SPORTS
SOURCE: Excerpt from Las Vegas Review-Journal
It was a lesson in humility for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, and few have forgotten it. Four years after his biggest flop, he returns to Green Bay with a shot to show what he has learned.
The Packers are 8-point home favorites over the Seahawks in an NFC divisional playoff game Saturday, and Las Vegas handicapper Jim Spatafore is betting on Hasselbeck to gain redemption.
The last time Seattle played at Green Bay in the NFL postseason was in 2004. The game went into overtime tied at 27, and after the Seahawks won the coin toss, Hasselbeck said, "We want the ball, and we're going to score."
Moments later, Hasselbeck was intercepted by the Packers' Al Harris, who returned the pick for a touchdown and ended the Seahawks' season.
Spatafore (jimmyspats.com) sounds eerily similar in his call for an outright win for Seattle in the rematch at Lambeau Field, where the forecast is for temperatures in the 20s with a chance of snow.
"Keep the points; Seattle will win this outright," Spatafore said. "Let's not forget this is virtually the same team that represented the NFC in the Super Bowl just two years ago and took the Bears to the wire on the road in the playoffs last season (losing in overtime).
Same kind of team, same kind of weather -- Chicago, Green Bay -- and we all saw what happened last year.
"The Seahawks easily could have been representing the NFC once again, and this year they're on a mission."
Continued
Page 1, 2