How Elite Were They? #45- Dave Krieg’s 12-win 1984 Season

Originally published on Nov. 18, 2024

By Zane Miller

After going undrafted in 1980, quarterback Dave Krieg caught on shortly thereafter as a backup quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks. Krieg began his NFL tenure by backing up starter Jim Zorn, though Krieg would slowly but surely begin getting more playing time over the next handful of seasons. Once Zorn was benched after a poor performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, throwing an interception while completing just one pass for two yards, Krieg took over and did not relinquish the starting job for the rest of the year, leading the Seahawks to a winning record with the sixth-ranked offense in the league. Seattle even went on a surprise deep playoff run, going all the way to the AFC Championship Game, though they were stopped just short of making the Super Bowl after losing to the Los Angeles (now Las Vegas) Raiders 30-14. Still, spirits were high in the Emerald City, and Krieg would lead them on the best season in the franchise’s relatively short existence at the time.

Krieg had himself a hot start to the 1984 season, as the Seahawks shut out the Cleveland Browns 33-0 in the opening game on September 3^rd. With the defense firmly in control of the Browns, Krieg threw for three touchdowns and 179 yards to pick up right where he left off in 1983. He broke the three-touchdown mark again on October 14^th against the Buffalo Bills, this time finding future Hall of Famer Steve Largent for two of the three touchdowns, in addition to the 231 total passing yards. This contest ended up being far more competitive than the one against Cleveland, as the Seahawks squeaked out a 31-28 win to keep Buffalo winless on the season.

After a 300-yard performance against the Green Bay Packers the next week, Krieg passed for three touchdowns and 282 yards in a Monday night game against the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers on October 29^th. Largent was once again his favorite target, catching all three touchdown passes in the Seahawks’ 24-0 victory. The team continued to pile up wins in November, concluding on the 25^th of that month as Seattle took down the equally formidable Denver Broncos squad 27-24 to hand them just their second loss of 1984. Krieg went off for a season-best 406 yards during the game, adding three touchdowns in the process. While this performance was certainly impressive, I wouldn’t say this his was his best game of the season based on what he did just one week later.

On December 2^nd against the Detroit Lions, Krieg wowed the Kingdome faithful with a career-high five touchdown passes (a total he would match two more times during his career) for 294 yards as the Seahawks disposed of Detroit 38-17. This time it was time for rookie wide receiver Daryl Turner to make an impact, as he caught two of those touchdowns, one of which was on a 51-yard bomb. While the last two games did not go Seattle’s way, they still finished with the best regular season in franchise history to that point at 12-4, with Krieg quarterbacking every game along the way.

Krieg ended the 1984 season with 32 touchdown passes, good for second-best in the league in that category, though it would be largely overshadowed by the monster sophomore season put up by Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who ended up with 48 touchdown passes to set a then-NFL record. While Marino also paced the field in passing yards, Krieg was no slouch in that regard either with 3,671 on the year to finish fifth in the league.

Although the Seahawks’ 12-4 record wasn’t enough to take the AFC West title away from the Broncos at 13-3, they would have a shot at revenge in the first round of the playoffs against the reigning Super Bowl champion Raiders. On December 22^nd, the picture appeared grim as Krieg struggled to complete passes despite being in the friendly indoor confines of the Kingdome. Even with the many faults of the passing game on this afternoon, Krieg still found Turner for a 26-yard score to give Seattle a 7-0 lead at halftime. Although Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett was able to move the ball more effectively, he would throw a costly interception to allow the Seahawks to further extend their lead. With the passing offense sputtering, Seahawks running back Dan Doornink would be the one to pound the rock, eventually finishing with 126 rushing yards as Seattle held on to win 13-7. Krieg managed just 70 total passing yards and a touchdown, while Plunkett also had his struggles with 184 passing yards and a touchdown, albeit with two interceptions. Seahawks defensive end Jacob Green recorded two and a half sacks, dedicating the game to his late father who had passed away shortly before the playoffs began.

In the second round, Krieg and company would have to take on the number one quarterback in the country in hostile territory, as they headed to Miami to take on Marino and the Dolphins. While the Seahawks were able to keep pace with the high-powered south Florida offense, trailing 14-10 at halftime, the Dolphins pulled away thanks to a second-half shutout and a pair of Marino touchdowns. The Dolphins moved on to the AFC Championship Game with a 31-10 win, with Marino compiling three touchdown passes and 262 passing yards while Krieg improved over the previous game with a touchdown and 234 passing yards in the loss.

Krieg remained the Seahawks’ starting quarterback for the rest of the 1980s, though he wasn’t quite able to repeat the same level of success from the ’83 and ’84 seasons. Still, there were plenty of highlights to be found during the Krieg era in Seattle, including a 10-6 season in 1986 and a first-round playoff victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in 1988. However, after a thumb injury and inconsistent play from Krieg in 1991, the Seahawks opted to move on from their longtime signal caller for 1992. Instead, Krieg joined the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, where he helped lead the team to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth while the Seahawks finished dead last in the standings for the first and only time in team history. Despite this, Krieg and the Chiefs would be eliminated in the first round, leading to the team bringing in future Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana despite him not having started a game in two seasons due to injury. The gamble paid off for the Chiefs as Montana nearly led the team to a Super Bowl appearance, though Krieg made his first appearance in the AFC Championship Game in 10 years after Montana was forced to exit the game with a concussion. No underdog heroics would transpire, however, as the Bills still defeated Kansas City in convincing fashion.

Krieg left for the Detroit Lions the next season to back up Scott Mitchell, though he would again get another opportunity to start after Mitchell went down with a season-ending injury near the midway point of the year. Unfortunately, in what would be Krieg’s final postseason appearance, the Lions would be knocked out in the first round by the Packers. After an ill-fated 1995 season with the Arizona Cardinals which is better left undiscussed, Krieg would have his final shot as a starter in 1996 with the Chicago Bears after an injury to planned starter and eventual one-year wonder Erik Kramer. Although Krieg played relatively well given the circumstances, Chicago came up short of making the playoffs with a 7-9 record. Despite needing just two more wins to join the select few NFL quarterbacks with 100 career wins, Krieg would get very little playing time after joining the Tennessee Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) as a second-stringer in 1997 and 1998. At the age of 40, Krieg announced his retirement after the 1998 season, ending his career with 98 career wins, 261 passing touchdowns and 38,147 passing yards.

After a brief stint as a color commentator for NFL on Fox for the 2001 season, Krieg then became a part-owner of the Green Bay Blizzard of Arena Football 2 (the then-developmental league for the Arena Football League) in 2008. The Blizzard won the Midwest Division title that year before falling to the Manchester Wolves in the second round of the playoffs, then improved to reach the American Conference title game in 2009 but lost to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. Sadly, the league would fold after the 2009 season.