With their 37-23 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Seattle Seahawks landed themselves the top spot in the NFC West. Head coach Pete Carroll said he had no clue the win gave them the division lead, but was naturally thrilled when he found out.
After the game, Carroll said, via the Associated Press, "Nobody told me that before we started the meetings in there (the locker room). I would have been going nuts about that. That's fun, too. That's good. Seven weeks in, and look where we are. Who would have thunk it?"
The Seahawks were far from the projected NFC West champions, especially with the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals all in the division.
When the Seahawks traded away Russell Wilson and it was determined that Geno Smith, who struggled early in his career and went years without being named a starter, would be leading the offense, people predicted a losing season.
There is still a lot of football left to play, but the Seahawks are already blowing expectations out of the water.
Smith is the most accurate quarterback in the league and his touchdown-to-interception ratio is leaps and bounds better than it was in his previous starting roles.
All aspects of the team are coming together and Carroll is happy with how the Seahawks are playing.
"I really liked us today, You could feel us in all three phases. We were humming," Carroll said after the win over the Chargers. "It was good to see the offense be able to go down the field and put points on the board and the defense slowing them down."
Carroll has remained hopeful and optimistic since the offseason, even with people doubting his team.
In early September, Carroll said, "I don't care what anybody says. People have been saying stuff about teams for years. They don't know. They're just guessing at this point, and then we go and prove it and we see where we are … We're very hopeful and excited about it and see nothing but good stuff happening. We have to go prepare like it and make sure that we're ready and then go perform like it. So I'm really excited about this team."
The Seahawks have a challenge up next, facing the 6-1 New York Giants, who are also a surprise this season.
