Seahawks soar past Panthers in NFC

SEATTLE — With their MVP back in business, a fierce defense and all the comforts of playing at home, the Seattle Seahawks had everything they needed to get to their first Super Bowl.

And they did, easily.

Shaun Alexander came back from last week's concussion to rush for a team playoff-record 132 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, and Seattle pressured Carolina stars Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith into oblivion in a 34-14 rout for the NFC championship.

The Seahawks picked off three passes in winning their 12th straight home game and shattering the fifth-seeded Panthers' stunning postseason road run.

"We have an unbelievable team, an unbelievable group of fans," Alexander said. "Prayer works. I get knocked out and guys step up. One guy goes down and another guy steps up."

The NFC's best team during the season, the Seahawks (15-3) will have to beat yet another wild card, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the Super Bowl in Detroit on Feb. 5. Pittsburgh beat Denver 34-17 earlier in the day.

"We're not done yet," said quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who was a precise 20-for-28 for 219 yards and two scores. "We've got another game we've got to go win."

While Alexander paced the ball-control offense, it was the defense that really carried the Seahawks. It yielded only 62 yards, three first downs and no real threats in the first half.

Then, with Carolina desperate, Seattle allowed virtually nothing until it had a 20-point lead.

Mike Holmgren, only the fifth coach to lead two franchises to the Super Bowl — he won in 1997 and lost in 1998 with Green Bay — praised his defense this week for the enormous pressure it applied to opponents all season. That defense led the league in sacks and was always in Delhomme's face, helping force two first-half interceptions that were decisive.

"I don't know if we ran out of gas," Panthers coach John Fox said. "I'm not sure what the problem was. Their defense played tremendous. We knew we'd have our hands full with their offense.

"We didn't play well enough in all three phases to win," he said.

The Panthers weren't helped when starting running back Nick Goings was sidelined in the first quarter after a massive hit by linebacker Lofa Tatupu. They already were minus their top two runners, Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster.