The 1983 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's 8th season with the National Football League (NFL).
The 1983 season was the first season head coach Chuck Knox coached the team. It was also the first season in which the Seahawks made the AFC playoffs, where they won the first two postseason games in franchise history, before losing in the AFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Raiders 30–14. The AFC Championship game against the Raiders would be the only time the Seahawks would appear in the AFC Championship Game, as they failed to appear in one from 1984 to 2001, the rest of their time in the AFC. They would not reach a conference championship again until 2005, when they were in the NFC West. During the offseason, the Seahawks changed the color of the facemasks on their helmets from gray to blue.
Offseason The Seattle Seahawks hired Chuck Knox, a coach capable of creating comebacks for teams. They also modified their uniforms, incorporating striping trim on the jersey collars, and incorprorating the Seahawks logo onto the jersey's sleeves. The TV numbers were moved from the jersey sleeves to the shoulders. The helmet facemasks became blue, and the socks lost their stripes and became all blue. The uniform would remain basically unchanged through the 2001 season.
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1983 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJohn BallFullbackTexas SouthernReggie BazelFullbackTennessee TechDarrell DickeyQuarterbackKansas StateSteve IngallsTackleNorthern Iowa
Personnel
Staff
Final roster
(*) Denotes players that were selected for the 1984 Pro Bowl.
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Recap 1 at Denver Broncos L 7–10 0–1 Mile High Stadium Recap 2 Green Bay Packers W 38–21 1–1 Kingdome Recap 3 Minnesota Vikings L 17–19 1–2 Kingdome Recap 4 at San Francisco 49ers W 20–6 2–2 Candlestick Park Recap
Source: Seahawks Media Guides1983 Seahawks Media Guide, accessed February 14, 2015.1984 Seahawks Media Guide, accessed February 14, 2015.
Regular season Divisional matchups have the AFC West playing the NFC East.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Recap 1 September 4 at Kansas City Chiefs L 13–17 0–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 2 September 11 at New York Jets W 17–10 1–1 Shea Stadium Recap 3 September 18 San Diego Chargers W 34–31 2–1 Kingdome Recap 4 September 25 Washington Redskins L 17–27 2–2 Kingdome Recap 5 October 2 at Cleveland Browns W 24–9 3–2 Cleveland Stadium Recap 6 October 9 at San Diego Chargers L 21–28 3–3 Jack Murphy Stadium Recap 7 October 16 Los Angeles Raiders W 38–36 4–3 Kingdome Recap 8 October 23 Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–27 4–4 Kingdome Recap 9 October 30 at Los Angeles Raiders W 34–21 5–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 10 November 6 Denver Broncos W 27–19 6–4 Kingdome Recap 11 November 13 at St. Louis Cardinals L 28–33 6–5 Busch Stadium Recap 12 November 20 at Denver Broncos L 27–38 6–6 Mile High Stadium Recap 13 November 27 Kansas City Chiefs W 51–48 7–6 Kingdome Recap 14 December 4 Dallas Cowboys L 10–35 7–7 Kingdome Recap 15 December 11 at New York Giants W 17–12 8–7 Giants Stadium Recap 16 December 18 New England Patriots W 24–6 9–7 Kingdome Recap
Bold indicates division opponents. Source: 1983 NFL season results1983 NFL season results, NFL.com, accessed February 14, 2015.
Postseason The Seahawks entered the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, after two close attempts in 1978 and 1979.
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Game site Recap Wild Card Denver Broncos (5) W 31–7 1–0 Kingdome Recap Divisional at Miami Dolphins (2) W 27–20 2–0 Miami Orange Bowl Recap AFC Championship January 8, 1984 at Los Angeles Raiders (1) L 14–30 2–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap
Standings
Game summaries
Preseason
Week P1: at Denver Broncos
Week P2: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week P3: vs. Minnesota Vikings
Week P4: at San Francisco 49ers
Regular season
Week 1: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 2: at New York Jets
Week 3: vs. San Diego Chargers
Week 4: vs. Washington Redskins
Week 5: at Cleveland Browns
Week 6: at San Diego Chargers
Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Raiders
Week 8: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 9: at Los Angeles Raiders
Week 10: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 11: at St. Louis Cardinals
Week 12: at Denver Broncos
Week 13: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Week 14: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 15: at New York Giants
Week 16: vs. New England Patriots
Postseason
Seattle entered the postseason as the #4 seed in the AFC.
AFC Wild Card Playoff: vs. #5 Denver Broncos
AFC Divisional Playoff: at #2 Miami Dolphins
AFC Championship Game: at #1 Los Angeles Raiders
References
External links
1983 Seattle Seahawks season at ESPN 1983 Seattle Seahawks season at Pro Football Reference (pro-football-reference.com) 1983 Seattle Seahawks Statistics at jt-sw.com 1983 Seattle Seahawks Schedule at jt-sw.com