The Forgotten Game of Matt Hasselbeck's Incredible Seahawks Career
The 2010 Seahawks were a joke. They were division champions with a losing record. They were outscored by 97 points and allowed, on average, six more points than they scored per game. When they lost, they were blown out, never coming within two touchdowns of their opponents. They were, to put it simply, the worst playoff team in NFL history.
To make matters worse, there was some debate about who would even go under center for Seattle as it faced off against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. The Saints had gone 11-5 and bemoaned the fact that they had to travel to wet and rainy Seattle despite winning four more games than Pete Carroll's crew.
The week before, the Seahawks had defeated the Rams with Charlie Whitehurst at the helm while incumbent starter Matt Hasselbeck nursed left wrist and hip injuries. But aside from his ailments, Hasselbeck was in the midst of his worst full-season with Seattle since he became the full-time starter in 2003.
He had thrown just 12 touchdowns to 18 interceptions and barely eclipsed 3,000 yards. His completion percentage was under 60 percent and he was playing hurt.
So when the Saints rolled into town as double-digit favorites against the Seahawks, nobody gave them a chance. Of course, we all know how the game ended. The "Beast Quake" was the official arrival of running back Marshawn Lynch into the pantheon of Seahawks greats and the victory against the Saints was arguably the biggest playoff upset since the merger of the AFL and NFL.
Everybody remembers that game. Yet, they overlook the man who made it all possible: Matt Hasselbeck.
For four quarters, Hasselbeck outdueled future Hall of Famer and all-time great Drew Brees, matching him point for point, taking his squad of rag-tagged troops up and down the field on the seventh-best defense in the NFL. Seattle quickly trailed 10-0, but Hasselbeck answered back with an 11-yard strike to John Carlson.
The Saints quickly answered in return, but Hasselbeck responded with a brilliant rainbow pass to Cameron Morah for 38 yards, then found Carlson again for a seven-yard touchdown. The Saints were reeling and Hasselbeck was dealing.
After a Saints fumble and Seahawks field goal, with the score 17-all and just three minutes until halftime, Hasselbeck dropped a 45-yard dime to Brandon Stokely and the double-digit underdog Seahawks had their first lead of the game.
Then, in his first drive of the second half, Hasselbeck dropped another 38-yard bomb into the arms of Mike Williams and the Seahawks had completed a 20-point swing, now leading 31-20. When all was said and done, Hasselbeck had gone 22-of-35 for 272 yards and dropped four touchdowns on the Saints.
Yet, we all, understandably, focus on Lynch's career-defining moment. But in a game that featured what is arguably the best run in NFL history, we often forget that the best player on the field was actually Matthew Hasselbeck.
Now forever to be immortalized in the Seahawks' Ring of Honor, it's time to remember the greatness of No. 8 and celebrate the time he led his team of Davids to slay the mighty Goliaths and orchestrated the greatest upset in NFL history.
