Five most satisfying games of the Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll era

It's an exciting time for Seattle Seahawks fans. The team has a new young head coach, full of promise and potential. The team is headed in a new direction for the first time in a long time following Seattle's amicable divorce from long-time head coach Pete Carroll. It was a necessary change, but one that tugged on the heartstrings of many fans.

Hired back in 2010, Pete Carroll was the hottest coaching candidate on the market following his wild success at the University of Southern California. Carroll led USC to two BCS Championships, winning the national title in 2005. Carroll developed three Heisman winners and constantly had an elite team that spent a record 33 consecutive weeks as the consensus number-one ranked team in the country.

As Carroll took over in Seattle, his success at USC seemed to follow him seamlessly. After a few loaded draft classes orchestrated by Carroll and general manager John Schneider, Carroll led Seattle to the Super Bowl for only the second time in franchise history and brought Seattle its first-ever world championship only four years after taking the job. Pete Carroll had some incredibly historic and memorable moments in Seattle, but which were the most satisfying for Seahawks fans?

The 'U Mad Bro?' Game: Seattle Seahawks defeats Patriots 24-23 (2012)

A young Seahawks team made a massive statement in week six of the 2012 season when Tom Brady and the prolific New England Patriots visited Seattle. Until then, that Seahawks team was relatively unknown. They started a rookie quarterback, Russell Wilson, over their big free agent signing, Matt Flynn. They had a young and hungry defense, but nobody really took them too seriously...until this game.

New England had built a 23-10 lead in the fourth quarter with less than ten minutes to play and it looked like it would be a routine and easy Patriots win over a mediocre team. It easily could've been a way bigger lead had Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman not come down with Brady interceptions earlier in the game.

But this was not your average Seahawks team and it wouldn't roll over and die. Russell Wilson found Braylon Edwards in the end zone to cut the lead to 6. Following two forced New England punts, Seattle had the ball back with just under 3 minutes to play.

That is when Russell Wilson's magic happened. A crazy run that featured Wilson bouncing off defenders, spinning away from grasps of the Patriots, and some sneaky speed, put Seattle on New England's side of the field with less than two minutes to go. Wilson dropped back and let a moonball rip. It landed in the waiting arms of Sidney Rice behind the New England defense and he strolled in for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:27 remaining.

Seattle held on for the win, and following the game, Richard Sherman tweeted a picture of himself barking at Tom Brady after the game with the text inscribed "U mad bro?" The infamous and now-deleted tweet launched Sherman and Seattle into the headlines where they remained for the next several years. That was truly the moment the brash and brazen attitude in Seattle was born.