Are you ready for a weekly blast from the Seahawks teams of the past?
This will be a weekly article series throughout the season looking back on what happened for the Seattle Seahawks 40, 30, 20, and 10 years ago this week.
The 1984 and 1994 teams were already done and the 2014 squad had a 1st round bye in the playoffs so it’s just the 2004 crew to revisit this week. Good thing the game was quite eventful!
40 Years Ago
*Final 1984 record: 13-5. Lost in AFC Divisional Round*
30 Years Ago
*Final 1994 record: 6-10*
20 Years Ago
Sunday, January 2, 2005
Hey look, it’s future Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora on the sidelines for the Atlanta Falcons! That’s the only notable thing about this game as the Seahawks had the chance to clinch the NFC West. I bet you’re on the edge of your seat wondering if they did! Jokes aside, we’ll go a little more in depth on this game since it’s the only one for the week.
Michael Vick was still at the height of his powers, coming off an injury-shortened 2003 season. He got Atlanta out to a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard TD pass to Peerless Price about midway through the 1st Quarter. The Seahawks answered back with a 1-yard rushing TD by Shaun Alexander to tie the game at 7-7. Jay Feely kicked a 33-yard FG to give the Falcons a 10-7 lead. Just over a minute later, they extended their lead to 17-7 when DeAngelo Hall picked off Matt Hasselbeck and returned it 48 yards for the TD. Hasselbeck made up for it on the next drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Darrell Jackson to close the deficit to 17-14 at halftime.
The Falcons already had Vick resting up for the playoffs and Matt Schaub took his place at QB for Atlanta. and he proceeded to get picked off by Marcus Trufant on the first drive after halftime. Seattle turned that into the only points of the 3rd Quarter on another 3-yard Hasselbeck TD pass, this one to Jerramy Stevens to give the Seahawks their first lead of the game at 21-17. After missing a FG in the 3rd Quarter, Feely cut the lead to a point at 21-20 with a 40-yard FG early in the 4th Quarter. Seattle then milked nearly 6 minutes off the clock, finishing the drive with a 1-yard TD run by Hasselbeck to take the 28-20 lead. That yard was quite significant; not just for the fact that it put Seattle up by 8 late in the game. Shaun Alexander was trailing Curtis Martin by 1 yard for the NFL rushing title and would’ve tied him if he carried the ball instead of Hasselbeck. Maybe they would get the ball back to give Alexander another chance to secure that honor?
Nope.
Atlanta had over 4 minutes left and used literally every second, scoring on a 3-yard TD pass from Matt Schaub to Brian Finneran with no time remaining on the clock. Atlanta failed on the 2-point conversion and the Seahawks were headed to the playoffs as NFC West Champions with a 28-26 victory!
Matt Hasselbeck was 21/27 for 191 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. He also had 1 carry for 1 important yard with the game-winning TD. Shaun Alexander had 19 carries for 80 yards and 1 TD finishing 1 yard behind Curtis Martin for the NFL rushing lead. Bobby Engram caught all 6 targets for 79 yards. Why would I mention the perfect catch percentage? Check back next week…
Marcus Trufant had an INT for the 2nd week in a row. Chad Brown and Ken Hamlin had 1.0 sack a piece. Rocky Bernard and Antonio Cochran shared a sack with 0.5 each.
The Seahawks would draw their division foe St. Louis Rams in the Wild Card Round. After being swept 2-0 during the regular season, could they finally break through in the playoffs in the friendly confines of Qwest Field? Again, check back next week.
That’s called a tease, folks!
10 Years Ago
Saturday/Sunday, January 3/4, 2015
*2014 record: 12-4. Seahawks have 1st Round Bye*
With a great finish to the season, the Seattle Seahawks got to sit at home and watch the Wild Card Round. Baltimore upsetting Pittsburgh at Heinz Field was the only upset of the 1st round for either side. Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers took care of the Arizona Cardinals and get to travel to CenturyLink field for the Divisional Round which we’ll go over next week. Lucky them!