The Seattle Seahawks kick off the 2025 season against a bitter NFC West rival. The San Francisco 49ers, banged up but still talented, will travel to Lumen Field in a game that has a lot of meaning. Not only is it the first game of the year, but a win will give a division foe a quick leg up in a potential tie-break.
Seattle might be the bigger unknown at the start of the season. While head coach Mike Macdonald got his defense into top-10 form in 2024, and nearly every player returns for this season, the offense underwent substantial changes.
The Seahawks have a new offensive coordinator (Klint Kubiak), a new starting quarterback (Sam Darnold), a (hopefully) much better offensive line, and gone are long-time Seattle receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. If the offense is more efficient than in previous seasons, Seattle is going to be very dangerous.
Richard Sherman makes a surprising prediction for the Seattle Seahawks in 2025
For Legion of Boom icon Richard Sherman certainly thinks so. On a recent episode of his eponymously-named podcast, Sherman predicted the 49ers and Seahawks to each win 11 games in 2025, but Seattle to win the NFC West.
The future Pro Football Hall of Famer has good reasons for his prediction, too. The Los Angeles Rams are expected to compete for the NFC West title, but the health of quarterback Matthew Stafford is a concern.
Sherman said, "I don't know how Matthew Stafford's back is gonna throughout the whole season, and that's going to keep the Rams second or third. They're not going to win it."
The cornerback did somewhat temper his Seahawks prediction, however, as he added, "But I see the Seahawks a lot better than everybody else does. If they only get eight wins, I don't know nothing and I need to stop this."
The truth is that 12s do know that Richard Sherman knows ball. He didn't only succeed at an extremely high level in the NFL because he had elite size. He was a smart person and player who understood technique can beat a receiver as well as speed can.
In other words, Sherman is likely not wrong in his take about the Seattle Seahawks. Injuries could affect the season, of course, just as they would with every team. But assuming the team stays relatively healthy and Darnold proves to be a great fit in Kubiak's scheme, Seattle is going to surprise a lot of pundits.