The Seattle Seahawks will be trying to once again go above .500, facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team they lost their first Super Bowl again and have also been unable to score against in the two games since then.
On February 5, 2006, the Steelers won their first Super Bowl in almost three decades by beating the Seahawks 21-10. It was a highly controversial game, with one touchdown the Steelers got despite the ball not crossing the end zone, and the Seahawks feeling robbed of another legitimate touchdown of their own. But in the end, the Steelers ended the 2005 season as champions.
Since that game, they’ve played the Seahawks twice. First meeting came in 2007, beating the Seahawks 21-0, holding them to just 8 first downs and just 144 total yards of offense. Ben Roethlisberger completed 18-of-22 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown, while Matt Hasselbeck, now moonlighting for the Indianapolis Colts completed less than 50% of his passes for just 116 yards. Both teams finished the season with a 10-6 record.
Four years later and the NFL schedule brought the two teams together again. The Steelers met a Seahawks team coached by Pete Carroll, but one year shy of being the force they turned out to be. Maybe the fact that they had Tarvaris Jackson for a quarterback made the difference. In any case, that game ended in a 24-0 win for the Steelers, once again holding the Seahawks to just 8 first downs and 164 total yards on offense.
Roethlisberger threw for 298 yards and a touchdown while Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman each ran for a touchdown. That Steelers team was about six months after losing the Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers. The Seahawks finished that season at 7-9, their last losing season and also last one without making the playoffs. The Steelers finished the year 12-4, losing in the Wild Card game to the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow.
This season? The Seahawks come with a long list of offensive problems, but the Steelers defense is no longer what it used to be. Both of those games took place at Heinz Field. This time, in Seattle, there’s a very good chance it’ll be very different.