Running back Shaun Alexander and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck are the big stars of the Seattle Seahawks, but the defense deserves most of the credit for the victory that earned Seattle its first ever Super Bowl berth yesterday.

Seattle stifled Carolina receiver Steve Smith – who, a week ago gained 218 receiving yards against the outstanding Chicago Bears defense – en route to a 34-14 victory.

Last week, the Bears thought their ordinary defensive alignment would be good enough to stop Smith, and Smith made them pay for their hubris. Seattle didn’t make the same mistake. On almost every play yesterday, a Seattle cornerback jammed Smith at the line of scrimmage to prevent him from starting his route cleanly, and Seattle’s safeties and linebackers constantly gave the cornerbacks help covering him. Carolina’s only first down of the first quarter came thanks to a holding penalty on Seahawks cornerback Andre Dyson, who grabbed Smith in an attempt to slow down his route.

In Carolina’s first two playoff games – victories over the Giants and Bears – quarterback Jake Delhomme completed 22 of the 24 passes he threw to Smith for 302 yards. But yesterday he completed only five of his 11 passes to Smith, for 33 yards, and Smith fumbled away his final reception. Delhomme, who had thrown only two interceptions in his previous six career postseason games, threw three interceptions yesterday.

The first of those interceptions showed how urgently Delhomme wanted to force the ball to Smith despite Seattle’s close coverage. Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu dropped into coverage on Smith’s side of the field, and when Delhomme threw to Smith anyway, Tatupu was in perfect position to intercept the pass.

Seattle’s linebackers coach, John Marshall, has formulated Seattle’s defensive game plans since defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes suffered a stroke in September, and he deserves a great deal of the credit for the way Seattle shut Smith down. Marshall’s next challenge will be coming up with a Super Bowl game plan to counter the attack of Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt.

The Seahawks showed yesterday that they can nullify another team’s top weapon, but the genius of Whisenhunt is that he spreads the ball around to his entire offense, using misdirection plays to find soft spots in the opposing defenses. Whisenhunt played tight end for the Washington Redskins for two years and tries to emulate his former coach, Joe Gibbs. The Seahawks played Gibbs’s Redskins twice this season, so they might want to revisit their defensive game plans from those games.

Even with Seattle’s defense keying on him, Smith was still the Panthers’ best player yesterday, with a 59-yard punt return for Carolina’s only score until the game was already out of reach. The play came on a low punt from Seattle’s Tom Rouen, and it was the only time that Seattle made the mistake of giving Smith an opportunity to get into the open field with the ball in his hands. (One official threw a flag for an illegal block in the back on the return, but the officials huddled to discuss the call and ruled there was no penalty, giving Smith the touchdown.)

Stopping Smith was Seattle’s most impressive accomplishment yesterday, but the stellar play of the offense turned the game into a rout. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck completed passes to eight different receivers, and Seattle unveiled a new offensive weapon in backup quarterback Seneca Wallace. A great running quarterback at Iowa State, Wallace has been with the Seahawks for three years, but had played only in mop-up duty until yesterday, when he lined up as a wide receiver in the first quarter.

Even though Carolina’s best defensive back, Ken Lucas, lined up in man-to-man coverage on Wallace, Hasselbeck threw to him without even looking at any of his other receivers. Hasselbeck badly underthrew the ball, but Wallace slowed down and reached over his shoulder to haul in the pass for a 28-yard gain. The presence of Wallace – a multitalented player who can run, pass, and catch – will force the Steelers to devote a good deal of Super Bowl preparation time to planning for trick plays.

A week after suffering a concussion and being limited to nine yards, Shaun Alexander gained 132 yards. Alexander rarely catches passes (he caught one for no gain yesterday), but Pittsburgh’s defense struggles against passes to running backs, so Seattle might try to get Alexander involved in the passing game on Super Bowl Sunday.

Even if he doesn’t catch passes, though, Alexander showed yesterday that the threat of running helps Seattle’s passing game immeasurably. On Seattle’s first touchdown, a play-action pass to tight end Jerramy Stevens, Hasselbeck faked a handoff to Alexander, drawing Carolina safety Marlon McCree toward the line of scrimmage and allowing Stevens to get open in the spot McCree vacated.

Seattle targeted McCree – who also gave up a touchdown pass to wide receiver Darrell Jackson on Seattle’s first drive of the second half – all day. Going after McCree demonstrated why Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren is one of the best offensive coaches in the league at finding the weak spots in the opposition’s secondary, but against the Steelers, he’ll have a hard time finding anyone to pick on. Pittsburgh’s defensive backs are among the best in the league, and the Steelers’ pass rush won’t give Hasselbeck much time to pass.

For Carolina, yesterday’s loss is a disappointing end to an impressive season. With Delhomme and Smith in place, the Panthers’ passing game should continue to flourish in 2006, and their defense should remain among the league’s best. Carolina will most likely be a Super Bowl contender again next year.

But this year, the contenders are down to two. Seattle turned in its best game of the year yesterday, but it might need to play even better to beat Pittsburgh. These two teams look poised to give fans a Super Bowl Sunday that’s worth the two week wait.

Mr. Smith is a regular writer for FootballOutsiders.com.