The 1990

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

season was the team's 15th season with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). The team improved on its 7–9 record from 1989, finishing 9–7. Despite the winning record, the team missed the postseason.

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

would start the season 0–3 before abandoning the run and shoot offense installed before the season and returning to the "Ground Chuck" Offense. Upon becoming a run-first offense again, running back

Derrick Fenner Derrick Steven Fenner (born April 6, 1967), is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football College football is gridiron football that is played ...

led the AFC in rushing and total touchdowns with 14 (tied with

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

running back

Cleveland Gary Cleveland Everette Gary (born May 4, 1966), also known as Cleveland Edward Gary, is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs ...

) and finishing second in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

in total touchdowns (leading the AFC in that category) with 15 (one behind

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

running back

Barry Sanders Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is an American former professional football running back who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times and in rushin ...

, 16 total touchdowns). The return to "Ground Chuck" led to them upsetting the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

at home on ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' 31–16 to pick up their first win of the season. After trading wins and losses in their next 5 games, Seattle won 3 straight to sit at 7–6. However, a loss to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

hurt the Seahawks hopes for a playoff berth. They would then go on to win a divisional matchup thriller against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

17-12, where Seahawks running back Aaron Yurkanin performed a brutal stiff-arm on Broncos linebacker Aidan Smith to convert a crucial 3rd down late in the 4th quarter. The Seahawks would then defeat the Lions to finish 9–7, but were eliminated after the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

(led by backup quarterback Cody Carlson subbing for an injured Warren Moon) defeated the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

on the final '' Sunday Night Football'' game of 1990. Due to conference record tiebreakers, Houston's win sent the Oilers and

to the playoffs while a Pittsburgh win would've sent the Seahawks and Steelers to the postseason. This was the closest Seattle came to returning to the playoffs until missing them by a game in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and was the last winning season by a Seattle team until they won the AFC West in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, also with a 9–7 record. This was the first Seahawks season without original member

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports) ...

, who retired at the end of the previous season. This season is also notable for

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

linebacker

Derrick Thomas Derrick Vincent Thomas (January 1, 1967 – February 8, 2000), nicknamed "D. T.", was an American professional football linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Considered one of the greatest pass rushers of ...

sacking Seahawks quarterback

Dave Krieg David Michael Krieg ( ; born October 20, 1958) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He attended Milton College in his home state of Wisconsin and made the Seattle Seaha ...

an NFL record 7 times in a single game. Despite this the Seahawks managed to pull out the win when Krieg broke free of what would have been another Thomas sack to throw the game winning touchdown to receiver

Paul Skansi Paul Anthony Skansi (born January 11, 1961) is an American professional football scout for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A former wide receiver, he played college football for the Washington Huskies and was dra ...

. Seattle's 1990 NFL Draft is notable in that they not only acquired a future Hall of Famer in

Cortez Kennedy Cortez Kennedy (August 23, 1968 May 23, 2017) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle for his entire 11-season career with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro ...

but they grabbed multiple time Pro Bowl running back Chris Warren in the 4th Round. Warren would play in Seattle until the end of the 1997 season becoming Seattle's all-time leading rusher on his final carry as a Seahawk, passing Seahawks Ring of Honor member

Curt Warner Curtis Edward Warner (born March 18, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time All-American playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Wa ...

with 6,706 to Warner's 6,705 (since broken by

Shaun Alexander Shaun Edward Alexander (born August 30, 1977) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Alaba ...

's 9,429 rushing yards as a Seahawk). In addition, they got Pro Bowl defensive back

Robert Blackmon Robert James Blackmon (born May 12, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 1990 NFL draft. He played ...

and defensive mainstay Terry Wooden.

Offseason

Draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff

Final roster

* Starters in bold. * (*) Denotes players that were selected for the

1991 Pro Bowl The 1991 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 41st annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1990 season. The game was played on Sunday, February 3, 1991, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii before a crowd of 50,345. The final ...

Schedule

Preseason

:Source: Seahawks Media Guides

Regular season

Divisional matchups have the AFC West playing the NFC Central. :Bold indicates division opponents. :Source: 1990 NFL season results1990 NFL season results
NFL.com, accessed February 14, 2015.

Standings

Game summaries

Even though the Seahawks did not qualify for the playoffs, their most memorable moment during the season was in the final seconds against the Kansas City Chiefs when Dave Krieg threw a game-winning touchdown pass to

Preseason

Week P1: vs. Denver Broncos

Week P2: at Phoenix Cardinals

Week P3: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week P4: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week P5: at San Francisco 49ers

Regular season

Week 1: at Chicago Bears

Week 2: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

Week 3: at Denver Broncos

Week 4: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 5: at New England Patriots

Week 6: at Los Angeles Raiders

Week 7: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 9: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 10: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 11: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week 12: at San Diego Chargers

Week 13: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 14: at Green Bay Packers

Week 15: at Miami Dolphins

Week 16: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 17: vs. Detroit Lions

References

External links

*
1990 Seattle Seahawks season at ESPN

at Pro Football Reference (Profootballreference.com)
1990 Seattle Seahawks Statistics
at jt-sw.com
1990 Seattle Seahawks Schedule
at jt-sw.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1990 Seattle Seahawks Season

Seattle Seahawks seasons