The Seattle Seahawks and coach Mike McDonald went on a magical ride all the way to the franchise’s first-ever Lombardi Trophy, but climbing that mountain again is always a tough journey in the NFL
By Matthew Serocki | June 12, 2026
Before the 2025 NFL season began, the favorites to win Super Bowl LX were the usual suspects. Kansas City is the latest dynasty but was coming off a thorough loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. Both teams were fixtures in the postseason.
Other perennial playoff teams, like the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, and Green Bay Packers, also had strong odds of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Instead of the preseason favorites making it to the final game, both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots bucked expectations by advancing.
New England recovered quickly thanks to developing quarterback Drake Maye and getting Mike Vrabel as the head coach. Some will also credit a soft schedule as the Patriots went from 4-13 to 14-3. Seattle also had an impressive run but was always discounted due to doubts around Sam Darnold.
When Super Bowl LX was in the books, Seattle had completed one of the most dominant postseasons in recent history. They pushed around San Francisco in the divisional round before surviving a third showdown with the division rival Rams in the NFC Championship game.
Mike McDonald’s squad dominated the Patriots for most of the Super Bowl, holding Vrabel’s team scoreless until the fourth quarter. Now that the luster has worn off and the focus is on the 2026 season, does Seattle have enough in its toolkit to repeat as champions of the NFL?
The short answer is yes. They’re still one of the most formidable defenses in the league and aren’t likely to fall off greatly following 2025. It would be more shocking if they failed to make the postseason in 2026. The long answer, however, paints a slightly different picture with various textures.
The NFC West will again be one of the toughest divisions in football. The 49ers should be closer to healthy than at any point last year. Even with a team decimated by injuries, Kyle Shanahan led his team to a 12-5 record and the divisional round of the postseason.
The Rams were the presumptive favorite even before adding the best defensive player in the league, Myles Garrett, to the squad. Los Angeles was a few plays away from making the Super Bowl instead of the Seahawks.
The Bears might fall a few pegs after exceeding expectations last year, but they will remain a threat due to Caleb Williams’ playmaking ability. Minnesota should be better with Kyler Murray under center, and anything can happen with all four of the NFC East teams.
Getting through the NFC will be hard enough, especially after losing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker to Kansas City in free agency. Zach Charbonnet and 2026 first-round pick Jadarian Price will fill the void in the backfield.
One big factor against Seattle is that Walker was a proven starter who changed the landscape of the Super Bowl after Christian Gonzalez held Jaxson Smith-Njigba to four catches for 27 yards on 10 targets in the game. Along with losing Walker, Seattle has a new offensive coordinator after Klint Kubiak took the head coaching spot with the Las Vegas Raiders.
He comes from a family and system known for unique playcalling. Replacing Kubiak is Brian Fleury, a former tight ends coach and run game coordinator for division-rival San Francisco. It will also be another new system for Darnold to learn.
While most of the roster remains intact, losing such vital pieces as Walker and Kubiak could be enough to stall a second run to the Super Bowl. One need only look at Detroit’s fall-off after losing both Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn to head coaching vacancies after the 2024 season.
The Seahawks should be among the top teams in the NFL yet again in 2026. Unless they can seamlessly transition to the new system without many wrinkles to iron out, Seattle isn’t likely to repeat as both NFC and Super Bowl Champions in 2026. It’s just the nature of the beast that is the NFL.
Matt Serocki is a freelance journalist based outside of Boston, Massachusetts. He’s been an avid NFL and MLB fan for over 35 years, and his favorite teams are the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, and Washington Commanders. Matt also writes about professional wrestling for Sportskeeda.
