SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- If the Seattle Seahawks are to earn a playoff berth, they're going to have to win on the road to have a chance.
The Seahawks, who last made the postseason in 1999 under Mike Holmgren, need to beat the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive. But they have lost six straight on the road, yielding an average of 32.3 points in the skid.
Meanwhile, San Francisco is 6-1 at home and averaging 31.3 points here. The 49ers are coming off a 31-28 overtime upset of the Philadelphia Eagles.
And maybe Niners coach Dennis Erickson would like nothing better than to squelch Seattle's playoff hopes. Erickson coached Seattle from 1995-98, but went 31-33 and failed to take the Seahawks into the postseason.
Holmgren has ties with the 49ers. He was an assistant coach with San Francisco from 1986-91 and was a part of two Super Bowl winning teams.
If the Seahawks win on Saturday, that will not be enough for a playoff berth. They will also need the Minnesota Vikings or Green Bay Packers to lose on Sunday. The Vikings visit the lowly Arizona Cardinals while the Packers host the playoff-bound Denver Broncos.
If both the Vikings and Packers win, there is another scenario in which Seattle could make the postseason. That would be if Dallas loses and creates a three-way tie at 10-6. Dallas and Seattle would qualify as wild cards on the basis of strength of schedule.
Ironically, Holmgren coached the Packers for seven years and led them to a championship and back-to-back Super Bowls before leaving to become coach-general manager of the Seahawks. He had the GM title stripped away from him after a 7-9 campaign in 2002.
Seattle, which last won 10 games in 1986, posted a 28-10 victory over Arizona last week after back-to-back road losses to Minnesota and St. Louis. Shaun Alexander rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to help stake Seattle to a 21-3 lead.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was knocked out of the game twice, first with a strained left shoulder in the first half and then with a sprained right ankle in the fourth quarter. Hasselbeck said he has a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, but expects to play through the pain.
San Francisco will be without Pro Bowl receiver Terrell Owens, who suffered a broken left collarbone in the second quarter last week at Philadelphia. Eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in March, Owens finished the season with 80 catches for 1,102 yards and nine touchdowns.
Hasselbeck led the go-ahead drive and rookie Ken Hamlin recovered a key fumble in the Seahawks' 20-19 win over the Niners on October 12 at Seattle.
The Seahawks scored the game's first 17 points but fell behind, 19-17, after a 33-yard field goal by Owen Pochman with 8:09 remaining. But Hasselbeck scrambled for 17 yards on a 3rd-and-4 play from the Seattle 41 before Josh Brown kicked the winning 37-yard field goal with 3:09 left.
The 49ers drove to their 43 by the two-minute warning, but Seattle linebacker Chad Brown poked the ball loose from Garrison Hearst, and Hamlin pounced on it at the San Francisco 46 to seal the win.
