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You would be very hard-pressed to find anyone who thought the Seattle Seahawks would be sitting on the precipice of a playoff berth heading into December of the 2022 National Football League season.

But there the Seahawks were, at 6-5, right in the midst of the NFC playoffs, as the calendar turned to the final month of the year.

Seattle had traded away franchise quarterback Russell Wilson in the spring to the Denver Broncos, most fans thought that Pete Carroll and the Seahawks were rebuilding for the future. In the trade, they got two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and some decent players back from Denver.

But it did not look like Seattle had a quarterback to compete in the brutal NFC West.

My, how perceptions have changed in a few months.

Seattle was 6-5 coming into December to surprise so many people around the league, but it was the rest of the teams around them that maybe have been more of a shock. The defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams have imploded, and were 3-8 through November, while the Arizona Cardinals–a playoff team in 2021–were not much better at 4-8.

The best news, though, for Seattle was that the Broncos were 3-8 as well, and on pace to finish near the top of the 2023 NFL Draft order. That means Seattle could get a top two or three pick in the draft, and possibly select a franchise quarterback like C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young: remember, the Seahawks also have their own pick later in the first round as well to improve even more.

But that is for next year: what can Seattle do in 2022? According to many sports books, the Seahawks are projected to make the playoffs. Coming into the month, you would have needed to lay -305 to back Seattle to get into the seven-team NFC bracket, when those same odds before the season started were +2500.

Amazing.

Maybe even more stunning are the odds for Geno Smith, who has lit up the NFL under center for Seattle, to win Comeback Player of the Year from the league office. Smith was set at odds of -250, with only Saquon Barkley in the discussion.

Can the Seahawks win the NFC and get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since back-to-back appearances in 2014 and 2015? If you think so, you can get Seattle at 30/1.

Not a bad long-shot play for a team that is well ahead of schedule.

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