"BeastQuake"

2010 NFC Wild Card Playoff

While Richard Sherman's tip and Jermaine Kearse's overtime catch are massive plays in part because they sent the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, what might be the greatest play in franchise history, from a sheer degree-of-difficulty standpoint, came earlier in the Carroll/Schneider era.

When the Seahawks won the NFC West in 2010 with a 7-9 record, they came into the playoffs as more of a punchline than a serious contender, and few people outside of Seattle's locker room expected them to have a chance against the New Orleans Saints, who were the defending Super Bowl champions.

But when the game got underway, the Seahawks looked like anything but a pushover, with Matt Hasselbeck matching Drew Brees big throw for big throw as the Seahawks not only hung in with the defending champs, but took a lead late in the second quarter that they would never lose.

Hasselbeck threw for four touchdowns in what wound up being his final game at CenturyLink Field, but ultimately his big game was overshadowed by one play made by Marshawn Lynch late in the game.

Clinging to a 4-point lead, the Seahawks got the ball back with 4 minutes, 20 seconds left on the clock looking to keep the ball out of Brees' hands. Not surprisingly, the Seahawks put the ball in Lynch's hands, and the first play of the drive was an unremarkable run for no gain.

On second-and-10, the Seahawks called Lynch's number again, and, well, we’ll let him take it from here.

"We get into the huddle, and they call 17 power, I was like, 'oh my god, I've been trying to get in power for so long,'" Lynch told NFL Films years after the play. "With power, we're running straight downhill. You know where we're coming, and we know y'all are going to be lined up at, now you've just got to stop it. I'm saying I'm better than you."

When Lynch took the handoff, it looked like he might again be stopped for little to no gain, but then something magical started to unfold. Saints defender after Saints defender slid off of Lynch or were sent flying by stiff arms, and somehow, improbably, Lynch found himself diving into the end zone for a touchdown that all but secured the victory while also causing seismic activity that was detected by seismometers in the area.

The play needs to be seen, repeatedly, to be believed, but almost as entertaining is hearing Lynch describe the run to NFL Films: "I see the guard come around, and in my head I'm thinking backside A gap, but for some reason, it carried me to the front side. Bounced off the first tackle like, 'Uh-oh, might be trouble.' Split between (Chris) Spencer's block, coming off of (Darren) Sharper, he grabbed at my foot, I stayed up, I said, 'Uh-oh, it might be trouble.' Cover the ball with two hands, one of my old teammates, Jabari Greer came over the top, he slid off me; it's a good run now, but I'm like, 'Uh-oh, it might be trouble.' Tracy Porter came up, I gave him a little stiff arm, I stayed on my feet. We almost was running at top speed, so any kind of shove right there would throw a man off course. It was just a little baby stiff arm. A little baby stiff arm. (Alex Brown) came from behind, I took a little quick peek at him, gave him a little stiff arm, still didn't go down, 'Uh-oh, I know it's trouble.' Then next thing I know, Tyler (Polumbus) shot in front of me to go make a block on (Roman) Harper, dive into the end zone, touchdown. At the time I'm just thinking like, 'What the hell just happened? Did this really just happen?'"

It really happened, and it was instantly thrown into the conversation for being the best run in NFL history.