Quarterback Patrick Mahomes brings his 5-0 Chiefs to Seattle on Sunday. (Tribune News Service)
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes brings his 5-0 Chiefs to Seattle on Sunday. (Tribune News Service)
Patrick Mahomes isn’t the only member of his family to play against a team in Seattle.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is the son of former major-league pitcher Pat Mahomes, who was credited with the win for the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field in the 2001 regular-season finale that prevented the Mariners from winning an MLB record 117th game, though he faced just one batter to get it. He struck out Mike Cameron to end the eighth inning, and the Rangers scored the winning run in the top of the ninth in a 4-3 victory.
Patrick Mahomes will bring Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and the undefeated Chiefs (5-0) to Seattle for a primetime game Sunday night against the struggling Seahawks (3-3).
That Mahomes – whose three Super Bowl rings and two MVPs all but assure his place in the Hall of Fame – is making a rare appearance in Seattle got us thinking about the history of future Hall of Fame QBs against the Seahawks, especially at the Kingdome or Lumen Field.
Mahomes has played in Seattle only once, late in the 2018 season. That was his second year in the NFL and first as a full-time starter.
In one of the classic shootouts of the Pete Carroll era, Mahomes threw for 273 yards and three TDs with no interceptions only to be bested by the Seahawks. Russell Wilson threw for 271 yards, three TDs and no picks as Seattle won 38-31. Doug Baldwin had seven receptions for 126 yards and a TD in what turned out to be the second-to-last game he played at Lumen Field.
With the way the league’s scheduling formula works, the next time the Chiefs are guaranteed to play in Seattle is 2034, the season Mahomes will turn 39. The Chiefs could play here in 2028 as each team’s 17th game if each team finishes in the same place in their division the previous season. So chances to see Mahomes in person without traveling are rare.
What about other QBs in the Pro Hall of Fame?
There are 30 quarterbacks enshrined. The Seahawks have faced 17 of them in 799 games as a franchise (all records are from Pro Football Reference).
Those QBs have gone 63-43 against the Seahawks in the regular season but just 23-31 in Seattle.The Seahawks have faced a handful sure to get in someday besides Mahomes. Tom Brady went 1-2 against the Seahawks in the regular season and played in Seattle only once, a 24-23 Seahawks win in 2012, the game Richard Sherman famously asked: “You mad, bro?” Brady did beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Aaron Rodgers is 5-6 against the Seahawks in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs.
Here’s how Hall of Fame QBs fared as starters against the Seahawks in order of overall wins:
John Elway (20-9 regular season, 8-6 in Seattle): Elway’s career with Denver from 1983-98 came when the Broncos and Seahawks were AFC West rivals. His 29 starts and 20 wins are the most of any opposing QB against Seattle.
Dan Fouts (9-7, 4-4): As they did with Elway, the Seahawks got a lot of looks at Fouts during the AFC West days with the Chargers. Fouts won his first eight starts against the Seahawks and first four in Seattle before losing seven of his last nine and four straight in Seattle.
Joe Montana (5-1, 2-1): Montana only played the Seahawks twice with the 49ers (wins in 1985 and 1988). He played them four times with the Chiefs starting in 1993. Montana’s only loss was late in 1994 in the final regular-season defeat of his storied career, 10-9 at the Kingdome.
Kurt Warner (5-4, 3-3): Warner split eight games with the Seahawks during his time in Arizona and was 1-0 with the Rams, 37-34 in 2000 at Husky Stadium.
Brett Favre (4-3, 1-2): Favre lost games in Seattle with the Packers (2006) and the Jets (2008 in Mike Holmgren’s final home game as a coach). He went 2-0 against the Seahawks in the playoffs, wins in 2004 and 2008 with the Packers.
Drew Brees (3-2, 1-1): Brees lost to the Seahawks once with the Chargers and went 3-1 with the Saints in the regular season as well as 0-2 in the playoffs, losses in the wild-card round in 2010 (the Beast Quake game) and divisional round in 2013.
Troy Aikman (2-0, 0-0): Aikman never faced the Seahawks in Seattle but beat them twice in Dallas.
Bob Griese (2-0, 0-0): Griese and the Dolphins beat the Seahawks in Miami in 1977 and 1979.
Dan Marino (2-0, 1-0): Marino is the only player on this list to play the Seahawks more in the playoffs than he did the regular season. The Seahawks had a memorable divisional win in Miami in 1983, a Dolphins rout in a rematch a year later and a wild-card win following the 1999 season. That was the final game in the Kingdome and the final win for Marino. He was 2-0 against Seattle in the regular season.
Terry Bradshaw (2-2, 0-2): Bradshaw started in wins in Pittsburgh in 1977 and ’78 and in Steelers losses in Seattle in ’81 and ’82.
Jim Kelly (2-2, 1-2): None of Kelly’s games against the Seahawks came during their run to four straight Super Bowls.
Peyton Manning (2-3, 1-3): Manning played at the Kingdome, Husky Stadium and Lumen Field, winning only at Husky Stadium with the Colts in 2000. Manning went 0-1 against the Seahawks in Super Bowls.
Ken Stabler (2-5, 0-2): In one of the great feats during the Jack Patera era, the Seahawks swept Stabler and the Raiders in 1978 and ’79, the third and fourth seasons for the Seahawks franchise and the last two for Stabler as the QB of the Raiders.
Fran Tarkenton (1-1, 0-1): In Tarkenton’s final season, the Seahawks handed the Vikings a 29-28 loss in one of the first signature wins in the Patera era in 1978.
Roger Staubach (1-0, 1-0): Staubach was the first HOF QB the Seahawks faced in the fourth game in franchise history as he rallied the Cowboys to a 28-13 win.
Warren Moon (1-3, 0-3): Moon is the only quarterback in the Hall who played for the Seahawks (1997-98 at the end of his career). Before that, he faced them four times, losing all three times at the Kingdome with the Oilers and Vikings, beating the Seahawks once in Houston. He also beat the Seahawks in a 1987 wild-card playoff game in Houston, 23-20 in overtime.
Steve Young (0-1, 0-1): Young’s 49ers had already wrapped up the top seed in 1997 when they came to the Kingdome for the regular-season finale and went through the motions in a 38-9 loss in which Young played only two series.