Last week we took a look at the 2003 Seattle Seahawks team. That season ended in disappointment but the Seahawks looked to bounce back in '04. They started out strong, going 3-0, before stalling and losing their next three games. The Hawks finished the year 9-7, recaptured the NFC West Title, and went on to lose to the Rams in the opening game of the Playoffs.
Johnny Peel, who writes Seahawks Blog "Dave Kreig's Strike Beard" and is my go-to-guy for anything Seahawks' history related, ranked the 2004 season #15 on his "Ranking the Squads" list. Here's what he had to say:
"15. 2004
Record: 9-7
Postseason: Won NFC West, lost in Wild Card round
Offensive Rank: 12th out of 32 teams
Defensive Rank: 22nd out of 32
Turnover Ratio Rank: 9th out of 32
Team MVP: Shaun Alexander
High Point: Seahawks 27, Vikings 23
Low Point: Rams 33, Seahawks 27 (OT)
If I could have justified ranking a team that won a division title lower, I would have. Three losses to STL, including the most painful regular-season loss (that literally brought me to tears) and the ONLY home playoff loss 2nd home playoff loss in team history. STL was 6-9 against the rest of the NFL in 2004, but their 3-0 record against Seattle got them a trip to the NFC Divisional Playoff. Bastards.
This was a talented bunch that managed to blot out the few decent memories from that autumn with spectacular collapses, blown leads, and sleepwalking blow-out losses. Even our dramatic division-clinching victory over ATL was marred by Shaun Alexander's infamous "Stab in the back" post-game comments."
When I was chatting with him about the 2004 season yesterday, Johnny added, "For a 9-7 playoff season, 2004 was almost unbearably frustrating. More bad memories than good ones," but noted, "I was at 2004 division-clinching win over Falcons- THAT was fun- Kaz's dramatic stop of Dunn on 2-pointer to seal (the) win."
Without further ado, check out the video below for a great recap of the entire season - a season that would put the Seahawks on the cusp of the greatness that would follow in 2005. Brought to you with commercials of course, by Hulu.