There is no doubting the critical nature of Sunday night's game for the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos (ESPN, 8:30 p.m. ET). With both teams vying for second place in the AFC West and a wild-card opportunity, both teams can ill afford a loss to a divisional rival.

	Shaun Alexander is third in the AFC in rushing with 981 yards and has scored 12 touchdowns.

The Broncos are more desperate for a win because they lost the previous game against Seattle and are a half-game behind the Seahawks. They need to pull even with Seattle in the head-to-head category.

The Broncos are in more dire straits than Seattle in other ways as well. With Ed McCaffrey out for the season and Rod Smith walking on a pair of sprained ankles, the receiving corps has become non-existent. The starters for Sunday's game will be Chris Cole and Kevin Kasper, a second-year player and a rookie. The backup is another rookie, Matt Dominguez, who wasn't even drafted.

The injuries have greatly affected the Broncos' ability to generate offense. In the last two games, losses to Washington and Miami respectively, they have scored only 10 points in each game.

On a positive note, Terrell Davis played well last week, rushing for 97 yards on 20 carries, and will be healthy again for Seattle. Davis and Mike Anderson give the Broncos plenty of backfield punch.

More importantly, though, Brian Griese has to take better care of the football. I still haven't figured out where he was throwing the ball last week when Miami's Kenny Mixon returned Griese's interception for a touchdown. Griese often gets himself into trouble because he tries too hard to make plays. He just needs to play smart and not help the Seahawks with a costly turnover. If he does, the game will be close.

The Broncos, who have their bye on Dec. 23, are one of four teams with four games remaining. During Mike Shanahan's six seasons in Denver, the Broncos are 13-11 over the final four games of the season. As it applies to this year's Broncos, the statistic is misleading. In the past the Broncos have either clinched their division early or wrapped up home-field advantage for the playoffs, making their final few games less significant. That won't be the case this season.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, have a more favorable schedule in the coming weeks than Denver. While the Broncos still have to play the Raiders after this week, Seattle has games remaining against Dallas, the New York Giants, San Diego and Kansas City. The Seahawks have a great chance against every team they play.

Three weeks ago while covering the Oakland-Seattle game on ESPN, I picked the Seahawks to finish at least 10-6 and to make the playoffs. Everybody thought I was nuts. Coach Mike Holmgren continues to catch heat for being ultra-conservative, especially in their surprising loss to the Chiefs two weeks ago. But after last week's win over San Diego, the Seahawks have won three out of four.

Holmgren's approach is much like the Ravens' last season. Like Baltimore with Jamal Lewis, the Seahawks are getting great mileage out of Shaun Alexander, who should go over 1,000 yards on the year against Denver. Because running backs need only 62.5 yards a game to reach 1,000, my benchmark for a special back is 1,300, a number Alexander should reach by the end of the season.

With Alexander running the ball, Holmgren is playing it safe with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. In their last three victories, the Seahawks have averaged nearly 37 rushing attempts per game. While the Rams' Kurt Warner has thrown for more than 300 yards in a game seven times, Hasselbeck has thrown for more than 200 yards only twice.

Holmgren is treating Hasselbeck like a rookie. He is doing with Hasselbeck what Colts offensive coodinator Tom Moore did with Peyton Manning in his rookie year. And Hasselbeck is performing better than Manning did. He hasn't thrown an interception in five weeks and has picks in only three games this year.

Hasselbeck, Trent Dilfer and Brock Huard have combined to throw eight touchdown passes. Plus, the Seahawks have 11 rushing touchdowns for a total of 19 offensive touchdowns. Meanwhile, Griese has thrown for 20 touchdowns alone, yet the two teams have similar records. The difference? Griese has also thrown 14 interceptions, two being returned for touchdowns, compared to only seven picks for the Seattle quarterbacks.

The Seahawks are building around their young players. Aside from Hasselbeck and Alexander, they also have up-and-coming receivers in second-year player Darrell Jackson and rookie Koren Robinson, who has caught 28 passes and is averaging 12 yards a reception. Seattle appears to have a bright future, which could include a playoff berth this season.

In fact, Seattle could make the playoffs instead of Denver when the Broncos were a preseason favorite to reach the Super Bowl. But so much depends on health, and the Broncos' personality changed the moment McCaffrey went down with a broken leg. While their injury situation has only gotten worse, one win over a divisional foe could change their fortunes.

Here are the keys to Sunday night's game:

Three keys for the Seahawks
1. All about Alexander. Alexander ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries in Seattle's first meeting with Denver. The Seahawks must allow him to carry the load once again.

2. No critical turnovers. As he has the last five weeks, Hasselbeck must avoid mistakes. At the same time, the young receivers must catch the ball. In the first game against Denver, Dilfer was the quarterback, not Hasselbeck. And Dilfer played an efficient game. Hasselbeck must play the same type of game.

3. Shut down the run. Seattle did an excellent job against the Broncos' running game, holding Anderson to only 51 yards. The Seahawks must duplicate the performance. With Griese struggling, they must force him to beat them throwing to a no-name receiving corps.

Three keys for the Broncos
1. Use the tight ends. Because they are weak at receiver, the Broncos must rely on their tight ends to convert first downs. After Rod Smith, their three top receivers are tight ends -- Desmond Clark with 45 catches, Dwayne Carswell with 23 and Patrick Hape with 11. Going to the tight ends, the throws will be easier for Griese. The Broncos must feature the tight ends.

2. Run the ball. Sure, the Broncos need a big game from Davis to take the pressure off Griese, but Griese must also be involved in the running attack. While he is unable to take off and run like Rich Gannon and Jeff Garcia, he is a good enough runner to pull it down and run if his top three receiving options aren't open. That will be even more important this week with so much inexperience at receiver.

3. Make Hasselbeck win the game. The Broncos have to stop Alexander and will commit more defenders around the line of scrimmage to stop him. That will force the game into Hasselbeck's hands. The Broncos must take their chances with Hasselbeck throwing to his young receivers.