In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bowl"

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Todd Pence
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In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bowl"

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In the third week of the 1992 season, Dick MacPherson's Patriots met Tom Flores' Seahawks in Foxboro. At the time, both teams probably didn't realize that they were going to finish the season as the league's two worst teams, although all the signs were there even this early.

You wouldn't expect a game like this to be historically significant, but an argument can be made that the outcome somewhat changed the course of NFL history. When Seahawk DB Patrick Hunter made a game-saving goal line INT to end New England's last drive, it gave the Seahawks a 10-6 win, a fitting score for two of the most pathetic offenses of the decade. At seasons end, this win handed the first draft choice to the Pats, and they used it to select top-rated QB Drew Bledsoe, leaving the Seahawks to settle for Rick Mirer. It initially looked like the Hawks had gotten the better of the deal, as during the following season Mirer took two head-to-head matchups with Bledsoe and had the better rookie season overall. However, Mirer regressed from his promising rookie season and wound up a bust, while Bledsoe blossomed into one of the game's best quarterbacks and took the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXI, before eventually years later losing his job in Wally Pipp-like fashion to a young guy by the name of Tom Brady.

Crucial to the outcome of the 1992 "Stupor Bowl" was a missed extra point by a Patriot kicker named Charlie Baumann. I mention this fact because I once took a journalism class at WVU with Charlie's brother Gary.
Reaser
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

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That was the tiebreaker game, but the "MNF Miracle" against Denver was also important. Led by London Monarchs legend Stan Gelbaugh, who Al Michaels called "Stouffer" on the TD pass to Blades.

Plus of course NE losing in OT to end the season.
rhickok1109
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

Post by rhickok1109 »

Mirer was named AFC Rookie of the Year by UPI.
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

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rhickok1109 wrote:Mirer was named AFC Rookie of the Year by UPI.
Ralph, it's funny to always bring that up to fellow Seahawks fans who have no idea. Get a lot of 'shocked' reactions.

Unrelated, I not only had one Mirer Seahawks jersey that I wore to grade school, I had TWO!
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Todd Pence
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

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Mirer also set a record for passng yards by a rookie quarterback at the time. In 1994, the Seahawks started 3-1, including impressive routs of the Raiders and Steelers, and Mirer was looking every bit like a maturing NFL quarterback. Then, for some reason, the roof fell in on him.
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Todd Pence
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

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Oddity about the Seahawks-Patriots rivalry: from 1980-1993, the two teams met each other twelve times in those fourteen years. But they never played again in the eight following years they both shared a conference, and their next meeting was 2004, post-realignment, after Seattle defected to the NFC.
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

Post by Gary Najman »

Reaser wrote:
rhickok1109 wrote:Mirer was named AFC Rookie of the Year by UPI.
Ralph, it's funny to always bring that up to fellow Seahawks fans who have no idea. Get a lot of 'shocked' reactions.

Unrelated, I not only had one Mirer Seahawks jersey that I wore to grade school, I had TWO!

Of all of Chris Berman's football nicknames, Rick "no time to wallow in the" Mirer was my favorite (taken from The Doors song "Light My Fire") because he coined it while Mirer was still at Notre Dame and it eventually symbolized his entire career.
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IvanNYC
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

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Todd Pence wrote:Oddity about the Seahawks-Patriots rivalry: from 1980-1993, the two teams met each other twelve times in those fourteen years. But they never played again in the eight following years they both shared a conference, and their next meeting was 2004, post-realignment, after Seattle defected to the NFC.
I had made mention last week of how pre-2002 NFL scheduling formulas affected how often and where the Patriots and Seahawks met:

https://twitter.com/ivan_urena1/status/ ... 4622694400

Also, both teams played six straight times at New England from 1986-1993 Week 3, before meeting at Seattle in '93 Week 8 (the last regular season meeting between the clubs prior to realignment in 2002).
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Hail Casares
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

Post by Hail Casares »

Why did New England and Seattle meet twice in 1993? Seems odd.

Also in the 2nd 1993 matchup Scott Secules played for an injured Bledsoe.
Last edited by Hail Casares on Mon Feb 02, 2015 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hail Casares
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Re: In 1992, it was the Pats and Seahawks in the "Stupor Bow

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Todd Pence wrote:Mirer also set a record for passng yards by a rookie quarterback at the time. In 1994, the Seahawks started 3-1, including impressive routs of the Raiders and Steelers, and Mirer was looking every bit like a maturing NFL quarterback. Then, for some reason, the roof fell in on him.
Mirer's 1994 wasn't horrible either. He improved from 1993 in some ways. 1995 was an embarrassment and before 1996 he was shipped to Chicago.
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