SEATTLE — On Sunday, the Seahawks made a backup quarterback look like one.

Two, actually.

Fans here know that's no small feat. For years, the Seahawks have been illogically bombarded by backups, dissected by signal callers more accustomed to clipboards.

Take Mason Rudolph, who completed 75% of his passes and threw for 274 yards in a 30-23 Steelers win in 2023. Or middling mercenary Colt McCoy, who bested the Seahawks in back-to-back seasons, as a Giant in 2020 and a Cardinal in 2021. Or Nick Mullens — a name you'd probably prefer never to read again — who averaged 309 passing yards with five total touchdowns and one interception in three separate starts as a San Francisco 49er in 2018 and 2020.

Against the Seahawks, backup quarterbacks have all-too-often delivered starter stats.

On Sunday?

Not so much.

In the Seahawks' flag-fueled 24-3 win over Miami, Skylar Thompson — who left in the third quarter with a chest injury — looked consistently uncomfortable. The former Kansas State Wildcat and 2022 seventh-round pick completed 13-of-19 passes in his third career start, throwing for 107 nonthreatening yards while being sacked five times. After Thompson exited, sixth-year journeyman Tim Boyle unsurprisingly struggled to raise the bar, adding seven completions in 13 attempts and 79 passing yards.

Without fifth-year starter Tua Tagovailoa — who was placed on injured reserve last week with a concussion — the once dynamic Dolphins were incapable of mounting much. Electric wide receivers Tyreek Hill (three catches for 40 yards) and Jaylen Waddle (four catches for 26 yards) were stunningly limited, while running back De'Von Achane managed 58 measly yards. Second-year Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall picked up a pair of sacks, and they forced a fourth-down incompletion on their own 2-yard line in the fourth quarter as well.

"We put our track shoes on today," said linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who turned in five tackles and a sack. "We were in the Olympics. We were running to the ball. We were meeting each other at the ball."

Added Seahawks safety Julian Love: "Our DB group is always looking for that challenge. Obviously, [Hill and Waddle] are one of the best duos in the league. They have some other weapons as well out of the backfield. So it's just playing within ourselves, understanding where they are and what they do."

Besides committing 11 penalties, the Miami Dolphins did not do much.

The Seahawks' defense, meanwhile, did what it's supposed to do to backup quarterbacks.

Not what it's always done.

"We're capable of a lot," said Love, who contributed five tackles and a tackle for loss in the win. "If we play clean football, limit explosives, tackle well, we can play a game like this. So it's exciting. We knew we had it in us, obviously. Now we just continue to build each week."

Chances are, the weeks will not get easier. Denver rookie Bo Nix, New England journeyman Jacoby Brissett and the tame tandem of Thompson and Boyle combined to average 157.7 passing yards and 60% completions with a single touchdown and two interceptions in the Seahawks' 3-0 start.

First-year coach Mike Macdonald, defensive coordinator Aden Durde, a promising pass rush and an athletic secondary — led by safeties Love and Rayshawn Jenkins and cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen — deserve credit for making some of the league's least lethal passers look pedestrian. As the memories of Rudolph, McCoy and Mullens linger at Lumen Field, a dominant performance — regardless of opponent — certainly deserves its due.

But make no mistake: better quarterbacks are coming.

Is the Seahawks' defense really dominant? Or about to be exposed?

"We're prepared as much as we can [be to play better quarterbacks]," Dodson said. "We don't know how prepared we are until we play against them. But I think the guys are just ready.

"It doesn't matter who it is. Everyone's nameless, faceless. Anybody can get that work from this defense. I don't care who he is, [even] Tom Brady. Anyone can get that work."

Barring surprises, they won't see Brady.

But they'll be tested nonetheless.

Between now and January, the Seahawks' list of opposing quarterbacks should include: Detroit's Jared Goff, San Francisco's Brock Purdy, Atlanta's Kirk Cousins, Buffalo's Josh Allen, the Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford, Arizona's Kyler Murray, the New York Jets' Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay's Jordan Love, Minnesota's Sam Darnold and Chicago's Caleb Williams (the 2024 No. 1 pick).

(I intentionally, perhaps insultingly, left the Giants' Daniel Jones off the list.)

That quarterback carousel begins next week, when the 2-1 Lions (and Goff, a familiar foe) host the Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

Anyone can get that work?

We'll see soon enough.

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