Jan 2, 2005 3 min read

SEATTLE (AP) – Mike Holmgren wants the Seattle Seahawks to earn the NFC West title by beating Atlanta this weekend, regardless of what happens to division rival St. Louis. “We set our goals at the beginning of the season, and that was one of them,” Holmgren said. “It’s within our reach. It’s something to be proud of. We’ve worked hard to do that. So, yeah, we’re going to play to win the division.”

Jim Mora wants the Falcons (11-4) to forget that they’ve already secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. The first-year coach has urged his team to pretend the postseason begins this weekend.

“Our mind-set right now is that this is a must win for us, that we’ve got to have it to get in, that if we don’t win we can’t keep going,” Mora said. “That’s how we’re going to prepare all week.”

There might be a debate around the NFL about the ethics of sitting star players after a team clinches a playoff berth, but it won’t be an issue when the Falcons visit Seattle (8-7) on Sunday.

Michael Vick will take snaps and dart around the field, despite being listed as questionable with an injury to his throwing shoulder. Mora needs him to start so the Falcons can continue the momentum they’ve established.

Same goes for tight end Alge Crumpler, running back T.J. Duckett, cornerback Jason Webster and nose tackle Ed Jasper. All five are listed as questionable after missing last weekend’s 26-13 loss at New Orleans, but all are expected to play.

“We’re in the first year of our offensive and defensive schemes,” Mora said. “We are 15 weeks into the process, not four or five years. For us to waste an opportunity to try to improve would be counterproductive.”

The Falcons really don’t need to line up their best players. They clinched a playoff spot weeks ago, and it’s impossible to change their seeding this weekend.

So how does Mora convince his players it’s a must win when it’s not?

“You get beat by New Orleans and you have a goal of never losing two in a row,” he said.

“It means something to them to have 12 wins instead of 11. They take great pride in their performance and they want to be seen as an upper-echelon team.”

The Seahawks have plenty to play for.

Besides securing a home game in the playoffs as a division champion, Shaun Alexander is targeting an NFL rushing title. With 1,616 yards rushing going into the final weekend, he’s 66 yards ahead of Indianapolis back Edgerrin James.

“We’ve got a good shot and that’s exciting,” Alexander said. “I think the biggest thing for us is to make sure we clinch the division and everything else should go all right.”

Seattle could have secured the NFC West title on Monday night had Philadelphia beaten St. Louis.

But the Eagles already held the top seed in the NFC playoffs. One week earlier, star receiver Terrell Owens was lost to injury and coach Andy Reid wasn’t about to risk any other stars, even to help an old buddy like Holmgren.

So when Reid called Holmgren to chat this week, the Seahawks coach wondered why the Eagles didn’t play more of their regulars.

“He told me that last year in the final regular-season game, he lost three good players to injury,” Holmgren explained. “He just wasn’t going to do that again. I asked if he thought about doing it any differently, and he said, ‘Not really.”‘