Top 10: Seahawks Beat Raiders!

If you're in your mid-30s like me, you probably

A) have fond memories of experiencing the heyday of Northwestern rock bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, etc.

B) can quote the Schwarzenegger films you grew up watching over and over on HBO to an embarrassing level of detail.

C) still think of that team down the coast as the Los Angeles Raiders, and still hate them with every fiber of your being. 

If it wasn't for John Elway and Super Bowl XL, the Raiders would probably be the indisputably most hated foe in Seahawks history. We've played them 52 times, winning 24 contests. We battled them for division titles and in the playoffs, and it was never anything less than a 60-minute eye-gouging, fish-hooking street fight. Here's the 10 best Seattle wins over those despicable Raider bastards, updated from a similar list I published back in the day on my home blog Dave Krieg's Strike Beard. 

10. 10/22/78 Seahawks 27, Raiders 7

9. 11/26/78 Seahawks 17, Raiders 16

The '78 Raiders were just two years removed from winning XI, and one season removed from a trip to the AFC title game. In October, they made their first-ever visit to the Kingdome and expected an easy win over the 3-4 Hawks. By the time they had fallen behind 27-0, maybe they had some idea that their new neighbors from the north had some skills. Seattle forced four Raider turnovers and stunned the NFL establishment with a 27-7 triumph. A month later Madden's minions were 8-4, they looked to be in good shape for another trip to the playoffs.. particularly with the 6-6 expansion Seahawks coming to town. That game up in Seattle must have been a fluke, right?

Zorn hit Raible and Largent for scores, and the Oakland Coliseum crowd would file out in stunned, slack-jawed silence after Effren Herrera's 46-yard kick won the game and completed a SEASON SWEEP of the mighty Raiders for what Terry Bradshaw called "the team with that bird hat." Oakland would crumble to a 9-7 finish, they'd miss the playoffs for the first time since 1971, and Madden would leave coaching for good. Well done, 1978 Seahawks!

8. 12/14/97 Seahawks 22, Raiders 21

The Seahawks were 7-8 and out of playoff contention, so youngster Jon Kitna got the start at QB in Oakland against the 4-11 Raiders. Seattle fell behind 21-3, but those who turned the game off after the putrid first half missed an electric come-from-behind triumph punctuated by a 49-yard game winner by Todd Peterson. Oh Kitna, so much moxie... such limited talent. I truly can't believe the guy is going to start an NFL game this Sunday for the Cowboys, and I've always been thankful I didn't snap up a Special K jersey when we were 8-2 in '99 (it was close).

7. 11/11/01 Seahawks 34, Raiders 27

It was Sunday Night Football on ESPN and the Hawks were scuffling at 3-4. Seattle got a spectacular boost from Shaun Alexander's all-time greatest performance: 35 carries, 266 yards and 3 TDs. I will never forget SA taking a peek at the Husky Stadium jumbotron to elude that last Oakland defender on that 88-yard TD gallop, either. The Hawks finished the season on a 6-3 run, while the Raiders limped into the playoffs in a 4-5 stupor (and saw their season end with the "tuck rule" game. Yes, they got screwed. But as I've said before... fuck the fucking Raiders.)

6. 12/16/00 Seahawks 27, Raiders 24

The peak of the Husky Stadium era. Despite a 5-9 record at the time, we gave the AFC West Champion Raiders all they could handle on a miserable, windy, needle-rain sort of day. Y'all might remember this: trailing 24-19 in the 4th quarter, Ricky Watters broke off a huge run, but was caught near the goal line and fumbled. However, the Raiders rolled back into the end zone with the ball and it was ruled a safety! The legions of Oakland fans in attendance pissed and moaned like my 4-year-old after losing a Mario Kart Wii race, but the Hawks had the ball down by three... Jon Kitna had his last memorable moment as a Seahawk when he drove Seattle the length of the field for the winning score. It was a rare moment of joy in a lost season, and the sweet lamentations of all those Raider rooting asswedges still echo in my mind grapes. Here's that safety:

5. 12/8/86 Seahawks 37, Raiders 0

Jim Plunkett retired after the 1986 season, and I like to think one reason he stepped away from the game was the Hugo Stiglitz-level assault he absorbed on MNF in Seattle. The boys in blue jackhammered Plunkett and two other L.A. QBs for ELEVEN sacks, and held the Raider offense to a limp 138 yards of total offense. Side note: I was 11 years old, and my parents decided to dramatically reveal our new big-screen TV when I got home from school that day, just in time for the game... Nice day, huh?

4. 11/28/88 Seahawks 35, Raiders 27

The first and only MNF game I've ever been to, and it was a doozy. I got to see Largent catch a TD only a few feet in front of where I was sitting, and I saw Dave Krieg rally the Seahawks for a huge come-from-behind win that was essential to Seattle's postseason hopes. Mudbone tossed five TDs that night, and we needed all of 'em. 

3. 10/26/97 Seahawks 45, Raiders 34

Watch Warren Moon throw for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns! Watch Monica Seles hang out with Paul Allen in the owners box! It was nothing but fireworks that day in the dome, and Oakland never recovered from this loss, going 1-7 afterwards to finish 4-12. My seats were in the top row of the south end zone, and a few rows down were a bunch of howling, strutting refugees from The Black Hole, who brayed like hyenas all day. Finally, with the outcome decided and during a lull in the action, I screamed at them "Sit down and SHUT UP. Your team is 3-5!!!!"  I was lucky they didn't shiv me in the parking lot after the final whistle.

Then there was Darryl Williams' brutal but clean hit on Rickey Dudley... I was there that day, and I've never seen or heard anything like it: A huge collective gasp, followed by a roar of absolute bloodlust... here it is:

2. 12/18/88 Seahawks 43, Raiders 37

L.A. and Seattle came into the Coliseum that day with a combined record of 15-15, but the winner would make the playoffs. On that damp, dreary, Seattle-like day, the Seahawks were playing for their first AFC West title. Both defenses seemed to have brought the wrong shoes for the muddy track... The teams traded scores all day, but the Hawks pulled ahead in the 4th and held on for the biggest regular-season road win in team history, keyed by a spectacular John L. Williams TD on a perfectly executed "middle screen." 

1. 12/22/84 Seahawks 13, Raiders 7

The Seahawks entered the 1984 playoffs on a two-game losing streak, and the national media gave the fading Hawks little chance to knock off the Defending World Champion Raiders. The greatest defense in team history had its finest hour in that Wild Card game, though... Easley, Green, Nash, Brown, Bryant and the rest held L.A. to a single touchdown while sacking Plunkett 6 times and forcing three turnovers. Knox called 51(!) running plays, and Dr. Dan Doornink put up Curt Warner numbers: 29 carries, 126 yards and a key 3rd-down conversion late in the game. In all, the Seahawks rushed for 205 yards as a team and took complete control of the game. This is still probably the most physically dominant win in team history.