Yep, those were championship hats the were wearing.
Nope, they aren’t ashamed one bit.
The Seahawks became the first NFL division winner with a losing record — that dates to 1933, folks — when they beat St. Louis 16-6 on Sunday night. At 7-9, they are NFC West champions, while two 10-6 clubs (Tampa Bay and the ) are out of the postseason.
Apologize for their fortune? Forget it.
“It just shows that no matter what happens through an awkward year, if a team sticks together they can have a shot at the end to accomplish what they talked about in the beginning,” safety Lawyer Milloy said. “We know it wasn’t pretty getting here, but what we talked about was right there at the end and we took advantage of it. Nobody can take that away from us.”
Indianapolis tied an NFL record with its ninth straight playoff berth by beating Tennessee 23-20 on ‘s 43-yard field goal as time expired. The (10-6), host the wild-card (11-4), who routed Buffalo 38-7, next Saturday night.
Atlanta secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, winning the NFC South by defeating Carolina 31-10. The Falcons (13-3) get a bye next week, as do the NFC North champion Bears (11-5), who fell at 10-3, giving the Packers (10-6) a wild-card spot.
Green Bay visits Philadelphia (10-6), the NFC East champ, next Sunday after AFC West winner Kansas City (10-6) hosts Baltimore (12-4).
Along with Atlanta, teams with byes are New England, which finished a league-best 14-2; Pittsburgh (12-4); and Chicago.
Failing to make the playoffs in the NFC were the Giants and Buccaneers, the first time since 1991 that a 10-6 team didn’t get in from the NFC.
Seahawks 16, 6
At Seattle, both teams finished 7-9 in the mild, mild West, with Seattle getting the nod thanks to a 4-2 division record. St. Louis was 3-3.
Making his second career start, backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst threw a 4-yard TD pass on Seattle’s first possession, and Olindo Mare kicked three second-half field goals. A defense that yielded at least 34 points in three straight losses was stingy against Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford and 1,000-yard rusher Steven Jackson.
Colts 23, 20
At Indianapolis, threw two touchdown passes before Vinatieri’s clutch kick. The Colts tied Dallas’ NFL record for consecutive playoff appearances as Manning set the single-season record for completions with 450.
Tennessee (6-10) lost eight of its last nine. Chris Johnson, a 2,000-yard rusher a year ago, ran 20 times for 39 yards and finished with 1,364.
Falcons 31, 10
At Atlanta, the Falcons earned their first division title since 2004. Matt Ryan passed for 236 yards with TDs to Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, and Eric Weems scored on a 55-yard punt return.
Carolina (2-14) had a weak finish to an awful season under coach John Fox as the league’s worst offense was held without a touchdown until the final minute. The Panthers announced Friday that this was Fox’s last game as coach.
41, Browns 9
At Cleveland, threw two touchdown passes, including a 56-yarder to on his first pass. Wallace had three catches for 105 yards.
Browns coach ‘s record has been 5-11 in each of his two seasons. On Monday, he’s scheduled to meet with team president .
Packers 10, Bears 3
At Green Bay, Wis., Aaron Rodgers’ 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Donald Lee gave the Packers the lead, and their defense held on to clinch a wild card.
The Packers trailed 3-0 at halftime and were tied going into the fourth quarter with the Bears, who didn’t have anything to play for in terms of playoff seeding, but still played to win with their starters.
38, 7
At Foxborough, Mass., threw two touchdown passes to cap a record-setting season as New England won its eighth straight.
The game meant nothing in the standings. Still, Brady played into the third quarter and finished with 36 touchdowns passing and four interceptions. He extended his NFL records to 335 straight passes without an interception and 28 consecutive regular-season wins as a starter at home.
The Dolphins (7-9) lost for the fourth time in five games, jeopardizing the job of coach Tony Sparano.
13, 7
At Baltimore, Ed Reed had two interceptions and recovered two fumbles, part of an opportunistic defense that carried Baltimore.
Ray Rice scored on a 7-yard run and Billy Cundiff kicked two field goals for the Ravens, who forced five turnovers to offset the 395 yards in offense amassed by the Bengals (4-12).
Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis’ contract ran out with the loss.
Jets 38, 7
At East Rutherford, N.J., threw two touchdown passes in relief of , Joe McKnight ran for a career-high 158 yards and the Jets’ defense dominated.
Having already clinched a postseason spot, New York sat a handful of starters, including LaDainian Tomlinson and Darrelle Revis, but still earned the fourth 11-win season in franchise history — and first since the 1998 team went to the AFC championship game.
Buffalo finished 4-12, out of the playoffs for the 11th successive season.
Buccaneers 23, 13
