You have to score to win
A "Number One Defense" isn't enough in the NFL
What I’m about to say could seem like it doesn’t apply to the Seahawks, but it does because this is the same rule for all teams:
If you want to win enough games to be in the Super Bowl hunt, you have to be able to score points against Super Bowl teams.
The Seahawks could have the number one defense in 2025, and maybe that’s something they’re on track to do, but Mike Macdonald need only look at his mentors to see that Seattle’s #1 defense can’t always overcome a mediocre offense.
Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers are 10-6 and going to the playoffs, which is undoubtedly a favorable result for a team that went 5-12 last season. The Chargers also have the top-ranked scoring defense (17.6 points per game), an effort that has so far landed L.A. the SIX SEED in the AFC playoffs.
Perhaps in six weeks, I’ll eat my words as Justin Herbert hoists his first Lombardi Trophy, but here’s what the NFL’s #1 defense is good for when the NFL’s #12 offense (still 3.5 more points per game than Seattle) doesn’t show up:
Chargers are 9-1 when they score at least 22 points
Chargers are 1-5 when they score under 22 points
The Seahawks average 21.6 points per game. Even if they had L.A.’s #1 scoring defense, we might still be talking about Seattle as a fringe playoff team.