The Seahawks proved me wrong

And I couldn't be happier about it

As human beings, it’s important to be self-critical and accept our mistakes. The brain is not a battery that should gradually lose power from as you grow up. It’s a pitcher that you should gradually fill from empty with knowledge as you grow wiser.

There were beliefs about certain Seahawks in the middle of the season that I either participated in, championed, or didn’t deny.

“Kenneth Walker III isn’t worth extending.”

“Jalen Sundell isn’t as good as Olu Oluwatimi.”

“Ty Okada and Drake Thomas are temporary placeholders.”

It wouldn’t be right for me to sit here and blame you, or the media, or “some guy” for stating opinions or statistically-supported claims that I didn’t also post here at Seaside Joe at one point or another. Even something as simple as saying that “the Seahawks can’t run the ball”, which halfway through the season was NOT an opinion but a FACT, can no longer be an opinion or a fact.

The Seahawks have rushed for over 160 yards in four consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the NFL (no other team even has an active streak of 2) and tied as the longest streak in the league in 2025.

What was more than just an opinion after 8 games…

22nd in rushing yards (104 per game), 31st in yards per carry (3.7)

Is not the offense that Seattle has going into the NFC Championship over the last nine games…

5th in rushing yards (141 YPG), t10th in YPC (4.5)

That stat does not include the 175 rushing yards that Seattle had against the 49ers, the second-most by any team in any playoff game this year. And the Seahawks lost Zach Charbonnet in the game. Three rushing touchdowns, none from typical red zone back Charbonnet, is tied with the Panthers (against the Rams) for the most in a playoff game this year.

Ignore how game situations help teams stack rushing yards, i.e. a lead=more runs=more rushing yards.

Could Seattle rush for that many yards in ANY SITUATIONS if they were “bad” at running the ball? Could Seattle rush for that many yards if Walker (at times fans wanted him benched THIS season) was “too dance-y”? Could Seattle rush for that many yards if Sundell was a liability?

The conversation has shifted from whether Sundell should move to right guard to whether Sundell is an elite player to build the offensive line around for years to come.

In this clip from The O-Line Committee, former NFL guard Jeremiah Sirles spends 20 minutes breaking down why Seattle has become such a good running team because of its offensive line, Walker, and the top-tier blocking skills of the Seahawks wideouts. Here are some of the highlights about Sundell in the video with timecodes:

• He’s highlighted for his command at the line of scrimmage and ability to get on linebackers (1:18).

• Sundell makes a great cut (1:40) and is instrumental in creating big gains (2:28).

• He is shown as one of the lead blockers in a clever counter stutter play (5:42), and also helps seal blocks on the backside (15:00).

• The video also highlights his contribution to the transportation series where he “dumps” defenders (19:31).

Of course, if we were wrong once, we could be wrong again. By Week 1, Sundell could be the right guard. Walker could leave in free agency. Sam Darnold of late could become “Sam Darnold of old”. Thomas and Okada may be reserves again.

That’s why opinions are just opinions.

And mine are going to be wrong sometimes, even if they were right at one time or if they’ll be right again in the future. I think the Seahawks need to KEEP Walker (two months ago I wrote that they couldn’t) and I would expect that Seattle doesn’t make more than one change to its offensive line next season, although as much as fans don’t want to hear this…they could make none.

Because whatever your opinions are of Anthony Bradford (or any Seahawk) are today, keep an open mind to let him change your mind tomorrow.

La’au: What is the one position you wish we had an upgrade on?

Right guard?

I do think Bradford’s been at least solid recently. We don’t talk about him nearly as much as we used to and as we just covered, Seattle’s run game is excellent.

The Seahawks need a receiver to replace Cooper Kupp in the passing game. Releasing Kupp could mean a downgrade in run blocking (but really all of Seattle’s receivers appear to be good blockers) but teams don’t pay unproductive receivers $17 million for one season. Last month, I wrote about Jalen Nailor as an inexpensive, available free agent option who has previous (and successful) experience with Darnold.

I’m trying to give very reasonable, predictable options and not get anyone’s hopes up that the Seahawks are going to trade for Chris Olave or Drake London. Anything is possible (who would’ve predicted Jimmy Graham in 2015?) but fewer things are plausible. Nailor is plausible.

So in the offseason, the upgrades I’d expect Seattle to explore are at:

• Right guard

• Wideout (I didn’t forget about Tory Horton)

• Edge rusher (Boye Mafe unlikely to return)

Not necessarily “upgrades” but the secondary may also undergo changes because three starters are free agents and I’m not sure if Seattle wants to keep all of them.

La’au: Another one would be what do you think it will take to sign Shaheed to a long term contract? How do you find comps for him?

The comparison I made a month ago was Kalif Raymond and nothing has really changed, except maybe he’s a slightly more expensive version of Kalif Raymond. As fans, we can let our emotions run wild. As “Executive of the Year”, John Schneider doesn’t have that luxury. He has to be a robot.

Shaheed is practically nonexistent on offense. Well, maybe he will be in 2026! What do you pay for a “maybe”? You definitely don’t pay $10 million AAV for a returner. You pay a maximum of $4 million. And that’s probably too much.

So yeah, I don’t think Rashid Shaheed is unprecedented. The league has seen many elite returners in the past. There are guys you can comp him to like Raymond. (And Jay Harbaugh’s coaching has plenty to do with Shaheed’s success.) I think Seattle has to prioritize Shaheed and will lay out a good argument for why their offer is the best offer, although at this rate Shaheed’s agent may convince him to test the market.

I don’t know where to drop this exactly but I love this Fourth and Film channel and they covered some plays in Seahawks-49ers for you:

Nelly: Since Kubiak runs an outside zone rushing scheme, will that be put into consideration of who his replacement is? Of the options, what replacements run a wide zone scheme?

You didn’t know I would write this because you asked your question before I posted it, but I’m sticking to the newsletter I wrote on Wednesday about my expected OC replacement for Kubiak. I have no doubt that the Seahawks have OCs in mind who can run the scheme that Mike Macdonald wants the offense to have next year.

Grant: Do MM and JS need to make a DC decision sooner than they’d like to? Karl Scott is getting looked at for a DC promotion from other teams (Moons, at least). If Durde isn’t trusted to call plays, or MM just doesn’t want to let go of that job, should the Seahawks be asking who is more important to our long-term success?

You are correct that Dan Quinn is interested in Karl Scott as the Moons next defensive coordinator. However, I’m not aware of any perception that losing Scott would be worse than losing Aden Durde, or that Durde isn’t “trusted” so much as Seattle has the best defensive play caller in the world and the franchise is just not trying to rock the boat during a potentially historic season.

Some of you may have a better insight into the defensive coordinator hierarchy and perceptible skills of their abilities than I do, and I welcome any additional info or point of view on the situation that I’m overlooking:

Now here’s what I think I can say: There might not be a worse coordinator job in the NFL than being the defensive coordinator of a team that has a defensive head coach who calls defensive plays.

I think I would rather be a pass game coordinator or a run game coordinator on offense. At least then I think I might have a better shot of getting a full-time coordinator position or even a head coaching job. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan are just two examples of play calling OC head coaches who see their OCs get interviews every single offseason…

Now imagine being “the defensive coordinator” for two years for the best defense in the NFL and your only (tepid) interest…is from the Browns?

The only person who calls it Aden Durde’s defense is the person running the NFL UK twitter account:

As long as Macdonald calls plays, Seattle’s defensive coordinators will leave. Scott. Durde. It doesn’t really matter. Nobody talks about the defensive coordinators of teams with defensive coaches (challenge: name the DCs for the Patriots, Steelers, Bills, Texans…) and the only way to get attention is to be the defensive coordinator of a team with an offensive head coach.

That’s the only way guys like Robert Saleh, Jesse Minter, and Jeff Hafley got head coaching positions. The only reason Gus Bradley and Dan Quinn got credit under Pete Carroll was the fact that Carroll didn’t really manage the defense himself and it showed as Seattle shuffled through DCs after Quinn.

This is not a Durde problem or a Scott problem. It’s actually not a problem at all — the Seahawks have Mike Macdonald! — but DCs will probably always leave as long as the best defensive coordinator continues to call plays.

Danno: I heard a number crunching expert talk about the first 10 weeks of the season as Darnold playing far over his abilities. But beginning with the Rams game in week 11, he has regressed to the norm, lower yards per attempt, rating, etc. The Rams, especially, have his number, or so it’s claimed by the number cruncher. I would argue he’s not looking at the pertinent numbers. I would argue since the 4 turnover game loss to the Rams, Darnold has been playing markedly better at taking care of the ball.

Sorry, this is not necessarily a question. I just wanted to air my thoughts on the game and my annoyance that someone feels Darnold has regressed from starting off 7-3 going to 8-0. What I love about Sam is he could attempt only 15 or 17 passes a game and be 100% fine with that. He understands what is important. Winning. Would any other QB with his arm talent accept this situation, let alone be perfectly fine with it?

I have another film breakdown video here, this one from a channel called Film Watchers, that is 33 minutes of Rams-Seahawks, including Sam Darnold. Check it out if you’re a film watcher and let me know what you think of the breakdown in the comments.

As far as Darnold’s evolution during the season, I’ll stick to what I said last week about playing the 49ers which is that I expect Seattle to play great defense, run the ball, and they have a huge special teams advantage.

The Rams have a better offense than the 49ers, a better defense than the 49ers, and one of the worst special teams of any team. But I don’t think being better than the Niners is necessarily an indication that the Seahawks are in danger against L.A. and I don’t think this game rests on Sam Darnold.

I will post my NFC and AFC Championship game predictions in the comments. Go to the comments to read them and many of you will probably be surprised at what I expect to happen. If you’ve never checked out the comments before and aren’t sure how to do that, click this:

zezinhom400: Was just reading NFL.com’s ranking of the remaining HC openings and it feels like it requires a rebuttal from someone objective (oh wait, we have one of those!): Baltimore and Buffalo are ranked 1A and 1B bc of Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, both ex-MVP’s. Supposedly the dream jobs for any HC, you get a franchise QB. Yet John Harbaugh and Sean McDermott were fired bc they couldn’t get it done with a franchise QB….Meanwhile you have a Seattle which suddenly looks like the most scary and complete team in the NFL. But has Darnold so…..

If you were given the choice to coach a team, what would you say are the main things that would make it a dream job and of the 10 that have been available, how would you rank them?

You asked this before the Ravens hired Jesse Minter. He could be a great head coach and the perfect fit for Baltimore, but if ever there was a “I couldn’t date you so now I’m going to date your doppleganger” analogy it’s missing out on Mike Macdonald so you hire Jesse Minter.

Personally yes, I’d love to be linked up with Josh Allen. I’m not sure why they’re interviewing Philip Rivers though:

However, the Bills are bottom-5 in cap space in 2026, 2027, and 2028. And you have to work with an owner who is openly throwing the old coaching staff under the bus to the media. A questionable GM who apparently you have to work with no matter what. I’m not sure that the situation in Buffalo is all that appealing for the great head coaches, yet the Bills are going to be in the playoffs every year because of Josh Allen.

Cardinals, Raiders, and Browns are terrible franchises though. There’s no way I can put them atop the list. The last choice is the Steelers. Not bad, but they have a bad-looking roster, a bad GM (I think), and no apparent path to a quarterback. All things left on the table, the Bills are the best job.

IdahoFred: To all the homies here. If you want to help Joe a little more join X/Twitter and like/repost/comment on his posts. Doesn’t cost you anything. You can just search out his posts and avoid all the other jabber there. Someplace to improve his visibility and maybe get a few more subscribers here. Think about it, a few more bodies here to read all your gems of wisdom.

I appreciate the shout out and anything that readers are able to do to spread the word about Seaside Joe. I’ll say that really the only reason I’ve been tweeting recently is that it helps me remember “findings” about the Seahawks during my research that I’ll be able to later use on the newsletter. So it’s more like, if you want a preview of what’s to come in the newsletter, follow the twitter account. I’m not really promoting twitter or that website at all, it’s mostly just for promoting the newsletter and setting a reminder for facts I need to use in the newsletter.

Fred’s been sharing all of the newsletters on Twitter and I’m grateful any time you folks can share newsletters with other fans, no matter the medium.

Or get them a subscription:

Or join the live chat, which is going to be GOING OFF this Sunday:

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