Seahawks riding high after blowing out Saints

SEATTLE - Bass from the music rattled floors and walls last week when the Seahawks were working out following practice.

Prior to practice, different units had various laughs led by their lead yappers. In the case of the secondary, it was Richard Sherman at the helm. For the offensive line, Breno Giacomini, or the "Big Russian" as he's known to Marshawn Lynch, spearheaded the banter.

If there was any tension in the locker room last week following news of Walter Thurmond's suspension and a possible one-year suspension for Brandon Browner, Seattle did not show it.

"If anything, we rallied around each other even more," veteran Red Bryant said. "It's unfortunate a couple of our guys got jammed up. But, we support those guys fully. We know there's a lot of facts behind the scenes in the situations that a lot of people are not privy to.

"They were quick to make judgments. We knew we wanted to go out there and play for those guys and we played for Walter (Sunday).

"We looked at it as another opportunity for this team to come together and we're not going to let nothin' get in our way and deter us from what we're trying to accomplish."

The Seahawks also showed no hangover from an extended time off. Seattle went two weeks between games because of the bye and not playing until Monday night.

Head coach Pete Carroll said prior to the bye, he wouldn't know how the Seahawks handled all the down time until after the New Orleans game. With a 34-7 win stemming from a 27-7 halftime lead, he received a resounding answer.

"I'm really proud that we came off the bye so well," Carroll said. "You're concerned, you don't know how that's going to turn out, but we got great rest and we came back strong and you could tell all night long that we had our legs and guys were flying. All phases played well."

The Seahawks hold a two-game lead for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and can clinch the NFC West Division title this weekend with a win at San Francisco.

Thurmond has three games left on his four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. The Seahawks are hoping for resolution in the middle of this week on Browner's appeal of a one-year ban for also violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

In their absence, Byron Maxwell started at cornerback and Jeremy Lane was the nickel back Monday night against the Saints. Sherman liked what he saw from each.

"They played great," Sherman said. "They played fantastic, and that's what we expected of them."

The Seahawks now shift into a short week of preparation for rival San Francisco. It's the third time this season the Seahawks have had an irregular work week, having played twice on Monday nights and once on a Thursday.

They'll again be gearing up for another touted matchup.

"We won a game we were supposed to win and that's how we play, that's how we treat it," Sherman said. "Now, we're on to the next game, we've got to deal with San Francisco. We didn't think about this game like everybody else did. We got a lot of big-time players. There's no big-time games for big-time players."