The 1979 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's fourth season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). The Seahawks had a winning record for the second consecutive year, matching their 9–7 record from

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. Starting off the season with a 1–4 record, the Seahawks rallied to finish 9–7. Season highlights included a sweep of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

for the second straight year, and winning both of their ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' contests on the road against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and at home against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, where Jim Zorn completed 13 passes in a row in a 30–7 victory. The team also enjoyed their first victory over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

28–23 on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Zorn to Largent in the final minutes. Season lowlights included a 37–34 loss in Denver, after leading 34–10 midway through the 3rd quarter. The

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

shut out the Seattle Seahawks 24–0, holding the Seahawks to −7 yards total offense, and only one first down. The team lost twice to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

, including a 37–21 defeat in week 14 that eliminated Seattle from playoff contention. The team also lost running back

David Sims David Sims is the name of: *David Sims (running back) (born 1955), former American football running back with the Seattle Seahawks * David Sims (safety) (born 1986), American football safety for the Indianapolis Colts *Dave Sims (born 1953), Seattl ...

, who led the AFC in touchdowns in 1978, to a career-ending injury. The 1979 season was the franchise's last winning season until

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

when new coach Chuck Knox led the Seahawks to their first playoff berth and

Championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

appearance.

1979 NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Final roster

* Starters in bold. * (*) Denotes players that were selected for the

1980 Pro Bowl The 1980 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 30th annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1979 season. The game was played on Sunday, January 27, 1980, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii before 48,060 fans. The final score w ...

Schedule

Preseason

:Source: Seahawks Media Guides

Regular season

Divisional matchups have the AFC West playing the NFC West. :Bold indicates division opponents. :Source: 1979 NFL season results

Standings

Game summaries

For the second straight year, the Seahawks missed the playoffs by one game. Season highlights included sweeping the

for the 2nd straight year, and defeating the

for the 1st time in team history in a comeback thriller 28–23 at the Kingdome, and winning the team's first appearance on MNF over the

, 31–28. The team started out 3–5, and had a 6–2 finish. A 37–21 loss to the

in week 14 knocked them out of playoff contention, but rebounded to end their season repeating 1978 at 9–7.

Preseason

Week P1: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week P2: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week P3: at Los Angeles Rams

Week P4: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Regular season

Week 1: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 2: at Miami Dolphins

Week 3: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 4: at Denver Broncos

Week 5: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 6: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 7: at San Diego Chargers

Week 8: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 9: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Rams

With -7 total yards and just one first down, this is the fewest yards the Seahawks have ever gained in one match. It is the most recent – and only since 1970 – occasion when an NFL team has gained just one first down for an entire match,''

Pro Football Reference Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

''
In a single game, from 1970 to 2018, requiring 1st Downs = 1, sorted by ascending Date
/ref> although the Denver Broncos did not gain a single first down in a 1966 game with the Houston Oilers.

Week 11: at Cleveland Browns

Week 12: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 13: vs. New York Jets

Week 14: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 16: at Oakland Raiders

Awards and records

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former football wide receiver and politician who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A member of the Republican Party, he serv ...

, NFL Leader in Receiving Yards, (1,237)

References

External links

Seahawks draft history at NFL.com

1979 NFL season results at NFL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 Seattle Seahawks Season

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Seattle Seahawks seasons