How Tom Brady keeps doing this is anybody’s guess, but the Seahawks are still fine

Confession: It’s crazy but I’ve doubted Tom Brady for a long time. How can you doubt a GOAT? Because he’s a quarterback in his 40s, and in his case, since he’s 45, in his mid-40s!

In your idle time, check out the short list of quarterbacks who have played in their 40s and were effective in their 40s. It won’t take you long. You can count them on one hand and none were worth a damn at that age. Father Time is always a huge favorite over anyone, but in Brady’s case he isn’t.

I don’t get it, I don’t care how good he is, I figured by now he’d be losing arm strength and accuracy and we’d be talking about how great he was in the past and how sad it is to see him in the present.

Yet there he was as we were wiping sleep from our eyes, looking sensational again in Munich, completing 22 of 29 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Yeah, he did throw an interception, but it was his first in 399 attempts and only his second in nine games this season.

I know there were more storylines in the Seahawks 21-16 loss to the Buccaneers, but the one with Brady stood out to me the most. How can he keep doing this? And on top of everything else, he’s just gone through what appeared to be an ugly divorce - then again, has anyone ever gone through a “pretty” divorce?

You saw the game and noticed the other things that made a huge difference in the game - Tampa Bay’s commanding time of possession and shocking ability to run the ball. The Bucs entered Sunday’s game as the worst rushing team in the league, averaging 60.7 yards on the ground, yet there they ran for 161 against the Seahawks with rookie Rachaad White picking up 105 of them.

I didn’t think the 4-5 Bucs should have been favored by three points over the 6-3 Seahawks but was wrong about that too. ESPN’s analytics crew said there was an 83 percent chance that Tampa Bay would win the game, and that seemed way out of whack until the Bucs took a 21-3 lead and made it look more like a 100 percent certainty.

Which it was, but at least the Seahawks put up a spirited if belated rally and maybe would have come all the way back were it not for more of the same from the Bucs, retaining the ball for the last four minutes of the game.

I’d say it’s a case of short-term disappointment coupled with long-term optimism. Was it surprising to see Kenneth Walker rush for only 17 yards? Yes, but based on what we’ve seen from the Michigan State rookie, it seems more like an outlier than the start of a disturbing trend. And I know that slippery field didn’t bother White, but it sure looked like it impacted Walker as much as the lack of room to run.

Plus it wasn’t one of Geno Smith’s better games, losing a fumble inside the 10-yard line, but he wasn’t awful, in fact, Pro Football Focus thought he had a fairly good game.

I’m more apt to think of Sunday’s game as a one-off instead of it possibly being a regression to what we thought this Seahawks’ season would be - filled with more losses than wins.

Take a look at the schedule in the next four weeks. They get a bye this week followed by a home game against the 2-7 Raiders. Then they head to L.A. to face the 3-6 Rams and it’s back at Lumen Field again to host the 2-7 Panthers.

Go 2-1 in those games and you’re still in great position at 8-5 when you host the 49ers in a Thursday night game on Dec. 15th with the NFC West title on the line.

Granted, the 49ers have Christian McCaffrey and a terrific defense and are getting healthier and therefore are favored to win the division even though they’re currently a half-game behind the Seahawks at 5-4.

But I think if you told the 12’s before the season that the Seahawks would have a legitimate shot to be the NFC champions in the middle of December, they all would have taken that. Most thought the Seahawks would be 3-7 at best through 10 games, not 6-4.

Meanwhile, they’re still in position to get a top-10 draft choice because Denver is 3-6 after losing to the Titans Sunday in Nashville. If the draft were held today, the Seahawks would get the No. 7 pick from the Broncos thanks to the Russell Wilson trade.

Record-wise there are only four teams in the NFC that are better than the Seahawks, and I guess we’d have to admit that the 8-0 Eagles and 8-1 Vikings are better than Pete Carroll’s squad, but we know the 7-2 Giants aren’t and have to wonder about the 6-3 Cowboys.

Sunday’s outcome shouldn’t change the positive outlook for the Seahawks. Everything remains on the table - a division title and a playoff berth, unthinkable stuff when the season began but quite possible now.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on KJR-FM 93.3, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.

This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 9:05 AM with the headline "How Tom Brady keeps doing this is anybody’s guess, but the Seahawks are still fine."