The Seahawks are finally getting the recognition they deserve

As the NFL calendar flips over to Week 9, the Seattle Seahawks are being recognized as a TOP-10 team.

Seriously. See for yourself ...

ESPN has the Seahawks at #8 in their latest Power Rankings and has this to say about them:

With three straight wins and a one-game lead in the NFC West, the Seahawks have plenty of reasons for optimism. Their rookie class is one of them, both for the long term and the present. Six of their nine draft picks are already big-time contributors. Charles Cross and Abe Lucas both rank in the top half of starting tackles in ESPN’s pass block win rate. Running back Kenneth Walker III has five touchdowns over the past four games. Cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant have forced a combined eight turnovers. Outside linebacker Boye Mafe has a pair of sacks. Undrafted safety Joey Blount is making an impact on special teams as well. — Brady Henderson

The Athletic (paywall) has the Seahawks at #9.

Fact: By DVOA, no defense in the league has improved more since the first four weeks of the season than Seattle’s. After Week 4, the Seahawks ranked 31st in defensive DVOA. In the four weeks since, they’ve performed as the No. 2 DVOA defense in the league. They now rank 12th in the NFL on the season.

Opinion: Geno Smith — No. 1 in the league in completion percentage, No. 7 in yards per attempt, No. 8 in EPA per dropback — is the best story in the NFL so far this season. Good thing Seattle seems like a party these days.

NBC Sports put the Seahawks at #7 this week.

In a dominant win over the Giants, the Seahawks proved what they have going is for real. But can it be sustained for 17 games and into the playoffs?

CBS Sports had the Seahawks at #12 last week (which is a wonderful ranking) but moved them up 3 spots in their latest poll.

Is it time to believe they have a real shot to be a playoff team? They beat the Giants without a big offensive day, which is a change and a good sign.

Sensing a trend yet?

Yeah, me too.

I could continue since just about everyone has Seattle in their Top-10 at this point. But instead, I’ll close with PFT (ProFootballTalk) which put the Seahawks at #9 and had this super-short (and super-accurate) explanation:

They keep getting better and better.