The Streak: The wins and barely-losses of the Seattle Seahawks

It was November 6, 2011. The Seattle Seahawks were in Arlington, Texas to play the Dallas Cowboys in a battle of a 2-5 team versus a 3-4 team. The home team was favored by 11 points.

The Seahawks goal line defense, one of the earliest indicators in Seattle the Pete Carroll might actually know what he's doing, held the Cowboys to two 20-yard field goals in the first half and the game was tied 6-6 at the break. Then the game broke.

Tony Romo hit Jason Witten for a 33-yard touchdown on Dallas's first drive of the second half, then Anthony Spencer blocked Steven Hauschka's field goal attempt on the following drive. Back in Cowboys territory on Seattle's next drive, Tarvaris Jackson was intercepted on the 41 and Romo threw another touchdown about two minutes later. Jackson then threw a pick on the very next attempt after his last pick, and Dallas got three more from Bailey to make it 23-6.

To his credit, Jackson came out on the next drive and helped the Seahawks get their first touchdown of the game to cut the lead to 10, but pretty much any effort at that point would be futile. The game ended on a Jackson interception that was upheld on replay and it ended by a score of Dallas 23, Seattle 13. At least they won against the spread?

And that is the last time that the Seahawks have lost by double digits, including playoff games.

For those literally living in the flat circle who have no concept of time because it is an illusion, let me say that 2011 was a long time ago relative to our short lives. And the only thing shorter than life, is the life of an NFL career. Of Seattle's 22 unofficial starters that day, 15 are no longer with the team. That includes these blast-from-the-past players:

Ben Obomanu, Robert Gallery, John Moffitt, Alan Branch, LeRoy Hill, and David Hawthorne plus Leon Washington on special teams.

These were some of the guys playing for Carroll the last time his team lost by more than nine points. From then to April Fool's Day, 2015, it's a duration of 1,242 days. If you knocked your wife up the last time the Seahawks lost by 10 or more points, your kid would have been born before Russell Wilson made his NFL debut and today he or she would already be talking and starting to form simple sentences.

And would be taller than Russell Wilson! Yuck yuck yuck. April Foolsian!

Other facts about the 2011 season:

Made a start in 2011: Charlie Batch, Kyle Boller, Matt Leinart, Kerry Collins, John Beck, Vince Young, Tyler Palko, Tim Tebow, Rex Grossman.

2011's leading rusher: Maurice Jones-Drew

Most catches: Wes Welker

Most sacks: Jared Allen, 22

Actually playing in the NFL: Brian Dawkins

Seattle has played 64 games since that 23-13 loss to Dallas, and their biggest losing scoring margin is nine points to the San Diego Chargers last season. Overall, they are 47-17 in that time and the average final score is 25.71 to 15.79. Yes, in the 64 straight games that the Seahawks have gone without losing by more than nine, they are winning by more than nine on average. Is 64 straight games without losing by double digits a record?

You could say that.

You could say that Zooey Deschanel is "a little quirky." You could say that crack is "stimulating." You could say that Seattle's streak is a "record." Okay, it really is just a record. But it's a smashing record.

The second-longest streak in NFL history is 45 games, a tie between the '10-'13 Patriots and the '09-'12 Packers, which is 19 fewer games than the Seahawks' streak. So, Seattle has won more games over their streak than the second-longest streak is a streak. Not only that, but their streak is still active.

The second-longest active streak after the Seahawks streak of 64?

15. By New England. Who sadly enough, kept that streak alive by making a comeback from down 10 points in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl against Seattle.

Only 10 teams in the NFL have an active streak longer than three games. The Seahawks' streak is longer than the next seven longest active streaks combined. In the time that Seattle has lost zero games by 10+ points, the Jacksonville Jaguars have lost 29 games by 10+ points, and the Seahawks have played eight more games (playoffs) than the Jaguars have over that period of time. In that same period of time, the Patriots have lost four games by double digits, and the Patriots have the fewest double-digit losses since 2012, besides Seattle's zero, of course.

Now, some people argue that this is an "arbitrary" number and that a loss is still a loss so who cares by how many points it was, but there's notable evidence to the contrary.

During the Packers 45-game streak, they won a Super Bowl and have now gone to the playoffs in six straight seasons, tied for their longest such streak in franchise history.

During the Patriots 45-game streak, they went to a Super Bowl and have now gone to four straight AFC Championship games. Shortly after their streak ended, they won their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history.

The Steelers had a 34-game streak from 1974-76 and won two Super Bowls, and then they had a 25-game streak in 78-79, when they won another two Super Bowls. They started a 26-game streak in 2008, when they won the Super Bowl.

The 49ers had a 30-game streak from 1990-92, and another 30-game streak from 94-95. Over that period of time they went to four NFC Championships and won a Super Bowl. But I also wanted to point out that the Seahawks current streak is longer than both of San Francisco's early-90s streaks combined.

Teams that don't lose big, simply don't lose ... often.

The 1972-73 Miami Dolphins once went 29 straight games without losing by double-digits, and in those games they were 28-1. They won the Super Bowl both years.

The Packers were blown out three times last season. The Colts were blown out four times. The Broncos lost three games by double-digits. The only team that wasn't blown out was the Seattle Seahawks.

And the same thing is true of 2013.

And the same thing is true of 2012.

Also, Wilson has played in 56 career games and has never missed a game, so Wilson alone has been a part of a 56-game streak, which is still 11 games longer than any team streak in NFL history.

Of the 17 losses over the last 64 games, only the Chargers game was by more than seven points. Only 11 were by more than a field goal. And 30 of their 47 wins were by double-digits. (2nd-most double-digit wins over that time.)

In conclusion:

The last time the Seattle Seahawks lost by double-digits was November 6, 2011.

"Gangnam Style" was released on July 15, 2012.