The Seattle Seahawks earned their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history this past Sunday, trouncing the New England Patriots in a dominant 29-13 effort. Led by guru head coach Mike Macdonald, Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense was one step ahead on seemingly every play and didn’t allow a point until the fourth quarter.
While 2025 was the 50th season in franchise history, the Seahawks have made all four of their Super Bowl appearances within the last 20 years. There’s no doubt Sunday’s win and the subsequent parade Wednesday rank among the greatest moments ever in Seattle sports, but where do they rank in the pantheon of Seahawks memories?
The Top 5
5. The Comeback
The Seahawks entered the 2014-15 season with a major target on their back after winning Super Bowl XLVIII the previous season, but they still managed to make their way back to the NFC Championship after winning nine of their final 10 regular-season games before beating the Panthers decisively in the divisional round. However, awaiting the Seahawks was league MVP Aaron Rodgers and a Packers team that looked poised to return to its first Super Bowl since winning it all in 2010-11.
The Packers defense started the game red hot, pitching a first-half shutout while Rodgers and the offense built a 16-0 advantage that could have been a lot worse had Green Bay not been forced to settle for field goals itself. A third-quarter touchdown brought Seattle back to life at 16-7, but the Packers promptly responded with another field goal that pushed them back ahead 19-7 with 10:53 in the fourth.
January 18, 2015: The Seahawks miraculously come back to beat the Packers in the NFC Championship. Seattle was down 19-7 with just over two minutes left in the game and won 28-22 in OT.
pic.twitter.com/FKyVTTCJoq— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) January 19, 2024
For the next 8 or so minutes of game action, it truly felt like it was just the clock between Rodgers and a second career Super Bowl appearance. Even after Russell Wilson capped off a quick-hitting drive with a short touchdown run that cut the lead to 19-14 with 2:09 remaining, all that held the Packers back from Super Bowl XLIX was a successful onside kick recovery.
Ask Brandon Bostick how that went. Less than a minute later, Marshawn Lynch found the end zone on a go-ahead 24-yard touchdown run that put Seattle ahead 22-19 with 1:25 remaining. Of course, Rodgers did his usual magic to force a game-tying field goal in regulation, but that only paved the path for one of the most magical moments in franchise history.
First-and-10 from the Green Bay 45. I’ll let Joe Buck tell the story.
“Wilson … towards the end zone … IT IS CAUGHT. SEATTLE’S GOING BACK TO THE SUPER BOWL! JERMAINE KEARSE!”
4. The Beast Quake
The Seahawks’ 7-9 record in 2010 was somehow good enough to earn them an NFC West title and a home playoff game in the wild-card round, but with Drew Brees and the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints heading into town with an 11-5 record and hopes to repeat. After erasing a 10-point first-half deficit that certainly felt decisive for New Orleans, the Seahawks somehow found themselves up 34-30 with 3:40 remaining and the ball at their own 33-yard line. What happened next is one of the great moments in modern NFL history.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck took the snap from under center and handed the ball off to Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch on a play called “17 Power.” And power did he ever. Crashing through defender after defender, Lynch bulldozed 67-yards downfield for one of the most memorable runs we’ve seen to date, punctuating the play by stiff-arming Saints cornerback Tracy Porter (the previous year’s Super Bowl hero) directly into the Seattle turf. The touchdown and extra point put Seattle ahead 41-30, and they would eventually escape with a 41-36 win.
"Just a little baby stiff arm."
"Uh oh, it might be trouble"@MoneyLynch breaking down the Beast Quake will never get old 😂 pic.twitter.com/KSqKKtWS2Z
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) January 8, 2026
As legend has it, Qwest Field got so loud in the aftermath of Lynch’s run that it registered on local seismographs. As a result, “The Beast Quake” stuck as the universal name for this all-time trek.
3. Alexander’s 2005 MVP Year Leads To SB Berth
Once upon a time, there was a running back in Seattle so dominant that he won an MVP award over prime Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and no one so much as even batted an eye. Shaun Alexander’s 2005 season wasn’t just dominant for the era, it was one of the most dominant seasons in NFL history, period. The Alabama product scored a then-NFL record 28 touchdowns (27 rushing) and racked up a career-high 1,880 rushing yards in the process.
Before BeastMode, there was @shaunalexander in Seattle.
🏈 2005 NFL MVP
🏈 2005 Offensive Player of the Year
🏈 NFL 2000s All-Decade Team pic.twitter.com/Uoa0NOEaz4— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) September 7, 2020
With the help of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and budding star linebacker Lofa Tatupu, the Seahawks tore up the regular season, finishing with a 13-3 record and the top seed in the NFC playoffs. A pair of 20-point wins in the divisional round and conference championship sent the Seahawks to a date with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Detroit for Super Bowl XL, but a controversial first-half flag rescinded a Seattle touchdown and derailed the team’s momentum for the remainder of the game.
Alexander was good but not great in the Super Bowl, rushing for 95 yards on 20 carries without a score. He’d go on to play two more seasons in Seattle before ending his career with Washington in 2008.
2. Wild 2025 Run Ends In Super Bowl Dominance
Entering the 2025 season, the Seahawks were considered a fringe playoff contender and were firmly outside of the championship picture. By the time their Super Bowl harassment of the New England Patriots concluded on Sunday, this perfectly rounded monster of a team might just rank among the most dominant Super Bowl champions in the last quarter century or more.
After a Week 6 loss to Tampa Bay dropped Seattle to 3-2 on the season, the Seahawks ripped off 14 wins in their next 15 games to shock the world and win the title as preseason 60-to-1 underdogs. Their only post-Week 6 loss was a 21-19 setback against the Rams, whom they later beat in a thrilling Week 18 comeback to win the division and clinch the No. 1 overall seed, then did so again in the NFC Championship.
Since seeding began in 1975, a No. 1 seed has won the Super Bowl 27 times.
Only one of those No. 1 seeds had to beat three 12-win teams during that playoff run: the 2025 @Seahawks. pic.twitter.com/dSS9ep3p3x
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) February 9, 2026
The “Dark Side” defense earned immortal status just like the Legion of Boom did a little over a decade before them. Sam Darnold completed one of the great redemption stories in league history, going from consensus draft bust to a Super Bowl-winning quarterback before either of the MVP counterparts from his draft class. And you can’t forget about Jaxson Smith-Njigba, who established himself as the best receiver in the league this season and won OPOY.
1. Seahawks Defeat Broncos To Win First Title
The first title in Seahawks history was among the most dominant performances we’ve seen on Super Bowl Sunday, and it came against a historically great Peyton Manning-led offense to boot. The Legion of Boom held the most prolific passing attack in league history to a single touchdown in a 43-8 rout, making “The Sheriff” Peyton Manning look more like a correctional officer.
Despite entering as 2-point underdogs, the Seahawks controlled the game for quite literally every counting second. Broncos center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball over Peyton Manning’s head and into the end zone for a safety on the game’s first play from scrimmage, while Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith bookended the first half with a 53-yard interception return touchdown that put the Hawks ahead 22-0 at halftime.
February 2nd, 2014: The Seattle Seahawks defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/Po3TRi93oR
— Back Then Sports (@BackThenSports) February 3, 2026
The Seahawks landed another devastating blow immediately after halftime, as Percy Harvin took the second-half kickoff 87 yards to the house to salt Denver’s wound. Seattle only piled on as the game progressed, and their wire-to-wire effort that night is still the post-millennium standard for Super Bowl dominance.
