Revisiting the Seahawks Last Victory at Lambeau Field
20 seasons and 7,377 days and counting. That’s not a typo - that's how long it has been since the Seahawks traveled to Green Bay and captured a road victory against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
During that span, Seattle changed conferences, made the playoffs 13 times, witnessed running back Shaun Alexander win the franchise’s first-ever MVP award, and won its first Super Bowl. Three different ex-Seahawks entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, including Kenny Easley in 2017.
The list could go on and on considering it has been two decades since quarterback Jon Kitna led a 27-7 rout over Green Bay on November 1, 1999.
By all accounts, 1999 proved to be a bizarre season for the Seahawks, who hadn’t been to the playoffs in 10 years. Mike Holmgren had just ironically left the Packers to become the franchise’s fifth head coach, hoping his arrival would end a lengthy run of mediocrity.
Starting in 1995, Seattle went 8-8, 7-9, 8-8, and 8-8 over the next four seasons, missing out on the playoffs each time with coach Dennis Erickson at the helm. It was a stretch only Jeff Fisher could truly appreciate.
But the Seahawks opened Holmgren’s tenure with a bang, starting off 4-2 heading into a Week 8 matchup against the Packers, who held the same record at the time.
With Holmgren returning to Lambeau for the first time as a visiting coach after leading Green Bay to a Super Bowl title only three years earlier, the home team was looking to spoil his homecoming on Monday Night Football. But on this particular night, the Seahawks would get the last laugh in a convincing victory.
Neither offense could find traction early, as legendary Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre was picked off by third-year cornerback Shawn Springs and the Seahawks were forced to punt on each of their first two drives. But then Springs opened the scoring in an unconventional way, returning a blocked field goal by Lamar King 61 yards for the game’s first touchdown.
From there, Seattle’s defense frustrated Favre throughout the evening. Aside from a 74-yard touchdown pass to receiver Corey Bradford, he played one of his worst games as a pro, completing just 14 out of 35 passes for 180 yards, throwing four interceptions, and losing a fumble.
Unsatisfied with his special teams touchdown, Springs led the way for a stingy Seahawks defense, picking off Favre twice and registering three passes defensed. Hall of Famer Cortez Kennedy dominated in the trenches, sacking Favre three times and forcing a fumble.
Outdueling Favre, Kitna excelled as a game manager for Seattle’s offense, completing 12 out of 19 passes for 109 yards and throwing two touchdown passes to Derrick Mayes and Sean Dawkins. Veteran running back Ricky Watters also gashed Green Bay on the ground with 125 rushing yards on 31 carries.
The victory improved the Seahawks’ record to 5-2 and Holmgren’s team rattled off three consecutive victories against the Broncos, Bengals, and Chiefs to jump out to an 8-2 start in the AFC West.
Unfortunately, Seattle sputtered down the stretch, losing five of its final six games to fall to 9-7. They still managed to make the postseason for the first and only time in the 90s and won the division, but quickly exited the playoffs after losing 20-17 to Dan Marino and Miami in the wild card round.
Since that commanding 20-point win 20 years ago, the Seahawks have lost their last eight games at Lambeau, including two playoff games in 2004 and 2008. They lost three straight seasons in Green Bay from 2015 to 2017, most recently dropping a 17-9 decision in the 2017 regular season opener.
Gearing up for their first divisional round game in three seasons, quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seahawks hope to end the lengthy drought against the Packers next Sunday.
