They liked to score

Tailback Curt Warner resists a facemask, stiffarms Raider lineman Greg Townsend

Trivia question: What three Seahawks have finished one or more seasons leading the NFL in scoring rushing and/or receiving touchdowns?

Two of them should be fairly obvious.

Last year, Marshawn Lynch led the league with 17 touchdowns.

Shaun Alexander did it twice. He scored 20 touchdowns in 2004, and then topped that with 28 in 2005, setting an all-time record... until LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers scored 31 in 2006. (Very few players have even approached LT or Alexander's records since then.)

So, who was the third Seahawk to lead the league in touchdowns?

Steve Largent? No. No Seattle receiver has ever come close.

Curt Warner? Good guess, but wrong. I put his picture up there as a distractor.

Chris Warren? Not bad. He scored 16 touchdowns in 1995, but Emmitt Smith had 25 that year.

Ricky Watters? Nope.

John L. Williams? Dude was a very bad man, but fullbacks rarely achieve such records.

Ahmad Brooks? No cigar.

Sherman Smith? Getting warmer.

The answer is David Sims, with 14 touchdowns in 1978. Sims was one of the few fullbacks in the Super Bowl era to have managed the feat.

His record did not reflect a shortage of quality running backs. To win his scoring title, Sims bested luminaries like Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, Franco Harris and Tony Dorsett.

David Sims, Seahawk fullback, 1977-79

Seattle took Sims in the seventh round out of Georgia Tech in 1977. As a rookie, he normally blocked for halfback Sherman Smith, who gained more than twice as many total yards (1,182) as Sims (545) on nearly twice as many catches and carries (193 touches for Smith vs. 111 for Sims). Somehow, though, the rookie scored eight touchdowns to six for the veteran. Clearly the kid had a nose for the end zone, especially in short-yardage situations.

Four times as a rookie, he attempted a pass on trick plays. He completed just one of them--a 43-yard touchdown to Steve Largent.

In 1978, Smith and Sims comprised an impressive one-two punch:

Sims, a fullback, actually logged more carries (174) than Smith (163), and Sims rushed for nearly as many yards (752 vs. 805 for the halfback).

Sims also caught more balls (30) than Smith (28), though the halfback earned more yards (366) on fewer catches than the fullback (195).

Sims scored more than twice as many touchdowns (15) as Smith (7). Fourteen of his touchdowns came on the ground, but not all of them were dives. He could plow through you like a prototypical fullback or run past you like a halfback, as he did on 44-yard touchdown sprint against the Baltimore Colts.

Smith and Sims combined for 2,118 yards and 22 touchdowns, which was better than Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier of the Steelers, who won the Super Bowl that season.

Sims carrying the ball in a loss to Miami

The two Seahawk backs also outperformed Earl Campbell and Tim Wilson of the Oilers that year, and Houston advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

Tony Dorsett and Robert Newhouse gained more yards, but scored less than the Seahawk duo; Dallas lost the Super Bowl.

Walter Payton and Roland Harper also accumulated more yards, but visited the end zone less often; Chicago went 7-9 and missed the playoffs.

Thanks in large part to this robust rushing attack, Seattle had its first winning season (9-7) and Jack Patera won AFC Coach of the Year, even though the Seahawks failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Sims got injured early in the 1979 season. Medical exams diagnosed him with "congenital stenosis... an abnormal narrowing of the canal housing the spinal cord," which "made him susceptible to serious injury if hit on the head." Of course, this forced him to retire immediately.

Happy Belated Birthday to my man David Sims (born October 26, 1955).


Told 'Em So

I've been saying since May that Seattle should split out Jimmy Graham wide and avoid lining him up as a traditional tight end because he is unable or unwilling to block. ESPN notes that the Golden Graham is putting up good numbers when split wide.

I've been arguing since September that lining up in read-option sets is a good way to compensate for our subpar offensive line. ESPN confirms that our running backs gain more yards per carry out of the read-option than when Russell Wilson starts under center.

More Mudbone

If, like me, you can't get enough Dave Krieg, then check out this post by my man JB, a prolific and popular RPG blogger who is also a hard-core Seahawk fan with a Mudbone man crush that rivals my own. You get JB's insightful analysis of Krieg vs. Hasselbeck, plus a robust discussion in the comments section. (Unlike Seahawks Diehard, JB's B/X Blackrazor blog has a large and interactive readership.)

I'm grateful to JB--a loyal and consistent reader of Seahawks Diehard for years--and to you, for reading this post today. Please consider commenting sometime.