchdown run with 6:03 remaining to put the Seahawks ahead, 24-19.

Seattle, which began the day with a one-game lead over the Arizona Cardinals, overcame a sluggish first half to post an important road win.

"We were fortunate today," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "I don't think we played our best football. We had too many errors. There are a number of things we are going to look at and not like."

Sparked by Jackson's 53-yard TD run just over six minutes into the contest, the Rams (2-9) built a 19-7 halftime lead.

"The first half was bad, the second half was better," Seattle wide receiver Deion Branch said. "Everything was slow at first. We came in and regrouped at halftime. It made it a different game."

Jackson fell just short of his second 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 90 yards on 23 carries.

But Bulger, who has endured an assortment of injuries this season, suffered another setback when he was knocked out in the first quarter

Frerotte replaced Bulger and tossed a 15-yard TD pass to Bruce with 35 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Rams a 16-7 lead.

But the Seahawks' defense clamped down in the second half, holding the Rams scoreless and scoring 17 unanswered points.

"It wasn't even the last play," Jackson said. "It is just how we came out so dominant in the first half and then in the second half, we were unable to get anything established."

Seattle began its comeback on Josh Brown's 33-yard field goal with 9:41 remaining in the third quarter.

With 5:13 remaining in the third period, Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant made the play that turned around the game, intercepting Frerotte at the Seahawks' 33-yard line.

Matt Hasselbeck cashed in the turnover, tossing a 9-yard TD pass to Branch less than two minutes later.

In the fourth quarter, Hasselbeck engineered a 10-play, 80-yard drive that led to Weaver's go-ahead score.

Hasselbeck struggled in the first half, but had more success when the Seahawks went to the no-huddle offense in the second half and finished 21-of-38 for 249 yards.

"We didn't change much," Branch said. "We just needed to execute better."

Still, the Seahawks gave the Rams an opening when Brown missed a 52-yard field goal with 2:49 left.

A 24-yard pass interference penalty gave the Rams a first down at the Seattle 14-yard before Frerotte picked up another first down with a two-yard sneak on third down.