Prepared for Seattle's Noise, Saints Can't Overcome Seattle's Players SEATTLE - For their return to that caldron of cacophony called CenturyLink Field, the New Orleans Saints reconstructed the stadium's atmosphere. Tried to, rather. They painted the Seahawks" logo on their fields. They practiced outside to prepare for the inevitable inclement weather. They pumped crowd noise at such an earsplitting volume that two speakers blew out. What the Saints failed to recreate was how the Seahawks thrive in this, their natural habitat. They could not simulate the ferocity of Seattle's defense, and they could not reproduce the punishing running style of Marshawn Lynch, who rumbled for both of his team's touchdowns in a 23-15 victory Saturday that ushered the Seahawks into the N.F.C. championship game. However much they vowed the rematch would be closer - and it was, frighteningly so for Seattle - the result looked and felt and sounded familiar to the Saints, who were blasted by 27 points here six weeks ago. It all looked and felt and sounded familiar to the Seahawks, too, as they parlayed the N.F.L."s fiercest home-field advantage into the right to host one final game, next Sunday against San Francisco or Carolina. Marshawn Lynch rushing for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He scored again in the fourth on a 31-yard run. Elaine Thompson/Associated Press "We're going to be tough-nosed, run the ball, hit "em big when we need to, and that's that," receiver Golden Tate said. And if you can stop it, it'll be a good game. If not, things could get nasty. That is less a prediction for next week than a reasonable summation of a game that took a dramatic turn deep in the fourth quarter, when New Orleans nearly overcame a 15-point deficit in the final 2 minutes 40 seconds. The Seahawks ran the ball, for 174 yards. The Saints stopped them, holding Seattle after halftime to 114 yards and without a point until Lynch's 31-yard touchdown. And that was when things got nasty, nasty beyond the chill and steady rain and swirling winds that deterred both teams from passing. Within the span of 26 seconds, Marques Colston morphed from potential savior into object of criticism. After catching a 9-yard touchdown and recovering the ensuing onside kick, Colston caught a pass from Drew Brees at the Seattle 37, on the near sideline, with eight seconds left. Instead of stepping out of bounds to give New Orleans one or perhaps two shots at the end zone, Colston threw the ball - forward, not backward - across the field. Called for an illegal forward pass, Colston was penalized 5 yards, and the final seconds were run off the clock. "We'll look at the film," said Saints Coach Sean Payton, when asked whether Colston lost track of time. Next question. There was an edge to Payton's voice, much as there was to this game. A hostile tenor was established two hours before kickoff, and it carried deep into the game. Saints tight end Jimmy Graham engaged in separate squabbles with Seattle defenders, ripping off the hat of Bruce Irvin. Rafael Bush flattened Percy Harvin, the versatile speedster playing in only his second game of the season who later left with a concussion after a shoulder to the head. Skirmishes after plays were as common as raindrops. "It's hard coming in here and talking a big game," said Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman, who was among the defenders who limited Graham to one reception for eight yards, adding, "He woke up the DB group and that's the last group you want to wake up." Jimmy Graham engaged in separate squabbles with Seahawks defenders, including one with Richard Sherman. The second-to-last group, then, might be Lynch, Lynch and Lynch, who seems to run with the strength of three backs. As the squalls rolled in, limiting the Seahawks" passing game, Lynch rushed 28 times for 140 yards, mostly between the tackles. His second touchdown did not register a seismic reading, as did his playoff touchdown against New Orleans here three years ago, but it featured a start-and-stop burst around the left side that was punctuated by a stiff-arm against Keenan Lewis that cleared the final 15 yards of his jaunt. "I don't run to get tackled," Lynch said. Lynch rescued an offense that operated at moderate efficiency, as Russell Wilson lacked his usual accuracy. He completed 9 of 18 passes for 103 yards, with his most critical toss - a 24-yard sideline pass to Doug Baldwin on third-and-3 - preceding Lynch's 31-yard touchdown. The Seahawks scored on their first three possessions - and four of its first five - in building a 16-0 lead that started to evaporate in the fourth quarter. Plagued by drops and fumbles and overthrows, and flustered by a Seattle defense that clogged Brees's passing lanes, the Saints did not score until 1:49 into the fourth quarter, on a 1-yard run by Khiry Robinson. Those in the vociferous, stadium-record crowd, announced at 68,388, shoved their hands inside their ponchos when the Saints drew to within 16-8 and three times had the ball with an opportunity to tie the score. The fans could not have been faulted for feeling queasy when an underthrown pass by Brees caromed off two Seattle defensive backs and into the hands of Robert Meachem for a 52-yard gain. All week the teams were asked about that last meeting, a 34-7 demolition on Dec. 2 that triggered the Saints" late-season slide. The Seahawks, who that night limited New Orleans to 188 yards (the lowest offensive output in the Brees-Payton era), pledged it had been forgotten. The Saints did, too, even if they tried changing their mojo by staying at a different hotel - in suburban Bellevue, not downtown Seattle - for this trip. Brees, after passing for 34 yards in the first half, threw for 188 in the fourth quarter. He connected with Josh Hill and Lance Moore and Colston, led New Orleans to two touchdowns, but was unable to complete the comeback against a team that never thought it would. "I think we have the right to be confident, not cocky," said Seattle safety Earl Thomas, "by the way we prepare every week." And this week will be unlike any other the franchise has experienced since 2005. The Seahawks are one victory from the Super Bowl.