Seahawks Beat Patriots to Earn First NFL Playoff Berth (1983)

Super Bowl XLIX is in the books. The New England Patriots won by one yard and four points on Feb. 1 in Arizona and now lead their all-time series with the Seattle Seahawks, nine wins to eight (or 10-9 if you also count preseason contests).

Over 30 years ago, though, when the series was just beginning and Tom Brady was in grade school, the Seahawks scored their first and perhaps biggest win over the Patriots. The Seahawks not only clinched a winning season, but also nabbed their first invitation to the NFL Playoffs and started a memorable Seattle postseason run that ended up one game short of the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks entered the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team and a member of the NFC West. After going 2-12 in their inaugural season, they shifted to the AFC West in 1977, where they would remain for the next quarter-century.

It was also the first year that Seattle faced all of the AFC teams, including the Patriots, who handed the Seahawks a 31-0 loss in Foxborough, Massachusetts. That marked the first time the Hawks had ever been shut out in their short history.

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New England would come from behind to tack on a 37-31 defeat to the Seahawks three years later, with Jim Zorn being intercepted on a late Seattle drive. The Patriots then shut Seattle out again by a 16-0 count in 1982, this time in Washington, to take a three games-to-none lead in the nascent series.

Facing the regular-season finale at the since-imploded Kingdome over a year later, on Dec. 18, 1983, both teams came into the contest with identical 8-7-0 records and playoff implications in the offing. Win, and the Seahawks would be in the NFL postseason for the first time ever. Lose, and it would be wait till next year, again, for an eighth consecutive campaign.

A week before Christmas, the Seahawks took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter in a 29-yard field goal by Norm Johnson, who is still the all-time leading scorer in team history. In the second stanza, they added to their advantage as future Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent took home a 46-yard pass from Dave Krieg to make it 10-0.

The visitors responded with a 33-yard scoring pass from Tony Eason to Derrick Ramsey before the half, but the extra point was unsuccessful.

It was as close as New England would get that afternoon.

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In the third quarter, Seattle upped its lead to 17-6 on a 16-yard toss from Krieg to future dentist Dan Doornink. Krieg then closed out the scoring himself on a two-yard run in the fourth frame to make it 24-6 and send the Seahawks to the playoffs as a wild card while ending New England’s 1983 campaign.

Krieg ended the day completing 13 of 21 passes for 230 yards while having a hand in all three Seattle touchdowns. Curt Warner rushed 26 times for 114 yards, and Largent finished with seven grabs for 133 yards and a score. Eason went 10-of-22 for 104 yards with a TD and an interception, while Tony Collins ran 12 times for 48 yards for the Patriots.

Defensively, Jacob Green posted three sacks for the Seahawks, and the Seattle defense also forced three turnovers in the win.

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A week later, the Seahawks bashed the visiting Denver Broncos, 31-7, in the AFC Wild Card contest to earn their first playoff victory in their first postseason appearance. Two weeks later, they came from behind at Miami to best Dan Marino and the Dolphins, 27-20, at the now-demolished Orange Bowl and earn a place in the AFC Championship Game at Los Angeles.

The Seahawks’ Cinderella ride ended with a 30-14 loss to the Raiders, who avenged a pair of regular-season losses to Seattle and then went on to win Super Bowl XVIII over the Washington Redskins.

It all started with that win over a New England club that Seattle would see a number of times in the future, starting the following year with a 38-23 Patriots win in Massachusetts. The two clubs would not meet again as they did the season before in Seattle, with so much at stake, for nearly 32 years.

Oct. 9, 1977: PATRIOTS, 31-0	Sept. 16, 1984: PATRIOTS, 38-23	Sept. 24, 1989: Seahawks, 24-3	Oct. 24, 1993: SEAHAWKS, 10-9	2015: Patriots, 28-24 * Super Bowl XLIX (Arizona)
Sept. 21, 1980: PATRIOTS, 37-31	Nov. 17, 1985: PATRIOTS, 20-13	Oct. 7, 1990: Seahawks, 33-20	Oct. 17, 2004: PATRIOTS, 30-20
Dec. 19, 1982: Patriots, 16-0	Sept. 21, 1986: Seahawks, 38-31	Sept. 20, 1992: Seahawks, 10-6	Dec. 7, 2008: Patriots, 24-21	1980 Preseason: SEAHAWKS, 30-23
Dec. 18, 1983: SEAHAWKS, 24-6	Dec. 4, 1988: PATRIOTS, 13-7	Sept. 19, 1993: Sea, 17-14	Oct. 14, 2012: SEAHAWKS, 24-23	1989: Preseason: Patriots, 17-12 (@ St. Louis)

The Seahawks fashioned a five-game winning streak over the Patriots from 1988 to 1993 to close out their AFC rivalry, although the Patriots have won three of the last four meetings since Seattle moved back to the NFC in 2002—including that little game in Glendale, Arizona, last month.

The two teams last met during the regular season in 2012 at CenturyLink Field, as Seattle came back to beat Brady and company, 24-23, in the “You Mad, Bro?” meeting on a TD grab by the now-retired Sidney Rice. By the NFL’s scheduling formula, the two clubs are not due to see each other again between September and January until 2016.

Of course, there’s always Super Bowl 50 in February.