NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Seattle Seahawks had to work a little harder this time to get the same result.

Matt Hasselbeck threw three touchdown passes, including a 2-yarder to Darrell Jackson in the fourth quarter, and the Seahawks rallied for a 28-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday that clinched a first-round bye for the NFC West champions.

Seattle (12-2) won its 10th straight for the first time in team history and also matched the 1984 squad for most victories in a season. That left the Seahawks hoping for Chicago to lose to Atlanta on Sunday night, which would give them home-field advantage in the playoffs – another club first.

Hasselbeck finished with 285 yards as the Seahawks beat the Titans (4-10) for the fifth straight time in their first meeting since 1998.

Shaun Alexander also ran for a touchdown, giving him an NFL-best 24, and the league’s best rusher coming into the weekend became only the fifth player in NFL history to rush for 1,600 yards in consecutive seasons. He finished with 26 carries for 172 yards.

But the Seahawks didn’t roll over Tennessee as they had Philadelphia and San Francisco the previous two weeks, blowing a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

Steve McNair, playing perhaps his final game in The Coliseum with a $50 million bonus due in the offseason, chewed up one of the NFL’s better defenses by attacking a secondary missing three defensive backs to injury.

He led the Titans to 24 straight points and a 24-14 lead midway through the third quarter. He threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, and Jarrett Payton also ran for a TD.

The Titans had a chance to pad their lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, after keeping the drive alive with a fake punt for a 26-yard completion. Facing fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 6, Chris Brown tried to run right and was stopped for a 1-yard loss.

Hasselbeck responded with a 13-play, 93-yard drive that ended with the score to Jackson for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:59 to go. Jackson was playing and starting for the first time since Seattle started this winning streak on Oct. 2 after missing time with a knee injury.

That left the Titans plenty of time, but McNair threw incomplete on a pass on fourth-anad-2 at the Seattle 34.

The Seahawks then ran out the clock.

Seattle started the game where it left off after winning by a combined score of 83-3 in the previous two games. The Seahawks led 14-0 after outgaining Tennessee 195-24 on offense with Alexander rushing for 87 yards on his first eight carries.

Hasselbeck was nearly perfect in the quarter, going 8-of-10 for 101 yards with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jerramy Stevens.

Then Tennessee’s Antwan Odom sliced through the line and blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt by Josh Brown early in the second. McNair moved the Titans on three straight drives of at least 78 yards that gave them a 21-14 lead early in the third.

AP-ES-12-18-05 1607EST