Seven-win Seahawks? NFL analyst explains his take
NFL analyst Bucky Brooks pointed to a tough division and lack of faith in Seattle's offense for his prediction.
Watch: Bucky Brooks Explains Why the Seahawks Will Go 7-10 in 2026 | 22 mins
Climbing back to the NFL’s mountaintop is a difficult task for any defending Super Bowl champion.
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Only the Kansas City Chiefs (2022 and 2023) have repeated as winners of the Lombardi Trophy since 2006, a task the Seattle Seahawks will try to complete this year.
Despite being the defending champs, the Seahawks aren’t even the favorites to win their division. That title belongs to the Los Angeles Rams, a team the Seahawks beat twice in three down-to-the-wire finishes last season, including in the NFC Championship.
But many prognosticators still have high expectations for Seattle. NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks, however, is not one of them.
In a season preview for the Seahawks, Brooks was one of seven who gave a prediction for Seattle’s 2026 record. He was also the only one to pick the Seahawks to having a losing season, predicting a 7-10 record for a franchise that won 14 regular-season games in ’25 and has had only one losing campaign since 2012.
What’s the reasoning for Brooks’ lack of faith in the NFL’s best team last season? He explained when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Thursday.
“It is really hard after you win a title to sustain yourself the next year,” Brooks said. “Normally that next year you come back because there’s a few different things. There’s some natural complacency that seeps in, the team is never the same and the energy that you face from everybody is drastically different. With a team that’s still on the young side, the maturity that is required to handle that, that’s going to be a lot early.”
NFC West gauntlet
One of the most impressive parts of the Seahawks’ 14-win regular season in 2025 was the fact they did it in the NFL’s toughest division. The NFC West was the only division in league history to feature three 12-win squads in a single season.
With the Rams and 49ers expected to be contenders once more, Brooks has doubts the Seahawks can come out on top again.
“Going into that last week (of the regular season in 2025), the San Francisco 49ers had (a shot at) the No. 1 seed… With all the injuries, they still were a team that had the opportunity to win the No. 1 seed,” Brooks said. “Then when you talk about the LA Rams, I think we all talked about the LA Rams and the Seattle Seahawks being necked up for who’s one or two or whatever (in the NFL).
“But think about that, three of the top teams in the league (are) in your division. So if there is any slippage, the chasm can grow just because of how good the talent is, and that’s not even talking about the rest of the NFC.”
Doubts about offense
Brooks is still confident in Seattle’s defense, which allowed the fewest points in the NFL last season. But he isn’t nearly as confident in the offense.
The Seahawks’ offense was the reason they had doubters through most of their Super Bowl run in 2025, with much of that being because of quarterback Sam Darnold. Brooks isn’t confident Darnold is a quarterback who can lead his team to consecutive Super Bowl wins, but much of his concerns come from having a first-time play-caller at offensive coordinator in Brian Fleury, losing running back Kenneth Walker III in free agency and a very heavy reliance on Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the passing game.
“JSN accounted for 44% of the receiving production, and then the unknown at running back,” Brooks said. “Kenneth Walker, for all the things that he may or may not have been during the regular season, you can’t deny how impactful he was on this Super Bowl run. He walks out the door. Your first-round pick (running back Jadarian Price) was a guy who wasn’t the No. 1 at Notre Dame. And look, (he’s) talented enough. We could say he could have started anywhere, but it’s still different being the guy that you’re expecting to carry the load.
“And then when you have a play-caller who is coming from San Francisco, who is a run-game savant– people tell me that. (It) still is different being in that chair where you have to call the plays, you have to organize all that stuff or whatever. To me, there’s just a lot of moving parts. So, am I looking at the glass half empty as opposed to half full? Probably so.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app.
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Comments
3 Comments
Can I get a job as a Fox NFL Analyst? Apparently, you don't need to know anything about pro football.
Clearly Bucky is baiting for views. He's gotta know that saying only seven wins is going to rile up the Seahawks fanbase.
So I think he should put money where his mouth is and stake his current job on these sorts of prognostics- if they win their division, he quits his job. If he doesn't, I think people need to repeatedly repost his article every single time he posts something about the NFC West teams this upcoming season.
The problem with most analysts is they base much of their assumptions on the past. JSN was highly targeted, true. But Horton looked really good before getting hurt and Shaheed should have better chemistry with Darnold. The TE group is underrated and our o line should be better.
It is a tough division so Seattle may not come out on top but 7 games is ridiculous.