National Football League
Seattle 16, St. Louis 6
When: 8:20 PM ET, Sunday, January 2, 2011
Where: Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington
Temperature: Dome
Head Official: Jerome Boger
Attendance: 67325

Charlie Whitehurst threw a touchdown pass on the game's opening drive and Seattle's defense made it stand up as the Seahawks clinched the NFC West title with a 16-6 victory over the visiting St. Louis Rams on Sunday night.

Olindo Mare kicked three field goals as Seattle (7-9) became the first team to advance to the NFL playoffs with a sub-.500 record.

The Seahawks, who had lost three straight and seven of nine, will host the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST.

Whitehurst, making his second career start in place of an injured Matt Hasselbeck, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams to cap a six-play, 87-yard opening drive. Ruvell Martin had a 61-yard catch to set up the score.

Seattle's defense took it from there, limiting the Rams (8-8) to a pair of field goals by Josh Brown in avenging a 20-3 loss at St. Louis in Week 4.

Of the Rams' first 11 possessions, the Seahawks forced nine punts and surrendered the two field goals.

Whitehurst finished 22 of 36 for 192 yards in outplaying Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, who was 19 of 36 for 155 yards and an interception.

St. Louis, which went 1-15 last season and 6-42 over the past three seasons, pulled within 7-6 on Brown's 27-yard field goal with 8:59 left in the third quarter.

Mare extended the lead to 10-6 with a 31-yard field goal just under six minutes later. His third field goal, which followed an interception of Bradford by Will Herring, put the game out of reach with 1:37 to play.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
St. Louis   Seattle
Steven Jackson Player Marshawn Lynch
11 Attempts 20
45 Yards 75
4.1 Avg Yards 3.8
0 Touchdowns 0
13 Long 24
Receiving
St. Louis   Seattle
Daniel Fells Player Ruvell Martin
3 Receptions 3
39 Yards 85
13.0 Avg Yards 28.3
0 Touchdowns 0
15 Long 61
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
St. Louis 184 47 137 0 2 0 0.0 1
Seattle 333 141 192 1 3 1 3.0 1
Upcoming Games
  • Seattle will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Seahawks have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.