Seattle Seahawks
RECORD: 15-3, NFC West champions
COACH: Pete Carroll; 76-61 overall at New England and Seattle; 5-4 in playoffs since hired in 2010
Carroll, a three-time NFL head coach, and first-time general manager John Schneider teamed to turn around the Seahawks. Carroll had short, unsuccessful stints as head coach of the New York Jets and New England Patriots. He rose to national prominence as a dynasty-building architect of Southern Cal’s resurgence from 2001-2009, when he posted an 83-19 overall record not including victories vacated due to NCAA violations.
–STORY OF THE SEASON
Seattle established itself as a rugged, take-no-prisoners outfit with a toothy defense and physical, ball-control offense.
The Seahawks bulldozed to an 11-1 start and scraped through a sloppy December to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC postseason, an epic advantage given their “12th Man” reputation at CenturyLink Field.
Quarterback Russell Wilson, a two-time Pro Bowl pick and the only player in NFL history with a passer rating over 100 in his first two seasons, is tasked with facilitating the Seattle offense. Wilson is agile and keeps plays alive in the pocket with a short-area burst to scoot away from trouble.
His offensive line buckled often, but Seattle was able to fall back on their lead option, running back Marshawn Lynch, who averaged 4.2 yards per carry with 12 touchdowns. Lynch has 2,847 yards in the past two seasons, and his powerful style brings defenders in bunches, providing single coverage outside.
Defenses don’t fear putting cornerbacks in single coverage against the Seahawks’ top two receivers, Golden Tate (64 receptions for 898 yards and five touchdowns) and Doug Baldwin (50-778-5). That tandem wasn’t the planned top options in Seattle.
The Seahawks dealt draft picks to the Minnesota Vikings with the idea of making Percy Harvin a do-it-all offensive threat and primary receiver. But preseason hip surgery limited Harvin to one game in the regular season and in his postseason return, Harvin suffered a concussion Jan. 12 in the divisional round win over the New Orleans Saints.
The one constant — Seattle’s smothering defense.
The Seahawks led the NFL in scoring defense at 14.4 points allowed per game and had 43 sacks, led by newcomers Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, free-agent additions who helped the Seahawks survive the loss of cornerbacks Brandon Browner (one-year suspension) and Walter Thurmond (four-game suspension), and Pro Bowl safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas.
Seattle also had a league-best 39 takeaways and NFL-high 28 interceptions and has two wins at MetLife Stadium, site of Super Bowl XLVIII, including a 23-0 drubbing of the Giants on Dec. 15.
9/8/2013: W, 12- 7 at Carolina Panthers
9/15/2013: W, 29- 3 San Francisco 49ers
9/22/2013: W, 45- 17 Jacksonville Jaguars
9/29/2013: W, 23- 20 at Houston Texans
10/6/2013: L, 28- 34 at Indianapolis Colts
10/13/2013: W, 20- 13 Tennessee Titans
10/17/2013: W, 34- 22 at Arizona Cardinals
10/28/2013: W, 14- 9 at St. Louis Rams
11/3/2013: W, 27- 24 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11/10/2013: W, 33- 10 at Atlanta Falcons
11/17/2013: W, 41- 20 Minnesota Vikings
12/2/2013: W, 34- 7 New Orleans Saints
12/8/2013: L, 17- 19 at San Francisco 49ers
12/15/2013: W, 23- 0 at New York Giants
12/22/2013: L, 10- 17 Arizona Cardinals
12/29/2013: W, 27- 9 St. Louis Rams
Divisional Playoffs:
1/11/2103: W, 23-15 New Orleans Saints
1/19/2013: W, San Francisco 49ers
—PLAYOFF HISTORY: 14-10 all-time. Prior to beating the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, the Seahawks had only one Super Bowl appearance. Seattle won the NFC in 2005, beating the Carolina Panthers to advance to Super Bowl XL, a 21-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field in Detroit. Seattle’s only other conference championship game appearance was in 1983, a loss at the Los Angeles Raiders (30-14) — at the time, Seattle was in the AFC. The Seahawks lost at Atlanta in the divisional playoffs, 30-28, in January 2013. Seattle also lost in the division round in 2010 at Chicago, 35-24 and at Green Bay in 2007 (42-20).
—2013 REGULAR SEASON RANKINGS
Offense: 17th (339 yards per game)
Scoring: 8th – tie (26.1 points per game)
Passing: 24th (202.3 yards per game)
Rushing: 6th (136.8 yards per game)
Defense: 1st (273.6 ypg)
Scoring: 1st (14.4 ppg)
Passing: 1st (172 ypg)
Rushing: 7th (101.6 ypg)
Sacks: 43 (Michael Bennett, 8.5)
–PLAYERS ON INJURED RESERVE
CB Chandler Fenner
TE Anthony McCoy
DE Kenneth Boatright
NT Jesse Williams
WR Sidney Rice
DL Greg Scruggs
LB Tharold Simon
LB Korey Toomer
FB Spencer Ware
CB Brandon Browner (suspended list)
SS Jeron Johnson
—2013 CUMULATIVE REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS
Seattle Opponent
Total First Downs 307 282
Rushing 116 83
Passing 160 156
Penalty 31 43
3rd Down: Made/Att 76/204 76/216
3rd Down Pct. 37.3% 35.2%
4th Down: Made/Att 6/11 4/11
4th Down Pct. 54.5% 36.4%
Possession Avg. 29:57 30:03
Total Net Yards 5424 4378
Avg. Per Game 339.0 273.6
Total Plays 973 990
Avg. Per Play 5.6 4.4
Net Yards Rushing 2188 1626
Avg. Per Game 136.8 101.6
Total Rushes 509 422
Net Yards Passing 3236 2752
Avg. Per Game 202.3 172.0
Sacked/Yards Lost 44/272 44/298
Gross Yards 3508 3050
Attempts/Completions 420/267 524/309
Completion Pct. 63.6% 59.0%
Had Intercepted 9 28
Punts/Average 76/41.6 82/46.1
Net Punting Avg. 38.2 37.6
Penalties/Yards 128/1183 98/879
Fumbles/Ball Lost 26/10 26/11
Touchdowns 45 22
Rushing 14 4
Passing 27 16
Returns 4 2
Score By Periods Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT Pts
Team 69 140 87 115 6 417
Opponents 22 108 41 60 0 231
Scoring TD Ru Pa Rt PAT FG 2Pt Pts
S.Hauschka 0 0 0 0 44/44 33/35 0 143
M.Lynch 14 12 2 0 0/0 0/0 0 84
Z.Miller 5 0 5 0 0/0 0/0 0 30
G.Tate 5 0 5 0 0/0 0/0 0 30
D.Baldwin 5 0 5 0 0/0 0/0 0 30
J.Kearse 4 0 4 0 0/0 0/0 0 26
S.Rice 3 0 3 0 0/0 0/0 0 18
R.Sherman 1 0 0 1 0/0 0/0 0 6
M.Smith 1 0 0 1 0/0 0/0 0 6
K.Davis 1 0 1 0 0/0 0/0 0 6
M.Bennett 1 0 0 1 0/0 0/0 0 6
W.Thurmond 1 0 0 1 0/0 0/0 0 6
R.Wilson 1 1 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 6
L.Willson 1 0 1 0 0/0 0/0 0 6
D.Coleman 1 0 1 0 0/0 0/0 0 6
T.Jackson 1 1 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 6
Team 45 14 27 4 44/44 33/35 0 417
Opponents 22 4 16 2 17/17 26/27 2 231
2-Pt. Conversions: Team 0/ 1, Opponents: 2/ 5
Sacks: M.Bennett 8.5, C.Avril 8.0, C.McDonald 5.5, B.Wagner 5.0, C.Clemons 4.5, T.McDaniel 2.0, B.Irvin 2.0, J.Hill 1.5, K.Wright 1.5, R.Bryant 1.5, M.Smith 1.0, W.Thurmond 1.0, O.Schofield 1.0 Team: 43.0, Opponents: 43.0
Rushing No. Yds Avg Long TD
M.Lynch 301 1257 4.2 43 12
R.Wilson 96 539 5.6 27 1
R.Turbin 77 264 3.4 15 0
C.Michael 18 79 4.4 13 0
G.Tate 3 31 10.3 20 0
S.Ware 3 10 3.3 5 0
D.Baldwin 2 6 3.0 3 0
D.Coleman 2 3 1.5 4 0
T.Jackson 4 1 0.3 5t 1
M.Robinson 1 0 0.0 0 0
C.Maragos 1 0 0.0 0 0
R.Lockette 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0
Team 509 2188 4.3 43 14
Opponents 422 1626 3.9 51 4
Receiving No. Yds Avg Long TD
G.Tate 64 898 14.0 80t 5
D.Baldwin 50 778 15.6 52 5
M.Lynch 36 316 8.8 55 2
Z.Miller 33 387 11.7 60 5
J.Kearse 22 346 15.7 43t 4
L.Willson 20 272 13.6 39t 1
S.Rice 15 231 15.4 31t 3
D.Coleman 8 62 7.8 12 1
R.Turbin 8 60 7.5 19 0
R.Lockette 5 82 16.4 33 0
K.Davis 3 32 10.7 23 1
M.Robinson 2 27 13.5 21 0
P.Harvin 1 17 17.0 17 0
S.Williams 0 0 0 0 0
Team 267 3508 13.1 80t 27
Opponents 309 3050 9.9 73t 16
Interceptions No. Yds Avg Long TD
R.Sherman 8 125 15.6 58t 1
E.Thomas 5 9 1.8 11 0
B.Maxwell 4 6 1.5 6 0
K.Chancellor 3 78 26.0 32 0
M.Smith 2 69 34.5 37t 1
B.Wagner 2 9 4.5 9 0
B.Browner 1 49 49.0 49 0
W.Thurmond 1 29 29.0 29t 1
B.Irvin 1 8 8.0 8 0
C.McDonald 1 3 3.0 3 0
Team 28 385 13.8 58t 3
Opponents 9 21 2.3 10 0
Punting No Yds Avg Net TB In Lg B
J.Ryan 74 3159 42.7 39.2 5 28 69 2
Team 74 3159 41.6 39.2 5 28 69 2
Opponents 81 3779 46.1 38.0 4 22 61 1
Punt Returns Ret FC Yds Avg Long TD
G.Tate 51 14 585 11.5 71 0
R.Sherman 1 0 -6 -6.0 -6 0
Team 52 14 579 11.1 71 0
Opponents 21 30 82 3.9 32 0
Kickoff Returns No. Yds Avg Long TD
J.Kearse 13 283 21.8 40 0
R.Turbin 8 177 22.1 27 0
G.Tate 3 57 19.0 24 0
D.Baldwin 2 57 28.5 37 0
J.Lane 2 47 23.5 25 0
P.Harvin 1 58 58.0 58 0
L.Willson 1 15 15.0 15 0
M.Robinson 1 4 4.0 4 0
K.Davis 1 0 0.0 0 0
D.Coleman 1 0 0.0 0 0
Team 33 698 21.2 58 0
Opponents 44 1056 24.0 40 0
Field Goals 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+
S.Hauschka 0/ 0 10/ 11 9/ 9 11/ 12 3/ 3
Team 0/ 0 10/ 11 9/ 9 11/ 12 3/ 3
Opponents 0/ 0 9/ 9 7/ 7 7/ 7 3/ 4
Fumbles Lost: R.Wilson 5, R.Turbin 1, M.Lynch 1, S.Rice 1, C.Maragos 1, J.Kearse 1 Total: 10
Opponent Fumble Recoveries: T.McDaniel 1, B.Mebane 1, C.Avril 1, M.Bennett 1, C.McDonald 1, C.Maragos 1, W.Thurmond 1, K.Wright 1, B.Maxwell 1, B.Wagner 1, R.Wilson 1 Total: 11
Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Yds/Att TD TD% Int Int% Long Sack Lost Rating
R.Wilson 407 257 3357 63.1% 8.2 26 6.4% 9 2.2% 80t 44/ 272 101.2
T.Jackson 13 10 151 76.9% 11.6 1 7.7% 0 0.0% 35t 0/ 0 140.2
Team 420 267 3508 63.6% 8.4 27 6.4% 9 2.1% 80t 44/ 272 102.4
Opponents 524 309 3050 59.0% 5.8 16 3.1% 28 5.3% 73t 44/ 298 63.4