A Pittsburgh Steelers-Seattle Seahawks matchup in Super Bowl XL very clearly holds a special place in Steelers lore, thanks to the 21-10 win that day, giving head coach Bill Cowher that elusive Super Bowl title while giving the franchise its fifth ever.
It was a special day in Detroit, but another Steelers-Seahawks matchup, this time in Pittsburgh at then-Heinz Field often gets overlooked. It was one of the greatest displays of dominance from the Steelers’ vaunted defense of that era, but it goes relatively forgotten in Pittsburgh history.
That would be the October 7, 2007 matchup between the Steelers and Seahawks at Heinz Field in Week 5 of the 2007 season, a rematch of Super Bowl XL with a number of the key faces from the title game matchup still around for both teams.
For two years, Pittsburgh had to hear about how the refs helped them win that Super Bowl over Seattle.
In Week 5 of the 2007 season, Pittsburgh made sure to shut up that noise for good, turning in a dominant display on both sides of the football on an 80-degree October day on the North Shore.
Throughout the first quarter the two teams really couldn’t get much of anything going. Pittsburgh’s offense couldn’t get into gear, gaining just 26 yards on its first three drives before putting together a 9-play, 39-yard drive that ultimately resulted in a punt early in the second quarter.
Seattle’s offense was much of the same as Pittsburgh’s, gaining just 41 yards on its first three drive before being held to just six yards on its next two drives. It wasn’t without Seattle trying everything in the book, too.
Early in the second quarter needing a spark, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tried to air out the football going deep down the right sideline into the end zone for wide receiver Ben Obomanu, but standout Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor was there to break up the pass, keeping the game scoreless.
Two plays later, linebacker James Farrior sacked Hasselbeck on third down, forcing a punt on a drive that started at the Steelers’ 46-yard line.
Things remained rather quiet in a defensive battle until late in the second quarter, thanks to a spark from veteran Steelers running back Najeh Davenport.
In his second season with the Steelers, Davenport took on a larger role behind running back Willie Parker and really provided the Steelers with great balance in the run game.
Though he wasn’t an explosive runner overall, he got the offense in gear with a well-executed 45-yard run, breaking a trio of tackles on the draw play before cutting back across the field to race down the left sideline for the 45-yard gain. The explosive run set the tone by Davenport, who helped lead the Steelers to the win.
Following Davenport’s big run, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger connected with trusty tight end Heath Miller on a 13-yard strike over the middle, giving Pittsburgh the 7-0 lead at the two-minute warning.
Seattle attempted to respond late in the first half as Hasselbeck hooked up with Obomanu for 30 yards and tight end Marcus Pollard for 22 yards, but Ike Taylor stepped in front of an ill-advised throw near the goal line from Hasselbeck for Obomanu for the interception, setting the teams into the half with Pittsburgh in front 7-0.
Coming out of the break, the Steelers took over, asserting dominance offensively against the Seahawks, marching down the field methodically on the ground and through the air.
Parker kicked off the drive with gains of 8 and 11 yards on the ground, and then Roethlisberger hit wide receiver Cedrick Wilson for gains of 15, 11 and 17 yards, along with Miller for 13 yards. Parker then seemed to cap off the long drive with a 19-yard run around left tackle, but he was ruled out of bounds at the 1-yard line, setting up Davenport’s 1-yard plunge, giving Pittsburgh a 14-0 lead off of a 17-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 10:17 of the third quarter.
After gassing the Seattle defense, Pittsburgh’s defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back to the offense. Thirteen plays and 85 yards later it was 21-0 Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger hit Miller for a gain of 10, found Wilson for a gain of 18, and then hit Davenport on a third and three out of the backfield for 17 yards after Davenport stepped through a tackle to move the chains. Parker then gained 9 and 5 yards on the ground before Pittsburgh turned to Davenport again.
This time, Davenport took the toss off right tackle and followed right tackle Willie Colon and Miller into the end zone from 5 yards out, capping off the drive.
With a comfortable 21-0 lead in hand, the Steelers turned to its star-studded defense to put the game away.
They did just that.
Pittsburgh’s defense forced three straight three-and-outs from Seattle to finish off the game, with Farrior and the late Clark Haggans finishing it of with a sack of backup quarterback Seneca Wallace late in the fourth quarter before Charlie Batch kneeled the ball twice to seal the win in the Super Bowl rematch.
Roethlisberger finished 18-of-22 passing for 206 yards and a touchdown, while Parker rushed for 102 yards on 28 carries in the win. Davenport added 58 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries and chipped in with four receptions for 38 yards. Cedrick Wilson led Pittsburgh with five catches for 69 yards, while Miller added four catches for 44 yards and the touchdown.
Defensively, Pittsburgh held the Seahawks to just 149 yards of total offense in the win, which was a rather dominant display.
Pittsburgh sacked Hasselbeck twice with Farrior recording two and Haggans and safety Tyrone Carter recording half a sack each. Outside linebacker James Harrison led the Steelers with seven tackles on the day, while seven players recorded five or more tackles in a well-balanced performance defensively.
For Seattle, Hasselbeck finished 13-of-27 passing for just 116 yards and the interception, while star running back Shaun Alexander added 11 carries for just 25 yards. Obomanu led the way through the air with two catches for 38 yards. Defensively, linebacker Julian Peterson led Seattle with 10 tackles and a sack, while safety Deon Grant added nine tackles.
Pittsburgh moved to 4-1 on the year, while Seattle fell to 3-2. The Steelers went on to finish 10-6 on the year, but lost in the Wild Card round at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-29. Seattle also finished 10-6 on the year and reached the NFC Divisional Round after defeating Washington 35-14 in the Wild Card. The Seahawks came up short against Green Bay in the Divisional Round though, 42-20.
