Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck knows he can't have another four-interception performance like he did against San Francisco last week when the Falcons come to town Sunday
On preparing for the Falcons during the playoff hunt:
"I believe there are 23 teams still in the hunt. That's what I read the other day. Twenty-three teams still have playoff hopes alive, so throw us in that group."
The keys to success against the Falcons' defense:
"Their defense is good. They're a really, really good team. When you watch these guys on film in all of the phases they're really, I think, what we're trying to be as a team. We're trying to do things the way that they do them offensively, defensively and special teams. They're getting great quarterback play out of Matt Ryan. He's a great player. I think one of the things we have to do offensively off of Atlanta's defense is just try to stay on the field. We've had far too many three-and-outs this year and if we can stay on the field and keep their play-makers off the field, that's going to be important; and also to just go out and execute our plan. They're a team that they don't necessarily try to fool you very often, but they are very, very well coached, they have I think the fewest penalties of any team I've played recently. They are really disciplined and they just do a really nice job. They play team defense and, like I said many times, they are really well coached."
On Mike Williams' comeback:
"I've never seen anything like it. He was out of football the last two years and then in my mind he's the most important player on our offense. When he's in there, we are a totally different offense. He's done a really nice job for us. He's come out of nowhere and he's done a great job. He just is one guy on an 11-man offense but he does help us, mostly because we've made a lot of moves this year. We've lost some veterans guys. We lost T.J. Houshmandzadeh. We lost Deion Branch. Those were our two guys that started for us last year along with Nate Burleson. So he comes in and just provides that for us in terms of a receiver that, even though he's been out of the league, he's been around. We have some guys that have also stepped up. Ben Obomanu has stepped up. Brandon Stokely joined our team somewhere around Week 4 and has really helped us a lot. Our younger players, Deion Butler and Golden Tate, those are guys that we're developing, that we think have a really bright future. It's been nice to have the veteran presence in there also."
On the development of Golden Tate:
"I think it's been tough. It's always tough for a young wide receiver coming in. In my opinion, Roddy White is one of the best receivers in the game. He's improved a whole bunch since his first year. It's always a tough transition but it's one of those things that we would love for him to explode and really start making plays but he just hasn't been on the field very much. He's been a little hurt. It's tough when Mike Williams was playing so well ahead of him in his position. Ruvell Martin came on strong for us last week. It's not an easy thing cracking the starting line up or even getting on the field."
On improving on interceptions:
"I know that is something that I have to take care of. One of the faults that I have, is when we get behind I'll do some stupid things and I know that. I think the score was 27-3 when I threw my second interception. That can't be an excuse. That can't be a reason. The games that I've had in the last couple of years were I've thrown four interceptions, which I haven't done a lot of, you look at the score and it's just out of hand. There's just no need to waste interceptions just trying to do desperate things. It's just one of those things. I'm not sweating it. I'm moving past it. I'm going to learn from it at the same time. To beat the Atlanta Falcons, which is a very, very tough task, you can't have any interceptions, never mind four."
On Brett Farve ending his streak:
"It's a great accomplishment. I was talking to him on Monday before the game. He let me know, and I just said, 'It was a great run, man. It was a great a career and congratulations. Who would have thought?' He almost did it in Atlanta. It was close. It was Chris Miller that kept him on the bench. Chris Miller and somebody else too. He was so much fun to be around. I learned a lot from him. He's a great storyteller. One of the best was when he wasn't in the Atlanta Falcons team photo his rookie year and all of that. It's good stuff."
On the importance of capitalizing on opportunities to score points:
"That's the case for anybody. We talk about turnovers a lot here. I think teams that win the turnover ration win the about 83 percent of their games in the NFL. There's two parts to it. There's creating turnovers and there's also giving up turnovers. That's what goes into making your ratio. I don't know exactly what their stats are. I know they're in the plus category in a real positive way. Some teams create a ton of them, and they give up a ton of them. I don't know how it all shakes out. When I watch the film, I've actually seen quite a bit of Atlanta offense this year, they're still aggressive, they're still taking shots, they're still trying to make plays and stuff happens. They just seem to weather the storm. They just seem to play great as a team. I look back to that Tampa game, where the game was looking bleak and then all of the sudden special teams shows up, then the defense makes a play, then the offense makes a huge play. They just have the makings of a great team. You see it in the games that they won in the tight games, whether it's the Baltimore game or just other games where they just come through in the clutch. I just think they do a really good job. Like I said, I think that when you watch Atlanta on film, they really seem to be doing all of things that we're trying to do here, that we're trying to establish here and the kind of team that we're trying to become."
