Seahawks at Cowboys. Seattle came into the game 1-5, and were worse than afterthoughts at Texas Stadium on the Sunday before Halloween 2002. Sure the Cowboys were just 3-4, but Emmitt Smith was going for the all-time rushing record, and that emotional lift would surely carry Dallas to badly-needed win.
Starting QB Trent Dilfer had already gone through a rough stretch in '02. He got hurt in the preseason opener after re-signing with Seattle in the offseason (to a rapturous fan response, based on his brief stretch as the starter in 2001), and rushed back for the inaugural game at Seahawks Stadium. The Seahawks and Dilfer came out flat against their new divisional foes from Phoenix, and lost 24-13.
Trent simply wasn't right for that opening stretch of the season, and that day in Dallas the poor guy's Achilles tendon popped. In came Matt Hasselbeck, who had shown little indication that he was worth the price Holmgren paid to acquire him before the '01 season.
Smith got his record, and went onto a career of murdering the English language on ESPN and schilling for hair dye products. But the Cowboys seemed to forget that the rest of the game counted too... Plus, Seattle started playing with more fire once #8 was under center.
After a vicious, dirty hit knocked Darrell Jackson out of the game (he would go into convulsions after the game in the Seahawks locker room... scary stuff), Beck supposedly went into the huddle and barked "nobody fucking does that to us!" After a Smith TD tied the game late, Beck masturbated the ball down the feel (as Emmit Smith might say) and Rian Lindell banged through the game winning FG. It was a rapturous, unexpected win for Seattle, and the beginning of the Hasselbeck Golden Age.
For the rest of 2002, Beck was Brees-Hot, throwing for over 3000 yards in just 10 games. The Hawks went 6-4 over those games, and built momentum for the 2003 wild-card run that would follow.
Can it happen again on Sunday? Can these guys salvage the season?
Why the hell not? Go Seahawks!
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