Back in January, someone around here warned precocious NFC West defensive backs against getting too cocky. A long list of esteemed quarterbacks awaited them on the 2012 NFL schedule, after all.

Let me rephrase: Those esteemed quarterbacks should watch out for those precocious defensive backs from the NFC West, and especially for those wearing Seattle Seahawks jerseys.

Around the NFC West: Oct. 15, 2012

As the photo shows, second-year Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made sure New England's Tom Brady knew the score Sunday (24-23, Seahawks). Brady was fabulous at times, but Sherman and teammate Earl Thomas each had interceptions. Seattle also forced Brady into two grounding penalties, one to kill a sure scoring chance right before halftime.

"They are running this gimmick, hurry-up stuff," Sherman told reporters. "You don’t do that in the NFL. It’s not effective because there are great defenses out there."

The Patriots have been plenty effective on offense most of the season. Seattle did hold New England to 3.3 yards per rushing attempt, however, and Brady couldn't generate more than 23 points on 58 passes.

Sherman went into full gloating mode after the game. He and the Seahawks are now 4-2 overall, including 4-0 against Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton and Tony Romo.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Seattle's Russell Wilson was the winning one Sunday. His improvement over the past two games has been striking. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 293 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Patriots' struggling, injury-depleted secondary. Wilson posted a 133.7 NFL passer rating. He scored 91.4 out of 100 in Total QBR, the highest for a Seattle quarterback since Matt Hasselbeck's 97.4 against St. Louis in 2008.

A potentially stiff test awaits Wilson on Thursday night in San Francisco. More on the Seattle rookie and other NFC West quarterbacks as the day progresses.