Top 5 Favorite Seattle Seahawks Games

During Week 8 of the NFL, the Seahawks of Seattle were in a professional football contest versus the Texans of Houston in what was, still is, and very well may be, the best NFL game all season. I became a prisoner of the moment for many reasons. “Is Deshaun Watson the best rookie QB we’ve seen?” “Is Russell Wilson the NFL’s leading candidate for MVP after that performance?” “Should Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell let the reins loose on the offense?” “Is Jadakiss as hard as it gets?” I didn’t ask that last question, only because it’s so blatantly obvious that yes, Jadakiss is as hard as it gets.

My major prisoner of the moment claim was, “This is a top five favorite Seahawks game.” I had to challenge my own line of thinking and see if this was indeed a top five favorite Seahawks game and yes, yes it is. The Seahawks franchise has been pretty successful in the past few years, which offsets the years of sadness I endured back in the late 90s and mid 2000s. So, I decided to compile what are my top five favorite Seahawks games of all time. You may be surprised to see what is NOT number one and no, it’s not the Patriots vs Seahawks Super Bowl game. Because duh.

5. Seahawks vs Patriots (Week 6, 2012)

The veteran New England Patriots came to Seattle to face a young but promising Seahawks team led by a fresh rookie in Russell Wilson. My expectations were low since our offense wasn’t playing well for most of the season. Plus, there’s the fact that the Patriots were Super Bowl runner-ups and Tom Brady was in his bag, giving the Pats an early lead and would never let up. Until the fourth quarter. With the Seahawks down by 13 with 7 minutes left, Wilson was able to lead two touchdown drives to put the Seahawks up 24-23. The defense put the clamps on the Patriots on the ensuing drive to eek out a close win. Russ finished the game seven yards shy of his first 300 yard game and three touchdowns to zero interceptions. That was when I finally bought into Russell Wilson as our quarterback of the future.

4. Seahawks vs Texans (Week 8, 2017)

This cracks my top five because I was looking forward to this game all season, especially at the emergence of Deshaun Watson and it did not disappoint. I knew we were going to be in for a battle, but I was not expecting a 41-38 offensive war. Both Watson and Wilson were throwing missiles down the field and scoring at will. Neither defense could stop these quarterbacks who were in a zone like anything I’ve seen. I wasn’t expecting to have four heart attacks to equal the amount of fourth quarter lead changes. As Seahawks fans, we’re used to having our defense bail us out of games. To see the clamps being taken off of Russ and the offense was a true sight to behold. Watching these two young quarterbacks combined for 951 total yards and eight touchdowns was simply incredible. Not only is this my fourth favorite Seahawks game, it’s easily the best game of the 2017 NFL season so far and will be hard to top.

3. Seahawks vs Broncos (Super Bowl XLVIII, 2015)

You’d think this game would be ranked higher, if not number one, off the strength of it being the Seattle Seahawks first Super Bowl win. If you haven’t noticed by my other choices, I have a thing for drama and this game was sorely lacking it. Regardless, I was nervous as hell. We’ve been here before back in 2005 vs the Pittsburgh Steelers and I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Even after the dominating the first half, I didn’t feel at ease until Percy Harvin opened the second half with a kick return that put Seattle up 29-0 and the final score ending up being 43-8. Lockdown defense by our corners Walter Thurmond and Richard Sherman followed behind crushing blows from Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, living up to their nickname the “Legion of Boom.” Russ having enough time to do his taxes while making precision passes to Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin. All the while, unsung hero Malcolm Smith was the Super Bowl MVP. Seeing that kind of domination for Seattle’s first Super Bowl win easily makes this a top five favorite.

2. Seahawks vs Saints (NFC Wild Card Playoffs, 2010)

We all know this game. Eloquently dubbed the “Beast Quake” run. Yet, that’s not why this ranks as my second favorite Seahawks game. You see, the Seahawks came into the playoffs as NFC West Champions and were hosting the defending Super Bowl champion, the New Orleans Saints. Seattle was 7-9, the first team to make the playoffs with a losing record. We win even when we’re losing and were the epitome of underdogs for this game. Earlier that season, we lost to the Saints 34-19 and eight of our nine losses happened with teams scoring 30 or more points. When things like that happen, it’s no wonder no one was giving us a chance. I still believed in us despite being mocked by friends, family, and random Saints fans on Twitter about my confidence that we’ll win this game.

Early on, it wasn’t looking that way. Then, Seattle exploded for 17 points in the second quarter to take the lead and never look back. But, these are the defending Super Bowl champs led by the King of Comebacks in Drew Brees who kept threatening to reclaim the lead no matter how many times they tried to put them away. With 3:38 remaining on the clock and Seattle trying to hold onto a four point lead, Seattle dialed up “17 Power,” which just so happened to be Marshawn Lynch’s favorite play. Lynch put on an array of Madden highlight stick moves and capped the rumbling 67-yard run off with a NSFW touchdown celebration that sent Qwest Field into a frenzy. Seattle still wasn’t out of the clear as the Saints marched down the field to pull within five. They recovered an onside kick attempt by the Saints to finally put the game to rest, capping off one of the biggest playoff upsets of all time.

1. Seahawks vs Packers (NFC Championship Game, 2016)

I remember this game like it was yesterday, probably because every few months I’ll watch it over again. I remember the day just as clear. I was in Lake Mary, FL with my buddy Rob as we waited for his girlfriend and my longtime friend Aliese to get off work at her job, who’s also a Seattle Seahawks fan like myself. Rob and I are at the sports bar Aliese works and after every Wilson interception, Rob would just look over at me. I had no reply. My heart just sunk as we failed time and time again to at least get across the 50 let alone score. If it weren’t for our historically amazing defense (and a somewhat hobbled Aaron Rodgers) Seattle would have been toast. Aliese’s shift finally ends and she joins us. We take a couple shots of liquor and disappointment then moved across the street to another sports bar.

Aliese and I still had faith, as little as it was, despite the seconds ticking away without us sniffing the red zone. My phone was blowing up from friends getting their jokes off. I eventually turned it off and kept pounding drinks to ease my stress levels while Aliese and I prayed as hard as we could that we’d witness a miracle. Finally, some magic happened. Seattle’s fake field goal pass play finally put us on the board, 16-7. Green Bay ends up scoring again, making it 19-7. Shortly after, Russ threw his fourth interception late in the fourth quarter. The wind sucked out of me and the little bit of faith I had went with it. I was still wishing something would happen, but it would take the most outrageous chain of events to happen for us to make a return to the Super Bowl. Apparently, someone was listening because that’s exactly what happened.

The defense makes another crucial stand, giving the offense another shot. With 3:52 left in the game, Seattle was able to score 15 unanswered points to take the lead in the most lucky, ridiculous, and dazzling ways only Seahawks fans would be familiar with. Yet, Aaron GAWDgers is able to put Mason Crosby in field goal distance to send it to overtime. Aliese and I are going nuts in disbelief. What am I witnessing? Is this really happening? Before I could even catch my breath, the Seahawks score off a deep pass from Wilson to Jermaine Kearse, his only catch all game, for a touchdown and the win. Aliese and I jumped for joy, screaming “We’re going to the Super Bowl” in the middle of the bar. I know we looked like lunatics, but it was the most fun I ever had watching a game.

That about settles it for my favorite Seattle Seahawks games. What are some of yours? And no, you can’t name the Patriots vs Seahawks Super Bowl game. Because duh.