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Backing into a title Seahawks lose 19-9 to Jets, still win AFC West title
Posted: Sunday January 02, 2000 09:03 PM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- They were yelling, chanting and jumping for joy in the locker room -- the losing locker room. In one of the most surreal scenes the NFL has witnessed recently, the Seattle Seahawks left the field 19-9 losers to the New York Jets on Sunday. Then they gathered around a television in the trainer's room and watched Oakland edge Kansas City 41-38 in overtime, lifting the Seahawks to the AFC West title and their first playoff berth in 11 years. A team that was thoroughly throttled by an opponent that is going home wound up in the Super Bowl chase. "I'm a huge Raiders fan," quarterback Jon Kitna said with a smile. "This is great, it's what we play for. We just have to figure out how to fix things before next week." That would be at home against Miami in a wild-card game that appeared to have slipped away when the Chiefs led late in their home game. But the Raiders rallied, saving Seattle's season -- and setting off the celebration by the Seahawks. "I wasn't expecting help today," coach Mike Holmgren said after his club lost its fifth in six games. "Heck, no. But we'll take it." The Jets took the measure of nearly every contender they played down the stretch. After they plummeted to 1-6 largely because of an injury epidemic and several decisive errors in tight games, they finished 8-8 by winning their last four. They were one of the league's best teams in the second half of the season and found another quarterback in Ray Lucas. "I think we proved to everyone there are no quitters on our team," Lucas said. "There is no situation that can tear our team apart." Curtis Martin gained 203 yards, 158 rushing, and scored the only touchdown as the Jets controlled most of the game. Even though the Seahawks were in the more precarious situation, it was New York that played with purpose. "When you are 1-6 and come back, you see the character instilled in this team," Martin said. At the conclusion, the fans chanted "One More Year!" imploring coach Bill Parcells to return for the 2000 season. He indicated he will decide soon, perhaps as early as Monday. John Hall kicked four field goals for the Jets, who held the Seahawks to 33 yards rushing. Seattle, 8-2 before its late-season spin, seemed nervous. Aside from the kicking of Todd Peterson, the Seahawks never really got going. Each team scored on its first-quarter possessions, but managed only field goals. Peterson made 25- and 41-yarders, while Hall was good from 23. The Jets continued the trend of productivity early in the second period thanks to a 50-yard burst by Martin on which he broke four tackles. He then scored on a 1-yard run to make it 10-6. Martin ran for 39 yards on the next drive, leading to Hall's 30-yard field goal late in the first half. Martin's big first half (124 yards) lifted him past Jim Brown for yardage gained in his first five seasons. Martin is seventh on that list with 6,550. He set a team record for rushing in a season with 1,464. More field goals in the third period -- a 45-yarder by Peterson followed by a 31-yarder from Hall -- made it 16-9. Hall nailed a 33-yarder with 4:21 remaining. Notes: Martin surpassed the team rushing record of 1,331 by Freeman McNeil in 1985. He was 35 yards short of the team total yardage mark of 1,758 set by McNeil that same year ... New York has three straight non-losing seasons under Parcells, a first since 1967-69, when Joe Namath was the quarterback ... Ricky Watters managed only 30 yards rushing for Seattle and finished with 1,210 ... The Seahawks lead the NFL with 30 interceptions, including two by Jay Bellamy on Sunday ... CBS Television reported that Browns owner Al Lerner has phoned fellow owners to lobby them against Charles Dolan, the front-runner in the bidding to buy the Jets. Lerner apparently is concerned about potential conflicts of interest if Dolan wins ownership.
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