Quick: it’s January 2026 and you’re being ask what record your team has, what trend or stat you’re seeing, to make you feel like 2025 was a success. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Report: Seattle Seahawks to hold joint practices with Packers
A top-five run game? Several pro bowlers? Eleven wins? A playoff spot secured?
Mike Macdonald last season became the first first-year Seattle Seahawks head coach to lead his team to 10-win season. It sure feels like the only way to check off the improvement box this season is to add to the win total or do what they couldn’t last year: make the playoffs.
Well … maybe.
Bump and Stacy producer Curtis Rogers doesn’t think a trip to the postseason would make or break his definition of success, though, which is a take on this one that I think several other people share.
“I just want to see philosophy and what we see on the field finally match up on the offensive side of the ball,” Rogers said. “To me, that’s going to be the thing I probably watch closest this year, whether or not the Seahawks can establish an identity that matches what the head coach wants.”
Make no mistake, that’s hugely important. And a winning record without that identity is going to feel just like last season: foundation-less.
To Rogers’ point, it’s been far too long since Seattle’s stated principles (a strong run game and stellar defense) were reflected in the product fans actually saw on the field. Blame a struggling offensive line, draft misses, injuries, or anything else, but it’s a fact. And the best teams do at least one thing very well.
Seattle hasn’t been a top-five scoring offense since 2015 and hasn’t been a top-five scoring defense since 2016 (it’s been a decade – 2015 – since the Seahawks were top five in both categories).
Be flexible. Run the ball. Have an elite playmaker at receiver or quarterback, or a suffocating defensive line. Innovative playcalling or a strong culture. Whatever it is, be elite somewhere. That’s something the Seahawks absolutely need to re-establish in 2025, regardless of their win total.
Last year saw a step forward for a defense, at least, that had been one of the worst against the run for two consecutive seasons. That’s progress. Next up: improvement for a run game on offense that was one of the worst in the league in 2024. It was a stated goal for both Macdonald and general manager John Schneider. And the addition of an offensive lineman with their first pick at least makes that feel like a sincere effort.
All of that is true, but so too is the need to get to the playoffs. And to me, that must be part of a successful 2025 season.
Missing the postseason again in 2025 would mean making it just once in the past five years, something the Seahawks haven’t done since 1998-2002 when they made just a single wild card appearance (1999).
Bad trends aside, think about culture, third- and fourth-year players with little to no experience in the postseason. Winning with an identity is important, but this team didn’t move on from Pete Carroll to maintain; they parted ways with the winningest coach in Seahawks history because they believed taking a different path forward would help them build on something. They did that in Year 1.
Now comes the hardest part: getting better. That needs to come with a playoff appearance.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Why former GM is ‘big fan’ of Seattle Seahawks’ QB approach
• Which NFC West team has brightest future? An insider’s take
• Watch: Seattle Seahawks take batting practice at T-Mobile Park
• Seattle Seahawks sign undrafted rookie WR/kick returner
• Huard: What Brock Purdy has that Sam Darnold still needs