Throwback Game of the Week - Week 4
Week 4: Seattle at Indianapolis
There’s not much familiarity between the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts. When the Colts host this Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, it will mark just the 10th meeting ever, and the first in five seasons, between the two clubs.
With exception of two games that Seattle won in the 1990s by the identical score of 31-3 (in 1991 and 1997) most of the contests in the series have been fairly close. The Colts, despite playing seven of the nine games at Seattle, hold the slim 5-4-0 series lead.
First Time:
Sept. 18, 1977 – The Seahawks opened their second season by hosting the Colts. It quickly turned into a one-sided affair as Baltimore quarterback Bert Jones and running back Lydell Mitchell fueled a Colts offense that amassed 426 yards. Meanwhile the Colts defense intercepted Seattle QB Jim Zorn four times and sacked him twice. The Colts won the game, 29-14.
Last Time:
Dec. 24, 2005 – Seattle hosted the Colts in the second to last week of the regular season. With Shaun Alexander leading the way with 3 TDs during his MVP season, the Seahawks won 28-13 for their 11th straight game and secured home field advantage through the NFC playoffs. Alexander finished the game with 139 yards on 16 carries. Peyton Manning completed 9 of 12 passes for 116 yards for Indianapolis before being replaced in the second quarter by Jim Sorgi. Brandon Stokely had 5 catches for 122 yards for Indy.
Hall of Fame Members
The Colts franchise, which was in Baltimore from 1953-1983 before relocating to Indianapolis, is represented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame by 10 long-time members. Two other Hall of Famers, Joe Perry and Don Shula, also spent time with the organization but not for a major portion of their pro football career. The Seahawks have one Hall of Fame member, wide receiver Steve Largent. In addition, running back Franco Harris, defensive end Carl Eller, and quarterback Warren Moon also spent a brief time in a Seahawks uniform.
Records found in the NFL Record Book
The Seahawks combined to return four interceptions for touchdowns in a game on Nov. 4, 1984. Dave Brown had two while Kenny Easley and Keith Simpson each added one TD on interceptions in Seattle’s 45-0 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs. The only team to seriously challenge that NFL record since that time came in 2007 when the Minnesota Vikings had 3 TDs via interceptions against the New York Giants.
The 1971 Colts set the record for the most fair catches in a season. The team combined for 34 fair catches that year.
Throwback Game
Dec. 20, 1998
At 7-7, Seattle entered this game with faint playoff hopes still alive while the Colts at 3-10 were try to simply find something positive in the season. Rookie quarterback Peyton Manning guided the Colts who headed to the locker room at halftime tied 10-10 courtesy of Mike Vanderjagt field goal as time expired. Indianapolis roared out of the gate in the third quarter by scoring on each of its three possessions.
Trailing by 13 points with just over 10 minutes to play, the Seahawks rallied for 17 points to come away with a 27-23 victory. The late game surge was started by running back Ricky Watters (photo, right) who scored on a 33-yard run. Seattle upped its record for returns for TDs in the same season to 13 when Shawn Springs scooped up a Marshall Faulk fumble and ran it 30 yards for the winning score.
Watters finished the day with his then-career high of 178 yards rushing. He had 70 of those yards on 7 carries during the fourth quarter. Manning finished with 335 yards for his fourth 300-yard passing day of the season.
| Indianapolis | 7 | 3 | 10 | 3 | - | 23 |
| Seattle | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 | - | 27 |
| A – 58,703 | ||||||
| IND – Warren 4 run (Vanderjagt kick) | ||||||
| SEA – Galloway 3 pass from Kitna (Peterson kick) | ||||||
| SEA – FG Peterson 42 | ||||||
| IND – FG Vanderjagt 32 | ||||||
| IND – FG Vanderjagt 48 | ||||||
| IND – Pollard 1 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick) | ||||||
| SEA – Watters 33 run (Peterson kick) | ||||||
| SEA – Springs 14 fumble return (Peterson kick) | ||||||
| SEA – FG Peterson 30 | ||||||
More Seahawks & Colts on Profootballhof.com
Team histories
Seattle | Indianapolis
Photos
Seahawks QBs
Colts QBs
Colts through the years
Seahawks runners
Artifacts
Johnny U's shoes
Bob Sanders named NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Shaun Alexander’s shoes for TD record
Steve Largent sets all-time reception record
Some other stories on Colts and Seahawks
Colts played in “Pro Football’s Greatest Game”
Seahawks’ expansion draft in 1976
Colts’ Lenny Moore set TD record, later tied by LT
Johnny U’s “unbreakable” record
Lefties – Seahawks’ QB Jim Zorn and others