Voting Thread: Top Ten Plays in Seahawks History

Inspired by Uncle Si’s thread, I figured we should go ahead and hold a vote on the 10 Ten Plays in Seahawks History. Below is a list of the plays nominated in that thread, plus a couple of others I threw in. They are listed in chronological order. Your job is to pick your ten plays and rank them 1 to 10. I will tally the votes, with plays earning points inverse to how you rank them. So your #1 play will earn 10 points while your #10 play will earn 1 point. If anyone wants a more detailed explanation of any of the plays, feel free to ask. I figure we'll let this run for at least two weeks.

Zorn to Herrera fake field goal, Monday Night Football @ Atlanta
Warner’s first carry @ Kansas City
Krieg to Largent @ Miami, AFC Divisional Playoffs
Warner’s TD to beat Miami, AFC Divisional Playoffs
Krieg to Turner for 80 yard TD on opening play @ Denver
Largent’s Revenge vs. Denver & Harden
Largent’s 100th TD @ Cincinnati
Krieg to Skansi @ KC, evading Derrick Thomas’s 8th sack on the final play
Galloway’s 86 yard TD run @ Jacksonville
Sack & 83 yard fumble return for TD @ Denver to spark, at the time, the largest comeback in team history
Blocked field goal for TD vs. Houston on final play
Alexander’s 5th TD in the first half vs. Minnesota
Babineaux’s interception vs. Dallas to set up dramatic comeback win
Hass to Wallace vs. Carolina, NFC Championship
Romo botches the snap, NFC Wildcard Playoffs
Beastquake, NFC Wildcard Playoffs
Fail Mary, Monday Night Football vs. Green Bay
Wilson to Rice vs. Patriots
Lynch’s TD run vs. Philly
Sherman’s pick six @ Houston
Lynch’s TD vs. San Fran, NFC Championship
Wilson to Kearse, 4th & 7, vs. San Fran, NFC Championship
The Tip, vs. San Fran, NFC Championship
Smith’s pick six vs. Denver, Super Bowl
Harvin’s return TD vs. Denver, Super Bowl
Kearse’s TD vs. Denver, Super Bowl

Here's my Top Ten.

#10: Zorn to Herrera, Monday Night Football. It was the nation's introduction to the Seattle Seahawks in Primetime, their first Monday Night Football game. Seattle pulled out all the stops, including this fake field goal on 4th down that picked up 20 yards and a first down.

#9: Joey Galloway's 86-yard TD run in Jacksonville in '95. It was an incredible display of the rookie's speed and athleticism that showed why Seattle made him their 1st round pick in 1995.

#8: Blocked field goal for TD vs. Oilers on the final play. Houston had driven into Seattle territory and Al Del Greco was lining up for a game winning field goal. Only the kick was blocked and returned for the game winning TD in one of the most exciting finishes in Seahawks history.

#7: Sack & fumble return TD @ Denver. Denver was leading 20-3 in the 3rd quarter and driving in the redzone for another TD when Robert Blackmon came on a safety blitz, knocking the ball free from Elway. IT was scooped up by Antonio Edwards and returned 83 yards for a touchdown, sparking a come-from-behind, 31-27 win, the largest comeback in Seattle history at the time.

#6: Largent's 100th TD. Everyone in the Pacific Northwest knew Steve Largent was the greatest receiver in the game, but with this play the rest of the country knew it. And Steve broke the NFL record for career touchdown receptions in true Largent fashion, stretching full out to catch the ball while keeping his toes inbounds in the back of the endzone.

#5: Krieg to Skansi. Dave Krieg had been harrassed and battered all day by KC's defense and Derrick Thomas in particular. Thomas had an NFL-record 7 sacks in the game, but it was the one he missed that ended up making the difference. Krieg showed his underapreciated athleticism by evading Derrick, just by a hair, on the final play and firing a pass to Paul Skansi in the endzone for a dramatic 17-16 win in Arrowhead, Seattle's first win in Kansas City in a decade.

#4: Largent's Revenge. Everyone know's the story on this one (or should).

#3: Harvin's kickoff return in the Super Bowl. This was the blow that killed any comeback hopes Denver might've had.

#2: Beastquake. Pete Carroll's Seahawks make their first statement on the national stage.

#1: The Tip. A great individual effort against our most hated rival that put Seattle in the Super Bowl. Not much else needs to be said.

Love it. Here's mine - keeping in mind I have been a fan since Day 1:

1- Beastquake, NFC Wildcard Playoffs - the ultimate play
2- Largent’s Revenge vs. Denver & Harden - favorite play from my favorite player
3- The Tip, vs. San Fran, NFC Championship - sends the Hawks to the Super Bowl, against the hated ones
4- Romo botches the snap, NFC Wildcard Playoffs - such a memorable play and against the Cowboys makes it that much better
5- Smith’s pick six vs. Denver, Super Bowl - favorite play from the Super Bowl - D line collapses on Manning and he throws the wounded duck
6- Wilson to Rice vs. Patriots - in my mind marked the arrival of Russ as a big time player
7- Krieg to Largent @ Miami, AFC Divisional Playoffs - marked the arrival of the Hawks on the NFL playoff scene
8- Fail Mary, Monday Night Football vs. Green Bay - not a big fan of the controversy, but certainly a memorable play
9- Krieg to Skansi @ KC, evading Derrick Thomas’s 8th sack on the final play - this play sums up the Dave Krieg Hawks in so many ways
10-Zorn to Herrera fake field goal, Monday Night Football @ Atlanta - marked the arrival on the Hawks on the NFL scene

This was hard. In the end I just went with my gut, although I went back and forth on this whole list trying to narrow it down. I tried to pick the ones that were most important for various reasons. #1 and #2 may as well be a tie for me, and any of the nominated plays deserve to be on here.

10: Babineaux’s interception vs. Dallas to set up dramatic comeback win — We lost Ken Hamlin the week before. This game showed we could still win games against NFC powerhouses and the momentum launched us all the way to the Super Bowl.

9: Zorn to Herrera fake field goal, Monday Night Football @ Atlanta: Put the Hawks on the map in the National Spotlight.

8: Blocked field goal for TD vs. Houston on final play: Games don't end much more thrilling than this.

7: Wilson to Rice vs. Patriots: The play where Russell Wilson arrived as an NFL Quarterback

6: Krieg to Skansi @ KC, evading Derrick Thomas’s 8th sack on the final play: Can't believe the Seahawks won this game.

5: Harvin’s return TD vs. Denver, Super Bowl: The play that won us the Super Bowl. Killed any hope Denver had of a 2nd half comeback. Any locker room pep talk was destroyed by this play.

4: Romo botches the snap, NFC Wildcard Playoffs: I thought the game was over. The effort by Big Play Babs on this play is just unreal.

3: Largent’s Revenge vs. Denver & Harden: Honorary Legion of Boom member?

2: The Tip, vs. San Fran, NFC Championship: Amazing effort, against our most hated rivals, to send the team to the Super Bowl. Perfection.

1: Beastquake, NFC Wildcard Playoffs: I had to put this #1 just because this moment was so incredible for me. I have never seen a play like this before or since. Lynch refusing to be denied. The whole team blocking for Lynch to usher in the Pete Carroll era. This play defined our identity that would pave the way for the Super Bowl champions.

This was hard. I basically voted based on how each play made me feel as it happened. And since I didn't really start watching till about 87 anything before that I wasn't witness to, but I know how important that game at Miami in '83 was.

1 - Beastquake
2 - The Tip
3 - Krieg to Skansi
4 - Romo Botch
5 - Blocked FG vs Houston
6 - Wilson to Kearse, 4th & 7
7 - Largent's 100th
8 - Wilson to Rice
9 - Krieg to Largent @ Miami
10 - Hass to Wallace

10. Sherman's pick six vs. Houston. Maybe I have some recency bias here, but this made the cut for me because we didn't look like we were going to win the game until this play happened, and we wouldn't have had HFA with one more loss.

9. Hasselbeck to Wallace, 2005 NFCCG. There are several things that make this a very special moment. The game itself obviously was the biggest in franchise history at the time, and this was the first big play of the game, before we got out to a big lead. Ken Lucas, who wasn't very well liked around here anymore after jumping ship to sign with the Panthers, was beaten on a route by a backup QB. Hasselbeck talked about how he helped Lucas identify when a WR is going to run a slant route during the years he was here, so they knew they could use his knowledge against him, and Wallace sold a fake slant perfectly and ran a sideline route and made a great catch for 28 yards.

8. Babineaux intercepted Bledsoe. It was tied at 10 with under 30 seconds to go in the game and the Cowboys were driving, and it looked like they were easily going to get into field goal range. But Babineaux's interception put us in field goal range instead and possibly changed the fate of the 2005 team. It made us 5-2, a solid three games over .500 instead of a very average 4-3, which felt like a huge deal to me, and it gave the Hawks a lot of momentum.

7. Krieg to Skansi to beat Derrick Thomas and the Chiefs. I wasn't really a fan yet in 1990, more of a casual observer when my dad watched the games, so I don't remember this play and can't say much about it. But from what I've read about it, I feel comfortable putting it this high.

6. Harvin's kickoff return TD in Super Bowl XLVIII. When you win a Super Bowl, you're going to have several great moments on the way, and this is one of them. The game felt mostly in-hand already, but this put the nail in the Broncos coffin.

5. Wilson to Rice to beat Patriots. Nobody gave us much of a chance to beat the Patriots, not even our own local writers. I don't remember who it was, but a local writer was lamenting the fact that we had to play Green Bay and New England at home instead of on the road, because he thought it meant we couldn't go 8-0 at home. This was the 2nd of two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to overcome at 23-10 deficit, and it signaled the arrival of Russell Wilson in the NFL.

4. Romo's botched hold. I rank this play this high because it was at the end of a playoff game, and we had .1% chance of winning before he botched the hold. Defeat was a near certainty. Even after he botched it, it took a great individual effort from Big Play Babs to tackle Romo before he could get a first down, which was only one or two yards away.

3. Kearse's TD on 4th down, NFCCG. I believe the 2013 NFCCG was probably the most important game in team history, and this was the second biggest play. It may not seem as impressive to some people because it was a free play, but that was by design. Wilson caused it to be a free play with the double count. Without this play, The Tip never happens because the 49ers can just kick a field goal and win the game.

2. The Tip. This was really a culmination of everything Pete and John have worked for with their philosophies, coaching style, and draft strategies. Without having extra tall corners this play never happens. If Sherman is only 6'-1", he might get a fingertip on it, but it isn't deflected to where Smith can catch it, and the 49ers get another chance on the next play. It was a great play made by one of the greatest players in team history. And it sent us to the Super Bowl.

1. Beast Quake. It may not have been the most important play in team history (The Tip was), but it should go down as one of the top 5 greatest plays in NFL history, and therefore deserves to top this list. The individual play itself may have been enough to make it top two for us, but when you consider the situation and the resulting legend, I think that makes it #1.

Man, this was hard! So many great plays that I had to leave off. I weighed mine more heavily in favor of the plays in playoff games, because the games mean that much more.

1. Beastquake, NFC Wildcard Playoffs - The single best play in the history of the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. In the national discussion for best play ever in the NFL. More than just a play, it was a defining moment, an early sign of what this team would turn into under Coach Pete Carroll, and one that made the BeastMode the face of the franchise.

2. The Tip, vs. San Fran, NFC Championship - The best defensive play in the history of the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks, and one that singlehandedly took us to the Super Bowl. Almost as important, it gave our defense the legitimacy it needed as a big-time, all-NFL defense.

3. Wilson to Kearse, 4th & 7, vs. San Fran, NFC Championship - This play, on the biggest stage then to date, put Wilson on the map as a great quarterback. He's had plenty of other good throws, but not on this high a stage, and none more important.

4. Warner’s TD to beat Miami, AFC Divisional Playoffs - This play, to beat Miami, was one of the single most important plays of the original-era Seahawks. This play put them in the national spotlight, and legitimized them as a team to be reckoned with.

5. Smith’s pick six vs. Denver, Super Bowl - This play was the back-breaker, the play that made Super Bowl XVLIII a total route. It came at a time when Manning had just started to put a drive together and appeared to be in position to score. Instead of the game being 15-7 and within reach, it was suddenly 22-0 and the route was on. Integral to our Super Bowl championship.

6. Hass to Wallace vs. Carolina, NFC Championship - This play set the tone, crushed the national narrative that the Panthers would stomp the Seahawks, and set us up to roll through them and into the Super Bowl. Had XL* not have been the travesty it was, this play would definitely be higher rated on account of its value to the team's history.

7. Lynch’s TD vs. San Fran, NFC Championship - This was when the tide turned and the momentum switched from the 49ers to the Seahawks. Without it, the Seahawks do not come back to win that game and go on to be Super Bowl champions for the first time in history.

8. Kearse’s TD vs. Denver, Super Bowl - This was an incredible, eye-popping play, by a "too-short" gamble of a quarterback and a no-name pedestrian receiver, in the national spotlight, in the biggest game in history to date. This was a play that showed our team was not just a historic defense paving the way for a mediocre offense to win a championship.

9. Largent’s Revenge vs. Denver & Harden - Man, what an amazing play! One of my all-time favorites. It's significant not only for the play itself, but for the story behind it, and the fact it was against a hated division rival.

10. Fail Mary, Monday Night Football vs. Green Bay - Another amazing play, sadly marred by the narrative of the replacement referees. Many people couldn't stomach the fact that Seattle had beaten a marquee team with a close play, but the play itself put the Seahawks on the map once again, and was vital in setting the tone for the way our current team plays.

I feel like the Lynch run against Philly in 2011 should have some consideration. I know it wasn't a defining moment, but the disappearing/reappearing act in that run was awesome.

Cartire":1vens9w9 said:

I feel like the Lynch run against Philly in 2011 should have some consideration. I know it wasn't a defining moment, but the disappearing/reappearing act in that run was awesome.

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It's in the running, put it in your top 10.

Another one I thought of that might could be worthy of consideration is the Browner pick 6 vs NYG back in '11. Not sure if that one was brought up or not.

Cartire":2muqtkiq said:

I feel like the Lynch run against Philly in 2011 should have some consideration. I know it wasn't a defining moment, but the disappearing/reappearing act in that run was awesome.

Click to expand...

It's one of the nominees, so vote and put it in your Top Ten.

Zebulon Dak":1i1exomb said:

Cartire":1i1exomb said:

I feel like the Lynch run against Philly in 2011 should have some consideration. I know it wasn't a defining moment, but the disappearing/reappearing act in that run was awesome.

Click to expand...

It's in the running, put it in your top 10.

Another one I thought of that might could be worthy of consideration is the Browner pick 6 vs NYG back in '11. Not sure if that one was brought up or not.

Click to expand...

It wasn't mentioned in Si's thread, so I didn't list it as a nominee.

SeatownJay":cxywwjxo said:

Zebulon Dak":cxywwjxo said:

Cartire":cxywwjxo said:

I feel like the Lynch run against Philly in 2011 should have some consideration. I know it wasn't a defining moment, but the disappearing/reappearing act in that run was awesome.

Click to expand...

It's in the running, put it in your top 10.

Another one I thought of that might could be worthy of consideration is the Browner pick 6 vs NYG back in '11. Not sure if that one was brought up or not.

Click to expand...

It wasn't mentioned in Si's thread, so I didn't list it as a nominee.

Click to expand...

It's probably not top 10 worthy anyway. Honorable mention maybe? Shoot, we could probably come up with a full top 50 if we wanted to. That's a big job though. Thanks for doing this at all in the first place!

Should we factor in the "timeliness" of plays? I.E., rank them more highly if they happened at critical moments, or strictly on their own merits regardless of when they happened?

RolandDeschain":1pqwdupd said:

Should we factor in the "timeliness" of plays? I.E., rank them more highly if they happened at critical moments, or strictly on their own merits regardless of when they happened?

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I did. I mean, Sherman's tip in the NFCCG was no better a play than his shoe-less interception against Houston earlier in the year, if viewed strictly as a single play. He's tipped passes into other people's hands before too, so all things being equal, the play where he tipped a pass to Earl in the end zone would be just as good. But "The Tip" was a whole lot more significant, on a much bigger stage, than any of those other plays.

From these nominees:

1. The Tip vs. SF (2014): Pretty much our version of "The Catch," especially if Seattle wins another Super Bowl or two. SF fans must know how DAL fans feel every time that clip of "The Catch" is played now.

2. BeastQuake vs. NO (2011): One of the greatest playoff runs of all time in the biggest playoff upset of all-time. Here for how important it was to victory.

3. Jermaine Kearse 4th and 7 TD Catch vs. SF (2014): The other part of the game that will live on since it led Seattle to their first SB in an instant classic of a game.

4. Malcolm Smith INT TD vs. DEN (2014): Though Harvin's KR TD put the icing on the cake, really it was over after this.

5. Curt Warner go-ahead TD vs. MIA (1983): What a huge play that put the icing on Seattle's second playoff win as a franchise and sent them to their first conference championship game.

6. Steve Largent doing an impression of Kam Chancellor doing an impression of Steve Largent: The Broncos getting owned by Seattle is always fun. Do you think Golden Tate watched this before putting Sean Lee out of his misery a couple years ago? Best part is that Largent recovered the ball. This is why I wore Steve Largent pajamas to bed as a five-year-old.

Now I just watched this play over like five times on YouTube. It's glorious.

7. Largent's 100th TD: One of the what, five greatest Seahawks of all time? Three greatest? This deserves to be on the list.

8. Wilson to Rice TD to win the game against NE: Important because it put the Seahawks on the map in a lot of ways, as did the whole last two offensive drives against CHI two weeks later.

9. Lofa Tatupu INT TD vs. PHI: Sort of like Wilson to Rice, it let the nation know that this Seahawk team was for real.

10. John Kasay kicks winning FG versus DEN in OT to win: OK, this was 1992, I believe. The Seahawks were dreadful, like 2-14, but they found a way to beat the stupid Broncos. I remember it being on Monday Night, too. I'm sorry, I had to fit this in here because as a ten-year-old, I wanted the Seahawks to be good, and that whole season sucked...except for this game. This game was GLORIOUS.

RolandDeschain":m4j0venp said:

Should we factor in the "timeliness" of plays? I.E., rank them more highly if they happened at critical moments, or strictly on their own merits regardless of when they happened?

Click to expand...

I purposely didn't specify what "criteria" you use. Timeliness, excitement, importance to the franchise, athletic ability, you decide for yourself.

10. John Kasay kicks winning FG versus DEN in OT to win: OK, this was 1992, I believe. The Seahawks were dreadful, like 2-14, but they found a way to beat the stupid Broncos. I remember it being on Monday Night, too. I'm sorry, I had to fit this in here because as a ten-year-old, I wanted the Seahawks to be good, and that whole season sucked...except for this game. This game was GLORIOUS.

It was not the play it was what being a 12 is when things were not so good.

A perspective; it was a dreadful season. Pete Gross was inducted into ring of honor, three days before he died of cancer, he had to be helped to midfield by Steve largent, Jim Zorn, and Dave Brown to say his farewells.

Stan Gelbaugh drove the Seahawks the length of the field to score only Seahawk touchdown in last two minutes.

Game was dry and boring except Cortez Kennedy was one man show on defense. Denver did not dress Elway to allow recovery from injury. I was on the road in central time zone and stayed up way past midnight to see the end of game.

An emotional Tom Flores gave game ball to Pete Gross, times like that separate the long time 12's from the bandwagon.

It makes the present all the sweeter.

Thank you for sharing and hope to hear others perspective.

Beastquake
Jay Feely x3 vs Giants
Romo-botch

After that there are about 15-20 plays that are pretty tough to rank, but I think those three stand out as the most remarkable.

Regarding "the tip", obviously it sent us to a SB after a NFCCG for the ages and led to the most awesome post game player interview of all time, but it's pretty far down the list for me. I was 95% sure Seattle was going to win before that play anyway. Kaepernick for his career has been a major choke artist vs. Seattle in the red zone. Had they actually scored a TD on that drive, if you really think about it such an event would have been stunning. I'm about as afraid of Kaepernick in that situation as I'd be of Sam Bradford. The tip just made the game end 30 seconds sooner.

Before I saw this topic, I just posted in the Uncle Si thread that perhaps we could eventually categorize into "hits", "TD passes", "TD receptions", "Runs", "TD runs", "Interceptions", "Meaningful plays", "Important Plays", etc.

Certainly carry on everyone with answering within the OP parameters. Just an idea here, though: perhaps someone has the time and would enjoy figuring out the best way to go about a way to vote on and come up with .net's categorized "Top 10's" during this continuing championship off-season. Maybe this thread can serve to get good lists going for various categories of Top 10 plays.

Can't just have something like those ESPN auto-updating polls or some Raider fan is going to get enough people behind voting for the Bo Jackson run. There's need for quality control. But, other team fans certainly could add legit possible entries into the pool of plays for consideration and perhaps eventual "Top 10" categories voting. Plays that Seahawks fans might want to forget might be "meaningful" in ways we're not after for these purposes. It wouldn't be surprising to see some opposing team fans being wise-guy about the intent of a more comprehensive project (which would hopefully be a banable offense.)

Anyway, the value in doing something like this would be appreciation for the history worth remembering about this SUPER BOWL WINNING franchise put together by passionate .net 12's. Of course, these lists in each category could change with the additions of the Re-Pete 2014-15 season, 3-Pete 2015-16 season, etc. as this thing grows into the Seahawks Dynasty.

Thoughts? Maybe this is too much. But, some often remind that it's a long off-season. So, maybe a worthwhile undertaking?

"The Kid" - April 27, 2012 - Round 3, 75th pick overall. John Schneider to Pete Carroll. The play that forever changed the history of our beloved franchise. (I know it's technically not on the field, but somehow it's just wrong to not get something of an honorable mention.)