by Danny O'Neil, Times NFL Reporter , The Seattle Times

Kurt Warner wore a suit and a smile as he stood behind a podium next to the visitors locker room, having just passed for 395 yards to beat the four-time reigning division champs on the road.

Matt Hasselbeck wore shorts, sneakers and the hollow-eyed look of a man who needed to be given fluids intravenously.

Those two images spoke for what happened in Sunday's game and embodied the differences in this season.

Warner showed the kind of command that have people talking him up as an MVP candidate. He completed his first seven passes in the game, 13 of his first 14 in the game and he had 251 yards passing at halftime. Arizona's victory means it could clinch its first division title in 30 years as early as next week.

Hasselbeck? Well, he tried really, really hard as he played for the first time since Oct. 15. He gave the Seahawks a chance Sunday which is an improvement on what has transpired for so much of this season only to watch that chance slip away at the end and leave him kicking himself.

"We didn't get it done," Hasselbeck said. "I didn't get it done."

Hasselbeck missed the past five games because of a nerve condition that caused a weakness in his leg. He hung in the pocket Sunday despite taking shots that Arizona dished out like whiskey, serving them stiff and straight up. He made a couple of really nice throws, such as the 25-yard pass he arced perfectly to John Carlson in the third quarter, and he made a pair of courageous scrambles.

"This is his Football team," coach Mike Holmgren said of Hasselbeck. "And he worked very, very hard to come back and play."

Hasselbeck also made three big mistakes, including the interception that gave away Seattle's final chance at pulling out a win. Hasselbeck stayed into the game until the very end, draining himself so literally that he required an IV afterward. He waited more than an hour to talk about that final possession when Seattle had the ball with 2:05 remaining and 72 yards standing between the Seahawks and a go-ahead touchdown.

He attempted a deep post route to Deion Branch on the first play of the possession. He saw Branch's route and thought the receiver was flattening it out. He wasn't, which is why Hasselbeck's pass ended up underthrown, allowing Arizona cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to come under and pick off the pass.

"I have to throw a home run deep," Hasselbeck said.

It was the third time Hasselbeck was intercepted in the game, the second time by Rodgers-Cromartie. It punctuated a game which Seattle had no business even sniffing the lead. The Seahawks finished with less than half of the Cardinals' total yardage, three of their eight first downs in the first half came courtesy of Arizona penalties, and two of their three touchdowns were scored after the Cardinals turned the ball over inside their 20.

Warner was a long way from perfect in the game. The interception he threw to Josh Wilson led to Seattle's only touchdown of the first half, and he held onto the ball so long on a fourth-quarter play that defensive tackle Brandon Mebane had time to get knocked down by a double-team block, get up and get past guard Reggie Wells to knock the ball loose from Warner.

Those were two reasons the game turned out to be a whole lot closer than it should have been, but Warner could just shrug off that question afterward.

"It doesn't really matter now," he said. "That is the good part."

Hasselbeck could only find one bright side, and even then, he ended up wishing he had a mulligan in that regard.

"The only thing that makes me feel good knowing there's some fines that will come out in a couple days," Hasselbeck sad.

It was probably a reference to a vicious and potentially expensive hit from safety Adrian Wilson on a second-quarter sack, but Hasselbeck declined to say which play he was referring to.

"I probably shouldn't have said that," Hasselbeck said. "I regret saying that."

It wasn't the only thing Hasselbeck wished he could have back Sunday.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com

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