You have to hand it to Pete Carroll, Mike Shanahan and their staffs ...

[Auggie]

after years of futility (even including Seattle's 7-9 Division win in 2010) their respective teams, led by rookie quarterbacks, are fighting for playoff spots in Week 15.

[TZ]

1. I admit

I thought the Kirk Cousins signing as back up QB was a BAD move. 2 rookies seemed asking for trouble. Guess Shanahan is not quite as dopey as I thought.

[Liberal_Dog]

2. Both Teams Had Fairly Solid Defenses

I have liked Russell Wilson since he was at NC State, so I am not that surprised by his immediate impact.

Almost anyone would have been an upgrade at QB for the Redskins, but I figured that it would be next season for RG3 to start winning games.

[JonLP24]

4. Except for Washington

Their pass defense is the bottom 10 of the NFL.

Seattle is absolutely terrific on defense but Wilson certainly is a part of their success. He has better ypa and adj/ypa numbers than Luck despite less attention.

[joeybee12]

3. Yeah, and Pete Carroll only had two of his cheaters busted...

He's getting craftier...then again, he got away with it for several years at USC.

[hifiguy]

5. This has been a truly epic year for rookie QBs.

But then more top level colleges are using pro-style offenses and the Wilsons, Lucks and Griffins are now coming to the NFL knowing things like how to recognize different defensive packages and checking down their reads rather than staring at one receiver.

I expected them all to be good, but that they have all been so good so quickly has been a real gobsmack. The Payton-less Colts were less than putrid last year and now they're on the verge of a playoff berth. Releasing Payton was a win-win for both the Colts and the Broncos.