Humans are innately wired to be selfish. We care about ourselves, our survival, our happiness. One thing that captivates all humans that snaps us out of our inward focus is watching something happen for the first time. It can be a human wobbling as he pedals away alone on a bike for the first time. It can be an animal, like a foal, wobbling as it takes its first steps moments after birth. We cannot help but watch. It is a moment where we collectively hold our breaths, both because the clumsiness and the inexperience could lead to a variety of outcomes, and because watching somehow makes us feel a part of it. The Seahawks are having one of those moments. What we are witnessing is unique in the history of the franchise, and possibly the NFL. There has never been a Seahawks season quite like this one. A team with rock bottom expectations, who played some of the worst defense in the NFL, and lost to some bad teams, has climbed to the top of the NFC West and just beat the 6-1 New York Giants to announce themselves as a threat to do more than just make the playoffs.
I have been a Seahawks fan long enough and history repeats itself often enough that invariably something that happens in the current season that mimics something that has happened in the past 40 years. Many had compared this to the 2011 season where career backup Tarvaris Jackson led a scrappy young team to a 7-9 record just before they drafted their franchise quarterback and ascended to greatness. That stopped being relevant once Geno Smith proved he was more than a stopgap at the position.
I compared the season to the 2002 season where a resurgent young Matt Hasselbeck led an explosive Seahawks offense to a fast finish that saved Mike Holmgren’s job as coach and formed the foundation for an offense-first team with a decent enough defense to eventually make the Super Bowl a few years later. That no longer became relevant when this Seahawks defense went from one of the worst in the NFL to one of the best three weeks in a row.
The normal story arc here is for the up-and-coming team to flash top-shelf potential while having maddening pratfalls that make them inconsistent and incapable of competing in their first year. They come back the next year, armed with hard-earned knowledge and experience, and greater resolve and more talent to fill their gaps and become early contenders. It usually takes one more season before they are truly in the cream of the crop, and many times, they hit their ceiling before ever getting there.
This Seahawks team has mashed that arc into a single point. They are growing, changing, struggling, dominating, and now, winning with a formula that has the potential to make other NFC contenders feel like the annoyed older brother whose younger sibling is beating them far too soon.
There will be many who detract from this win over the Giants by pointing out that New York was not worthy of their 6-1 record. That would be a mistake.
The Giants proved again this week that they are extremely well coached, tough as nails, and a team that can give anyone problems. They absolutely have weak points, but nothing is easy against them. Even as the Seahawks were bottling up Saquon Barkley and limiting Daniel Jones, it felt like they were a missed tackle away from a big play the whole time. The defense was aggressive and physical.
Seattle played a nearly perfect game in all three phases, and it was still close. Yes, a decent part of that was because Tyler Lockett had two bad moments. But one of those was at least in part due to the Giants making a play on the football.
The play that was most emblematic of the game was when Dexter Lawrence got his hands on a field goal attempt from Jason Myers, and it still went through the uprights. The points were on the board, but Seattle had to work for them.
Pete Carroll gave another example of why he is one of the best coaches in the NFL. After Lockett dropped the easy touchdown pass and was hanging his head on the sideline, Carroll came over to him and talked him up, telling him he was going to get two scores. That may sound innocuous, but Lockett admitted in his postgame press conference that it helped snap him out of his doldrums. Lockett would go on to catch the game-winning score.
This, a week after Carroll gave the calm sign to Geno Smith before Smith rifled a 3rd down pass for a key conversion on a key scoring drive against the Chargers.
More than anyone else, maybe even more than Smith, Carroll is having a redemption season. He was panned for how he handled the quarterback position with Russell Wilson. He was dragged for being a defensive coach who always had a bad defense. He was belittled as being too old and out of touch with today’s NFL. It is now the people who shouted those perspectives who look silly and out of touch.
Carroll’s fingerprints are all over this 5-3 first place Seahawks squad. Who do you think nudged first year defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt to switch back to a 1-gap attacking style on the defensive line? Who do you think urged the utilization of Ryan Neal? Who has given Shane Waldron the room to call this offense as he sees fit after proving he knew what he was doing?
Carroll even returned to his “Big Balls Pete” days in this game as he chose to go for it on fourth down, not once, but twice on the first scoring drive of the day.
Both teams were scuffling on offense at that point. The game started with six straight punts. The Giants were 3 and out each time. Carroll could have easily decided to take a field goal in what was looking like a defensive game. Not only did he choose to go for it, but he had clearly decided to do it early on. Seattle had a 3rd and 1 on the 18-yard line, and Waldron called a play action pass that had all the appearances of a play call that happens when your head coach has already told you that you will have two chances to get the first.
Waldron made two brilliant play calls (because they worked) on the fourth downs. The first had Lockett leak out of the backfield and catch a short pass. The second was a shovel pass to Will Dissly near the goal line. There would have been plenty of room for criticism of Waldron if either of those did not work, but they did.
Waldron has been showing more and more creativity in his calls. We saw a play early in this one where Smith walked the line appearing to make adjustments to the line calls, when the ball was snapped directly to Kenneth Walker III, who took it ahead for a first down.
Waldron and Smith are becoming the next great duo, where the OC and QB make each other better. Smith was brilliant again in this one.
He threw another handful of gems. His poise in the pocket, even when under pressure is admirable. His teammates know how tough he is. They love him for it. He did not hesitate to go back to Lockett, even after the dropped pass and fumble. He went back to DK Metcalf repeatedly as well, even when Metcalf missed some chances.
He was clearly the better quarterback in this game, and that has been the case in almost every game this season. He remains at the top of the NFC in passer rating, and there is no reason to think that will fade.
Defenses have seen enough tape by now that they have started to try and take away his favorite throws and targets. He persists.
This is not a one or two trick pony. He can beat you with passes short, intermediate, and long, left, center, and right. He can pass to any receiver, any tight end, any running back. He can check to a run. He can run himself. If anything, we may see his play improve as he gains even more confidence and repetition.
Walker ran his heart out in this game. Most would not recognize it because his numbers were so unimpressive. I did. Any back can run hard when there are holes and big gains. A player who fights for yardage when there has been nothing to get all day is rare. Marshawn Lynch was that breed.
Walker eventually did break enough tackles to turn in another miraculous touchdown run. The rookie now has 5 touchdowns despite starting just three games.
Metcalf and Lockett both played through injuries. There are two games left before the bye week. Let us cross our fingers and hope they can manage until then.
The offensive line held up pretty well against a constantly blitzing Giants defense. Most of the breakdowns were from the running back or tight end position when they happened.
The defense was spectacular. Mike Jackson, in particular, had a terrific game. New York clearly had decided he was the weak link and tried attacking him early and often. Jackson responded with three pass breakups and a bunch of crunching tackles. He played physical and smart.
Tariq Woolen nearly had another pick, and appears to have already achieved lockdown status as the Giants seemed to avoid throwing his way almost the whole game.
Neal had another impactful game. Uchenna Nwosu was everywhere, and collected two sacks. Boye Mafe had his best game, setting the edge, and getting his first sack. Bruce Irvin has been a sneaky great addition, playing with nasty physicality.
Even the special teams proved they can be a net positive on a game by forcing two turnovers and being terrific on coverage.
This team, and the individuals on it, wobbled early in the season as they took their collective first steps. There were flashes of precocious potential, but also almost comical clumsiness. They have found their legs. Their stride is now steady. We no longer watch because they are taking their first steps, but because we want to see where they will go, how far they will climb, what obstacles they will overcome. This is no longer an origin story. Where the team takes us from here is as impossible to predict as winding road that brought us to this point. One thing is certain: we will be watching.