This is a guest post by Curtis Allen…
A Super Bowl win.
Over $500 million of new player contracts signed.
A national spotlight on Hard Knocks that further underlined what this team is all about.
An historic sale of the franchise.
It has been quite the 2026 for the Seattle Seahawks so far.
Determination to shut all of that out and focus on the task at hand has been the next challenge for Mike Macdonald and John Schneider. They have said all the right things this summer and the players have bought into the concept.
They can talk the talk. Now it is time to see if they can walk the walk.
The Seahawks start the season the way they ended it: with a matchup against the New England Patriots.
What is mainly different about these teams?
For the Seahawks, Riq Woolen, Coby Bryant and Kenneth Walker are gone. They have brought in a collection of Cornerbacks, Safeties and Running Backs to fill their spots, most notably Jadarian Price and Julian Neal. Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak is in Las Vegas now, replaced by Bryan Fleury.
For the Patriots, Wide Receivers Stefon Diggs and Kayshoun Boutte have been replaced by A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. Center Garrett Bradbury has been replaced by Left Guard Jared Wilson, with Alijah Vera-Tucker taking the Left Guard spot. K’Lavon Chaisson has been replaced by old friend Dre’Mont Jones on the edge and Jaylinn Hawkins has been replaced by Kevin Byard at Free Safety.
It is fair to say that while some of the players on the field have changed, the fundamental truths that made the difference in the Super Bowl will still be very prominent for this game.
Here are my Super Bowl Watch Points posts from February:
What are some similarities in the key elements?
On Defense
We saw that the defense providing interior rush on Maye proved to be very effective. In fact, the Seahawks only blitzed ten times on their way to a 34% pressure rate that included six sacks, ten bad throws and two interceptions. Attacking the interior carried a lot of the weight on defense.
The Patriots are still vulnerable there.
Vera-Tucker’s last game was January 2025 and Jared Wilson (yes, this Jared Wilson) was a shaky rookie last year and is now changing spots to play center. Lining up across from one of the NFL’s best interiors is a very tough ask for Week One. The Seahawks must take advantage and move Maye off his spot.
Helping unbalance the game a bit is that Treyvon Henderson is out for this game with a nagging ankle injury. Rhamondre Stevenson will carry most of the load.
Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels will also try his patented blend of misdirection and changing defenders’ eye focus, then taking shots to burn defenses deep. This time around, he has A.J. Brown to work with, an upgrade over Diggs and Boutte. No doubt players like Nehemiah Pritchett, Anthony Thomas and D’Anthony Bell will have critical roles behind the linebackers. It will be a very interesting test of the defensive staff’s acumen to see if they can make the game plan work with depth players at one or two key spots. Last year, a depleted backfield was the biggest difference in Week Five’s loss against the Buccaneers.
On Offense
Last year I wrote this:
The third (and most effective) is this: attack the edges of the defense. It is no secret that the best way to minimize the impact of inside strength is to run away from it. The Seahawks employ the Wide Zone as well as any team, and there are many ways they can run on the edges to create space for Walker to pick up some meaningful yards. This is not just an idea to avoid running at the tackles. The Patriots have shown they are vulnerable to this kind of attack.
Did the Seahawks utilize this strategy?
Yes.
They.
Did.
Okay that third one may not have been from the actual game. But just look at Kenneth Walker’s run chart to see how much success he had in their wide zone scheme:
The first offensive play of the game for the Seahawks was a Walker wide zone to the left for ten yards.
Have the Patriots vastly improved at the edges of their defense? No they have not.
Do the Seahawks have a player who can take advantage of poor edge setting?
In the passing game, the Patriots will likely still rely on the “blitz a lot and pray” model, given their lack of effective pass rush. In the Super Bowl, they blitzed 23 times (to Seattle’s 10), getting a very nice 35% pressure rate. They recorded one sack and forced Sam Darnold into eight bad throws, but none were interceptions.
This is a key area to keep an eye on. Darnold knows he did not have a good Super Bowl. Having a better game will require that he torch the Patriot blitzes mercilessly.
One key way to beat the blitz was something we saw time and again in training camp this year: having Jadarian Price leak into the flat and be a safety valve for the Quarterback. If the Seahawks are able to time up some blitzes with a play like this, Price can really open things up. All the more so if the defense gets their signals crossed.
New Factors to Consider
— Week One is always a mix of the unknown. Teams keep their training camps under wraps more than ever and many do not even give their starters snaps in preseason games anymore. Mike Macdonald and the staff need to be sharp on their adjustments to what the Patriots are rolling out on both sides of the ball.
— The sword cuts both ways though. Brian Fleury is making his debut as a play-caller and putting in more pre-snap movement will be very interesting to watch. Perhaps he can catch the defense off guard. He also has envious depth to work with. A deep group of Tight Ends might provide opportunities for mismatches, particularly if they are not aware and put a slower Linebacker on Elijah Arroyo.
— Mike Macdonald has praised Tyrice Knight for his camp, noting that Knight is ‘making his job hard’ in finding ways to get him on the field. It should be noted that Nick Emmanwori was used often in a Linebacker role on the field. It would follow that Knight can take some of his snaps if Emmanwori cannot make it, which seems increasingly likely. Do not forget – he can be a very effective blitzer.
-Sam Darnold and Rashid Shaheed have demonstrated far better chemistry in training camp this year than they did in games down the stretch. Shaheed had a lot of great moments but often was just slightly out of synch with Darnold on deeper passes. All credit to Christian Gonzalez for a gorgeous breakup, but look at Shaheed slow down just enough when tracking the ball to allow Gonzalez into the play. It also happened in the first Rams matchup Week 11. It can be hard to time up passes with a track-speed level runner. If Darnold can hit Shaheed deep on one or two plays, that could flip the game for the Seahawks.
— The A.J. Barner touchdown in the Super Bowl was such a blown coverage, I would be tempted to run it again and see if both Linebackers – having watched the tape several times this offseason – overzealously bite to cover him and leave the Running Back all alone in the flat.
