The Seahawks' Historic -7 Yard Meltdown

Published on August 7th, 2025 12:26 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


The 1979 Seattle Seahawks set an NFL record. Not for scoring. Not for defense. For futility.

On November 4, 1979, the Seahawks traveled to Los Angeles to face the Rams. What followed was one of the worst offensive performances in NFL history.

Seattle finished the game with negative seven total yards. Not rushing. Not passing. Total.

That number remains the fewest yards gained by a team in a game since the AFL-NFL merger.

How did it happen?

Seattle started the game without their starting quarterback, Jim Zorn. Backup Steve Myer stepped in and struggled from the start. He completed just 3 of 9 passes for 18 yards. He was also sacked five times for 55 yards in losses.

That alone would've crippled the offense. But it got worse.

Seattle's running game was nonexistent. They finished with 23 rush attempts for 25 yards. Not enough to offset the damage from sacks.

The Rams' defense dominated. Jack Youngblood and Larry Brooks collapsed the pocket all day. Seattle couldn't block. They couldn't escape. They couldn't adapt.

The final score: Rams 24, Seahawks 0. A shutout. A beatdown. A statistical disaster.

Seattle had just one first down the entire game. They punted ten times. They turned the ball over three times. They held the ball for only 22 minutes.

The Rams defense was so dominant that they outgained the Seahawks by 353 yards.

Negative yardage in a modern NFL game is rare. It usually takes a perfect storm of injuries, poor playcalling, elite defense, and panic. The 1979 Seahawks had all of that on full display.

This game is a historical outlier. Since then, many teams have had terrible days. But no one has matched Seattle's minus-seven total yard mark.