Groz Remembers: Seahawks’ win over Eagles reminiscent of late push in 1986

Remember back in 1986 when the Seahawks became the best team in football the last five weeks of the season?

I was thinking about it Sunday night as the Seahawks were pounding the Philadelphia Eagles into submission. The ’86 team was 5-6 and a big disappointment after a 3-0 start, and some thought they were just playing out the string when a win over the Eagles propelled them on an unlikely run. It was a lousy Eagles team coached by Buddy Ryan, and the Seahawks still nearly blew a 21-6 lead before holding on to win 24-20.

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Suddenly the Seahawks were unbeatable, annihilating the Cowboys and Raiders in back-to-back weeks, crushing the lowly Chargers and burying the division champion Broncos the final week of the season.

The five-game tear had the Hawks at 10-6, and it all started with a home win over the Eagles. That team was certainly different than the 2017 team, as the Seahawks were led by a 1,400-plus yard season from Curt Warner.

The bad news is that 10-6 wasn’t good enough for the playoffs and Seattle missed out on the postseason for the second straight year. The good news is the current team is 8-4, and if Seattle runs the table it will be at 12 wins and making another playoff appearance.

There was a silver lining for the ’86 team. Buoyed by the acquisition of a plucky young linebacker from Stanford named Dave Wyman, they returned to the playoffs in 1987.

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