Groz’s Seahawks First-Round Memory: The Beast Quake, a decade later

It remains fresh in the memory of all Seattle football fans. One of the biggest upsets in Seahawks history and a play that has its own Wikipedia page.

O’Neil: Seahawks’ best move this season was one they didn’t make

Very few thought the Seahawks had a chance in the first round of the playoffs in Pete Carroll’s first season. In fact, many were upset that a losing team had even made the playoffs – it had never happened before. The 7-9 Seahawks faced the defending Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints, who just missed a division title but were still 12-4 and an overwhelming favorite in this one.

Battered Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck wasn’t even cleared to play until the Wednesday before and he figured to be diminished. The Saints were not a good defensive team but neither were the Seahawks, and when the Saints jumped out to a 10-0 lead it already seemed over.

But it wasn’t.

Watch highlights of this Seahawks-Saints playoff game

Hasselbeck rallied his team from a 17-7 deficit and was magnificent in his final game in Seattle as a Hawk, and lo and behold the Seahawks had a 34-20 lead with five minutes to go in the third quarter. The Saints were far from finished, though, and Drew Brees brought them back to 34-30 with under four minutes to play.

Then, on second-and-10, this.

Marshawn Lynch’s 34th birthday is a good reason to watch the BeastQuake again. @MoneyLynch (via @nflthrowback) pic.twitter.com/ix4cm0t5xN

— NFL (@NFL) April 22, 2020

Marshawn Lynch had perhaps the greatest carry a running back has ever had – a magical 67-yard trip through the Saints’ defense that has become known as the Beast Quake because the crowd noise from Qwest Field (as it was known then) set off seisomoters – and yes, you can look it up on Wikipedia.

As unbelievable as the BeastQuake was, @RaibleKIRO7’s call was pretty great too. 😂 pic.twitter.com/Lnvy4oW04K

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) June 26, 2020

Though the Saints managed another TD, the Seahawks recovered the onside kick to seal one of their greatest victories ever. Hasselbeck’s last game at home in a Seattle uniform was one of his best with four touchdown passes, but the game belonged to Marshawn and launched the Seahawks into their most successful era with a roar that shook the earth.

Follow The Groz on Twitter.

More Seahawks memories from Groz

• Seattle ends 2009 with the best 7-9 finish in NFL history
• Jon Kitna, Mike Holmgren send Seattle to playoffs in Week 16 of 1999
• Week 15 in 1988 was Steve Largent’s greatest hit
• A new franchise QB emerges in Week 14 win in 1984
• An emotional OT win in Week 13 1992 — for Pete’s sake
• Bo bulldozes The Boz in Week 12, 1987
• Thomas Rawls picks up where Beast Mode left off in Week 11, 2015
• Goal-line retribution in Week 10 of 2016 against New England
• The franchise changed direction in Week 9 of Pete Carroll’s third year
• Holmgren’s blowout Green Bay return in Week 8, 1999
• Slaying the 1986 Super Bowl champion Giants in Week 7
• Unlikely hero gets 2005 Super Bowl run going in Week 5, 2005
• Super Bowl championship team shows it’s for real in Week 4, 2013
• Curt Warner establishes ‘Ground Chuck’ in Week 3, 1983

Follow @Thegroz