2005 a success despite Super Bowl loss

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, February 5, 2006

DETROIT – While the Seattle Seahawks might not have achieved their final goal on Sunday, they can rest assured that the next few days will still include some kind of celebration in their hometown.

Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald Seahawks kicker had some ups and downs this season, with two game-winners against the Giants and Cowboys, and two missed field goals in the Super Bowl against the Steelers.

The 2005 Seahawks might not have won the Super Bowl, but their season proved pretty darned memorable anyway.

The greatest season in franchise history was mostly about uncharted territory and reaching new heights. Despite a typical 2-2 record after four weeks, the 2005 Seahawks made certain that this year would be like no other.

A Week 5 victory over the rival St. Louis Rams kicked off an 11-game winning streak that helped propel the team to its first Super Bowl appearance.

On paper, it looked pretty easy. Once the ball got rolling, the Seahawks couldn’t be stopped.

But there were plenty of opportunities for the 2005 Seahawks to revert to the kind of team that broke Seattleites’ hearts in years past. Defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes was hospitalized two days before the regular-season opener after suffering a minor stroke, and starting free safety Ken Hamlin spent almost a week at a local hospital because of head injuries he sustained in a post-game incident in Pioneer Square.

On the field, the Seahawks also had to overcome some adversity. They lost their opener at Jacksonville and dropped a heartbreaker to Washington that saw kicker Josh Brown’s potential game-winning field goal hit the left upright at the end of regulation.

But through it all, the Seahawks refused to fold. They started an 11-game winning streak by beating St. Louis on Oct. 9, and the two losses they suffered the rest of the way came in a meaningless game at Green Bay in the regular-season finale and in Sunday’s 21-10 loss to the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

The 2005 NFC champions probably will be remembered for Shaun Alexander’s record-breaking 28 touchdowns and NFL-best 1,880 rushing yards, or for Matt Hasselbeck’s NFC-leading 98.2 quarterback rating.

But the true biography of the 2005 Seahawks would be incomplete without listing unlikely fill-ins such as wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, right tackle Sean Locklear, free safety Marquand Manuel and rookie linebacker Leroy Hill – players who kept the train rolling when it could have easily derailed.

Nor could the season’s tale be told sans the big plays of Brown, who rebounded from the Washington miss to kick game-winners against Dallas and the New York Giants, cornerback Jordan Babineaux, who set up Brown’s game-winning field goal with an interception against the Cowboys, or cornerback Andre Dyson, who returned two turnovers for touchdowns in a Monday night win over the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Of Seattle’s 15 wins this season, there were plenty that seemed to define the season.

The Oct. 9 victory over St. Louis snapped a four-game losing streak against the NFC West rival Rams and ignited the 11-game win streak.

The Nov. 6 win at Arizona gave the Seahawks their first win in a game played after the bye during coach Mike Holmgren’s seven seasons as head coach.

The Nov. 27 game against the Giants was billed as a matchup of the NFC’s best, yet three missed field goals by New York kicker Jay Feely left the so-called experts unimpressed when the Seahawks prevailed.

Perhaps the most eye-opening game came on Monday Night Football, when Dyson scored twice and linebacker Lofa Tatupu exposed Seattle’s rookie secret to the nation by intercepting a pass and scoring a TD of his own in a 42-0 win. After that game, everyone was talking about the Seahawks.

But the postseason started, and the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Carolina Panthers seemed to get most of the respect from national pundits. Even after Seattle beat Washington while Alexander watched the final three quarters from the sidelines, the so-called experts yawned.

And so Seattle went out and answered any remaining questions by dominating the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship Game to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the conference’s best.

They might not have achieved their ultimate goal, but the 2005 Seahawks gave the city of Seattle plenty of reasons to celebrate.