SEATTLE — When a sold-out crowd at Lumen Field serenaded the Seahawks’ new quarterback with chants of “Ge-no! Gen-no!” during a season-opening upset of Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos, it felt something like an aberration in the moment.
Could Geno Smith and the Seahawks really continue to shock the rest of the NFL?
The answer has been emphatic.
The early season aberration has turned into a full-blown revelation, and the Seahawks have shifted from a surprising team to a surging one, sitting at 6-3 and in first place in the NFC West entering Sunday’s showdown with Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Bucs in Munich.
At the halfway point, beat writers Bob Condotta and Adam Jude hand out some midseason awards for the Seahawks and offer one bold prediction for the season’s second half:
Offensive MVP
— Condotta: It’s impossible not to go with Geno Smith. Notable among all his other shiny stats is that he is averaging 7.7 yards per attempt for his Seattle career — just off the team record of 7.8 held by Russell Wilson, who will always be regarded as one of the best deep-ball passers in NFL history. Remember when everyone was worried in the preseason about whether Geno would be able to create enough big plays?
— Jude: It’s Geno. He’s the Seahawks’ MVP, absolutely, and if this team keeps winning it’s not far-fetched to picture him as the NFL MVP too. Over the past few weeks, Geno has transformed from being a great story to simply being a great QB. What a season, and what an achievement.
Defensive MVP
— Condotta: Uchenna Nwosu is an obvious and deserving choice. But here’s a vote for rookie corner Tariq Woolen, whose emergence as a true shutdown cornerback on the right side has been as critical to Seattle’s defensive resurgence as anything else. Woolen is allowing a passer rating of just 56.7 and has been targeted just 39 times in nine games.
— Jude: Signing Nwosu was one of the Seahawks’ shrewdest moves of the offseason. At a premium position where the top players are earning huge money — Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt has an annual salary of $28 million — Nwosu’s two-year, $19.5 million free-agent contract suddenly looks like one of the NFL’s best bargains.
Best coaching decision
— Condotta: Along with everything regarding Geno, giving the defensive front more freedom following the New Orleans game has proved particularly significant. It may well turn out that losing the Saints game the way Seattle did was the best thing to happen to the Seahawks, convincing them a major shift in approach was needed before it got too late.
— Jude: In hindsight, giving Geno the keys to the offense early in training camp was important. No, that wasn’t exactly the plan initially — the starting QB job was intended to be more of a true competition between Geno and Drew Lock. And Carroll drew a lot of criticism at the time for not giving Lock a fair shot. And, certainly, when Lock got sick in August it thwarted his last best chance to prove himself. But by the end of August, it became clear to everyone else what Carroll seemed to believe all along: Geno was his guy.
Best performance
— Condotta: At the risk of not just giving more hardware to Geno, I’ll go with Nwosu helping pave the way for the season-opening win against Denver with a sack, two QB hits and a forced fumble at the 1-yard-line. Maybe all the surprising things that happened since would have happened anyway. But getting that Week 1 win also bought a lot of immediate belief.
— Jude: Shutting down Saquon Barkley and the Giants’ rushing attack at home in a 27-13 Week 8 victory was the Seahawks’ most complete performance of the season — and further validated that the defensive turnaround was for real.
Best quote
— Condotta: “All I have to say is ‘Let’s Ride.’ ” — defensive tackle Shelby Harris to the NFL Network following the Seahawks’ Week 1 win over Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos.
— Jude: “All the people that doubted — like, ‘You’re losing (touch) … (you) run the ball too much … you don’t understand football and you can’t stay up with the new game’ and all that kind of stuff. That’s a bunch of crap. I’m telling ya. We’re doing fine. We’re all right. I don’t mind proving it day in and day out.” — Pete Carroll, after the Oct. 30 win over the Giants.
Rookie of the Year
— Condotta: Woolen? Kenneth Walker III? Coby Bryant? Charles Cross? Abraham Lucas? That there are so many viable choices speaks to the offseason the Seahawks had, one that should have general manager in serious contention for winning the NFL Executive of the Year Award for the first time. Forced to pick one, I’d go with Woolen for what he’s meant this year, and what he will mean going forward.
— Jude: How about some love for the offensive tackles? There were some heightened expectations surrounding Cross and Lucas coming into the season, and that’s natural after the Seahawks spent a top-10 pick on Cross and a third-round pick on Lucas. Even so, they’ve exceeded all reasonable expectations so far — playing every meaningful snap for an offense that ranks No. 4 in the NFL in scoring (26.8 points per game) while establishing themselves as cornerstone building blocks.
Biggest surprise
— Condotta: Of course it’s Geno. But in the interest of highlighting one other area, we’ll cite the vast improvement of the oft-maligned offensive line. The Seahawks’ O-line is up to 13th in Pro Football Focus’ rankings this year after standing at No. 32, last in the NFL, in the preseason.
— Jude: Ryan Neal fits the bill. New defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt shifted to a 3-4 base look in part to better feature star safety Jamal Adams in a versatile role. Well, when Adams went down with a season-ending knee injury in the season opener, that plan was up in the air. Enter Neal. In the past couple years, Neal had showed flashes of good play in a fill-in role. But the Seahawks have to be thrilled with what he’s done this season. He is PFF’s 10th-ranked safety this week — and climbing.
Unsung hero
— Condotta: Michael Jackson. It’s easy to forget how tenuous the cornerback position seemed to be heading into the season — with a rookie at right corner in Woolen and with Jackson forced into the starting spot on the other side because of other injuries. But Jackson has seemed to get better by the week — he hasn’t allowed a passer rating higher than 70.1 the last three games — in solidifying his hold on the job.
— Jude: Al Woods. We ought to permanently rename the Unsung Hero Award after Woods. Much of that has to do with the unglamorous nature of his work — as a nose tackle, it’s his job to eat up blocks and free up linebackers to make plays. It’s hard to get much glory for that, but Woods continues to be one of a vital anchor of the defense.
One telling statistic
— Condotta: 10
Seattle has won its last four games by 10 points or more, the first time the Seahawks have done that since the last six games of 2014, when the Seahawks advanced to their second straight Super Bowl. The current streak even more notable now because it comes during a season in which NFL games are more closely contested than ever. The NFL reported this week that the average score margin of 9.43 is the lowest through Week 9 since 1970.
— Jude: 45.8%
The Seahawks offense ranks fifth in the NFL in third-down conversion at 45.8%. A year ago, they ranked 27th in the league in that category (36.4%). Geno’s third-down completion percentage this year: 69.4%. Russell Wilson’s third-down completion percentage last year: 51.5%.
One bold prediction
— Condotta: The NFC West title will come down to San Francisco’s visit to Seattle on Thursday might, Dec. 15. OK, so maybe that’s not too bold of a prediction at this point given the collapses of the Rams and Cardinals. But it also shows how much — and how quickly — things have changed. A year ago at this point, it was easy to think the Rams and Cardinals had passed Seattle, not just for the present but maybe for years to come. Now Seattle is right there to win its second NFC West title in three years. But with the 49ers already holding a win over Seattle, the Thursday night game may be a must win.
— Jude: The Seahawks will have their best playoff run since 2014. That means a trip to the NFC Championship Game, at least. It’s getting difficult to remember the last time this team lost, and it does feels like they’ve somehow become unbeatable. It’s not crazy to think they could win seven of their final eight games to finish 13-4 and earn a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.
