The Seahawks aren’t in the Super Bowl, sadly, but they do have their own history in the Big Game. The journey started with a long road to heartache.
While the 12s won’t be watching their team in Super Bowl – not this year, anyway – the Seahawks have plenty of history in the NFL title game. Some of it is sad, some is glorious, and then there’s – well, we’ll get to that. Seattle so far has written three chapters in their Super Bowl story. What better time to take a look back? First up, chapter one.
The Seahawks started their long journey to the Super Bowl in their inaugural season, 1976. It took them 30 years to get there, but the 12s stood by them all the way. The 12th man has a long tradition in Seattle. You should know, as you’re almost certainly one of them. Just in case you’re not clear on the history of the impact Seahawks fans have had, here’s a quick refresher for you. Thank you, Holli Joyce!
Seattle Seahawks
So, 30 years of Seahawks football rolled by before they finally made the Super Bowl. Only 12 of those years were winning seasons. It didn’t take Seattle long to start winning though. Jack Patera led them to a 9-7 record in just their third year. Lee Vowell says he’s the Seahawks fifth best coach. I put him at fourth, ahead of Dennis Erickson. Patera had two winning seasons, Erickson none. I rest my case.
The Seahawks made it to the playoffs in their eighth year, their first under coach Chuck Knox. Lee and I agree that Knox ranks as Seattle’s third best head coach. I can’t imagine many 12s would disagree. Knox took the Hawks to the playoffs in four of his first six seasons. That includes that shellacking division rival Denver Broncos 37-7 and upsetting the number one seed Miami Dolphins 27-20.
There’s no shame in a wild card team falling in the conference championship to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Raiders, 30-14. The Raiders beat their other playoff opponents by at least four touchdowns. Different times: the Seahawks were still in the AFC, and the Raiders were still in Los Angeles. But we were speaking of Super Bowls, so…
Seahawks put it together under Holmgren, Hasselbeck and Alexander
Too late for the spoiler alert. Then again, the game took place 13 years ago, so you’ve had plenty of time. How the Seahawks got to the game may be a better story than the game itself, unfortunately. While Chuck Knox got off to a great start with Seattle, injuries to Curt Warner and the retirement of Steve Largent took their toll. After three losing seasons, Knox left the team. HIs replacements fared no better, though. After seven years of utter mediocrity under two head coaches, the Seahawks hired the man who would prove to be their best coach, up to that time.
Mike Holmgren joined the Seahawks in 1999, and immediately had them back in the playoffs. This was Seattle’s first playoff trip in ten years. Holmgren was a huge hire, as he never had a losing season with the Green Bay Packers. He took them to the playoffs in every year but his first, and won one Super Bowl, lost another. So it wasn’t too surprising that he got Seattle into the playoffs so soon.
The Hawks would slip back for a few years, but Holmgren had them back in the post-season party in 2003. In his third year as a starter, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck led the Seattle offense to their first 400 point season. The slashing runs of Shaun Alexander were instrumental to the team’s success. Much like 2018, the Seahawks were very much a run-first offense. The difference is that the runs were almost exclusively Alexander.
An aside about the great Shaun Alexander. As you may remember, the Hawks only ran the ball 409 times in 2017, up from 403 in 2016. From 2001 through 2005, Alexander averaged 331 carries himself. His peak was the ridiculous sum of 370 runs in his spectacular 2005 season. That wrecked his career, as he only appeared in 27 games over the next three years, and had over 250 carries once. Please avoid the temptation to run Chris Carson 300 times, Pete.
Tough defense and Alexander take Seahawks to the Big Game
We’re on the road to Super Bowl XL, or 40, as sane people would write it. After getting bumped out of the wild card round in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Seattle put it all together in 2005. Alexander ran for 1,880 yards and an even more incredible 27 touchdowns, and was named the league MVP. Hasselbeck also had his best year as a pro to that date. He threw for 3,459 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions. The Seahawks led the league in scoring with 452 points. But just as important to their 13-3 record and Super Bowl run was the defense.
In Holmgren’s first season the Hawks gave up 298 points, good enough to rank eighth in the NFL. Cortez Kennedy and Chad Brown wreaked havoc on opposing teams. But Kennedy would retire after 2000, and Brown only had a couple of healthy seasons left. Seattle’s defense wouldn’t bounce back until – you guessed it, 2005. They didn’t have a lot of household names, but what they had were hard hitters.
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Rookie middle linebacker Lofa Tatapu led the team in tackles, added four sacks, and made the Pro Bowl. He was the only Seattle defender to make that squad, but the Hawks were loaded with heavy hitters. Michael Boulware was an aggressive strong safety who was third in tackles, led in interceptions with four, and chipped in with two sacks of his own.
Speaking of sacks, the Seahawks led the league in 2005 with 50, thanks to players like Bryce Fisher and Rocky Bernard. Seattle ranked seventh in points allowed that season, a big improvement over the previous seasons. The Seattle defense came up big in the playoffs as well. They held Joe Gibbs’ Washington team to just 10 points in the opening round. Alexander only had six carries in the game, but it was truly never in doubt.
Then the defense held the high-scoring Carolina squad to 14 points in the conference championship. Alexander trampled the Panthers in this one with 34 carries, 132 yards, and two touchdowns. That defense was instrumental in their playoff run, until it finally faltered on the biggest stage of all. It just happened twice, but that was enough.
Seahawks meet their mirror image in Super Bowl XL
The Seahawks came into the 40th Super Bowl with the league’s top offense and the seventh-rated defense. Their AFC counterpart Pittsburgh Steelers was something of a mirror image. They ranked third in defense and ninth in offense. Much like Seattle, Pittsburgh depended on a punishing running game led by Willie Parker. This was also the last season of The Bus, six-time Pro Bowler Jerome Bettis.
Ben Rothlisberger was in his second season with Pittsburgh and was still much more of a game manager then. He only averaged 22 passing attempts per game that year. Hard to believe this is the same guy who averaged 42 attempts in 2018. Same guy, but it’s now a very different team and a very different league.
The big names for Pittsburgh were on defense. They may not have had a Steel Curtain, but players like linebackers Joey Porter and James Farrior and strong safety Troy Polamalu inspired a lot of fear in offenses throughout their careers. The Steelers weren’t far behind the Seahawks in sacks with 47 of their own. They allowed the second-fewest passing touchdowns at 15, and were best in the league against the run, allowing only 3.4 yards per carry.
It’s an unofficial stat, but I’m pretty sure they led the league in most soiled underpants by opposing ball carriers, too. The Seahawks had a very good defense while the Steelers had a great one. We would see that play out in the title game matchup.
Pittsburgh came into the playoffs riding a four game winning streak to wind up at 11-5. They dominated the Bengals 31-17, then withstood a furious fourth quarter comeback by Peyton Manning and the Colts to win 21-18. In the AFC conference championship the Steelers spanked the Broncos 34-17. In those three playoff games, Rothlisberger threw seven touchdowns and just one interception. Maybe he wasn’t just a game manager after all.
Rothlisberger didn’t fare as well against Seattle. He was held to just 123 yards passing on 9 of 23 attempts, and intercepted him twice. Pittsburgh’s defense showed up too. Hasselbeck threw for over 270 yards and a score, but was sacked three times. They also kept Alexander out of the end zone, despite his 95 yards on the ground. The Seahawks controlled the ball for 33 minutes but were only 5-17 on third downs. Seattle controlled the game with the exception of two big plays. Those two plays cost them the game.
Two big plays sank the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL
It was a tight game at the half, 7-3 in favor of the Steelers. After the second-half kickoff, Rothlisberger missed on a connection to Hines Ward. For those of you unfamiliar with this name, we’ll hear more about this gentleman later. On the next play, Willie Parker ripped off a 75 yard run. The Seahawks had held the Steelers without a first down in the first quarter, and 122 total yards in the first half. Yet suddenly they were down 14-3. They drove to the Pittsburgh 32 on the next drive, but Josh Brown missed his second field goal try of over 50 yards in the game.
Pittsburgh drove down the field, but Kelly Herndon intercepted Rothlisberger at the Seattle four-yard line and returned it 76 yards. Hasselbeck and crew went to work, and three plays later cut the lead to four on a Jerramy Stevens touchdown reception. At this point, it was a little more than midway through the third quarter and the momentum of the game had shifted back to the Seahawks.
Both teams traded field position until the Hawks mounted a drive in the fourth quarter. Hasselbeck was picked off for the first time in the game. The return and ensuing penalty on the Seahawks quarterback for a low block had the Steelers set up shop at their own 44 yard line. After Pittsburgh picked up a first down at the Seattle 43, the Hawks gave up their second big play of the game.
Beware of college quarterbacks playing at wideout
Admittedly, it was a pretty sweet play. Rothlisberger pitched out to Willie Parker, who then handed off to wide receiver Antwaan Randel El. Most 12s have this guy’s name etched in their memory, but for the rest of you, Randel El played quarterback at the University of Indiana. He wasn’t a great passer, much more a runner-passer hybrid as so many college QBs are. Still, he was good enough to come in sixth in the Heisman. Not bad at all for a kid at Indiana. The point is, he could throw.
And that’s exactly what he did as he pulled up and hit a wide-open Hines Ward for a 43 yard touchdown. See, I told you that name would come back up. That made it 21-10 Pittsburgh, and for all intents and purposes, the game was over with nearly nine minutes left. Seattle stalled on their first drive after the score, and couldn’t stop Pittsburgh and The Bus from eating over four minutes of the clock. With the game still on the line, the Steelers turned to Bettis seven times on a nine play drive. He only picked up 17 yards, but he kept the clock running and forced the Hawks to use all three of their timeouts.
Seattle finally managed to stop Bettis and force a punt. To be completely accurate, they dropped him for a loss once and held him to no gain once, but he did the damage he was born to do. With two minutes left the Seahawks drove all the way to the Steelers 23, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete with three seconds on the clock. It still would have been a loss, as I’m not aware of many onsides kicks you can pull off in two seconds to leave time for one more desperation play.
It took eight years for Seattle to make the playoffs and another twenty-two before they would reach the title game. The Seahawks had some great years among those three decades, but the best was yet to come. The patience of the 12s, the best fans in the NFL, would be rewarded. That reward would come quickly, along with a new head coach.