December 2nd continues to be a great day for Seahawks football

What you’re about to read is completely nerdy and a very obvious case of total randomness involving small sample sizes. I don’t really care, I’m just here to point out facts while taking you through Seattle Seahawks history.

Sunday’s 43-16 win against the San Francisco 49ers saw Bobby Wagner have another fantastic game, Russell Wilson throw for four touchdowns, and Jaron Brown and Tyler Lockett break their previous career-highs for receiving TDs. That’s the eighth time in franchise history that they’ve played a game on December 2nd, and they’re 7-1. That one loss coming way back in 1979, which was their first December 2nd game ever.

Just within the Pete Carroll/Russell Wilson era, we certainly know a few more memorable December 2nd games.

December 2nd 2012 - The 6-5 Seahawks traveled to Chicago to take on the 8-3 Bears, and a loss for Seattle would’ve pretty much been game over for their playoff hopes given the strength of the NFC that year. By now, you know the story. Down 14-10, Russell Wilson engineers an 80-yard drive against that vaunted Chicago defense, throwing the go-ahead touchdown to Golden Tate with under a minute to go. Unfortunately, Gus Bradley defenses do not like holding onto leads, so the game went into overtime. This only made the legend of Russ grow even more, as he went out and did the damn thing a second time, sending the Seahawks to a 23-17 overtime road win and the start of something truly special.

December 2nd, 2013 - The 10-1 Seahawks hosted the 9-2 New Orleans Saints in what was billed as the biggest nationally televised game of the season. That high-flying Saints offense and the all-time great Seahawks defense would surely produce a classic, right?

Well yeah, only if you were a Seahawks fan.

Russell Wilson threw for over 300 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers, and the defense limited the Saints to just 188 yards of offense, with Drew Brees throwing for just 147 yards on 37 attempts. The final score? Seahawks 34 Saints 7 and a massive push towards the #1 seed. In the long-term, this also contributed to the Saints blowing the NFC South lead and having to go exclusively on the road for their postseason, which ended in Seattle.

Want to go back a little further? Sure, why not?

December 2nd, 2007 - Before there was Bobby Wagner, there was Lofa Tatupu. I remember those Lofa Tatupu vs. Patrick Willis debates that were had between Seahawks and 49ers fans. In the 2007 season, Seattle had a 10 AM game at the Philadelphia Eagles, knowing a win would put them on the cusp of clinching the NFC West. It was a back-and-forth affair despite the Eagles playing AJ Feeley at QB, but you know who saved the day? Lofa Tatupu and his three interceptions, the last of which preserved a 28-24 win.

As for those other December 2nd wins? They didn’t carry nearly the significance of the victories in 2007, 2012, 2013, and even 2018, but here’s a brief summary:

December 2nd, 2001 - A 13-10 overtime nailbiter against the San Diego Chargers at Husky Stadium. The Seahawks ultimately missed the playoffs at 9-7, unable to get the outside help they needed in Week 17, but Rian Lindell redeemed himself after an end-of-regulation miss forced OT.

December 2nd, 1990 - A 13-10 overtime win at home vs. the Houston Oilers in Chuck Knox’s final season as Seahawks head coach gave them a critical head-to-head tiebreaker, but Seattle failed to qualify at 9-7 due to a three-way tiebreaker involving the Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers, in which the Seahawks had an inferior conference record to Houston.

December 2nd, 1984 - A 38-17 rout of the Detroit Lions at the KingDome. Prior to 2005 and then this current stretch under Carroll and Wilson, 1984 was the gold standard for Seahawks football, and their 12th and final regular season win that year saw Dave Krieg throw for 5 touchdown passes, with Steve Largent catching a pair of them on his way to an 8-catch, 104-yard performance. Unfortunately, 12-4 wasn’t enough to win the AFC West, as the Denver Broncos beat them in Week 17.

So there you have it. Please root for the Seahawks to be on Monday Night Football for December 2nd, 2019, because that’s when you don’t want to mess with this team.