Why the Seattle Seahawks Will Win the NFC

The Seattle Seahawks capturing the number one seed in the NFC, a first-round bye, and the privilege of staying at home for the entirety of the NFC playoffs aren't the reasons they're the clear NFC favorite. The fact that they won 14 games while clinching a division title over the 49ers and the Rams shows they can beat any team, one way or another. Winning football's most competitive division is serious heavy lifting for the Seahawks or any team in that matter. But it's what they can do better than any other team in the NFL right now that makes them stand out. What they are doing with Sam Darnold is one of three reasons why they are the team to pick to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 60.

Taking the pressure off Sam Darnold

The Vikings made a mistake with Sam Darnold last season that the Seahawks avoided this season. The final two games with the Vikings weren't performances for Darnold to be proud of. In the week 18 game against the Lions, with the division title and the NFC number one seed on the line, Darnold threw three interceptions and completed 18 out of 41 passes during the 31-9 defeat. He and the Vikings settled for a road playoff game against the Rams, and once again, couldn't lead the offense to victory. As the offense scored just nine points, Darnold completed 25 out of 40 passes while throwing an interception. It was like the Vikings instantly made Sam Darnold too much like the man and planted so much pressure on him to make all the big plays needed while having a talented enough roster to win games as a team.

A year later, a different team, a different opponent, and the same scenario. Sam Darnold has piloted the Seahawks to 13 wins and is playing the 49ers, who have won 12 games with the NFC West title and the NFC number one seed on the line. This time, Sam Darnold threw the football 26 times and completed 20 of those throws, passing for 198 yards without a touchdown. The Seahawks decided to just beat down San Francisco's defense with Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker. Each carried the ball more than 15 times and rushed for more than 70 yards, with Charbonnet scoring the game's only touchdown on a 27-yarder. Walker's longest run of the game went for 20 yards and led the way with 97 rushing yards to a 13-3 win over the 49ers for the division title.

This was a similar case scenario in week 16 against the Rams, with both teams coming into the match with 11 wins. There were times when Darnold didn't have his best target, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, getting open for passes due to coverage schemes explicitly designed for him from the Rams' defense for the night. Kenneth Walker rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries, and Zach Charbonnet rushed for 32 yards on nine carries to keep the Seahawks within reach of victory. The turning point of the game came from the special teams with Pro Bowl returner Rashid Shaheed returning a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown, with the Seahawks being 16 points down to the Rams in the fourth quarter. That scoring return started a Seahawks rally to tie the game and took it to overtime.

After Sam Darnold hit up Smith-Njigba for his second touchdown pass of the game in overtime to bring the Seahawks within one point of a tie. Darnold hit up tight end Eric Saubert on a two-point conversion for the game winner. His primary tight end, A.J. Barner, was also highly available for him that game, like every other game this season. Barner had four catches, 49 yards, and a touchdown to help the Seahawks make the comeback. He's not George Kittle, but he knows how to be available as a safety net for the Seahawks whenever their offense runs out of options. The fact that Darnold passed the football 68 times fewer, 16.0 fewer yards per game, and had 10 fewer touchdown passes than the season before in Minnesota shows that the pressure is off of him. The 2024 Minnesota Vikings were just as talented, but the 2025 Seattle Seahawks have become a better support system for Sam Darnold.

Mike Mac's defense

Watching this defense improve steadily, game by game, closely resembles the same defensive formula installed by the 2023 Baltimore Ravens. That team won the NFL's best 13 games, and that defense ranked the number one scoring defense in the NFL that year. Shamefully, they fell one game short of the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs being in the way. Who was the defensive coordinator for that team? The one and only, Mike Macdonald.

The 49ers scored 43 points against the Bears on Sunday Night Football one week and suddenly scored just a field goal against the Seahawks with a division title at stake the following week. This was going to be the worst time to play the 49ers, as Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey were catching fire at the moment. Purdy came in with three-plus touchdown passes in three consecutive games, and McCaffrey produced over 140 yards from scrimmage for two straight games. Against Seattle, McCaffrey rushed for 23 yards while Purdy passed for 127 yards and threw an interception. The Seahawks shut down all of that San Francisco power with blanket coverage and disguised blitzes. Taking away big play opportunities, forcing Purdy to settle for the checkdowns the whole night.

This defense, which has allowed the fewest points in the NFL, is disciplined enough to prevent big plays.

Seattle is also one of the top 10 leaders in sacks, with Pro Bowlers Leonard Williams and Demarcus Lawrence leading the charge. Their secondary consisted of Devon Witherspoon, Tariq Woolen, Coby Bryant, Julian Love, and Nick Emmanwori—hard-hitting defensive backs who erase deep ball opportunities like a squad of big-play exterminators. Ernest Jones IV turned in his best season yet, becoming as productive as any other linebacker in the game with five interceptions, a half a sack, and 126 total tackles for the year. Together, they make a defense that allowed a 77.9 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks, fourth lowest in the NFL, and is one of just two defenses that allowed a single-digit number of rushing touchdowns this season. Perhaps the most complete defense in the NFL, as they also have the fourth most interceptions in the league with 18, and allowed the fewest yards per rushing attempt in the league at 3.7.

The road to the Super Bowl comes through Seattle

The last time the Seahawks had homefield advantage throughout the playoffs was 2014, and it was also the last time they appeared in the Super Bowl. That would also be the last time they hosted a playoff game. CenturyLink is one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL and remains one of the toughest places for visiting teams to get a win. Since 2014, the Seahawks' home record is 62-36, which ranks eighth-best in the NFL during this span. The Seahawks' home record this season is 6-2, with both losses decided in the final seconds, and the point margin was no more than four in either game. As the 12th man remains alive and screaming well in Seattle, a resemblance to their championship past emerges.

Unlike any of their Super Bowl squads, Seattle has the added luxury of having a pass catcher at the caliber of Jaxson Smith-Njigba. His 1,793 receiving yards this season are the eighth-best season total in NFL history, and his NFL-leading 118 receptions make him the first Seahawk ever to catch 100 passes in consecutive seasons. Last but not least, have a quarterback who joins Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to have won 14 or more games in consecutive seasons. Brady did it in 2003-04, when the Patriots won two Super Bowls in a row, establishing themselves as the team of the 2000s.