| Team: | Seattle Seahawks |
| Year: | 1984 |
| Record: | 12–4 |
| Division Place: | 2nd AFC West |
| Coach: | Chuck Knox |
| General Manager: | Mike McCormack |
| Owner: | The Nordstrom family |
| Stadium: | Kingdome |
| Playoffs: | Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Raiders) 13–7 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Dolphins) 10–31 |
| Pro Bowlers: | QB Dave Krieg WR Steve Largent CB Dave Brown LB Fredd Young NT Joe Nash SS Kenny Easley K Norm Johnson |
| Ap All-Pros: | WR Steve Largent (2nd team) NT Joe Nash (1st team) CB Dave Brown (2nd team) DE Jacob Green (2nd team) SS Kenny Easley (1st team) K Norm Johnson (1st team) ST Fredd Young (1st team) |
| Shortnavlink: | Seahawks seasons |
The 1984 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's ninth season with the National Football League (NFL). The season opener was moved from Sunday to Monday afternoon on Labor Day to avoid a conflict with a Seattle Mariners baseball game.
The 1984 Seahawks were a well-balanced team on offense and defense. The 1984 Seahawks season was the Seahawks' best season as a team in the AFC West. They scored 418 points (26.1 per game), and gave up only 282 points (17.6 per game), both ranked 5th in the NFL. Their point differential of +136 points was third in the NFL; the Seahawks' giveaway/takeaway ratio was +24, best in the league. The team's 63 defensive takeaways is the most in NFL history for a 16-game schedule, and the most since the merger.[1]
The team's offense boasted a 3,000-yard passer in quarterback Dave Krieg (3,671 yards), and a 1,000-yard wide receiver in Steve Largent (74 receptions for 1,164 yards). The passing attack more than made up for the loss of star running back Curt Warner, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener.
The Seahawks's defensive line generated an outstanding pass rush, with defensive ends Jeff Bryant and Jacob Green registering 14.5 and 13 sacks, respectively. Safety Kenny Easley led the team and league with 10 interceptions.[2] Easley, Green, and NT Joe Nash made the All-Pro team.
In a wild week-10 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Seahawks intercepted Kansas City's quarterbacks six times, and returned four of them for touchdowns. All the touchdown returns were for over 50 yards.[3] In the game, the Seahawks set NFL records for most yards returning interceptions (325), and most interceptions-for-touchdowns in a game (4).
Seattle would make the playoffs for the second straight season. They defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Raiders 13–7 in the wild card round avenging their 1983 loss. However, they were not able to advance past the Miami Dolphins, as they lost in Miami 31–10 to a powerful Dolphins squad led by record setting second year quarterback Dan Marino, who they had defeated in the playoffs the previous season. After this season, the Seahawks wouldn't win another playoff game until their Super Bowl-appearing 2005 season.
| Player | Position | College | ||
| 1/22 | Southern Illinois | |||
| 2/49 | Michigan State | |||
| 3/76 | New Mexico State | |||
| 4/86 | Rickey Hagood | South Carolina | ||
| 6/162 | Linebacker | Arizona | ||
| 7/189 | Sam Slater | Weber State | ||
| 8/216 | John Puzar | Long Beach State | ||
| 9/243 | Center | Texas | ||
| 10/270 | Tennessee | |||
| 11/302 | Steve Gemza | Offensive Tackle | UCLA | |
| 12/329 | Theo Windham | Defensive Back | Utah State | |
| Supp. | Gordon Houston | Brigham Young | ||
| Supp. | Winston-Salem State | |||
| Supp. | Kansas |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | Recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOF | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 38–0 | 1–0 | Recap | |||
| 1 | Buffalo Bills | W 7–3 | 2–0 | Kingdome | Recap | ||
| 2 | at Detroit Lions | W 28–24 | 3–0 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap | ||
| 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 17–7 | 4–0 | Kingdome | Recap | ||
| 5 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 7–17 | 4–1 | Candlestick Park | Recap |
Source: Seahawks Media Guides[5] [6]
Divisional matchups have the AFC West playing the NFC Central.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | Recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Cleveland Browns | W 33–0 | 1–0 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 2 | September 9 | San Diego Chargers | W 31–17 | 2–0 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 3 | September 16 | at New England Patriots | L 23–38 | 2–1 | Sullivan Stadium | Recap | |
| 4 | September 23 | Chicago Bears | W 38–9 | 3–1 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 5 | September 30 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 20–12 | 4–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Recap | |
| 6 | October 7 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 14–28 | 4–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap | |
| 7 | October 14 | Buffalo Bills | W 31–28 | 5–2 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 8 | October 21 | at Green Bay Packers | W 30–24 | 6–2 | Milwaukee County Stadium | Recap | |
| 9 | at San Diego Chargers | W 24–0 | 7–2 | Jack Murphy Stadium | Recap | ||
| 10 | November 4 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 45–0 | 8–2 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 11 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 17–14 | 9–2 | Kingdome | Recap | ||
| 12 | November 18 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 26–6 | 10–2 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap | |
| 13 | November 25 | at Denver Broncos | W 27–24 | 11–2 | Mile High Stadium | Recap | |
| 14 | December 2 | Detroit Lions | W 38–17 | 12–2 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 15 | December 9 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 7–34 | 12–3 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap | |
| 16 | December 15 | Denver Broncos | L 14–31 | 12–4 | Kingdome | Recap |
Bold indicates division opponents.
Source: 1984 NFL season results [7]
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Game site | Recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | Los Angeles Raiders (5) | W 13–7 | 1–0 | Kingdome | Recap | ||
| Divisional | at Miami Dolphins (1) | L 10–31 | 1–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap |
The Seahawks saw the Patriots erase a 23–0 deficit with 38 unanswered points led by new quarterback Tony Eason, who took over halfway through the game for Steve Grogan.
See main article: NFL playoffs, 1984-85. Seattle entered the postseason as the #4 seed in the AFC.