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Late score lifts Seahawks to wild win over Bengals

Sep 24, 2007 - 1:51 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Matt Hasselbeck became the latest quarterback to exploit the Cincinnati Bengals' beleaguered defense.

Hasselbeck tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nate Burleson with one minute remaining, lifting the Seattle Seahawks to a 24-21 victory over the Bengals on Sunday.

It was the 17th career fourth-quarter comeback for Hasselbeck, who completed 24-of-37 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns.

"A game like this, if you are fortunate to win a game like this, it is a good building block for your season," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "Every phase of our football team contributed. You can build on that."

Burleson's touchdown capped a wild fourth quarter in which there were four lead changes.

Cincinnati (1-2) had taken a 21-17 lead on Kenny Watson's 8-yard touchdown run with 2:48 remaining.

After surrendering 544 yards in last week's 51-45 loss to the Cleveland Browns, the Bengals' defense showed improvement Sunday but could not stop the Seahawks (2-1) when it mattered most.

"This is a difficult football game to lose there at the end," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "I think in all three phases - and I told our guys this - we need to execute and play better."

Facing a 3rd-and-10 at the Bengals 45, Hasselbeck hit Deion Branch for a 9-yard completion. On 4th-and-1, Shaun Alexander, who rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries, ripped off a 14-yard run around right tackle.

"We were fortunate there," Hasselbeck said of the fourth-down conversion. "I think they might have misaligned there. They have a lot of injuries. We were fortunate to have the perfect call for the way they lined up."

With the Bengals' defense reeling, Burleson snuck behind cornerback Johnathan Joseph in the left corner on the next play. He caught a perfectly thrown pass from Hasselbeck inside the 5 and stepped into the end zone for an easy touchdown.

"I just ran past him (Joseph), got in his blind spot, and Matt hit me square in the pads," Burleson said. "I was just thinking, Get in the end zone."

"Nate did a great a great job of exploding and coming off fast, and expecting the ball," Hasselbeck added.

The game could have come down to which team had the ball last, but Cincinnati's hopes ended when Glenn Holt fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. Alvin Pearman and Lance Laury jarred the ball loose and Deon Grant recovered for the Seahawks.

"I know that if our offense gets the ball with that minute to go, we were going to go down and we were going to score," Bengals receiver Chad Johnson said. "I know that."

The Bengals fell short despite another 300-yard game by Carson Palmer, who completed 27-of-43 passes for 342 yards and a touchdown.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh tied a career high with 12 receptions for 141 yards while Johnson caught nine passes for 138 yards.

"All we needed was a field goal," Palmer said. "We had three timeouts and a minute to go, which is all the time in the world to score."

The Seahawks grabbed a 14-10 halftime lead on Hasselbeck's 42-yard TD pass to Deion Branch with 2:06 left in the first half.

Cincinnati's defense seemed to stiffen in the second half, making two big plays that appeared to turn the game in the Bengals' favor.

Linebacker Lemar Marshall sacked Hasselbeck in the end zone for a safety with 11:19 left in the third quarter before Madieu Williams returned an interception 45 yards early in the fourth quarter.

Williams' interception set up Shayne Graham's 24-yard field goal that gave the Bengals a 15-14 lead with 9:57 remaining.

Cincinnati's defense faltered in the fourth quarter, however, as the Seahawks answered each time the Bengals scored to regain the lead.

Josh Brown's 23-yard field goal gave the Seahawks a 17-15 lead with six minutes remaining.

Palmer has passed for 743 yards the last two weeks but has a pair of losses to show for it.