Ranking the Squads: It's a 7-9 partaaaay!

If you're new to this, the previous entries are here... Let's go!

23. 1989
Record: 7-9
Offensive Rank: 27th out of 28 teams
Defensive Rank: 16th out of 28
Turnover Ratio Rank: 23rd out of 28
Team MVP: Rufus Porter
High Point: Seahawks 24, Bengals 17
Low Point: Redskins 29, Seahawks 0

1989 was the end of the Steve Largent and Curt Warner eras in Seattle, and the '89ers were a drab, forgettable collection, sporting one of the worst offensive attacks in team history. The sad end for this squad was their utter and complete bitch-out in Largent's final game (a 29-0 ass-plowing). I was 14, and there at the Dome for #80s farewell. I cried, and not just because Largent was retiring.

22. 1996
Record: 7-9
Offensive Rank: 16th out of 30 teams
Defensive Rank: 24th out of 30
Turnover Ratio Rank: 11th out of 30
Team MVP: Michael Sinclair
High Point: Seahawks 23, Oilers 16
Low Point: Lions 17, Seahawks 16

My best moment of this season? That crazy win on a blocked FG return against Houston. But what day from '96 really sticks with me? My friends and I were getting ready to drive from Bellingham to Seattle for a They Might Be Giants concert, but I wouldn't let us leave until the Seahawks @ Lions contest was over. Rick Mirer came off the bench to lead the Hawks into position for the game-winning FG, which Todd Peterson didn't exactly shank.. Well, it was worse than that.. It looked good but just faaaaaaaded beyond the goal post.

FUUUUUUUUCK!

I was in such a bad mood that it cast a pall over an otherwise awesome TMBG show for me.... and that was the 1996 Hawks for me.

21. 1991
Record: 7-9
Offensive Rank: 20th out of 28 teams
Defensive Rank: 8th out of 28
Turnover Ratio Rank: 22nd out of 28
Team MVP: John L. Williams
High Point: Seahawks 13, Broncos 10
Low Point: 49ers 24, Seahawks 22

This was the season that finally gave Behring an excuse to chase Knox and Krieg out of town.. I have a vivid memory of the Seahawks in a death-struggle against the Niners, and Krieg fumbled away the win trying to get an extra few yards on the potential game-winning drive. Like most of '91, it was a great effort punctuated but an awful result. One or two more wins in 1991 might have averted the disaster of 1992. Ugh.

20. 2002
Record: 7-9
Offensive Rank: 16th out of 32 teams
Defensive Rank: 23rd out of 32
Turnover Ratio Rank: 14th out of 32
Team MVP: Matt Hasselbeck
High Point: Seahawks 31, Chargers 28
Low Point: Cardinals 24, Seahawks 13

To paraphrase Kyle Reese in The Terminator...

We were that close to going out forever. But there was one man who taught us to fight, to storm the wire of the camps, to smash those metal motherfuckers into junk. He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink...

His name was Matt Hasselbeck.

This is where the good times started to roll... Where Matt Hasselbeck became a leader, and this team learned how to win. Here's hoping we haven't forgotten after that god-awful 2008 season.