Watch Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers Live Online- NFL Playoff Preview

What took place Saturday once was unimaginable, and now the Seattle Seahawks hope it's not out of the question they can do something else which once seemed unthinkable, too.

The Seahawks beat the Washington Redskins, 35-14, in a first-round playoff game because of their, drum roll, please, defense. Next they will find out if their defense, the team's best in a decade, will be good enough to survive a divisional playoff game at Green Bay.

"You gotta take your hat off to the organization," said offensive tackle Walter Jones, Seattle's longest-tenured player, in his 11th season with the team. "They got (defensive) guys who can go out and make plays. The defense is built on speed and getting to the quarterback, and these guys can do it with the best of them.

"A defense that good can put you in position to score points."

Or score points itself.

Against Washington, the Seahawks played lethargically for much of the game on offense, but they produced a fourth-quarter, go-ahead touchdown drive after the Redskins' Scott Suisham missed a 30-yard field goal attempt, and then Marcus Trufant and Jordan Babineaux returned interceptions for touchdown to make the final score more lopsided than the game actually was.

Seattle has tried for years to improve its defense. Eight of their 11 defensive starters came to the team since 2005, and the additions this year of defensive end Patrick Kerney and safeties Brian Russell and Deon Grant finally lifted the Seahawks into the ranks of the league's better defensive teams.

The Redskins were unable to block Kerney, who led the NFC in sacks, with one lineman. By double-teaming and, at least once, even triple-teaming him, the Redskins left the quick Seattle linebackers free to chase down plays. Washington, trying to protect quarterback Todd Collins, wanted to control the game with Clinton Portis' running, but he was limited to 52 yards on 20 carries, an average of 2.6, and was often caught from behind by a linebacker.

Seahawks linebackers Leroy Hill, Lofa Tatupu and Julian Peterson were the game's leading tacklers, credited with 23 tackles, 12 assists, two sacks, five quarterback hits and one pass defensed among them.

"We proved we can play defense," Hill said. "A lot of people consider the Seahawks an offensive team, and we're just trying to prove we can play a little defense, too."

"We're not the biggest or the most physical team," Peterson added, but he pointed out the Seahawks' defense has the quickness to run with most teams. The only success the Redskins had with their running game came when they spread the Seattle defense out by using three or four receivers, but that exposed Collins to frequent hits.

Peterson opined that the Seahawks will need to tighten up their third-down defense against Green Bay, but it really wasn't too bad. Washington converted only 4 of 18 third downs into first downs.

Watch Jacksonville Jaguars vs New England Patriots Live Online- NFL Playoffs Preview

So, which are the "real" Jacksonville Jaguars?

Are they the team that dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers for three quarters of Saturday night's wild-card playoff game?

Or, are they the team that came perilously close to suffering one of the worst meltdowns in NFL playoff history?

The cynic could easily say that the Jaguars hardly look like the team that so many observers around the league pegged as having what it takes to spoil the New England Patriots' postseason perfection party.

I certainly have my doubts. I once thought the Jags were a club that had all of the necessary ingredients to be as dangerous as any team in the playoffs -- powerful running game, a quarterback who takes exceptionally great care of the football, a punishing defense that makes big plays, and poise. Especially poise. The Jaguars clearly lost their composure at the least opportune time Saturday night. They looked like a team that, well, hadn't won a playoff game since beating Miami in the divisional round after the 1999 season.

Of course, you could always take this perspective that coach Jack Del Rio offered of the Jags' ability to pull out a 31-29 win after squandering an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter: "I think it clearly exemplifies the kind of resolve this team has competed with all year."

During the regular season, the Jaguars overcame injuries to key players, such as defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, linebacker Mike Peterson, offensive guard Chris Naeole, and even quarterback David Garrard, who missed three games with a bum ankle.

On Saturday night, they overcame themselves.

At the end of the third quarter, they held a 28-10 lead and were giving the Patriots and every other team in the AFC playoffs something to worry about. Then, after three quick Steelers touchdowns, the advantage disappeared. It was Pittsburgh 29, Jacksonville 28 with 6:21 remaining.

For Del Rio, it was not a time to panic, even though that seemed like the obvious reaction. "You're wanting to stay calm, stay poised, keep fighting," he said.

With 2:38 left, the Jaguars got the ball again. Right before the members of his offense took the field, Del Rio pulled them together and said, "Guys, you've got to love it. I mean, here we are. It's right here. Let's have fun, let's go down, make some plays and win this ballgame."

He made it sound so simple, yet it was a monumental task.

The play that ultimately won it was Josh Scobee's 25-yard field goal with 37 seconds left. But the play that set up the winning points was Garrard's 32-yard quarterback draw on fourth-and-two from the Pittsburgh 43.

Garrard, in his first playoff start, had wanted to run the play on third-and-two, but the coaches called a pass that fell incomplete. He had insisted on having the ball in his hands at crunch time, mainly because he wanted to make up for the mistakes he made, including two interceptions that led to 10 Pittsburgh points.

"I knew they weren't going to stop me for two yards," Garrard said.

At 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, he knew he had too much size and power for the mostly smallish defenders the Steelers had had on the field to defend the pass. Garrard figured, at the very least, he could lower his helmet and push his way past the first-down marker. He never expected to turn two yards into 32, but that was the case when the Pittsburgh sent an all-out blitz that didn't get to him and left the field wide open for a long gain.