1976-79
The Seahawks had their biggest "win" before ever taking the field for a regular season game. On August 26, 1976 the Seahawks traded an eighth round pick in 1977 to the Houston Oilers for Steve Largent. The franchise's first win came on October 17 when they beat their expansion brethren Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13-10 at Tampa Bay. On November 7 they won their first game at home, 30-13 over the Atlanta Falcons. Those were the lone victories in an inaugural 2-12 season. However, the exciting play of Jim Zorn and Largent served notice of the entertainment to come.
The Seahawks hosted the 1977 Pro Bowl in the Kingdome on January 17, 1977, and a sellout crowd of 63,214 saw the AFC beat the NFC 24-14. It was the first sellout in Pro Bowl history.
In a reversal of the cunning that brought them Largent, the Seahawks traded their first round pick in 1977 to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a first and 3 second round draft picks. Dallas would select Tony Dorsett with the pick obtained from Seattle.
The 1977 season began with four straight losses before Tampa Bay came to town. The Seahawks won "Expansion Bowl II" by a score of 30-23. Two weeks later the season highlight happened on October 30 when quarterback Jim Zorn came back from missing four games with an injury to throw four touchdown passes in a 56-17 win over the Buffalo Bills at the Kingdome. The 1977 Seahawks would finish with a record of 5-9, to establish a then record for wins by a second year franchise.
In 1978, the Seahawks achieved their first winning season with a 9-7 record as WR Steve Largent finished second in the NFL with 1,168 receiving yards, Jack Patera was named NFL Coach of the Year and Jim Zorn was named AFC Player of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Washington, DC. Season highlights included becoming the first team since 1965 to sweep the Raiders (27-7 win at home and a 17-16 win in Oakland).
1979 saw the Seahawks attract a national following after their first Monday Night Football appearance on October 29, 1979. After trailing 14-0 against the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle battled back to win 31-28. A fake field goal pass from Zorn to kicker Efren Herrera led Howard Cosell to exclaim "the Seahawks are giving the nation a lesson in entertaining football!" The good vibe was short-lived, as the next week the Seahawks set an NFL record for the lowest total offense in one game (minus 7 yards) in a 24-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at the Kingdome. The team rebounded from that embarrassment to win 5 of their last 6 games, including a 30-7 victory over the New York Jets on MNF, to finish with a 9-7 record.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Seattle Seahawks