No one wants to play the Seattle Seahawks. That is not a sentence you have been able to say in a very long time, a decade, in fact. But it will probably be something you see and hear as the season goes on because this team has a new identity, which is simple – make the other team suffer. And that is bad news for the rest of the league.
New head coach Mike Macdonald came from Baltimore after running one of the best defensive units in recent years, and he has a plan to get this team back on track in short order. The Ravens gave up the 25th most yards in 2021, the year before Macdonald arrived. At the conclusion of his first season, they were ranked 11th and climbed all the way to 6th last year. They gave up the fewest rushing touchdowns, the third-fewest passing touchdowns, and allowed the third-fewest drives that ended in points.
Macdonald takes over a defense that gave up the 30th most yards last year, allowed the 10th fewest rushing touchdowns, and allowed the 12th fewest passing scores. They still allowed the 28th most drives to end in points, so they have work to keep points off the board even if they don’t give up touchdowns. Baltimore led the league in takeaways last season, Seattle struggled to force turnovers ranking just 22nd. This wasn’t the worst defense by any stretch, but they were not making life tough for their opponents, and that is supposed to be their job.
The Legion of Boom was one of the greatest defensive forces in league history, and it appears Macdonald is precisely the guy who breathes new life into this defense and gets them back to their glory days.
He has already started by making simple changes. He asked Jamal Adams to play linebacker; Adams said no and walked for Tennessee. Quandre Diggs wanted a new deal, but he wasn’t consistent enough for the money he asked for, so he signed with the Titans. Seattle drafted University of Texas nose tackle Byron Murphy, the kind of run-stopping nightmare the defense has desperately needed and sorely been missing for years. They have good edge rushers, but they had trouble collapsing the pocket to make life hell for the QB, and that’s another area Murphy can contribute immediately.
Seattle is solid at linebacker and should be set up well at cornerback, but safety is a question mark. Julian Love had some great plays last year filling in for Adams and is slated to be one of the starting safeties this season, and Rayshawn Jenkins comes to Seattle after a couple of very solid years in Jacksonville. They are both solid players, but neither has been asked to be the last line in one of the league’s best units, and that’s what they will need to do. It’s tough to say if these two safeties will play as well as Ravens safeties Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton, but that is probably who Macdonald will be comparing them to.
On offense, things could look much more thrilling for fans. Anyone who watched the Washington Huskies offense the last two seasons has to be excited about that high-octane and aggressive style of play staying in Seattle. Ryan Grubb called plays for Washington the last two years and will be calling plays for Geno Smith and the offense this season. The previous coaching staff often forced running the ball when the matchup on game day favored passing. In the modern NFL, you have to be willing to attack your opponent however possible; you can’t just decide to be a certain way and insist on making that happen even when the results time and again tell you to change. Sure, when you have a legend like Marshawn Lynch, you can get away with running the ball 65% of the time. But when you are using great players who are not superstars, you need to make sure the defense doesn’t have to work only 35% of the time. With cameras on every angle of every single play and how each player does their job, you have to find ways to surprise your opposition, and a Steven Jackson playbook from the 2008 Rams is not the way to go. With Grubb calling the plays, you can expect to see something more like what we got from Michael Penix Jr last year, and that means exciting times for Seattle fans going into this season.
Seattle opens their season at home against Denver, who is fittingly starting former Oregon QB Bo Nix. What better way than to introduce the new team in Seattle by making them beat the QB that Grubb had to beat two times last season? Denver is also the former home of one-time Seattle QB Russell Wilson, so this feels like a second chance at a reset after they played Denver and Wilson to start the 2022 season. Seattle won that game and had a stellar season, but it ended the same way many have in the last several years – with a one-and-done exit in the playoffs.
After Denver, they travel to New England, then host Miami before traveling to Detroit to close out their first month. It’s very possible Seattle could be 3-1 after the first few weeks, but a 2-2 or 1-3 record is just as likely. It’s an 18-week season, so don’t get too discouraged if they beat Denver and New England and then lose to the Dolphins and Lions; it’s not the end of the world.
Their first game of October is against the Giants, which they should win, but then they have their first showdown against San Francisco. Seattle has not beaten the 49ers since the 2021 season, so this would be a great time to end that streak. They travel to Atlanta the following week before ending their October at home against Buffalo. They have some winnable games here but also some very tough matchups; I think ending October at 4-4 is a decent record heading into the last two months of the season.
Seattle opens November against the Rams before taking their bye week. The following week they travel to San Francisco, then host Arizona. If they can go 2-1 over those three games and head into December at 6-5 or better, they could have a great shot at a good playoff spot when the season is over.
Their first game in December is at the Jets, then they travel to Arizona, host Green Bay on Sunday Night Football, and then host Minnesota before traveling to Chicago to close out the month. The Jets are the only team I think will give them a ton of trouble, and the other four are very winnable games. Seattle will likely head into their final game at 9-7, but it would be outstanding if they could be 10-6.
Their last game of the season is on the road against the Rams, and that could be a game that decides the division. With four really good teams all expected to play well this year, it’s not a huge letdown if Seattle is a wild card playoff team again, but it would be really neat to see them crowned division champs – which would be their first since the 2020 season.
Even if they lose to the Rams, I think they will still make the 6th or 7th wild card spot, if not an even better spot. And if this team is playing as well as Washington was at the end of last season and ideally healthy, they could really be dark horse contenders in the NFC. If they have a defense that can get after the QB, stop the run, and an offense that is constantly going for the throat and as many points as possible, I think you will hear from the talking heads that Seattle is a team no one wants to play.
They are too dangerous, too talented, and have nothing to lose. This isn’t supposed to be their year, but that doesn’t mean they can’t disrupt the plans of their division rivals. San Francisco would love to get back to the Super Bowl, but they need to first get out of the NFC, and Seattle has a direct say in that. The Rams would love to go on another deep playoff run and give Matt Stafford the John Elway send-off, but Seattle would love nothing more than to make Stafford feel like he’s back in Detroit. Arizona wants to be the sneaky good team, but there is only room for one of those here, and that spot is already Seattle’s to lose.
It’s a long season, but there should be plenty of points and a defense that finally tries to stop the other team. There should also be an offense trying to make the other team suffer rather than just trying to look like they belong.
This may not be Seattle’s year, but why not them? Just because they are a new-look team doesn’t mean they can’t be a new-look champion. Any given Sunday is true for every team in the NFL, and that is good news for Seattle. Which means it’s bad news for the rest of the league.
Seattle kicks off their season this Sunday at home against Denver – bad news for the Broncos.
