Seahawks Archives: Seattle beats Green Bay in a rare home game snowstorm

Would you believe it’s been 12 years since the Green Bay Packers made their first ever trip to CenturyLink Field? Back then it was known as Qwest Field, and the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks were banged up and struggling heading into a Monday night showdown (November 27th, 2006) against Brett Favre’s team.

Seattle entered Week 12 with a record of 6-4, but were losers in three of their last five. Matt Hasselbeck suffered a knee injury against the Minnesota Vikings, and Seneca Wallace managed a respectable 2-2 record in his absence. Also injured was Shaun Alexander, whose foot injury caused him to miss several weeks and not return until a 20-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, who held him to 37 yards on 17 carries, aka “a tremendous day” for the 2017 Seahawks rushing attack.

The Seahawks had already played in a massive rain storm in their first Monday night game of the month, a 16-0 shutout of the Oakland Raiders. Against Green Bay, fans braved an unusual (and unusually early) snowstorm that blanked the field, making this the first snow home game in Seahawks history.

In theory, the elements favored the Packers despite being the road team, and in the early stages, Matt Hasselbeck was a turnover machine, throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. By halftime, Seattle was down 14-12, and they soon were behind 21-12 after Brett Favre hooked up with Donald Driver for a 48-yard score.

With Seattle staring at another defeat and legitimate concern about not making the playoffs, Hass and Shaun led an absolutely glorious comeback, managing three consecutive touchdown drives, and you know the game had permanently shifted in Seattle’s favor when Jerramy Stevens bothered to hang onto a pass for once. Hasselbeck threw TDs to three different receivers, while Alexander rushed for 84 of his 201 yards on those possessions to turn a nine-point deficit into a 34-24 lead. Favre had a bit of a meltdown, getting picked off late by Marcus Trufant, then the game was sealed by rookie CB Kelly Jennings, who snagged his first (and second-to-last) career interception.

Seattle prevailed thanks to Hasselbeck’s strong second-half, Shaun Alexander turning back the clock without really breaking off any big runs, and the defense holding tightening up when it most needed to. It would end up being the Seahawks’ final regular season home win that year, and frankly I don’t remember what happened in their home playoff game that season...

Unbelievably, someone did upload highlights of this game, and you can watch the video below in glorious 360p.

Oh, what’s this? There’s a full re-broadcast of this game also available to watch. Remember when ESPN let Tony Kornheiser do Monday Night Football analysis?

That 2006 team being a few plays away from the NFC Championship Game was nothing short of miraculous, even as weak as the conference turned out to be that year.

Green Bay is back in Seattle on November 15th as part of Thursday Night Football this season. Maybe history could repeat itself and we end up with another snow day, and also another win. Rashaad Penny for 201 yards on... let’s say 20 carries, sounds like a good day the office to me.