What If... the Seahawks Lost the 2010 NFC West Title Game?

Hindsight is 20/20, but every NFL franchise has made regrettable decisions over the years they’d love to go back in time and remedy. In a 10-part series, the Seahawk Maven staff will take a closer look at some of the biggest “What If?” scenarios in Seahawks history and investigate how things could’ve played out in an alternate universe.

As arguably the most memorable play in franchise history - and one of the NFL's greatest runs in history - it's difficult to fathom a world without Marshawn Lynch's "Beast Quake" run in the Seahawks stunning upset of the Saints in the 2010 Wild Card round. But Lynch's heroics nearly didn't happen.

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Just one week earlier, Seattle sat in second place in the putrid NFC West with a 6-9 record, trailing the equally inept 7-8 St. Louis Rams, who were set to travel to then-Qwest Field for a Week 17 division title bout. Behind them, San Francisco had a 5-10 record and finally was eliminated from contention.

Instead of long-time starter Matt Hasselbeck under center, who was battling through an injury, the Seahawks would have to try to wrestle the division away from the Rams with journeyman quarterback Charlie Whitehurst leading the offense. "Clipboard Jesus," as many fans called him, had struggled mightily in a spot start earlier in the season while throwing two picks in a 41-7 loss to the Giants.

Miraculously, Whitehurst played composed football in his second spot start in place of Hasselbeck, completing 22 of 36 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown to receiver Mike Williams in the opening minutes of the game. Seattle held off St. Louis for a 16-6 victory, improving to 7-9 to win the NFC West at under .500.

Everyone knows what happened the next week. Hasselbeck returned to the lineup and turned in a vintage performance with four touchdown passes, Lynch carved out his place in NFL lore by breaking a million tackles and causing an earthquake in the process, and the Seahawks sent the defending champion Saints home packing.

But what if Whitehurst didn't play quality, turnover-free ball to put away the Rams in Week 17? How differently would the future have looked for coach Pete Carroll's squad if they managed to lose their home finale?

Even after winning a playoff game, the Seahawks were quick to move on from Hasselbeck following the 2010 season, turning the offense over to Tarvaris Jackson and Whitehurst to compete for the starting job. But the team easily could have selected a quarterback in the first round with far higher positioning after winning just six games.

There was a log jam of 6-10 teams during the 2010 campaign, so the Seahawks would've picked between No. 7 and No. 13 if they dropped the last game. Carroll and general manager John Schneider wouldn't have had a shot at Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, but Washington's Jake Locker, Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, and Florida State's Christian Ponder all had first round buzz heading into the draft.

Would Schneider have pulled the trigger on one of those three quarterbacks? There's no guarantee the organization would've fallen in love with any of those prospects, though keeping Locker in the Pacific Northwest would have generated plenty of applause from the fan base.

10 years later, none of those quarterbacks proved to be anything special and two of them were out of the league by 2015. But being drafted by the right team can make all the difference and maybe whoever they selected would have found far greater success in Seattle. Who knows?

If the Seahawks decided to go another direction, they could have considered Wisconsin defensive end J.J. Watt, North Carolina defensive end Robert Quinn, Florida center Mike Pouncey, or cornerback Prince Amukamara among others.

Knowing Schneider, he also could have traded down once (or more) to recoup middle round picks in an effort to accelerate Seattle's rebuilding efforts.

There's plenty of hypotheticals to consider here. Drafting a quarterback wouldn't have completely ruled out the chance of Russell Wilson coming to Seattle the following year. It would have made it highly, highly unlikely, however.

But imagine if the Seahawks used their first round pick on an eventual superstar like Watt and still landed K.J. Wright and Richard Sherman in later rounds. Picture the "Legion of Boom" defense with Watt at defensive end as the team began its ascent towards Super Bowl contention.

Regardless, there would have been an incredible ripple effect - for better or for worse - on Seattle's roster based on one game having a different result. There may not be a Lombardi Trophy in Seattle, but there also might be more than one depending on how Schneider handled his draft capital.

We will never know, but it's fun to ponder about such scenarios. Unless, of course, you start imaging Ponder as the Seahawks starting quarterback in 2011 and based on what we know now, that might make you a bit uneasy.