Week 12 further emphasised how wide-open this season is.
The Kansas City Chiefs very nearly dropped to 5-6. The Bills lost on Thursday night to fall to 7-4. The Packers — many people’s pre-season favourites in the NFC — have been anything but convincing so far.
We’re living in a world where the New England Patriots are reborn as the team with the best record in the league. The Colts are a threat. The Broncos never seem to play well but win anyway.
I covered the Eagles vs Cowboys game for national radio in the UK on Sunday. For a quarter-and-a-half Philadelphia looked like they were primed for another run to the Super Bowl. They led 21-0 in the second quarter. Then they failed to score a single point in the second half, collapsed, and lost.
We often talk about parity in the NFL but it’s never been more evident. We could easily see a team (or teams) in the Super Bowl nobody would’ve predicted back in August.
The Seahawks are very much in the mix. They have the ingredients needed to contend this season. With no real dominant force in either conference, having a balanced roster like Seattle’s with just enough quality in key areas can take you far.
Yet I feel like they’re still probably a year away — and that’s fine. I’m not ruling anything out. I’m not suggesting they won’t make a Super Bowl run, or that they can’t. I’m just not convinced this will be the year.
Going into this season I expected they’d be a strong team. My hope was that they would win the NFC West. My expectation was that they would make the playoffs. A real sign of progress would be to win at least one playoff game.
Nothing’s changed for me. Even as this season has unwrapped itself as one of the most unpredictable in recent memory, with fresh opportunities emerging, I think it’s important to note that this is still a building team.
They naturally won’t see it that way and will aim high. We as observers can afford to take a step back though and use perspective.
For starters, this is a roster with only a smattering of playoff experience. Cooper Kupp and Ernest Jones won a Super Bowl with the Rams. DeMarcus Lawrence has played in nine playoff games in his career, with three wins. Leonard Williams has two playoff appearances, a win and a loss in 2023. Julian Love also featured in those games with the Giants. Sam Darnold had the much-discussed Rams game last season.
Pretty much everyone else has no experience of the post-season — or they featured in Seattle’s comfortable loss in San Francisco at the end of the 2022 season.
Compare this to the other two teams in the NFC West. San Francisco has a roster chock full of players who know what the playoffs are about, with a Head Coach who’s been part of three Super Bowls (if you count his run with Atlanta as offensive coordinator).
The Rams have a young defense but they are led at the top by a vastly experienced Head Coach and quarterback duo who already won a Super Bowl together. Davante Adams has played in 11 playoff games in his career too. Their key parts at the top of the franchise can lead from the front.
I thought the Seahawks in 2012 really benefitted from winning and losing a playoff game the way they did. That was a roster capable of great things but it wasn’t quite ready. It needed a bit more experience and a little more quality. They won in Washington then blew a game in Atlanta. By 2013 they were the best team in the NFL and that initial playoff experience — the first for many on the young roster — would’ve helped.
I’m not sure it’s realistic to think the Seahawks would cope with a playoff situation better than the Rams, Eagles or 49ers. At least not three times, which will be required if they end up as a Wild Card team. I’m totally comfortable with this though. Sometimes to get to the top you’ve got to collect a few scars. This is only year two of the Mike Macdonald regime.
I think we’ve seen a little of why that might prove to be the case in this regular season. The Seahawks have given the ball away too much on offense. Even yesterday, Sam Darnold had some risky moments and could’ve easily added to his 10 interceptions for the season — tied for fourth most in the NFL with only Geno Smith, Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence ahead of him.
Things like turnovers and red zone execution matter in the critical games. A lot of the reaction to last week’s loss in LA was to highlight the Seahawks nearly won despite throwing four picks. An important alternative view is that the Rams managed the game without making those critical errors and ultimately won, while playing nowhere near their top level. I’m not confident that if the teams met in the playoffs that Darnold would avoid mistakes. I’m a lot more confident Matthew Stafford would.
We’ve talked about a lack of signature wins too. Going back to 2012 again, there are some good reference points. The win in Chicago enabled people to see how brilliant Russell Wilson could be, justifying his starting role after some rookie growing pains. Then, the demolition of the 49ers before Christmas — a week after San Francisco embarrassed the Patriots in their own backyard — confirmed this was a serious team that could beat the best.
By 2013 there were the wins against the Niners in week two and the Monday Night Football beatdown of the Saints to rubber-stamp the Seahawks as the NFC’s top dog. It feels like we’re still waiting for that moment where this version of the Seahawks arrives by knocking off a top team in a big game.
That could come against the Rams in a few weeks, or even in the playoffs. Until it happens though, I think there’s a little bit of doubt as to whether they can. So far they’ve lost their three most important games to San Francisco, Tampa Bay and the LA Rams. The Rams have now beaten the 49ers (albeit they split the series) and the Buccs. They also won an epic contest last season against the Bills and won a playoff game. The Seahawks last year lost to all of the NFC playoff teams they faced.
Another less important thing (but something I want to mention) is the way some of the second halves have gone. Games against the Jaguars, Cardinals (road), Texans and now Titans have been a lot closer in the scoreline than necessary. Their point differential in those games is +25 — when in reality, any one of those games could’ve produced a point differential of +25 alone.
They’ve not always played their best football when comfortably ahead, which is understandable I suppose. It’s tricky to play four quarters of smothering football when the job is done in the first half. Opponents tend to sink or swim — and Seattle’s opponents have opted for a scrap not a surrender to their credit.
It does make me wonder though whether they’re just maybe lacking one more impact player. Are they short of that devastating game-wrecker who just puts everything to bed?
I firmly believe they’ll go big-game hunting in the off-season. A bad draft paired with a growing opportunity could spur them on. Regulars will know the name I keep bringing up — Maxx Crosby. I wonder if there’ll be a call made to the Raiders when the season’s over?
In 2013 they added Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril to finish off their roster. Perhaps they’re now in a situation where a similar addition (or two) will push the current-day Seahawks into the top tier?
I’m sure to some this will be viewed as a negative article because I’m not simply saying the Seahawks are a Super Bowl contender and that’s that. Like I said, I wouldn’t rule anything out this season. They’ve got a chance. A whole bunch of teams do. They’re one of the best teams in the league.
Yet I think this season, for me at least, was always about taking the next step and in 2026 feeling like that could be the year. Get some playoff experience under your belt. Show you can beat the best. Get more time with this staff working with the players, on both sides of the ball. Have another off-season where you can add more talent — and perhaps be aggressive to get the blue-chip player(s) you need to take the next step.
The Seahawks are on the right track but we might be watching a table being set for 12 months time.
