| 2014 Seattle Seahawks season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Paul Allen |
| General manager | John Schneider |
| Head coach | Pete Carroll |
| Offensive coordinator | Darrell Bevell |
| Defensive coordinator | Dan Quinn |
| Home field | CenturyLink Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 12–4 |
| Division place | 1st NFC West |
| Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Panthers) 31–17 Won NFC Championship (vs. Packers) 28–22 (OT) Lost Super Bowl XLIX (vs. Patriots) 24–28 |
| Pro Bowlers | 6
|
| AP All-Pros | 5
|
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 2014 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 39th in the National Football League (NFL) and their fifth under head coach Pete Carroll. The Seahawks started the season as the defending Super Bowl champions for the first time in franchise history.
The season began with a 36–16 victory over the Green Bay Packers in their first meeting since the controversial Fail Mary Game. After struggling to a 3–3 record, which included a rare home loss to the Dallas Cowboys, they went on a 9–1 run to finish the season, which included a sweep of their division rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, who battled with them the whole season. They repeated as NFC West champions and finished in a three-way tie with the Packers and Cowboys for the NFC's best record, but they earned the No. 1 seed based on intra-conference tiebreaker, securing home-field advantage for the second consecutive season. Not only are they first defending Super Bowl champion to do so since the 1990 San Francisco 49ers, but also the first NFC team to repeat as the No. 1 seed in the conference since the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles, and the first team to do so since the 2013 Denver Broncos.
The Seahawks fielded the #1 rushing attack in the league with Marshawn Lynch finishing the year with 1,306 yards and a league-leading 13 rushing touchdowns. In addition to Lynch, Russell Wilson had one of the most prolific running quarterback seasons ever with a career high 849 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns along with a league-leading 7.2 yards per attempt.
The Seahawks opened the playoffs with a win over the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional round, becoming the first defending champion since the 2005 New England Patriots to win a playoff game the following season. In one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, the Seahawks advanced to Super Bowl XLIX by defeating the Green Bay Packers 28–22 in overtime after trailing 16–0 at halftime and 19–7 with less than three minutes left in regulation. In doing so, they became the first team since the 2004 New England Patriots to repeat as conference champions, the first NFC team since the 1997 Green Bay Packers to repeat as NFC Champions, the first team to go to consecutive Super Bowls as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs since the 1990–1991 Buffalo Bills, and the first NFC team to go to consecutive Super Bowls as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs since the 1982–1983 Washington Redskins. In Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks were defeated by the New England Patriots 28–24, thereby being dethroned[2] and failed to become the first back-to-back champion since the 2004 New England Patriots, as well as the first NFC team to do so since the 1993 Dallas Cowboys. This was also the first time head coach Pete Carroll met his former team, the Patriots, and his successor, Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl, as Carroll was the Patriots head coach from 1997 to 1999, the last head coach before Belichick was hired in 2000.
- ^ Gilbert, John P. (January 10, 2019). "Russell Wilson makes the NFC Pro Bowl squad". FieldGulls.com. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
- ^ "Malcolm Butler's goal-line interception gives Pats Super Bowl XLIX title". ESPN. February 1, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.