Until Patrick Mahomes arrived on the scene, the two most-successful franchises in the NFL since the year 2000 were the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. They only met once in the Super Bowl, but for much of the last two decades they dominated their respective conferences.
While Seattle had a rotating cast of characters in their run and several different core teams, at the center of New England's success were just two guys: former head coach Bill Belichick and the best individual competitor in the history of the league, former quarterback Tom Brady, who's now retired from the game for good. Probably.
Now working as an analyst for Fox Sports, the seven-time Super Bowl champion may not be the greatest commentator in the game, but he at least knows enough to see a really good team when he sees one. While most rankings still have Seattle outside the top 10, Brady has the Seahawks among the top five teams in the league heading into Week 4. Here's what TB12 said about Seattle coming in at fourth in his power rankings.
Tom Brady on ranking Seahawks #4
"And at number four - the Seattle Seahawks - don't sleep on the team in the Pacific Northwest. Mike Macdonald, the first year head coach has got them off to a 3-0 start. He's turned around that defense. They're in the top five in the league right now, they ranked 30th last season. Geno, DK looking so solid to start the year, but they're gonna be tested. They head to Detroit on Monday night to take on the Lions. That's going to be a great game."
Brady had the Houston Texans ranked fifth, the Minnesota Vikings at third, one spot ahead of the Seahawks, followed by the Buffalo Bills in second place and the Kansas City Chiefs on top at number one.
What about that one team from Santa Clara?
One team you won't find in Brady's top five is the "San Francisco" 49ers, who have gotten off to a surprisingly sluggish start to the season after consistently pulverizing the NFC over the last five years. The Niners come into this week at 1-2, with major injuries piling up for several key players.
Running back Christian McCaffrey has yet to play this season with an Achilles injury that seems to be getting worse rather than better. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is already out for the season, and this week George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams and Brock Purdy are all on their injury report ahead of their game on Sunday against the Patriots. The Seahawks host the 49ers in Week 6 for Thursday Night Football.
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