The Seahawks are the NFL’s biggest surprise by staying true to themselves

Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images

Plus Jalen Hurts is hurtling towards MVP, and Josh McDaniels is in trouble again in this week’s winners and losers.

It’s hard not to be obsessed with the parity of the NFL over the last two years. Sure, it’s been hell for trying to formulate a winning fantasy football roster, or pick games from week-to-week — but I’ll be damned if this also hasn’t been some of the most fun football of the last 20 years.

One team is navigating the weird waters of 2022 in the most unexpected way, and it’s really time to give Pete Carroll and the Seahawks their flowers for being the biggest shock of the year.

The Seahawks are now in sole possession of first place in the NFC West after their 27-13 win over the Giants. Sunday was less about one win against a 6-1 team flying high, and more that this was a continuation of everything Carroll has built since arriving in Seattle 12 years ago. Carroll’s football philosophies, his schemes and team construction were built to last, weathering the storm of trends and time to show that the simplest concepts still apply, no matter how the winds change.

It’s impossible to overstate just how unlikely this run has been, or that it would last through half of the regular season as it has. The Seahawks weren’t just a pre-season lock to be the worst team in the NFC West, but one of the worst in the entire NFL. While other teams were scrambling to trade for quarterbacks to solidify their plans, this team seemed perfectly content to sit on its war chest of picks, presumably tank to the bottom, and play for 2023. The problem with this thinking is that it counted out how the Seahawks have been a constant part of the playoff picture since Carroll arrived. Still, that felt like a past era with Russell Wilson bolting for the (presumably) greener pastures of Denver.

Enter Geno Smith. One one of the greatest delights of 2022. A huge part of Seattle’s success has been Smith’s finally getting to prove his talents on the field, but it’s also that he’s willingly stepped into the role vacated by Wilson. He’s happy to be a cog in the machine, a piece of the puzzle, and it’s what’s allowing the team to reach the same heights as they did with Wilson — at a drastically reduced cost.

The incorrect assumption that everyone made was that Carroll and the Seahawks were holding Russ back. Now it’s increasingly appearing like the opposite was true. As he struggles to beat the likes of the Jaguars in London, Geno is cruising. While 2021 was a down year for the Seattle offense, still who thought this would be a possible comparison:

Russell Wilson (2021): 3,113 yards (64.8% completion), 7.8 YPA, 25 TD, 6 INT — 103.1 rating

Geno Smith (2022, projected and adjusted to 14 starts): 3,367 yards (72.7% completion), 7.7 YPA, 23 TD, 5 INT — 106.5 rating

When we directly compare what Smith is doing in this offense it’s either on par, or exceeding what Wilson could do. Sure, it was a down year for Seattle overall in 2021, but we’re comparing a $245M franchise QB with a player who was fighting for a job in camp and came out of nowhere, relatively speaking.

The simplicity of Carroll’s football scheme really hasn’t changed since he returned to the NFL from USC. Bend, but don’t break on defense — establish the run to set up the pass, have no one focal player on either side of the ball that the team relies too heavily on. There is nothing new about this thinking. It’s not some weird, far-out approach that hasn’t been done before — but in the modern, personality-driven NFL we tend to narrow focus too much on one key player on either side of the ball, whereas the Seahawks are flying against that.

It’s working, just as it has for years now. So, as Wilson is struggling to play hero ball in Denver and prove the team’s investment in him, Seattle is still being true to themselves and dominating. Huge winners this week, and there are no doubt more to come.

We don’t need to overstate Seattle’s chances this year. It will be a ludicrous for them to keep this up, or make the playoffs this year — but they were never supposed to be in the picture. With a talented roster, great coaching, and future assets to drastically improve their roster, perhaps no team is better poised for the future than the Seahawks — and they did it by sticking to their roots.

Winner: Jalen Hurts’ MVP credentials

It’s really starting to feel like Hurts is poised to run away with this thing unless we see a huge rebound by Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. It’s not like either of the two preseason frontrunners are bad, it’s just that Hurts has completely taken over the league this season and nobody has any real answers.

Yes, the Steelers are bad, and beating them isn’t exactly a defining achievement — but throwing for four touchdowns is the kind of thing that gets you noticed. As it stands Hurts is on pace to have 26 all-purpose touchdowns, only four interceptions, all on an undefeated team. It’s a really compelling package right now, and it will take a lot to push that off the pedestal.

Winner: Steve Wilks and his chances to land a job

Carolina may have lost in frankly hilariously weird circumstances on Sunday, but that shouldn’t tarnish how incredible this team has looked since axing Matt Rhule.

In 50 games as head coach the Rhule-led Panthers scored 21 points or more on 18 occasions. They’ve now done it in back-to-back weeks. Their 34 points scored against the Falcons were their most since October of 2019. One person deserves the credit: Steve Wilks.

Carolina is still a very bad football team who could jettison some more of its best players at the trade deadline, but things don’t looks nearly as dire. Wilks has been a difference maker as a head coach, and showing why he more than deserved the job not only as caretaker in 2022, but to get back in head coaching circles in 2023. Perhaps that’s with the Panthers (and we’ve seen they can do a lot worse), but while so many teams are lamenting their terrible coaches, there’s a pretty damn good one in Carolina waiting for someone to be smart enough to give him another shot.

Loser: Daniel Jones

The Giants are in really good shape for the future, but it should surprise nobody that Daniel Jones is holding them back. On Sunday we saw what happens when the team needs to put the game on his arm when Saquon Barkley is struggling, and the result was pretty sorry.

This team can find a new passer in the draft next year, or hope to land a veteran — somehow. Either way, they can’t move forward with Jones as their starting QB if they want to make the most of the Brian Daboll era.

Winner: Christian McCaffrey

When you throw, rush and catch a touchdown you’re a winner. It’s that simple.

Loser: Josh McDaniels

It’s difficult to find a worse hiring of the 2022 cycle than Josh McDaniels, who has now made a complete mess of the Raiders.

McDaniels keeps having to report to the principal’s office, now for the second time this season, and sooner or later this team will realize they screwed up and moved on. McDaniels has no business being the head coach of an NFL team, and kudos to him for grifting another organization into giving him a job — but he’s simply awful.

Las Vegas’ roster is too good. Too much money is on the field each week to get shut-out by the Saints. This is a an example of legendarily bad coaching we’re seeing unfold.