The Seattle Seahawks boasted a magnificent 12-4 record in the regular season, which earned them the top seed in the NFC Playoffs. To get to that point, the Seahawks had some awesome games along the way. Here are the highlights from five of Seattle’s best games of the 2014 regular season.
1. Aaron Rodgers and Company No Match for Seattle’s Legion of Boom – Week 1 (36-16)
What better way for the defending champs to kickoff the regular season than to make an absolute mockery of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 1? Green Bay was no match for the Legion of Boom in an embarrassing 20-point loss to the Seahawks. Marshawn Lynch shined in this one, tallying 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Aaron Rodgers, who looked frightened to death of cornerback Richard Sherman and avoided him like the plague, was cleverly outplayed by Russell Wilson.
Beating one of NFL’s best quarterbacks and winning the first official game of the 2014 NFL season was the perfect reminder of why the Seahawks were crowned last season’s Super Bowl champs.
2. Peyton Manning Loses to the Seahawks, Again – Week 3 (26-20)Â
This Week 3 game wasn’t a complete landslide loss for Denver like it was in the Super Bowl nine months before. Definitely more competitive this time around, this matchup was a nail-biter that actually went into overtime.
Under the noise of the 12th man, Denver trailed 14 points in the third quarter. Pulling it together and rallying against the Seahawks, Manning and company managed 17 points to push the game to overtime. The Seahawks received the first possession of overtime. And in less than six minutes of play, Pete Carroll’s squad managed the win with a six-yard run from Lynch.
3. A Winless Oakland Raiders Give the Seahawks a Run for Their Money – Week 9 (30-24)
In what many would have predicted to be a complete landslide against the Raiders, who hadn’t won a game in a year, Seattle ended up winning by just six points.
Building a comfortable 24-3 lead approaching halftime, perhaps Seattle got a bit lax at this point because it allowed 14 unanswered points, including a touchdown by Raiders’ tight end Mychal Rivera.
While Seattle didn’t score a touchdown in the second half of this game, kicker Steven Hauschka scored a pair of field goals for the difference. It wasn’t the prettiest of outings for Russell Wilson, who only passed for 179 yards without a score, but it was an overall team victory in a game that shouldn’t have been this close.
4. Seahawks Pick up the Slop and Turn the Tables on Eli Manning and Company – Week 10 (38-17)
The Seahawks’ Week 10 matchup against the New York Giants had them starting off with three turnovers in the first half. After committing two interceptions, Wilson decided to turn to his feet, which were much more reliable in the rainy Seattle weather.
Lynch, once again in stellar “beastmode” form, rushed for 140 yards and scored a career-high four touchdowns. Wilson added one rushing touchdown of his own with 5:19 to go in the fourth quarter.
5. San Francisco Bends Over at Home to Take its Thanksgiving Spanking From Seattle – Week 13 (19-3)
This was a game that Seattle was salivating over, and the 49ers were obviously dreading. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the home team here. It was as if Seattle’s cornerback Richard Sherman was wearing a 49ers’ jersey, because Colin Kaepernick successfully completed two interceptions right into his hands.
Seattle opened up a 13-0 haltime lead, before the 49ers opened the scoring in the third quarter with the field goal—their only points of the evening. While Seattle beat San Francisco 19-3, the 49ers’ defense was pretty efficient to containing the Seahawks to just one touchdown. Outside of that, it was complete domination from the defending champs.