This Week in Seahawks History: Jon Kitna comeback victory…for the Bengals

This will be a weekly article series throughout the season looking back on what happened for the Seattle Seahawks 40, 30, 20, and 10 years ago this week. Pretty good week for the Seahawks with three wins to talk about. The only loss happens to be against former Seattle QB Jon Kitna…the Seahawks just can’t freakin’ win in Cincinnati!

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40 Years Ago

Sunday, October 30, 1983

Game Log

In an odd scheduling quirk, the Seahawks traveled to Los Angeles to take on the Raiders a mere two weeks after beating them 38-36 in Seattle. Following a scoreless 1st Quarter, the Raiders took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard TD run by Marcus Allen. Seattle’s defense tied the game at 7-7 later in the 2nd Quarter when Keith Butler forced a fumble and Shelton Robinson returned it 12 yards for a TD. The Seahawks scored 10 more points before halftime behind a 37-yard FG from Norm Johnson and a 5-yard passing TD from Dave Krieg to Charle Young to extend their lead to 17-7 at the break. Los Angeles cut the lead to 17-14 when Don Hasselbeck – yes, that’s the father of Matt and Tim – caught a 4-yard TD pass from Marc Wilson. That catch by Hasselbeck accounted for 1/3 of his reception total and 1/2 of his TD total for the entire 1983 season. Curt Warner matched Marcus Allen with a 1-yard TD run of his own to extend the lead back to 10 points at 24-14. The Seahawks tacked on another score with a 33-yard receiving TD by David Hughes from Jim Zorn. The Raiders got back on the board when Marc Wilson threw a 50-yard TD to Dokie (that’s one “o”, not two) Williams. Norm Johnson kicked a 44-yard FG to give the 34-21 final score as the Seahawks beat the Raiders for the second time in a three-game span.

Dave Krieg was 13/22 for 156 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Jim Zorn only threw one pass, but made it count for a 33-yard TD for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Curt Warner had 23 carries for 101 yards and 1 TD. David Hughes had 12 carries for 69 yards and added 33 yards and 1 TD receiving. Paul Johns was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 64 yards.

Seattle’s defense was stifling, sacking Marc Wilson 5 times and forcing 5 turnovers. Kenny Easley was part of both of those stat lines with 1.0 sack and 1 INT. Dave Brown, Bruce Scholtz, and Keith Simpson accounted for the other 3 INT. Shelton Robinson had 1.0 sack and returned a fumble for a TD. Jeff Bryant, Jacob Green, and Mark Hicks each had 1.0 sack. Keith Butler had 1 FF in the win.

30 Years Ago

Sunday, October 24, 1993

Game Log

The NFL schedule used to be weird before expansion and realignment. Here, Seattle is hosting the New England Patriots, playing them for the second time in the 1993 season even though they weren’t in the same division. It worked out well for them here because the Patriots were bad. This is a shorter recap because there really wasn’t much action in terms of scoring during this game.

Fans were robbed of a rematch between the first two picks of the 1993 NFL Draft because Drew Bledsoe didn’t play due to injury. Instead, Scott Secules started for the Patriots. The only score in the entire first half came via the leg of John Kasay with a 2nd Quarter FG from 30 yards away. New England’s kicker Scott Sisson must have been mad because he scored the next 9 points of the game for the Patriots with FGs of 36, 25, and 19 yards out to put them ahead 9-3 in the 4th Quarter. Rick Mirer led Seattle on a game-winning drive, finding Brian Blades for a 1-yard TD on 3rd and goal with 25 seconds left in the game. Seattle wins 10-9!

Rick Mirer was 22/43 for 203 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT. John L Williams was the leading rusher with only 29 yards on 7 carries. Brian Blades had 9 catches for 70 yards and the game-winning TD.

Robert Blackmon and Patrick Hunter both had 1 INT in the victory.

20 Years Ago

Sunday, October 26, 2003

Game Log

This game is somewhat special as it’s the first time Seattle faced Jon Kitna as an opposing starting QB. It was Kitna’s third season in Cincinnati and he was in the midst of his eventual 2003 AP Comeback Player of the Year performance. We’ll get back to him later.

On the first drive of the game, Matt Hasselbeck threw a 46-yard TD pass to Itula Mili for the early 7-0 lead. Cincinnati took the ensuing drive right down the field and scored on an 18-yard rushing TD from Rudi Johnson to tie the game at 7-7. Both teams traded punts and Seattle got the ball back near the end of the 1st Quarter. They drove into Bengals territory early in the 2nd Quarter but turned the ball over on a Darrell Jackson fumble. The Bengals hit a big play with a 50-yard run by future Seahawks Legend Peter Warrick. Jon Kitna finished the drive with an 8-yard passing TD to Kelley Washington for the 14-7 lead. Seattle rode Shaun Alexander all the way down the field on their next drive and he was rewarded with a 2-yard TD catch from Matt Hasselbeck to tie the game at 14-14. Cincinnati punted on the next drive, but Hasselbeck was intercepted by Tory James in Seattle territory a few plays later. The Bengals got a 30-yard FG from Shayne Graham with about a minute left in the half. Seattle drove quickly down the field and had the ball at the Bengals 6 yard line with 15 seconds left. They couldn’t find the endzone and settled for a Josh Brown 27-yard FG to tie the game at 17-17 heading into halftime.

The Bengals stalled out on their first drive of the 3rd Quarter and Seattle made them pay with Itula Mili’s 2nd TD catch of the day on a 6-yard pass from Hasselbeck. Cincinnati chewed up 9 minutes on their next drive, but only managed a 25-yard Shayne Graham FG to cut the Seahawks lead to 24-20. Both teams traded punts again and Seattle took over in Bengals territory with almost 11 minutes left in the game. They couldn’t get a first down and lined up for a Josh Brown 49-yard FG…which was blocked. The Bengals wasted little time and Jon Kitna found Chad Ochocinco for a 53-yard TD a few plays later to put Cincinnati ahead 27-24. Seattle had three more chances to tie the game or take the lead, but each drive ended with a turnover. Hasselbeck was intercepted by Brian Simmons and Jeff Burris on their next two drives, and the last gasp play of the game was a lateral which Bobby Engram fumbled as the Seahawks lost to Jon Kitna 27-24.

Matt Hasselbeck was 26/43 for 344 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT. Shaun Alexander had 20 carries for 86 yards and added 52 yards and 1 TD on 7 catches. Darrell Jackson led the Seahawks in receiving with 6 catches for 98 yards. Itula Mili had 5 catches for 80 yards and a career high 2 TDs.

The Seahawks defense gave their offense plenty of chances to win but didn’t have many stats to write about. Brandon Mitchell and Rashad Moore each had 1.0 sack in the loss.

10 Years Ago

Monday, October 28, 2013

Game Log

After a Thursday Night Football game in last week’s article, we’ve got another prime-time game with a Monday Night Football matchup against Jeff Fisher’s St. Louis Rams. These matchups have pretty much been a nightmare for the entirety of the PCJS era. This one isn’t that far off, but all I have to say about this one is that it’s the “Golden Tate waving” game.

St. Louis started with the ball and punted. Seattle got the ball and punted. The Rams did not punt on the next drive as Greg Zuerlein kicked a 33-yard FG for the 3-0 lead. Seattle got the ball and punted. The Seahawks defense stepped up on the next drive when Bruuuuuuce Irvin intercepted Kellen Clemens. Seattle got the ball and punted…noticing a theme here? The Seahawks defense struck again as Richard Sherman picked off Clemens this time and returned it to the Rams 26 yard line. Thankfully, Seattle got the ball and did not punt. Instead, Russell Wilson threw a 2-yard TD pass to Golden Tate for the 7-3 lead with nearly 6 minutes left in the 2nd Quarter. The Rams punted on their next drive. Seattle got the ball and punted. The Rams got the ball and punted. Seattle got the ball and punted. And that was it for the 1st half. Johnny Hekker and Jon Ryan really got a workout in with all those punts.

Seattle got the ball after halftime and guess what? They punted. The Rams got the ball and punted. Seattle got the ball and punted. I’d stop doing this, but I’ve jumped in with both feet now. St. Louis went on a nearly 6-minute scoring drive, finished with a 28-yard Zuerlein FG to cut Seattle’s lead to 7-6. The Seahawks had a big play in mind on the ensuing drive as Russell Wilson found a wide open Golden Tate for an 80-yard TD, complete with the waving which resulted in a 15-yard taunting penalty. The Rams went on another nearly 6-minute FG drive as Zuerlein was good from 27 yards away to pull St. Louis closer at 14-9. Seattle got the ball and punted. The Rams took over at their own 3 with 5:42 remaining in the game. They proceeded to drive all the way down to quite literally the Seahawks doorstep. St. Louis had 3rd and goal from the Seattle 1 yard line with 27 seconds left. Heath Farwell stoned Daryl Richardson to force a final play. Kellen Clemens’ pass fell incomplete as the Seahawks defense preserved a 14-9 win and all of Seattle breathed a collective sigh. Give the Seahawks a blade of grass and they’ll defend it!

Considering 80 of Seattle’s 135 total yards came on one play…that’s not great offensive output! Russell Wilson was 10/18 for 139 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. Marshawn Lynch only had 8 carries for 23 yards. Golden Tate had 5 catches for 93 yards and 2 TDs.

Bruce Irvin had 9 tackles, 1.0 sack, and 1 INT. Richard Sherman had 1 INT. Walter Thurmond and Cliff Avril each had 1.0 sack in the nail-biting victory.