The 2015 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 40th in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixth under head coach Pete Carroll.
The Seahawks started the season 2–4, after blowing a number of fourth quarter leads, but they then proceeded to win eight of their last ten games, finishing the season 10–6 and clinching the #6 seed in the NFC playoffs. This marked the fourth consecutive season in which the Seahawks secured double digit wins. However, after a Week 10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Seahawks failed to improve on their 12–4 record from 2014. Additionally, the Seahawks failed to win their third consecutive NFC West title after the Cardinals' Week 15 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. During their winning streak, the team clinched a playoff spot with a Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns. In a five-game winning streak between Weeks 10 and 15, quarterback Russell Wilson posted a passer rating of over 120 in each game, the longest such streak in league history. Wilson led the NFL in passer rating for the season.
The Seahawks defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round after the Vikings blew a potential game-winning field goal attempt. In the Divisional round, the Seahawks fell behind 31–0 to the Carolina Panthers at halftime and ultimately lost 31–24, ending their hopes of becoming the first team since the 1990–1993 Buffalo Bills to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls.
This season marked the fourth year in a row that Seattle's defense ranked first in scoring defense. The only other team to accomplish this feat were the Cleveland Browns of the 1950s.
2015 draft class
2015 Seattle Seahawks draft Round Selection Player Position College 2 63 Frank Clark DE Michigan 3 69 Tyler Lockett WR Kansas State 4 130 Terry Poole OT San Diego State Mark Glowinski G West Virginia 5 Tye Smith CB Towson 6 Obum Gwacham DE Oregon State Kristjan Sokoli G Buffalo 7 248 Ryan Murphy CB Oregon State Compensatory selection Draft trades The Seahawks traded their first-round selection (No. 31 overall) and center Max Unger to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for the Saints' fourth-round selection (No. 112 overall) and tight end Jimmy Graham. The Seahawks acquired an additional sixth-round selection (No. 181 overall) in a trade that sent wide receiver Percy Harvin to the Jets. The Seahawks traded their original sixth-round selection (No. 207 overall) to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for cornerback Marcus Burley. The Seahawks traded their third-round selection (No. 95 overall), fourth-round selection acquired from the Saints (No. 112 overall), fifth-round selection (No. 167 overall), and sixth-round selection acquired from the Jets (No. 181 overall) for the Washington Redskins' third-round selection (No. 69 overall), used to draft wide receiver Tyler Lockett.
Personnel Staff / Coaches
Final roster
Starters in bold. (*) Denotes players that were selected for the 2016 Pro Bowl.
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Denver Broncos L 20–22 0–1 CenturyLink Field Recap 2 at Kansas City Chiefs L 13–14 0–2 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 3 at San Diego Chargers W 16–15 1–2 Qualcomm Stadium Recap 4 Oakland Raiders W 31–21 2–2 CenturyLink Field Recap
Regular season Divisional matchups: the NFC West played the NFC North and the AFC North.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 13 at St. Louis Rams L 31–34 0–1 Edward Jones Dome Recap 2 September 20 at Green Bay Packers L 17–27 0–2 Lambeau Field Recap 3 September 27 Chicago Bears W 26–0 1–2 CenturyLink Field Recap 4 Detroit Lions W 13–10 2–2 CenturyLink Field Recap 5 October 11 at Cincinnati Bengals L 24–27 2–3 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 6 October 18 Carolina Panthers L 23–27 2–4 CenturyLink Field Recap 7 at San Francisco 49ers W 20–3 3–4 Levi's Stadium Recap 8 November 1 at Dallas Cowboys W 13–12 4–4 AT&T Stadium Recap 9Bye 10 November 15 Arizona Cardinals L 32–39 4–5 CenturyLink Field Recap 11 November 22 San Francisco 49ers W 29–13 5–5 CenturyLink Field Recap 12 November 29 Pittsburgh Steelers W 39–30 6–5 CenturyLink Field Recap 13 December 6 at Minnesota Vikings W 38–7 7–5 TCF Bank Stadium Recap 14 December 13 at Baltimore Ravens W 35–6 8–5 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 15 December 20 Cleveland Browns W 30–13 9–5 CenturyLink Field Recap 16 December 27 St. Louis Rams L 17–23 9–6 CenturyLink Field Recap 17 January 3, 2016 at Arizona Cardinals W 36–6 10–6 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Postseason
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild Card January 10, 2016 at Minnesota Vikings (3) W 10–9 1–0 TCF Bank Stadium Recap Divisional January 17, 2016 at Carolina Panthers (1) L 24–31 1–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap
Game summaries
Regular season
Week 1: at St. Louis Rams
The Seahawks opened the season in St. Louis to take on the Rams. In the first quarter, rookie Tyler Lockett returned a punt for 57 yards for a touchdown to give the Seahawks the game's first points. Jimmy Graham made his Seahawks debut, catching a pass for 7 yards for a touchdown, as the Seahawks were now trailing the Rams, 24–21, in the 3rd quarter. However, without safety Kam Chancellor, Seattle's defense struggled all game. The loss of their defensive captain was too steep to overcome as they would go on to lose in overtime, 34–31, after Greg Zuerlein hit a 37-yard field goal with 12:06 remaining.
With the loss, the Seahawks dropped to 0–1.
Week 2: at Green Bay Packers
After a tough opening loss to the St. Louis Rams, the Seahawks traveled to Green Bay to take on the Packers. The Packers struck first blood, scoring the game's first 10 points. Then, the Seahawks and Packers traded field goals, and the Packers led 13–3 at halftime. The Seahawks scored two unanswered touchdowns to take a 17–13 lead in the third quarter. However, the Packers proceeded to score the final 14 points of the game and won, 27–17, sending the Seahawks to their second consecutive loss of the young season.
With the loss, the Seahawks dropped to 0–2. It was the first double digit loss for the Seahawks in the Wilson era and tied their largest loss since Week 9 of the 2011 season, when they lost by 10 points to the Dallas Cowboys.
Week 3: vs. Chicago Bears
After playing (and losing) their first two games of the season on the road, the Seahawks went home to face the winless Chicago Bears, hoping to avoid an 0–3 start. The game saw the return of Kam Chancellor after his holdout. Marshawn Lynch, for the most part, was not a factor, and he finished with just five carries. He left the game with a pulled hamstring. The Seahawks got a boost from their special teams. Tyler Lockett returned the second half kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown to give Seattle a 13–0 lead. Also, Richard Sherman was used as a punt returner and returned it for 67 yards. In the end, the Seahawks dominated the Bears, 26–0, thereby avoiding an 0–3 start.
With the win, the Seahawks earned their first win of the season and improved to 1–2.
Week 4: vs. Detroit Lions
After easily defeating the Bears, the Seahawks remained at home to face the winless Detroit Lions. The Seahawks led 13–3 heading into the 4th quarter. Wilson was sacked and fumbled, and the Lions defense ran it back for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 13–10. After the Seahawks' offense had a 3 and out, the Lions had the ball at their 10-yard line. They reached the red zone a few minutes later. On 3rd and 1, Stafford completed a pass to Calvin Johnson, who reached the Seahawks' 1 yard line and attempted to reach out and score the go ahead touchdown. As Johnson was brought down, Kam Chancellor stripped the ball from him. K.J. Wright then knocked the ball out of the back of the end zone. The referees ruled it a touchback, giving the Seahawks the ball back on their 20-yard line. The Seahawks ran two plays, forcing the Lions to burn their timeouts. On 3rd and 2, Wilson completed a pass to Kearse, gaining the first down. With no timeouts remaining, the Seahawks kneeled, ran out the clock, and ended the game, winning 13–10. As a result, the Lions dropped to 0–4. Wright's bat play caused controversy afterwards. Minutes after the game ended, the NFL VP of officiating ruled that Wright illegally batted the ball out of the back of endzone. Had the call been made, a penalty would have been assessed that gave the Lions a 1st down at the spot of the fumble, plus half the distance to the goal (6–inch line). The officiating crew was heavily criticized by analysts, fans, and players following the missed call. Several comparisons were immediately made to the Seahawks' controversial victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 3 of the 2012 season, which also happened on Monday Night Football. In the postgame press conference, Carroll admitted that Wright intentionally batted the ball out of the back of the endzone, and Wright confirmed it. Chancellor said that he did not see the controversial play.
The Seahawks improved to 2–2.
Week 5: at Cincinnati Bengals
After defeating the Bears and Lions (both winless teams) at home to get to .500, the Seahawks traveled to Cincinnati to take on the 4–0 Bengals. In the 3rd quarter, a 23-yard fumble returned for a touchdown by Bobby Wagner allowed the Seahawks to take a commanding 24–7 lead. The Seahawks, however, allowed the Bengals to score the final 20 points of the game, capped by Bengals kicker Mike Nugent kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime. It's the first time since 2004 that the Seahawks blew a 17–point lead. During that stretch, they were 71–0 when holding a 17–point lead.
With the loss, the Seahawks dropped to 2–3. Additionally, they dropped to 0–2 in overtime games (losing both by game–winning field goals).
Week 6: vs. Carolina Panthers
After losing a heartbreaker in Cincinnati to the Bengals, the Seahawks returned home to face their second undefeated team in a row, the 4–0 Carolina Panthers. With 11:51 remaining in the 4th quarter, the Seahawks led the Panthers, 23–14. However, for the fourth time this season, the Seahawks failed to win while holding a 4th quarter lead. The Panthers went on to score the final 13 points of the game, winning 27–23. The Seahawks lost only their third home game since the team drafted Wilson (28–3 home record), having lost to the Cardinals in Week 16 of the 2013 season and the Cowboys in Week 6 of the 2014 season.
With the loss, the Seahawks dropped to 2–4.
Up to this point, they were in 3rd place in the NFC West (due to tiebreakers).
Week 7: at San Francisco 49ers
After blowing four 4th quarter leads and only winning against two teams with losing records, the Seahawks traveled to Santa Clara to take on the 49ers. The Seahawks easily defeated their former arch-rivals, 20–3. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch compiled 122 rushing yards and 1 rushing touchdown on 27 carries. 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick struggled once again against the vaunted Legion of Boom, going 13-24 with 124 passing yards, 0 passing touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was efficient again, completing 18 passes out of 24 attempts for 235 passing yards with 1 passing touchdown and 2 interceptions.
With the win, the Seahawks improved to 3–4. Additionally, Wilson improved to 6–2 against the 49ers (including postseason), extending his winning streak against them to four games.
Week 8: at Dallas Cowboys
After dominating the 49ers in California, the Seahawks traveled to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. Seattle's only touchdown was a 22-yard pass from Russell Wilson to Luke Willson to give Seattle a 10–3 lead. Late in the second quarter, Ricardo Lockette left the game with an apparent injury after taking a brutal hit by Jeff Heath. Steven Hauschka hit the game-winning field goal for the 13–12 Seahawks' victory.