Ignore the summer heat and instead close your eyes to imagine an upcoming cold January weekend in Week 18.
The Seattle Seahawks are set to kick off in a few hours against the 49ers, their second meeting of the year – and you’re pretty confident.
Who makes the cut? Projecting Seattle Seahawks’ 53-man roster
That’s because despite fair questions about the Seahawks heading into the season, they’ve got one of the league’s best defenses and have already won the NFC West. They’ve surprised their harshest critics, and you’re eager to see just how far they can take this thing. You’re trash talking friends who root for other teams. You’re asking your partner whether you should cancel a European vacation in February. You’re arguing online with people about whether they should rest starters this week. Life is good.
What would need to happen — how many things would need to go right — for Seattle to get there? What are the key ingredients for that regular season conclusion?
The point of that question isn’t to have you using unrealistic answers (they’ll trade for Josh Allen!) nor unlikely ones (an existing starting quarterback becomes the second coming of Patrick Mahomes). It’s an Occam’s razor approach. It’s meant to figure out how close they are to a great season, reflect on how optimistic or pessimistic you are on this team, and remind ourselves of the Seahawks’ own plan.
The Seahawks’ path to the NFC West title
• What they’re counting on: Efforts to reinvigorate the offensive line with scheme and coaching paid off.
The Seahawks have had an offensive line problem for more than a decade. There’s a revolving door at center. They don’t spend big on free agents. They haven’t racked up any accolades. Last year was no different (the center point was really hammered home here since their starting center retired halfway through the season).
Much to the chagrin of fans, they didn’t throw money at their biggest problem this offseason. They were reportedly in pursuit of top free agent Will Fries, but medical reasons kept them off. Rather than pivot to spending more than they wanted to on someone they liked less, they chose to lean into a new offensive coaching staff to continue to develop their existing pieces. That, and they used their highest draft pick on an interior lineman (Grey Zabel).
• What they’re counting on: QB Sam Darnold doesn’t turn into a pumpkin.
Read any preseason ranking of offenses and questions about Sam Darnold will be the primary reason for doubt. It’s fair! The best season of his career, by far, came last year in Minnesota. In Seattle, there’s no Justin Jefferson and no Kevin O’Connell. But the Seahawks don’t need Darnold to throw for 35 touchdowns if…
• What they’re counting on: They have a top-5 run game.
The Seahawks’ gamble in trading Geno Smith and signing Darnold is that they also improve other parts of the team, and that includes taking a massive step forward with one of the worst rushing offenses from last season.
It’s why offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is here. It’s what they’ve been working on in camp. And through two preseason games, it’s what they’ve done so well. This may not be an offense with a top-tier quarterback, but it’s at least an offense with a clear directive: run the ball. And that’s better than where they were last year, which was an offense that didn’t always have a plan.
And they don’t even need all of this to be perfect. They can be a flawed offense as long as…
• What they’re really counting on: This becomes the best defense in football.
While we all love to embrace a chip on the shoulder, it wouldn’t be fair to say Seattle’s defense is floating under the radar. The Seahawks not being a Super Bowl darling hardly means there’s a lack of respect for what Mike Macdonald accomplished in Baltimore, nor for the improvement Seattle showed last season. Critics are sitting with varying degrees of faith, though: The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia picked the Seahawks as his No. 1 defense entering 2025 while others have them just outside the top 10.
A sluggish first half and under-the-radar talent are two big factors for the discrepancy.
Seattle is returning mostly the same group. That’s great news! But it’s a group that doesn’t get as much recognition as it should.
Leonard Williams finished with a team-high 11 sacks and was fourth league-wide in pass-rush win rate (14%) among interior defensive linemen. Despite that, he wasn’t named an All-Pro (first team or second team) and, even more egregiously, wasn’t initially named a Pro Bowler.
Julian Love was Pro Football Focus’ seventh-highest graded safety and saw his best season as a run defender. The last two seasons have earned Love the two best coverage grades of his career.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon is an exceptional talent, but doesn’t have the splashy interception numbers of some of his peers.
A midseason acquisition of Ernest Jones was one of the biggest factors for Seattle’s turnaround versus the run, but ESPN didn’t rank him anywhere near their top 10 off-ball linebackers.
The lack of heaping praise is especially fitting for a defense, and a team, whose whole must be greater than the sum of its parts. The Seahawks don’t have Philadelphia’s roster, but they don’t need it to make a run at a competitive NFC West.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Rookie QB Milroe to play all of Seahawks’ preseason finale
• Seahawks’ joint practice with Packers features several skirmishes
• Is the starting Seahawks O-line now set? Huard’s take
• What Hawks’ offense is showing under Kubiak matters — even in preseason
• Stacy Rost: Why this may be time for an all-in Seattle Seahawks trade