Another day, another reason the Seahawks are getting brushed aside.
For a team that went 14-3 in 2025, Seattle sure doesn’t sound like a club that’s earned much benefit of the doubt. Even the usual grumbling that comes with being the defending Super Bowl champs feels a little louder than normal around this group.
The latest example came from former NFL scout John Middlekauff, who was filling in on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and went with the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC West. In his view, Seattle losing offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak - now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders - was enough to tip the scale. He also took a shot at the Seahawks’ first-time play caller, Brian Fleury.
“(Klint) Kubiak was a huge reason for Seattle’s success and now he’s gone,” Middlekauff said. “They replaced him with a first-time play caller (Brian Fleury)… Seattle won 14 games and lost three.
You know where one of the losses came? In Seattle against the 49ers.”
There’s at least some logic in that argument. Kubiak’s departure matters, and the 49ers did hold Seattle to 13 points in Week 1 last season when they were healthiest.
But that’s only part of the picture. Seattle turned around and beat San Francisco twice after that, including a 41-6 blowout in the divisional round.
And if you’re comparing these teams, the age and injury concerns on the 49ers’ side are impossible to ignore.
Middlekauff also downplayed the Rams while pointing to Matthew Stafford’s injury history, yet skipped over George Kittle entering his age 33 season after a torn Achilles. On top of that, the 49ers have already lost wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for the season. Christian McCaffrey remains a special all-around weapon, but he can’t carry the offense alone, especially with San Francisco having finished 25th in rushing yards per game last season.
So no, this isn’t some outrageous take. The 49ers are loaded, Kyle Shanahan is one of the league’s best play callers, and the NFC West is crowded with legitimate contenders. There’s no clean, obvious answer for which of these three very good teams should be favored.
Still, the broader tone around Seattle has started to feel less like analysis and more like reflexive doubt. The Seahawks win, and people treat it like a one-off. They beat the odds, and the easy answer is to call it a fluke.
Sam Darnold winning 14 games again gets waved off as a product of the system, as if the quarterback and the play caller are the only parts that mattered. The division title gets reduced to a controversial two-point conversion, even though the Rams also blew a 16-point lead and then lost again to Seattle in the conference championship game.
That’s the uphill climb for the Seahawks now. Repeating is hard, and staying healthy is even harder.
But Seattle’s success wasn’t built on luck. The team carried the top DVOA nearly wire-to-wire, finished as the top-scoring unit in the season’s final weeks, and proved it had the best defensive line in football.
They’ve got questions, and they’ve got a few holes. Just not nearly as many as the critics seem determined to find.
In Other News...
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Seahawks fans know the arc of that story as well as anyone. Metcalf requested a trade after the 2024 season and was dealt to Pittsburgh, where he signed an extension through 2029, while Seattle moved on and won the Super Bowl the following season. For Metcalf, the new setting brings fresh pressure and a longer runway, but the debate around him has followed him from one team to the next, and it is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Hit With Brutal Injury Setback As Backfield Questions Linger
The Cardinals backfield picture is getting harder to read by the day, and the latest injury update only adds to the uncertainty. Arizona confirmed that Chase Bisontis has a torn MCL and will need surgery, while tight end Elijah Higgins is still working back from a concussion. The club also said running backs Trey Benson and James Conner are making progress, though there is still no specific return timeline for either player.
For a division race that already figures to be shaped by health as much as talent, that leaves Arizona trying to piece together answers on the fly. Seattle has its own news to manage after locking up cornerback Devon Witherspoon and issuing updates on fullback Robbie Ouzts and Terrion Arnold, but the Cardinals situation is the one that most directly keeps the Seahawks watching the depth chart across the field. [Read more 🡒]
ESPN Just Put The Seahawks At The Top Of The NFL Future
ESPNs latest future power rankings give the Seahawks a pretty flattering long-view snapshot, placing Seattle No. 1 through the 2029 season when it comes to overall roster strength outside the quarterback spot. The evaluation also reflects well on the people building and coaching the team, with the Seahawks staff and front office both landing high in the league-wide outlook.
The one area that keeps the picture from looking completely finished is at quarterback, where Seattle was ranked 16th. That split between a strong supporting cast and a more modest view of the most important position is what makes the ranking so interesting for Seahawks fans, since it suggests the organization has done a lot right everywhere but the most obvious place still leaves some room for debate. [Read more 🡒]