Baldwin uses late-night Madden session to cope with loss

Doug Baldwin doesn't get over losses easily, especially in the playoffs.

The Seattle Seahawks receiver's five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown weren't enough to get his team past the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday. After not not getting the result he hoped for, he looked to a football world he could control to cope with his disappointment.

"I was up at 3:30 this morning playing Madden," Baldwin told Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times on Monday morning. "The reason why I play Madden is because in Madden I can control everything and in the game of life and the game of football you can't.

"It's kind of like an outlet. When I was sitting there visualizing about all that we've been through, it is hard."

Baldwin said his frustration wasn't due to a lack of touches in Atlanta, but more with how close his team came to another championship before letting it slip away.

"I don't want to take away from anything anybody else does in this world or in this life, but to get to where we got to this year, it was difficult," said Baldwin. "It was extremely hard. It was exhausting, and then to now know everything ended so abruptly, now we have to start all over again.

"There's some happiness in that because there were a lot of things we couldn't fix during the course of the season that we can now work on because it's the offseason. But it's hard and it takes a toll on you, mentally and physically."