Seahawks' Pete Carroll has interesting take on NFC East winner’s playoff chances

The NFC East has been trashed by pretty much everyone around the NFL this season, and understandably so. But Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is looking at things a lot differently.

Carroll has some experience in the department of taking an underwhelming team to the playoffs. In 2010, his first season as the team’s head coach, the Seahawks managed to win the NFC West with a 7-9 record. It got the team a home game in the wild-card round, which turned out to be a 41-36 win over the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in what became known as the “Beast Quake” game.

Carroll believes the NFC East winner could do something similar this season, noting that he remembers how motivating a lot of the dismissive comments were.

“Whoever plays them, they better look out,” Carroll said of the eventual NFC East winner, via Jordan Ranaan of ESPN.

While Carroll’s point is well-taken, it may be that the 2020 NFC East winner is worse than that Seahawks team was. Right now, the New York Giants and Washington Football Team both sit at 4-7. Both lack top-tier talent to produce a “Beast Quake” moment and will be hindered by the likely absence of home fans, too. On the other hand, not even the Seahawks had motivational tactics like this.