Did Seahawks Rediscover Their True Identity in 40-3 Thumping of Jets?

For the past month, the Seahawks have undergone a bit of an identity crisis. But on Sunday, the team appeared to rediscover the formula that led them to their greatest peak over a half a decade ago.

There is a battle happening across football fandom. A constant struggle between what actually matters and what is just fluff. As the game gets smarter and the analytics are easier for the average fan to obtain, the game of football is undergoing a major change. And for the most part, those changes are positive. More teams are aggressive on fourth down. More teams are going to for two in non-obvious situations. The game of football has never been more accessible to fans.

These are all positives and in the current climate of the country where some fear intelligence or knowledge, the more we have the better. But sometimes, we lose sight of things that still matter aside from the metrics. Sometimes, in a rush to be right, we lose ourselves or the core of who we truly are.

Which brings us to the real topic at hand: did the Seahawks rediscover who they actually are on Sunday? Have the Seahawks gotten their swagger back? Have they found their identity? The one thing they can hang their hat on when all the chips are falling the wrong way? It sure seems that they may have after a 40-3 demolition of the Jets. For in this rare instance, the Seahawks set the tone. They imposed their will. They set the pace at which the game would be played. In short, they embarrassed another professional football team.

Now the real question is, can they do it again? Torching the New York Jets at home is the NFL equivalent of Alabama facing the College of Charleston. But can you do it against BYU, let alone Clemson?

Those questions will be answered before the end of this season. But for one three hour window on a wet Sunday afternoon, the Seahawks traveled back in time and brought to those watching a style of football not regularly seen since 2014. The defense was suffocating, allowing just 20 yards of offense in the second half. They were relentless, sacking Sam Darnold three times and hitting him six times without their best pass rusher and generated seven tackles for loss.

The secondary was smothering. They forced the Jets into mistakes and were ball hawks, forcing a fumble and nearly picking off three more passes. They held Darnold to 116 net passing yards. Simply put, they were bigger, faster, and stronger.

On offense, Seattle punished the Jets, running for 174 yards on 36 attempts, controlling the ball for 34 minutes thanks to six third-down conversions on 11 attempts. They were efficient in the passing game as Russell Wilson threw for four touchdowns on just 27 attempts. They spread the ball around, completing passes to nine players. It was, in any sense of the word, a straight beatdown that the franchise absolutely needed.

Of course, the only thing that will matter going forward is whether or not coach Pete Carroll's team can have similar performances against Washington, the Rams, and the 49ers over the next three weeks. And there are plenty of valid concerns about how "real" Sunday's game was. But for one shining moment, the Seahawks were back and it was a beautiful sight to behold.