The 2022 NFL season schedule set up a highly anticipated meeting in the very first Monday Night Football of the year. The Seahawks were drawn against Denver, where Russell Wilson was sent only a few months back.

The visitors were seen as strong favorites for this clash, as not only they landed the star quarterback but Seattle also looked like a team with plenty of work to do. Wilson’s return to Lumen Field, however, didn’t go as predicted.

While Geno Smith stole the show in offense, the Seahawks’ defense did a great job to control the opposition. Pete Carroll later made it clear that though he didn’t need to prove anything to anyone, this victory does mean a lot for him and his team.

Pete Carroll reveals importance of win over Russell Wilson’s Broncos

“I didn’t need the validation,” Carroll told 710 ESPN Radio in Seattle, via ProFootballTalk. “I just wanted to win. I wanted to win for all of the reasons that come along with this one. Maybe as much as anything is representing the guys that have played before. It meant a lot to those guys. I was so thrilled to be able to hug those guys up and see them and look them in the eye.

“You figure that out,” Carroll said when asked why the win was so important for the former players who attended the game. “It was really meaningful and they really wanted it and I knew we were playing for a lot more than just the regular stuff. We have a real connection with the history. . . . They feel it and they love the fact that they played here and they love seeing us do well. On this night, they realized there was a big opportunity and a big statement to be made. The game isn’t about an individual player here or there. It’s about team. This is the ultimate team sport and it’s been stated so many times before. It takes everybody.

“Sometimes when so much focus goes, it just rubs guys wrong I guess, or whatever. But I’m thrilled that we won that game. It was significant for a lot of reasons beyond just it’s the first game of the year and all that.”

Carroll didn’t detail which were those reasons, but maybe he didn’t need to – there was a lot of history behind this game.This was a special opportunity for him to prove a point, and his team seized it.