The Seahawks and Denver Broncos have faced each other 52 times during the regular season and once in the postseason in a series that dates to 1977, when Seattle joined the AFC West after spending its inaugural year (1976) as a member of the NFC West. The series takes its biggest step Sunday when the long-time rivals meet in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The following is a summary of the rivalry to date.
MEETINGS: 52 (regular season)
SERIES: Broncos lead 34-18
TOP SEAHAWK PERFORMANCES — Rush — Pass — Receive
TOP BRONCO PERFORMANCES — Rush — Pass — Receive
LONG SCORING PLAYS — Run — Pass — Field Goals — Returns
| Year | Date | Site | W/L | Score | Skinny |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 10/2 |
Seattle | L | 13-24 | Craig Morton sealed win with a 1-yard run in third quarter |
| 1978 | 10/7 |
Denver | L | 7-28 | Jim Zorn tossed 3 interceptions in defeat |
| 1978 | 10/29 |
Seattle | L | 17-20 | Jim Turner made second-chance FG in OT after Seattle had 12 men on field |
| 1979 | 9/23 |
Denver | L | 34-37 | Seahawks roared to a 34-10 lead, then had a monumental fall |
| 1979 | 12/8 |
Seattle | W | 28-23 | Sherman Smith and Steve Largent each scored 2 TDs |
| 1980 | 11/23 |
Denver | L | 20-36 | Top play for Seattle: 75-yard punt return TD by Will Lewis |
| 1980 | 12/21 |
Seattle | L | 17-25 | Fred Steinfort kicked field goals of 55 and 53 yards |
| 1981 | 9/13 |
Seattle | W | 13-10 | Efren Herrera provided winner with a 22-yard field goal |
| 1981 | 12/13 |
Denver | L | 13-23 | Steinfort kicked 3 more FGs goals in Mile High win |
| 1982 | 11/21 | Denver | W | 17-10 | Hawks won with 34-yard TD pass from Jim Zorn to Steve Largent |
| 1983 | 1/2 |
Seattle | W | 13-11 | Winning play was 19-yard TD pass from Dave Krieg to Roger Carr |
| 1983 | 11/6 |
Seattle | W | 27-19 | Krieg 2 TD passes and ran for a score |
| 1983 | 11/20 |
Denver | L | 27-38 | Rich Karlis 5 FGs: 42, 25, 21, 38 and 40 yards |
| 1984 | 11/25 |
Denver | W | 27-24 | Krieg 80-yard TD pass to Daryl Turner on first play |
| 1984 | 12/15 |
Seattle | L | 14-31 | Seahawks lose despite picking Elway 4 times |
| 1985 | 10/20 |
Denver | L | 10-13 | Karlis 24-yard FG in overtime |
| 1985 | 12/20 |
Seattle | L | 24-27 | Winner was 43-yard field goal |
| 1986 | 10/26 |
Denver | L | 13-20 | Elway threw for 321 yards and TD |
| 1986 | 12/20 |
Seattle | W | 41-16 | Curt Warner dominated:192 yards, 3 TDs |
| 1987 | 9/13 |
Denver | L | 17-40 | Karlis 4 FGs in easy win |
| 1987 | 12/13 |
Seattle | W | 28-21 | Krieg 3 TD passes, 2 to Ray Butler |
| 1988 | 9/4 |
Denver | W | 21-14 | Denver DB Mike Harden had vicious hit on Largent |
| 1988 | 12/11 |
Seattle | W | 42-14 | Largent delighted crowd with retaliatory hit on Harden |
| 1989 | 10/22 |
Seattle | L | 21-24 | Elway had 344 yards, 2 TDs |
| 1989 | 11/26 |
Denver | L | 14-41 | Elway again: 217 passing yards, 4 TD passes |
| 1990 | 9/23 |
Seattle | L | 31-34 | Broncos wo in OT on 25-yard David Treadwell FG |
| 1990 | 12/23 |
Seattle | W | 17-12 | Derrick Fenner scored winner on 7-yard run |
| 1991 | 9/15 |
Denver | L | 10-16 | Elway 61-yard TD pass to Ricky Nattiel |
| 1991 | 11/24 |
Seattle | W | 13-10 | Seahawls won despite 70 passing yards by Krieg |
| 1992 | 11/30 |
Seattle | W | 16-13 | 32-yard OT FG by John Kasay |
| 1992 | 12/20 |
Denver | L | 6-10 | David Treadwell won with 30-yard FG in 4Q |
| 1993 | 10/31 |
Denver | L | 17-28 | Elway TD passes to Vance Johnson, Shannon Sharpe |
| 1993 | 11/28 |
Seattle | L | 9-17 | Rod Bernstine 2-yard TD run |
| 1994 | 10/9 |
Seattle | L | 9-16 | Elway ran for TD, Jason Elam kicked 3 FGs |
| 1994 | 11/13 |
Denver | L | 10-17 | Leonard Russell 11-yard run for game-winning TD in 4Q |
| 1995 | 10/1 |
Seattle | W | 27-10 | Chris Warren ran for 115 yards, scored 3 TDs |
| 1995 | 12/10 |
Denver | W | 31-27 | John Friesz threw winning 20-yard TD to Chris Warren |
| 1996 | 9/8 |
Seattle | L | 20-30 | Elway 2 TD passes, Terrell Davis ran for 111 yards |
| 1996 | 12/1 |
Denver | L | 7-34 | Elway 2 TD passes, ran for a score |
| 1997 | 9/7 |
Seattle | L | 14-34 | Elway 187 yards, 1 TD; Warren Moon, 222 and 1 |
| 1997 | 11/2 |
Denver | L | 27-30 | Elam 27-yard FG in 4th |
| 1998 | 10/11 |
Seattle | L | 16-21 | Terrell Davis ran for 208 yards, Elway 2 TD passes |
| 1998 | 12/27 |
Denver | L | 21-28 | Elway 338 yards, 4 TD passes |
| 1999 | 11/14 |
Seattle | W | 20-17 | Jon Kitna 20-yard TD to Sean Dawkins |
| 1999 | 12/19 |
Denver | L | 30-36 | Glenn Cadrez shocker: 37-yard fumble return TD in OT |
| 2000 | 11/26 |
Seattle | L | 31-38 | Mike Anderson ran for 195 yards and 2 TDs |
| 2000 | 12/10 |
Denver | L | 24-31 | Kitna 3 TD passes in defeat |
| 2001 | 10/14 |
Seattle | W | 34-31 | Shaun Alexander ran 142 yards, 2 TDs |
| 2001 | 12/9 |
Denver | L | 7-20 | 24-yard Matt Hasselbeck-Darrell Jackson TD |
| 2002 | 11/17 |
Seattle | L | 9-31 | Steve Beuerline 2 TD passes |
| 2006 | 12/3 |
Denver | W | 23-20 | Josh Brown won with 50-yard, 4Q FG |
| 2010 | 9/19 |
Denver | L | 14-31 | Hawks parlay 4 turnovers, 7 penalties, head-scratching decisions into big loss |
2 Comments
My fave is the 11/25/84 game. Because the team lost RB Curt Warner for the year on Opening Day Ground Chuck was benched and replaced by Air Knox. A rare moment where Chuck went for the jugular early rather than patiently pounding away at the defense with the running game.
1986 and 1987 were good wins though the Hawks split the series that year. In ’86 the Hawks closed out the season the same way they did in 2012. If they made the playoffs that year they could have won the Super Bowl since they handily beat both the Giants and Broncos that year. ’87 was just pure entertainment just because Bosworth talked smack to Elway all season. Even got Elway to flip him off.
Here I do agree. That 80 yard bomb to open such an important game was about as exciting, and surprising, as football gets.
A close second would be the Pete Gross game in “92. An emotional gutsy win for an otherwise bad team (bad on the whole, the defense was pretty good).