Why Seahawks are uniquely positioned for repeat title quest

The Seattle Seahawks soared to the NFL mountaintop last season.

Now comes an even tougher challenge – doing it again.

Daniel Jeremiah: Seahawks’ O-line can be among NFL’s best

Since the turn of the century, just two teams have repeated as Super Bowl champions: the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004, and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 and 2024.

The parity-driven NFL is designed to prevent teams from winning back-to-back titles. Injuries and other factors only add to the difficulty.

And for Seattle specifically, there are the division rival Los Angeles Rams, who spent the offseason assembling an eye-catching collection of talent aimed at knocking the Seahawks off their perch.

It’s an arduous path back to the top, no doubt.

However, these Seahawks are uniquely positioned for the journey ahead. Here’s why.

A historically great team

To begin with, it’s worth remembering just how dominant the 2025 Seahawks were. This wasn’t just a Super Bowl-winning team. It was one of the best NFL teams of the 21st century.

The 2025 Seahawks compiled a plus-246 point differential across both the regular season and postseason, which is the highest mark by a Super Bowl champion since the 1999 St. Louis Rams. On a per-game rate, Seattle’s plus-12.3 point differential ranked third among Super Bowl champs this century.

The advanced metrics also paint the 2025 Seahawks in a historic light. They finished with a plus-46.4% total DVOA rating over both the regular season and postseason, meaning they were considered to be 46.4% better than the average 2025 NFL team. That’s the fourth-best total DVOA by any team since 1978, according to FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz.

And once the Seahawks hit their stride, they were a runaway freight train. From Week 6 through the Super Bowl, they went 14-1 with seven wins by 16-plus points and five wins by 22-plus points.

A rare level of continuity and youth

OK, but why does it matter how great the 2025 Seahawks were? Well, because nearly every contributing player is back for 2026.

Seattle returns 20 of 22 starters and 85% of its total offensive and defensive snaps from last year, including the postseason. Both of those marks are the second-highest for any defending Super Bowl champion over the past 15 seasons, trailing only the 2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Yes, the Seahawks lost running back Kenneth Walker III, safety Coby Bryant, third cornerback Riq Woolen and rotational edge rusher Boye Mafe in free agency. But they retained just about everyone else, including 16 of their top 17 offensive players and 14 of their top 17 defensive players in terms of snap counts.

Under the modern-day salary cap, it’s difficult to keep a Super Bowl roster intact. The 2026 Seahawks are one of the few exceptions.

Furthermore, these Seahawks aren’t like the aforementioned 2021 Buccaneers, who featured 44-year-old Tom Brady and a roster of aging veterans seeking one more chance at a ring.

Quite the opposite, in fact. The Seahawks had a snap-weighted age of 26.1 years last season, which made them the fourth-youngest team in the NFL, according to FTN Fantasy.

Entering 2026, Seattle has 11 returning starters who are 26 or younger: Nick Emmanwori (22), Byron Murphy II (24), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (24), AJ Barner (24), Grey Zabel (24), Devon Witherspoon (25), Charles Cross (25), Anthony Bradford (25), Ernest Jones IV (26), Drake Thomas (26) and Jalen Sundell (26).

That’s a lot of young talent whose prime might still be ahead of them.

Potential internal boosts

There’s also some potential meat on the bone with several offensive weapons who could take a leap this fall.

Trade deadline addition Rashid Shaheed was a major factor on special teams last year, but never quite got untracked as a receiver. That could change in a big way, as the speedy wideout drew considerable buzz this offseason for his growing rapport with quarterback Sam Darnold.

Tory Horton, another lightning-quick wideout, hauled in five touchdown catches in eight games last season, but saw the rest of his promising rookie campaign cut short by injury. If healthy, his presence could be another game-changer this fall.

Tight end Elijah Arroyo, a 2025 second-round draft pick, also missed time down the stretch during an underwhelming rookie season. Now healthy, he’s another candidate to make a Year 2 leap after flashing his impressive size-speed combo in training camp.

Even if only one of those three players takes a step forward, that could notably elevate Seattle’s offense, given the field-stretching matchup problems they pose. And if all three make strides? Defenses could be in a real bind.

Likewise, on the other side of the ball, the Seahawks have a prime breakout candidate in defensive lineman Rylie Mills, who spent most of his 2025 rookie season recovering from an ACL tear. Mills returned to play limited snaps down the stretch and delivered a jaw-dropping sack in the Super Bowl, showing why he was considered a second-round talent before the injury plummeted his draft stock.

Seattle already had arguably the NFL’s best interior D-line with Leonard Williams, the aforementioned Murphy and Jarran Reed. A full season from Mills could make the group even more fearsome.

The next evolution?

Head coach Mike Macdonald, now widely considered football’s premier defensive mastermind, has excelled everywhere he’s been a play caller.

During Macdonald’s lone season as Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2021, the Wolverines ranked eighth in the FBS in scoring defense.

During Macdonald’s two-year stint as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator, the Ravens were the NFL’s third-ranked scoring defense in 2022 before emerging as the top-ranked scoring defense in 2023.

And over Macdonald’s first two seasons in Seattle, the Seahawks tied for 11th in scoring defense in 2024 before finishing as the top-ranked scoring defense in 2025.

But here’s the kicker: We’ve never seen Year 3 of a Macdonald defense – until now. What might that look like?

“I think our next level is just being ahead of plays,” said Jones, the signal caller of Seattle’s defense. “Just anticipating what’s gonna happen. And I know we do that already, but I think there’s a deeper level to it.”

For as dominant as Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense was last season, there still may be new levels that a graduate-level understanding can unlock – and new twists that Macdonald can scheme up.

And in essence, that encapsulates what makes these Seahawks so unique.

They bring back nearly everyone from one of the best Super Bowl-winning teams in recent memory. And yet, true to their “run it forward” mantra, there’s still plenty of space to lift the ceiling even higher.

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