The season began with a 36–16 victory over theGreen Bay Packers in their first meeting since the controversialFail Mary Game. After struggling to a 3–3 record, which included a rare home loss to theDallas Cowboys, they went on a 9–1 run to finish the season, which included a sweep of their division rivals, theArizona Cardinals, who battled with them the whole season. They repeated asNFC West champions and finished in a three-way tie with the Packers and Cowboys for theNFC's best record, but they earned the No. 1 seed based on intra-conference tiebreaker, securing home-field advantage for the second consecutive season. Not only are they first defending Super Bowl champion to do so since the1990 San Francisco 49ers, but also the first NFC team to repeat as the No. 1 seed in the conference since the2004 Philadelphia Eagles, and the first team to do so since the2013 Denver Broncos.
The Seahawks fielded the #1 rushing attack in the league withMarshawn Lynch finishing the year with 1,306 yards and a league-leading 13 rushing touchdowns. In addition to Lynch,Russell Wilson had one of the most prolificrunning quarterback seasons ever with a career high 849 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns along with a league-leading 7.2 yards per attempt.
The Seahawks opened theplayoffs with a win over theCarolina Panthers in the Divisional round, becoming the first defending champion since the2005 New England Patriots to win a playoff game the following season. In one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, the Seahawks advanced toSuper Bowl XLIX by defeating the Green Bay Packers 28–22 in overtime after trailing 16–0 at halftime and 19–7 with less than three minutes left in regulation. In doing so, they became the first team since the2004 New England Patriots to repeat as conference champions, the first NFC team since the1997 Green Bay Packers to repeat as NFC Champions, the first team to go to consecutive Super Bowls as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs since the1990–1991Buffalo Bills, and the first NFC team to go to consecutive Super Bowls as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs since the1982–1983Washington Redskins. InSuper Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks were defeated by theNew England Patriots 28–24, thereby being dethroned[1] and failed to become the first back-to-back champion since the2004 New England Patriots, as well as the first NFC team to do so since the1993 Dallas Cowboys. This was also the first time head coachPete Carroll met his former team, the Patriots, and his successor,Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl, as Carroll was the Patriots head coach from 1997 to 1999, the last head coach before Belichick was hired in 2000.
^[a] The Seahawks traded their first-round selection (No. 32 overall) toMinnesota in exchange for their second- and fourth-round selection (Nos. 40 and 108 overall).
^[a] The Seahawks traded the second-round selection (No. 40 overall) that they received from Minnesota, and their fifth-round selection (No. 146 overall) toDetroit in exchange for their second-, fourth-, and seventh-round selection (Nos. 45, 111, and 227 overall).
^[d] The Seahawks traded the fourth-round selection (No. 111 overall) that they received from Detroit, toCincinnati in exchange for their fourth- and sixth-round selection (Nos. 123 and 199 overall).
^abcThe NY Giants defeated both Atlanta and St. Louis head-to-head (Atlanta:Week 5, 30–20; St. Louis:Week 16, 37–27), while Atlanta finished ahead of St. Louis based on conference record.
^When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.
The Seahawks started their 2014 season at home against the Packers, the first meeting since the controversial'Fail Mary' game in 2012. With the win, they became the first defending Super Bowl champion team since 2011 (alsoPackers) to win their regular season opening game for a 1–0 start.
This is the first game in NFL history to end in a score of 36–16. In all five years that Pete Carroll was head coach of the Seahawks, so far, he has had at least one game end in a score never before achieved.[9]
This would be the firstSuper Bowl rematch (Super Bowl opponents in the previous year who face each other again in the current year) since 1997.[10] Although the Broncos would rally in the 4th quarter to send the game into overtime, the Seahawks scored a touchdown in overtime to win. They entered theirbye week at 2–1.
The Cowboys defeated the Seahawks 30–23. The Seahawks suffered only their second home loss since Russell Wilson became the starting quarterback at the start of the 2012 season (the other loss was to the Cardinals in Week 16 of the 2013 season). Wilson struggled mightily, going 14/28 for only 126 yards with 1 rushing touchdown, 0 touchdown passes, and a game sealing interception. The defense also gave up several big plays, including a 3rd and 20 first down conversion in the 4th quarter. The conversion eventually led to a touchdown that put the Cowboys up 27–23. The 30 points that were allowed by the Seahawks were the most they allowed in any home game in the Wilson era. With the loss, the Seahawks fell to 3–2 on the season.
With this win, the Seahawks completed a comeback against the Cardinals they started in week 12 from 3 games back in the division with 6 to play. They also swept the Cardinals for the first time since 2010.
With this win, Seattle clinched theNFC West, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs for the second consecutive season.[12]
The Seahawks defeated the Panthers 31–17, becoming the first defending Super Bowl champion to win a playoff game since the2005 Patriots, and advanced to their second consecutive NFC Championship Game.
After trailing 16–0 in the 3rd quarter and 19–7 with just over 2 minutes remaining, Russell Wilson, who threw 4 interceptions in the game, rallied Seattle to a much needed touchdown to bring the score to 19–14 with 2:09 left in regulation. The Seahawks then recovered an onside kick to re-gain possession of the football. After a relatively quick drive, Marshawn Lynch scored on a 24-yard touchdown run, making the score 22–19 after a successful 2-point conversion with 1:25 left. Aaron Rodgers then drove the Packers to the Seattle 30 yard line, where Mason Crosby kicked a 48-yard field goal to tie and send the game into overtime. Seattle then won the coin toss and drove 87 yards in 6 plays, capped by consecutive 35 yard completions, the first on 3rd-and-6 from the Seahawks own 30 yard line to Doug Baldwin, and the second a touchdown pass from Wilson to Jermaine Kearse to win the game 28–22.[13] With the win, the Seahawks became the first defending champion to return to the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots.[14]
The game was a back and forth battle, but best remembered for Russell Wilson throwing a game-sealing interception at the one-yard line on 2nd and 1 instead of going for a Marshawn Lynch rushing touchdown. The decision was highly scrutinized; Pete Carroll stated "You've trained your players to do the right thing, and I trust them to do right."[15]
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