While the Mariners are 286.5 games behind since Howard Lincoln (chairman, CEO) and Chuck Armstrong (president) lit their version of the Everett Tire Fire (see below) July 1, 1992, the Seahawks are making history of a different sort beyond the unprecedented 4-0 start. You know that they rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit to beat the Houston Texans Sunday. But did you know that in doing so they snapped an 0-for-105 streak?
The Seahawks entered the fourth quarter trailing the Texans 20-6 after Steven Hauschka kicked a 39-yard field goal, his second of the game. Russell Wilson, who has yet to meet a moment too big for him, then orchestrated a 14-play, 98-yard drive that culminated in Marshawn Lynch’s three-yard touchdown, cutting the Texans’ lead to 20-13.
Then, with 2:40 to play, cornerback Richard Sherman made an absurdly clutch play, intercepting a Matt Schaub mistake and returning it 58 yards (sans a shoe) for a touchdown that, with Hauschka’s extra point, tied the game at 20. Hauschka, of course, won it in overtime with a 45-yarder.
In their 37 seasons and three games before Sunday, the Seahawks had overcome a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to win three times, most recently in 2003. But they had never overcome a deficit as large as 14 in 105 opportunities, proving there is a first time for everything. These are the largest fourth-quarter deficits overcome by the Seahawks:
| Year | Date | Opponent | Deficit | Fourth Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Sept. 29 | Texans | 14 | Trailed 20-6, won with FG in OT |
| 1999 | Sept. 19 | Bears | 13 | Trailed 13-0, won on Glen Foley TD pass |
| 2002 | Dec. 29 | Chargers | 13 | Trailed 20-7, won on Lindell FG in OT |
| 2003 | Oct. 19 | Bears | 13 | Trailed 17-6, won on Shaun Alexander TD |
Two other numbers made the Seahawks’ comeback even more remarkable: The Texans hit or sacked Wilson on 16 of 34 dropbacks (47 percent of his total dropbacks). Wilson had been pressured on 27 of 73 dropbacks (37 percent) in his first three games.
Sherman’s score was the latest game-tying touchdown on an interception return in the NFL’s post-1960 expansion era, according to Elias, which included INT-TD’s on which the subsequent PAT tied the score.
On Sept. 24, 1984, four million used tires — stored for recycling in Everett — began burning. Although fire officials expected to extinguish the blaze by day’s end, it became too difficult to contain, and “Mount Firestone” made national news as it continued to burn, smolder, and pollute until May 1985.
5 Comments
Despite his lackluster stats Wilson is the reason the Hawks won. He found ways to advance the ball and move the chains when it counted the way John Elway used to. There’s a swagger to this team that tells anyone who sees them take the field that they’re in it to win it. Period.
Go Hawks!
… at least the messy Everett Tire Fire was finally extinguished!
The Mariners seem destined to forever be one of those wind-up toy cars that never goes forward, it just goes in circles and bangs into walls.
Perfect description.
Glen Foley? Who?
Played two games with one start in 1999