The upset of the year took place on January 8th at Qwest Field, the site of the NFC Wild Card matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints. The Seahawks entered the playoffs as the joke of the NFL because of their 7-9 record, making them only the third team in league history to enter the playoffs with a losing record. After limping through the weak NFC West, the Seahawks were faced with the tall task of playing the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Led by veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and fifth year running back Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks had an offense with the potential for the extraordinary but usually settled for the mediocre. On this cool winter night in the Pacific Northwest, the Seahawks played one of their finest games in franchise history and, with the help of Lynch, reached their potential.
The Seahawks led the game 34-20 entering the fourth quarter, a shock to almost every football fan. A Julius Jones touchdown run and a Garret Hartley field goal to start to the quarter brought Saints within 4 points with 9:13 remaining and the Seahawks and their began to see their upset dreams fading quickly. After two short drives that ended in punts for both teams, the Seahawks got the ball back with under five minutes remaining and were desperately trying to hold onto their 34-30 lead. Then, the unbelievable happened. On the second play of the drive, Lynch made one of the greatest plays by a running back in football history. After receiving the handoff, Lynch broke through the left side of the offensive line after fighting off defensive lineman to break up the middle. Lynch would cut the field to the right side and break six more tackles, including one nasty stiff arm to cornerback Tracy Porter, on his way to a 67 yard touchdown run that would put the game out of reach.
The play, which launched the famous "Marshawn Lynch - True Meaning of Determination" video on Youtube, single handedly crushed the Saints' spirits and reenergized the Seahawk franchise. The game was Hasslebeck's final home contest as a member of the Seahawks but it helped launch Lynch as one of the premier tailbacks in the NFL. The Seahawks 41-36 victory is a classic example of why we play the games, even when its the defending champions against an under .500 squad. Although the Seahawks clutch defense and the poor play of Saints quarterback Drew Brees are both strong reasons used to explain the upset, nobody can deny that Lynch's "beast mode" run late in the fourth quarter changed the scope of the game and football history.
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