As Seattle prepares for another NFC Championship game, I thought it might be nice to get nostalgic some of the team’s most memorable playoff moments. It’s the good, the bad and the ugly (for those of you that think I’m incapable of poking fun at my hometown team). Enjoy.[1]
1) “Whoopsie Daisy” – The Romo Botched Snap, NFC Wild Card Game, January 6, 2007 (Qwest Field)
If you were a Seahawk fan on that date, then you watched that game. You’ll never forget it. The Dallas Cowboys had a 17-13 lead but Seattle came back with a TD and a safety to make it 21-20. The clock was winding down under two minutes and it looked like Dallas was marching into the End Zone. The Cowboys were on the Seattle 8 yard line on 3rd-and-7 so QB Tony Romo went for what looked like a 7-yard pass to Jason Witten. But the replay official called for a review on the spotting of the ball and it turned out Witten was just shy of the 1st down. So, 4th-and-1 with 1:19 remaining, then-coach Bill Parcells decided to bring out Mike Gramatica for the surest field goal that ever was. But it wasn’t. Long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur sent Romo a perfect ball, but the ball slid through his hands as he was kneeled in the holder’s position. Gramatica never got the chance to kick the ball, and Romo had no choice but to pick up the ball and try to take off for a TD, but Jordan Babineaux tripped him up, leaving him sulking on the field.
Relive the play here.
2) Hasselbeck’s Crystal Ball Not So Good, NFC Wild Card Game, January 4, 2004 (Lambeau Field)
I remember this game all to well. I was back for winter break from my first year of college, and it was tradition to watch all games in my family. I hadn’t been able to afford a jersey until starting work down at school, but this moment solidified the fact that my first purchase surely wouldn’t be number 8. No offense, Matt, you helped bring the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl appearance and helped set the tone at the new stadium. But, OH DEAR LAWD this was the worst. At the end of the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 27-27. Shaun Alexander ran for his third TD with less than a minute left to send the game into overtime. It was the team’s first playoff appearance since returning to the NFC West. How did it end? Well, I don’t use the term “cringe-worthy,” but I will for this. The visiting Seahawks won the OT coin toss and Hasselbeck affirms into the microphone “We want the ball and we’re going to score.” Whelp, Al Harris crushed that dream with a 52-yard pick 6 (translation: they did not score, and they did not win).
Here’s a moderate-quality video of said moment that may or may not be in HD because this happened 11 years ago.
3) Sherman Tips Mediocrity, NFC Championship Game, January 19, 2014 (CenturyLink Field)
Unfortunately, CB Richard Sherman’s post-game “interview” with Erin Andrews garnered ten-times more coverage than the play itself, but his play against the San Francisco 49ers that sent the Seahawks to the 48th Super Bowl will likely go down as one of the best defensive plays in NFL playoff history. Prior, during this extremely physical game between the familiar rivals, the Seahawks only managed to create a six-point cushion. With less than two minutes remaining, Kaepernick led a huge drive downfield, as the 49ers couldn’t settle for a field goal. With around 30 seconds to go and SF on Seattle’s own 18-yard line, Kaep foolishly lobbed a pass to Michael Crabtree deep in the end zone (despite the fact it was 1st down, they had two timeouts remaining, and he was guarded by the CB with the most picks in the league). Sherman read the ball, leapt up, and tipped it into the hands of Malcolm Smith (future Super Bowl MVP). The rest was history.
Watch the highlight that added “mediocre” to every media-outlet’s vernacular.
4) Faking It To [Not] Make It, AFC Divisional Game, December 31, 1988 (Riverfront Stadium)
There’s a good chance that some of you reading this weren’t even alive during this game (or at least had the cognitive ability to understand what football was and why your parents were shouting at the T.V.). But, believe it or not, this was the Seahawks’ last postseason appearance of the millennium (technically they made the playoffs in their 1999 season but didn’t actually play until 2000). Throughout this game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle had a curious number of injuries before third down plays, including linemen Joe Nash and Ken Clarke who delayed play a total of six times only to return to the game after each. Afterwards, the Bengals accused the Seahawks of theatrically faking their injuries in an effort to thwart Cincinnati’s no-huddle offense. Seattle went onto lose the game 13-21 on account of Ickey Woods shufflin’ all over the field.
Read the day-after coverage about the game here.
5) Beast Quake the I, NFC Wild Card Game, January 8, 2011 (Qwest Field)
We’ve all seen it. It’s one of those moments in local sports history where you actually remember where you were when you saw it. I remember quite well because I gave up my shift at the bar I was working at near the stadium to go to my very first Seahawks playoff game to watch an under-.500 team take on Drew Brees and the might Saints who couldn’t have been more pissed they would have to travel. The beginning of the game was bleak: New Orleans’ fans were throwing confetti like it was Mardi Gras. Then, after a huge shift in offensive momentum for the Hawks, Marshawn Lynch decided to cause a shift of his own: a seismic one. Pacific Northwest seismologists measured earth movement in sync with the epic 67-yard run in which Lynch shook off tackles and stiff-armed Tracy Porter to the ground. It was essentially the football equivalent of Moses parting the Red Sea. Though the Seahawks didn’t advance after this game, this playoff moment helped characterize a new era for the Seattle organization.
Can’t watch it enough? Me neither! Watch it here.
And here’s Beast Quake the II just in case.
[1] This list does not include the ultimate moment in Seattle’s playoff history, last year’s Super Bowl win, because that’s already been permanently etched into every Hawks fan’s hippocampus as the best day in sports history.
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