(My Sportsbook) - The Seattle Seahawks won their first division title since joining the NFC West on Sunday and captured their first divisional crown overall since 1999 with their 28-26 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Qwest Field.

However, judging by running back Shaun Alexander's comments after the game, you might have thought his team missed the playoffs. Alexander was miffed at head coach Mike Holmgren for not allowing him to get the one-yard needed late in the game which would have given him the NFL rushing title, won by the New York Jets Curtis Martin.

"We were going to win anyway," Alexander said after the game. "We were on the freakin' goal line, and I got stabbed in the back."

Yesterday, Alexander apologized for his out of character outburst.

"I think the biggest thing in the world is how apologetic I am to this whole situation -- how me and going after a record, and my feelings about a record, could even take any excitement, any of the light away from winning a championship," Alexander said.

Alexander, who is an unrestricted free agent after the season, set club records for rushing yards (1,696), touchdowns (20) and carries (353).

"By no means at all am I disappointed in this year," Alexander added.

More money was not a reason for Alexander's comments on Sunday, as the team revealed he had no incentive in his contract that would give him a bonus for winning the rushing title. He had already met the only incentive in the final year of his original five-year contract with the Seahawks, which kicked in when Alexander passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Alexander already received a substantial pay raise for hitting an escalator in his contract that took effect this season. His base salary jumped from $545,000 to $3.25 million after Alexander rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

"It got the best of me and I definitely blurted out stuff I shouldn't have said," Alexander said yesterday. Of his stabbed in the back analogy, he added, "That was just a little too extreme. That's just an extreme statement."

All the Alexander controversy aside, the only thing that matters is that Seattle will get a chance to avenge two losses to St. Louis - including an embarrassing setback in Week 5 which saw the Rams overcome a huge fourth quarter deficit to win in overtime.

"Any time you can get into the tournament, this is why you play the season," said linebacker Chad Brown. "The preseason and 17 weeks of the regular season are just a test to see who gets the opportunity to be in the tournament," he added. "This is the real season. This is why you play. So to do it two years in a row is special."

If the Seahawks defeat St. Louis on Saturday at Qwest Field, they will play at either Atlanta or Philadelphia, depending which team wins the other wild-card game matching the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. If the sixth-seeded Vikings win, they go to No. 1 Philadelphia. The Packers (No. 3) would go to No. 2 Atlanta in the divisional round.

With the Packers at Atlanta, a win over the Rams would send the fourth-seeded Seahawks to Philadelphia. Seattle would go to Atlanta if Minnesota wins.

The only way the Seahawks could host another playoff game is if they play the Vikings in the NFC title game.

INJURIES: Wideout Koren Robinson, who missed four games because of suspension earlier in the season, was deactivated fro Sunday's game for missing a team meeting on Saturday. Holmgren will update his status and the rest of his injury report later in the week.

UP NEXT: The Seahawks host the Rams this week.