Seahawks defense can be even better
The Seahawks are expected to have their entire defense active for the first time all year
It’s been a long time since the Seahawks won 5 out of 6 games between their second and seventh contests of the season, as they’ve done in 2025.
It’s been two years.
The same season that got Pete Carroll fired, the Seahawks rebounded from a loss to the Rams to win five of six including a win over the Lions. Their one loss to the Bengals, really not much different than their recent loss to the Bucs.
PETE CARROLL GOT FIRED that year.
The only major team statistical difference that stands out to me is rushing yards allowed between games 2-7:
2023: 150 carries, 586 yards, 3.9 YPC, 4 TD
2025: 125 carries, 411 yards, 3.3 YPC, 2 TD
The Seahawks allowed over 100 rushing yards in 4 of the 6 games, where as in 2025 they haven’t given up 90+ rushing yards in any of the last 6 games; they’ve held the last three teams under 60 rushing yards.
But in many ways the two Seahawks are surprisingly similar.
2023: +47
2025: +61
And if you’re thinking “Well, why does this matter? It’s just total points”, I’m actually only talking about how we feel. I’m not talking about what’s necessarily real. That’s actually what Seaside Joe is doing most of the time when comparing eras because different eras are so difficult to compare.
Many fans thought that the Seahawks were climbing back to greatness in 2023 and then Mike Macdonald helped the Ravens drop Mount Everest on those hopes and Seattle lost 5 of 6. Has Macdonald now rescued the Seahawks from base camp?
There are reasons that Seaside Joe is not worried about that happening again, not the least of which is the aforementioned run defense. If you’re skeptical, Seattle gets an immediate test after the bye week by facing a Moons offense ranks first in yards per carry (5.4) and second in yards (1,049).
That’s also a reason to be a little more confident because I don’t know how Washington can accomplish anything without a successful run game:
The Moons are 0-4 when they don’t rush for 150 yards. When they don’t rush for AHUNDREDANDFIFTY!!!
Another reason to be optimistic that the Seahawks will at least be a competitive NFC playoff team is that Carroll didn’t have many “best player in the league” type players in 2023. Seattle’s best players at the time (before trading for Leonard Williams) were guys like DK Metcalf, Devon Witherspoon, and Julian Love.
Ironically — and I’m pretty confident using that word — the Seahawks have been winning these games without Witherspoon and Love.
The Seahawks now have a quarterback who is in everybody’s top-5. People who didn’t think they would ever talk about Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the top-5 are now forced to consider if he’s the best receiver in the NFL. Byron Murphy II, a college player in 2023, is in the running for a DT All-Pro nod. Williams is on the team now, he’s not a surprise addition after it’s too late. Even Uchenna Nwosu is in a group of just five players with 5+ sacks in the last 4 games.
I can keep going because players like Nick Emmanwori, A.J. Barner, Grey Zabel are young and already contributing at a high level, which feels much different than “We think Dee Eskridge is gonna be good one day” and “We think Darrell Tayor is going to be good one day”. Time ticks faster in the NFL.
Inch past those players a little more and you’ll see slightly older and important starters like Ernest Jones, Abe Lucas (film), Charles Cross, Josh Jobe, Drake Thomas, and that guy that you’re going to be mad I didn’t mention by name because I had to stop somewhere.
I’m not not-mentioning anyone to put them down, like a Kenneth Walker or a Tariq Woolen or a Coby Bryant, I’m just saying that there’s a different feeling with some of these other players now compared to 2023’s 5-2 start.
-JSN was on the team in 2023, but he’s a lot better now.
-Uchenna Nwosu was on the team in 2023, but he’s a lot healthier now.
-Ernest Jones was not on the team in 2023 and his career won’t be anyhwere close to Bobby Wagner’s, but he’s a better LB today than Wagner was two years ago. (And today.)
This goes without mentioning that Cooper Kupp and DeMarcus Lawrence have been positive adds and better players that most over-32 signings. Or regardless of Carroll’s Hall of Fame status, Seattle’s coaching staff looks like for now that it could be the best in the league. They have weathered a storm without Witherspoon, Love, Derick Hall, and only just got back Emmanwori.
And that’s the last reason for enhanced optimism: Love, Witherspoon, and Hall are back against Washington in 8 days.
Seattle’s Week 2 defense against the Steelers, which was a really good game for Macdonald (season-best 13 first downs allowed), had to start Derion Kendrick at cornerback; that’ll now be Witherspoon. They were starting Tyrice Knight; that’ll now be Thomas. That was the last time we saw Love; he’s back now and taking Ty Okada’s place. They were only just getting Nwosu’s feet wet; he’s soaked now. They didn’t have Emmanwori.
Week 9 will be the first time that the Seahawks have every defensive player who started the season with them (so not Johnathan Hankins or Rylie Mills) available and ready to go.
So yeah, the Seahawks did start 5-2 in 2023 but it feel apart so quickly that I kind of forget that it happened. Though the stats look similar on the surface, Seattle really could not be more different: HC, QB, OC, OL, ST, WR, DEFENSE. But what we’ve seen so far is only a sample. How much better could the Seahwaks defense be with a whole plate?
Seaside Joe 2427
The other thing that occurs to me, is that in addition to having Spoon and Love back, plus Emmanwori who wasn't playing earlier, is how deep we suddenly are. That means MacDonald's defense can come in waves, he can keep the returning guys fresh without a major drop-off, alot like that 2013 team which had guys coming off the bench that could have been starters. Just a very different situation than 2023, we're so deep now (proven, not hypothetical).
Said it before, but I’ll say it again. We should fear nothing and nobody. Line them up and if they don’t bring their A game, their chances are slim. We just have to avoid beating ourselves with turnovers and penalties. If we do that, we’ll play everyone tough and should win more than our share of games. This feels entirely sustainable.