John Lynch had a simple takeaway from a John Wooden book he read earlier this offseason: don’t waste energy worrying about the other team. Make them worry about you.
He passed that message along to Kyle Shanahan, and the reaction was immediate.
“Funny story. I was sharing that with Kyle right about when Myles Garrett joined the Rams and he was going ‘Man, that’s really cool,’” Lynch recalled.
“And as we were speaking, that came out and Kyle said, ‘You know what? (Screw) John Wooden.’
So, we understand what we’re going up against, but we’re more focused on being at our best and that, we think, is going to be pretty damn good.”
That attitude fits a division that looks loaded from top to bottom, with the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers all landing in the top seven in BetMGM odds to win the Super Bowl - the highest concentration of contenders in the NFC.
The Rams are the headliners. Los Angeles was already a threat after coming close to winning the division last season and nearly beating Seattle in the playoffs behind Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua. Then the roster got even louder on defense with the additions of Garrett and former All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, plus the return of three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.
Donald didn’t sound like a man caught up in the hype.
“I think this is a complete team with me here or without me here, so for me to even have the opportunity to be a part of this, to be with this team, I take nothing for granted,” Donald said.
Still, Sean McVay isn’t treating this as a championship-or-bust season, even with the talent stacked around Stafford and one of the league’s most dangerous offenses from a year ago.
“That’s not what I believe,” McVay added. “I’m not living that way. I’ve gotten caught up in things like that before and those are things that are way beyond our control.”
The caution makes sense. Big preseason favorites don’t always cash in, and the source notes that the last team to enter a season with plus-500 odds or better and finish as champion was San Francisco in 1994, after a major defensive haul that included Deion Sanders, Ken Norton Jr. and Rickey Jackson.
Seattle, meanwhile, arrives with the title and the kind of confidence that comes from knocking out both the 49ers and Rams in the postseason. Mike Macdonald remains the defensive-minded coach in charge, and the Seahawks have already locked up Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba with market-setting contracts.
They do have work to do, though. Seattle has to replace Kenneth Walker III, Riq Woolen, Coby Bryant and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Even so, there’s plenty to like, starting with Sam Darnold, who has found his footing over the past two seasons, and a defense built around Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori.
Smith-Njigba made it clear the Seahawks aren’t interested in living off last season’s banner.
“We want to create a new story with this upcoming season,” Smith-Njigba said. “And because it’s different, we do have different guys, we got different people in the building, so it’s going to be a unique story and a unique challenge - different from last year. So, we’re excited to take it on.”
The 49ers may be the team easiest to overlook because of the injuries that hit them so hard last season, but they still managed 12 wins and a wild-card victory at Philadelphia. If they get healthier, the case gets stronger in a hurry.
Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and George Kittle all missed significant time, and San Francisco expects those former All-Pros back. The offense also gets a boost with the addition of six-time Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans, giving Shanahan another major weapon alongside Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and Kittle.
Trent Williams wants the next version of the 49ers to look a lot less like a survival test.
“I would hope that we don’t have to show how resilient we are,” Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams said. “I hope that can show how dominant we are and how dominant we can be and how dominant we should be.”
That’s the challenge for San Francisco: the offense has the look of a group that can put up points with anyone, but the defense is not nearly as imposing as it was during the 2019 and ’23 Super Bowl runs. For the 49ers to stay in the race, Warner and Bosa need healthy seasons, and more defenders have to step up as pass-rush and takeaway threats.
Arizona sits at the other end of the race, with the longest odds to win the division of any team in the NFL. First-year coach Mike LaFleur has some intriguing pieces on offense, including Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Paris Johnson and rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, but the Cardinals still have too many holes to seriously threaten the top three.
They also have a quarterback situation that remains unsettled. Jacoby Brissett is the placeholder, Carson Beck is the third-round rookie who could get a look, and the source says Arizona could be in position to take a quarterback next year, especially with the toughest projected schedule in the NFL.
So the forecast is clear enough: Rams, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals.
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For the Seahawks, the immediate issue is less about the paperwork than the uncertainty around a key defensive piece as the opener approaches. The exempt list is designed to let investigations play out without forcing an on-field decision first, but it also leaves Seattle waiting for clarity on a situation that could affect the roster and the teams early-season plans. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Macdonald Brought One Harbaugh Trait Seattle Is Feeling Now
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Jay Harbaugh arrives with experience that fits right into a program trying to build on a Super Bowl victory in Macdonalds second season. He has already won a Super Bowl with Seattle and a national championship with Michigan, which makes him a notable addition on a staff that values discipline and detail. The more interesting part for the Seahawks is how much of the Harbaugh approach is becoming visible in the daily work, and how far that influence can still take them. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Tryout Has One Small-School Pass Catcher Worth Watching
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Seattles interest appears tied as much to special teams depth as to any immediate need on offense, which makes the tryout session worth tracking even if it does not produce a splashy addition. With roster spots always at a premium and the Seahawks still sorting through depth options, a signing could come soon, and one of these smaller-school prospects may have done enough to stick around a little longer. [Read more 🡒]