Seahawks Point Margins (1976-2016): A Visual History
Published by Steve Campion. Category: Sports & Recreation
It’s easy to spot the Russell Wilson Era on this remarkable chart.
Every Seattle Seahawks game that ever counted* from 1976 through the 2016 post-season is charted here from left to right. Lines in positive territory (above the mid-line) represent wins. Those below are losses. The differing heights show the margin of victory or loss. The deepest mark (lower left), for example, is a 51-7 loss at Dallas in 1980. The tallest (upper right) marks the 58-0 thumping of Arizona in 2012.
For most of the team’s history the ups and downs were sporadic, but trends are noticeable if you look carefully. The left half (representing the Seahawks’ first twenty years) is slightly more down than up. You can clearly see the two lonely victories from the team’s inaugural season poking up on the far left. Tall marks gather during the mid 1980s (that’s the Dave Krieg Era which features an 8-game winning streak) before plunging into the disappointing 1990s where the green lines drip down the page like lichen from a tree.
Things improve in the middle of the chart. That’s the beginning of the Matt Hasselbeck Era. The Seahawks fielded better teams in the 2000s — even making it to the Super Bowl for the first time in February, 2005 — before slipping down again at the end of the decade.
Russell Wilson showed up in 2012, when there is a sudden transition in the graph. It’s like a city of densely-packed skyscrapers rising above a shoreline. There’s a period of close games — neither high nor low — in the first half of that season. Seattle was 7-5 when that 58-0 game (the tallest on the chart) was played and set the new trend: a series of dominating games, far more wins than losses, and frequent victory margins of 20 or more. The Seahawks have been 56-23-1 in games that count* since 2012, including two Super Bowls (a win and a loss).
Perhaps the Legion of Boom has had the biggest impact on this chart. The Seattle defense has kept opponents close. Of those few opposing teams who managed to defeat the Seahawks the last five and a half years, only two have done so by double digit margins. The lines on the chart haven’t been dripping below the mid-line quite so often or so far these last five and a half years.
*Games that count = Regular + post-season
CHART © by Steve Campion, WA-List.com
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