A lot of people around this part of the world were optimistic Seattle would defeat New England in the Super Bowl a couple of months ago (has it been that long already??), and they were correct based on how the game turned out. New England really never had a chance. Seattle toyed with them for most of the game before going for the knockout punch well before the game was complete.
Exactly twelve years prior, a different but similar Seattle team faced Denver in the Super Bowl, and while folks in these parts were optimistic, I think many wondered what exactly Denver’s record-setting offense would do to the high-flying Seahawks defense. Not much, it turned out, as Seattle led from the opening possession and never looked back in a 43-8 dominating performance that was pretty much over at halftime.
With both teams ultimately playing one-sided contests, the question arises: who would win if they were to face each other?
QB: Russell Wilson vs. Sam Darnold
This one is closer than many would like to believe. Wilson was not a vaunted player at the time, only in his second year and primarily used as a point guard on offense, rarely being tasked with winning a game on his own. He was supposed to hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, scramble for a few yards, and make easy completions to keep the chains moving. He made it look easy, so I’m sure he would not be easily replaced, but he was the definition of a game manager early in his career. He later became one of the most lethal downfield passers in the game, and his deep passes were always good, especially given the talent he had to throw to, but he was not the reason they were winning games.
Sam Darnold was absolutely a big reason Seattle got as far as they did this season, routinely torching defenses with well-timed throws in tight areas to his best receivers, and often having to bail the offense out of deep down-and-distance scenarios. The defense took longer than expected to get to the point where it was eliminating opposing offenses, so unlike Wilson, Darnold often had to find ways to win on his own. Darnold’s late heroics in two of his games against the Rams literally kept them out of the Super Bowl, as the defense just had no answers for the Rams’ high-scoring offense.
Edge: Darnold
RB: Marshawn Lynch vs. Kenneth Walker III
This one is not close. No offense to K9, but Lynch would eat him for lunch, with a bag of Skittles on the side. Lynch was so automatic that teams would stack seven or eight defenders close to the line to try to slow him down, but his patience behind the line to wait for blocking was so elite that by the time he made a cut and decided to go, there was little the defense could do to stop him. And even when defenders caught him, he was so quick to make a move away from them that they were often tackling thin air. It had to be frustrating to play against him, and then he would smile on his way to the sideline, and you would think, “How can I stay mad at that dude?” He was also a three-down back, rarely coming off the field, and was a very underrated receiver.
Walker has all of the physical tools you want in a running back, but he lacked durability and struggled moving the ball once things tightened up in the red zone, often being subbed out when the offense got into scoring range. It paid off when his backup was injured in the playoffs, and he had to carry more of the load, but it was very telling when Seattle decided to let Walker go to a new team just weeks after he was named Super Bowl MVP.
Edge: Lynch
Receivers: Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, Percy Harvin vs. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Rashid Shaheed
Tate was fun to watch, and a few guys played the game as hard as angry Doug Baldwin, and Harvin was nearly impossible to defend when healthy. But it’s no contest if JSN is on the other side. Smith-Njigba had an amazing year, partly because of how good Darnold was, but also because of how amazing a receiver he is. He was Offensive Player of the Year for good reason, putting together highlight reels every week and outperforming some of the best receivers, not just this season but in recent memory. The defense knew Darnold was going to push targets his way; they often tried to bracket coverage over to him, but it was just a matter of time until he got the ball and got in the end zone. Tate and Baldwin often were the beneficiaries of single or broken coverage as a result of defenses keying on stopping Lynch, and Wilson buying time for them while scrambling. They are all incredible athletes, but Kupp has some of the best hands in the game when he’s feeling good (even if he can barely run anymore), and Shaheed can flat-out fly when he is given the chance, making the quickest defenders look slow.
Edge: JSN, Kupp, Shaheed
Offensive line: Neither team was known for having an elite offensive line, so let’s just call that one a wash.
Edge: Draw
Offensive Edge: Goes to the 2025 team. Lynch was a one-man wrecking crew, but this year’s offense was a better unit overall.
Defensive line: Michael Bennett, Chris Clemons, Cliff Avril vs. Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, DeMarcus Lawrence
This one is maybe the toughest to vote on. The 2013 team had a pass rush that was one of the quickest I have ever seen, perhaps better than the 2007 Giants, which is insane, as that pass rush made Tom Brady look like he hated playing football in February (which we know isn’t true), but the 2025 unit looked like a murder waiting to happen every time the ball was snapped. Both fronts shut down the opposing running game and ruined the QB’s life, but I have to admit the way the 2013 team dismantled the greatest offense in NFL history was more impressive. We are splitting hairs at this point, but they were that good.
If the 2025 team had played a player on Peyton Manning’s level and made him look as silly as the 2013 team made Manning look, then I would have an even tougher time with this, but they took a guy who threw for over 5,000 yards and 55 TDs and made him look like he didn’t belong on the same field. That’s insane.
Edge: Bennett, Clemons, Avril
Linebackers: Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright vs. Ernest Jones IV and Drake Thomas
Another tough one that is essentially a coin flip. Wagner is one of the best middle linebackers of the last twenty years, but Jones is extremely good, and together with Thomas, I would argue they are just as good as the combo of Wagner and Wright. Wright had some trouble in pass coverage, where no one on Seattle’s current defense really had an issue with it, but that also comes with an extra decade of learning to cover modern offenses and how they use bigger, more athletic tight ends. If we were only defending offenses from 2013, I would be fine with Wright, but in today’s league, you need a more versatile off-ball linebacker, and Wright was not quite on that level. If Denver had a more athletic TE in 2013, they may have been able to exploit that, but Wright did not have much trouble covering Julius Thomas, helping hold him to less than 30 total yards.
Edge: Jones and Thomas
Secondary: Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor vs. Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, Julian Love
This is not a slight to a very talented group in 2025, but come on. The Legion of Boom wins this battle with no hesitation. Sherman was a nightmare for opposing receivers, with unreal size, quickness, and underrated strength for a guy in his spot. A textbook tackler and amazing trash talker, no one got in your head and backed up his talk better than this guy, and as the pressure increased, so did his level of play. Then you have two of the best safeties of all time playing behind him, and it’s insane that anyone completed passes. It was like trying to play pinball while being in a hurricane simulator. Every time I watch highlights of those three playing in their prime, I have to remind myself that the video speed is normal; it’s the players who are just that fast. That’s how good they were; you couldn’t believe what you were seeing. If they actually happened to give you room to make a play, they closed so fast you had to think they were pranking you all along. It was like a nightmare, and there was a QB every week dealing with that.
Witherspoon is a great all-around player who can play corner, safety, or as a mini-linebacker, but side by side with Chancellor, there is no comparison. Thomas could fly around the field, and Jobe is a very good corner, but not at Sherman’s level. Love might give Thomas some trouble as a good imitator, but that’s all it would be. The Legion of Boom was terrifying for a reason. They were a puzzle no one could solve, while their families were being held hostage in a hospital, the Joker was threatening to blow up.
Edge: Sherman, Thomas, Chancellor
Defensive Edge: Goes to the 2013 team. That pass rush, coupled with an all-time secondary, was so vicious, it’s amazing they gave up any points at all. Sometimes you wonder if they got bored out there. If you somehow managed to get anyone into the middle of the field, they had to deal with the league leader in tackles, Wagner, so good luck.
Overall edge
The 2025 team has the edge at QB, WR, and LB. The 2013 team has the edge at RB, defensive line, and secondary. What are the odds we actually have a push? This game must be going to overtime.
While I have no doubt the matchup would be close, I don’t think Darnold and JSN would have much luck against this defense, and I think Lynch and the offense would be able to do just enough to win a very close game, even if it takes overtime. Both of these teams are extremely talented and fight for every yard, but that 2013 defense was simply a marvel, and I don’t think any team can beat them in their prime.
Prediction: The 2013 team wins 13-10 on a field goal in overtime, in one of the hardest-hitting, toughest battles of the century, with both teams holding their opponents under 200 total yards.
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