Matt Hasselbeck

Matt Hasselbeck
Matthew Michael Hasselbeck is a former American football quarterback and current analyst for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. After a season on the practice squad and two seasons backing up Brett Favre, he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2001. Hasselbeck led Seattle to six playoff appearances and a Super Bowl. He was selected to three Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro in...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth25 September 1975
CityBoulder, CO
CountryUnited States of America
We could have lost this game. They've got some great leadership on this team. To come in here like that and play like this, the defense was just awesome.
We just didn't play well enough. It's disappointing. It's hard. But what can you do? They played really hard on defense and we didn't execute to the best of our ability. We were close a couple times, but close doesn't cut it.
The biggest thing was how great our defense was playing. Shortening the field, creating turnovers, all that kind of stuff makes an offense?s job much easier.
They played really well on defense and executed well. We didn't execute to the best of our ability. That's why they're Super Bowl champs.
I think the biggest thing was how well our defense was playing and how our crowd was into (the game).
He's just a veteran, he's a pro, he gets it. You're out there and it's loud, and he's recognizing the defense along with you.
I don't overlook them; I think they're great. Our field position has been great all year, and our defense has created turnovers.
We just had opportunities to score touchdowns, but we didn't score touchdowns. We were moving the ball fine, rhythm, time of possession, first downs, yards...we just couldn't score touchdowns.
We were really focused on the task at hand rather than, 'Oh, my gosh, we're in this big game.
We went 8-0. We were the team that never punted. You can go back and see the trophy. It's printed on there.
It was tough. There was a lot of stuff I'd never been through. I'd never really been the guy. I'd never had to play through injury. I really had never played in the NFL.
It was a one game deal here. We were talking about this game and this game only...I have learned this week that people dogged the Seahawks because they don't think there is history, but there is history here.
It was a chance I shouldn't have taken. They had a good plan and executed it well. They blitzed early on, but we did a pretty good job of picking it up. After that, they kept seven and eight back in coverage a lot of the time.
They are actually fun to watch. It's fun to watch film because they are so good. But at the same time you realize you have to play them this week.