You should have killed the Seattle Seahawks while you could, NFL.
The Seahawks on Oct. 18 were defeated at home by the Carolina Panthers after a miraculous comeback from Cam Newton and the Cats. The last-minute loss dropped the Seahawks to 2-4 and the defending NFC champs were reeling.
That seems like a long time ago.
Seattle, despite numerous injury issues all season long, are right back in the playoff hunt and are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now. The Seahawks struggled with a front-loaded schedule, but they’re 6-1 since that Carolina loss, and they’re doing things in a different manner than we’ve become accustomed to seeing.
Known in the Pete Carroll era for their defense, the Seahawks’ offense is carrying them this season. They’re averaging 32 points per game during their four-game winning streak, as Russell Wilson has ascended into legitimate MVP contention. The Seahawks quarterback has a league-leading 110.0 passer rating, thanks in large part to the 16 touchdown passes and zero interceptions in the last four weeks.
Oh, and the defense has been just fine, too. Seattle still ranks in the top three in the NFL in yards and points allowed.
This is again one of the NFL’s most dangerous teams.
Let’s see where they land in this week’s NFL power rankings, shall we?
1. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 1): The Panthers systematically destroyed the Falcons and are now 13-0, but it still doesn’t feel like people are talking much about them. It’s weird.
2. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 2): Arizona is good, but how good is it? At times the Cardinals looked dominant Thursday night against Minnesota, but they still struggled like hell to put that game away. They get Green Bay and Seattle in the final two weeks, so let’s revisit them after that, shall we?
3. New England Patriots (Last week: 4): I don’t know if Rob Gronkowski will ever win an MVP award, but it’s getting harder and harder to deny he’s not the most valuable football player in the league.
4. Denver Broncos (Last week: 3): Uh, so yeah, about Brock Osweiler and the Denver offense. In the two games since beating the Patriots, the Broncos have scored just one offensive touchdown. Not great!
5. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 6): Putting Russell Wilson in the MVP conversation. If he keeps throwing four touchdowns a game and they win out, especially without all the guys they’re missing, it might be his to snatch from the presumed favorites.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 4): Probably should have dropped the Bengals a little farther, but with A.J. McCarron under center for the foreseeable future, Cincy will probably take care of that itself in coming weeks.
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 7): The Steelers are averaging 35 points per game in the last five games with Ben Roethlisberger under center. That’s absurd. They’re still not in the playoff picture, but winning out gets them in.
8. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 8): That burst of air you feel coming from the Midwest isn’t a jet stream. It’s Packers fans breathing a sigh of relief that Mike McCarthy’s calling plays again, which meant a much better balance Sunday versus Dallas.
9. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 9): The Chiefs haven’t always done it pretty, but they’ve found ways to win here in the second half of the season. They’ll be a tough out if they get in, as they look built to win on the road with a good running game, good defense and they take care of the football.
10. New York Jets (Last week: 10): Where would this team be right now if Geno Smith didn’t get punched in the face?
11. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 11): The Vikings’ last three losses came arguably against the three best teams in the NFC. They’re better, but they’re not yet “there” it seems.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: T-16): The Eagles this season have beaten the Giants but lost to the Redskins.
13. Washington Redskins (Last week: T-16):Â The Redskins have lost to the Giants once, but have also beaten the Giants once. They’ve also beaten the Eagles.
14. New York Giants (Last week: T-16): The Giants lost to the Redskins once, but also beat the Redskins once. They lost to the Eagles. … What I’m saying here is that I flipped a coin a few times to decide the order of the NFC East teams.
15. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 12): Fifteen more penalties on Sunday for the Bills, who have amassed more penalty yards than any other team this season. That’s a big reason they’re all but done now.
16. Houston Texans (Last week: 14): The Texans are still very much alive despite getting blown out by the Patriots. The good news is, they play the Colts in Week 15 for sole possession of first place in the division.
17. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 21): Khalil Mack is an absolute monster and that’s meant in the best possible way. If we’ve learned one thing about the Raiders this season, it’s that they have some real good young talent — just in time for the team to move to Los Angeles.
18. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 13): There are only three teams in the NFL with a worse point differential than the Colts,  yet Indy’s tied for first place in the AFC South. That division is one big poop emoji.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 15): At 7-6, the Bucs would still be alive. But after falling to 6-7 with a bad home loss to the lowly Saints, Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes are on life support.
20. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 22): Todd Gurley’s averaging 136.8 yards per game in wins and just 61.1 yards per game in losses. That’s nothing ground-breaking, of course, it’s just that it’s sometimes that simple.
21. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 19): Atlanta turned the ball over just twice in its first four games of the season. Since then, the Dirty Birds have turned it over 24 times and gone 2-7 in those nine games.
22. Chicago Bears (Last week: 20): Robbie Gould is usually really good, but he’s hit just one of his last five field goal attempts with two of those misses coming late with a chance to tie or win.
23. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 23): The Cowboys deserve credit for hanging with the Packers at Lambeau, but you’re kind of going uphill when you’ve got Matt Cassel at quarterback against a blitz-happy defense.
24. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 24): Maybe put at least one guy on Odell Beckham Jr. next time, Dolphins.
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 30): If you blinked, you missed the Jaguars going from trailing in the second half to putting up a 50-burger and beating the Colts by 35. Then again, you probably weren’t paying attention that game anyway.
26. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 27): The Saints won a football game and everyone seemed to behave themselves. Good job, Saints!
27. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 25): Baltimore’s QB situation is a mess, and the Ravens had someone named Bryn Renner backing up Jimmy Clausen on Sunday. It’s a miracle they only lost by 29.
28. Detroit Lions (Last week: 26): Think on the bright side, Lions fans: At least one of your sworn enemies didn’t rip your hearts out and stomp on them on national TV this week.
29. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 28): The 49ers were 2 for 13 on third downs against Cleveland, which probably is a big reason they lost. Just a hunch.
30. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 32): Wanna know how you turn Johnny Manziel into a winning quarterback? You run the ball 41 times for 230 yards like the Browns did Sunday against San Francisco.
31. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 29): The Titans lost, but Marcus Mariota became the first person to do something since Walter Payton, which is pretty cool.
32. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 31): Down seven with 5 seconds to play and the ball on the Kansas City 1-yard line, the Chargers took a delay of game penalty — out of a timeout. No wonder they stink.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
