Vote on the Seahawks Play of the Year for 2012

Five Pete Carroll-Russell Wilson-LOB seasons have elapsed. Memorable plays of this era dot the Seattle sky like so many fireworks. They’re all pretty, and their individual awesomeness lies chiefly in the eyes -- and ears -- of the beholder.

This week the daily poll tour guide takes you on a promenade through the last five years of Seattle Seahawks highs. It’s an excuse to post most every giant play from every PC/RW year. The voting, let’s admit it outright, is incidental. All the plays featured below did happen, and will never unhappen. The play that loses the poll each day will still be one to tell your grandchildren about.

As a general rule, we’ll try and keep the number of big plays near 10 per poll. Which means we’ll do separate polls for the 2013 and 2014 postseasons, because they each featured unforgettable moments whose importance frankly dwarfs the regular-season highlights.

Note: I’m not going to include heartbreaking negative plays. We’ve walked through enough of those already. Jeremy Lane’s broken leg interception return? No. Matt Bryant’s game-winner that ended the 2012 run? Nooo. The dubious penalty that wiped out 90 yards of field position a few months ago? Very no, much huh-uh.

The Candidates

1. Malcolm Smith blocks punt, Jeron Johnson scores

Setting: Week 2, first quarter, Seattle leads Dallas 3-0, and special teams matter.

2. TTTT (Tate’s Totally True Touchdown)

Setting: Week 3, final play, Seattle trails Green Bay 12-7, but Golden Tate has a little something up his sleeveless left arm.

3. "Sidney In The Middle"

Setting: Week 6, late fourth quarter, Seattle trails New England 23-17, and Sidney Rice splits the coverage in timely fashion.

4. Rice takes a lickin’, keeps on tickin’

Setting: Week 13, final play, overtime, tie game, Seattle 17, Chicago 17. Scary moment. Did you know: Football contains violence.

5. Sherman picks it for six, and the rout is on

Setting: Week 14, second quarter, before the eventual 58-0 blowout over Arizona became a blowout. He takes it to the house and it’s suddenly 24-0 with very little time elapsed.

Instead of footage, why not a better representation of how the game felt on the Seahawks sideline after Richard Sherman, and others, scored and scored and scored and scored.

6. Russell Wilson scampers for three TDs in a half

Setting: Week 14, second quarter, Seattle leads Buffalo 24-7, until Wilson exploits the Bills defense again with trickery and speed.

7. Earl Thomas’ spectacular score

Setting: Week 14 once more, third quarter now, game well in hand. Like the ball in Thomas’ mitts!

8. Kam informs the NFC West of the new pecking order

Setting: Week 16, first quarter, Seattle leads San Francisco 14-0 and Kam Chancellor leads with his shoulder.

9. Marshawn Lynch saves the drive and the day and maybe the whole game in D.C.

Setting: wild-card playoff, second quarter, Seattle trails Washington 14-3, and a turnover at this juncture could have easily been fatal.

10. Wilson blocks and Lynch beasts for the go-ahead score

Setting: mid-fourth quarter, same game, Seattle trails Washington 14-13, but not for long.

11. The final score

Setting: Here we witness the completion of an ill-fated historic comeback. 34 seconds remain in the divisional playoff; Seattle trails 27-21, needing a touchdown and needing it soon.

Other plays might have made the list (i.e., the eighth sack of Aaron Rodgers in Week 3, the Sherman blocked field goal returned for a touchdown just minutes after Chancellor unloads on Davis, the Zach Miller TD versus Atlanta) but you can only have so many options. As always, let me know if a gross omission occurred.