The Seattle Seahawks upset the Washington Redskins on Sunday in the NFL playoffs, but the team will be without a key player for the rest of the postseason as kicker Steven Hauschka was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday.
Seattle announced that the team signed Ryan Longwell as a replacement for Hauschka, who injured his calf during the 24-14 win against the Redskins. Sources said to ESPN that Longwell beat out competition from three other kickers, including Neil Rackers.
The Seahawks also signed defensive end Patrick Chukwurah after placing Chris Clemons on injured reserve. Clemons was also hurt in Sunday's game, tearing an ACL and the meniscus in his left knee after getting caught on the turf at FedEx Field, which head coach Pete Carroll called "horrible" after the game.
Hauschka was excellent for the Seahawks all year, making 24 of his 27 field goal attempts during the regular season as well as all three of his attempts against Washington last week. Clemons was the leader on the team with 11.5 sacks and could miss part of next season as he recovers from his injury.
Longwell is a veteran kicker who spent many years in Green Bay and Minnesota before being cut in May by the Vikings, who brought in rookie kicker Blair Walsh, who set records during the 2012 season.
Longwell made 22 of 28 field goal tries for the Vikings last season and has experience kicking outside in bad weather after spending so many years in Green Bay with the Packers. Longwell has a relationship with Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who was also with Green Bay during the same period.
The 38-year-old kicker had a 94.4 field goal percentage over the 2009 and 2010 seasons, which was best in the entire league. He also is 13th in NFL history with 1,687 points and fourth on the active list. Longwell has experience kicking in the postseason and converted both of his field goal attampts in 2009, the last time he went to the playoffs with the Vikings.
Hauschka's longest kick this season was a 52-yard kick against San Francisco on Oct. 18 and he was perfect over the final five weeks of the season, making all 10 field goal attempts. Hauschka made only one 50-yard kick this season and scored 118 total points on field goals and extra points. Weather will not be a factor in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons, but it could come into play if the Seahawks advance to the NFC Championship game.
Hauschka spent two years with the Ravens and one season with the Broncos before joining the Seahawks in 2010. Over the past two seasons he has played in all 16 games and has converted on at least 83 percent of his kicks, including 88.9 percent during the 2012 season.
Seattle converted on 95.8 of its extra point attempts this season and ranked 10th in the league in field goal percentage, tied with the Detroit Lions. Hauschka converted all of his kicks that were under 50 yards, but was just 1-of-4 from 50-plus yards out.
According to ESPN.com, Chukwurah has not played in an NFL game since 2007 with Tampa Bay. He spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons in the UFL with the Florida Tuskers, where he led the league in sacks. The report also says that Chukwurah beat out Aaron Maybin, Ray Edwards and C.J. LaBoy in a tryout.
Following the game against Washington, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll spoke about the football field and the playing conditions in the game.
"It was horrible, it's a horrible field," Carroll told KIRO-AM in Seattle on Monday. "It was as bad as a field could get for being dry. And it's too bad. It's really too bad, and we deserve better. ... It was worn out. There was a lot of slipping and all that kind of stuff. And it was relative. It didn't change the game at all, in my opinion, because it was relative, both sides, but we should just expect to see a better field at that time of year."
The NFL responded to the issues about the playing conditions. According to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, league spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday that neither team filed an official complaint over the playing conditions.
"It is the responsibility of the home team to maintain the field," Aiello said. "It's a grass field. It's winter. There were no complaints about it by either team. ... Injuries occur, unfortunately, on every field."
The turf was discolored in many areas and it also contained bare spots and loose chinks of dirtm, resulting in serious injuries for both Clemons and Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, who underwent surgery on Wednesday for his torn ACL.
Griffin will likely need a recovery time of six to eight months and has a chance to be healthy in time for the 2013 season as long as he suffers no setbacks. Griffin was first hurt on a pass attempt in the first quarter and then left the game in the fourth quarter after bending and slipping awkwardly on the turf while trying to recover a bad shotgun snap.
The Seahawks will face the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday for the chance to advance NFC Championship Game against either the San Francisco 49ers or the Green Bay Packers.