After seven weeks, the Seattle Seahawks have a 5-2 record and are tied for first place in the NFC West. Last year, they didn’t claim their fifth win until week 11, after their bye. Their point differential is plus-57, fifth-best in the league. Last year, they ended the year with a point differential of plus-7. It never reached as high as it is right now.
Clearly, it seems that things are headed in the right direction in Mike Macdonald’s second season as head coach. As expected, he has fashioned a very solid defense. It dominated the defending AFC South champion Houston Texans in the final game before the bye, and only looks to be getting stronger as Julian Love and Devon Witherspoon return from injury.
The real surprise has come on offense, where Klint Kubiak has overhauled last’s year’s questionable strategies and developed an efficient, balanced attack. Four of Seattle’s offensive skill position players are currently ranked in the top six at their respective positions according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). That would have seemed unthinkable before the season.
3 bright spots – and 2 causes for concern – for the 2025 Seattle Seahawks
There are too many bright spots to count this year, and very few causes for alarm. Still, we’ll highlight a few from each side of the ledger.
Bright spot – The Sam-Jaxon connection
I’m being extra-efficient by bundling the brightest spots of all into one. Sam Darnold is currently the highest-graded QB, according to PFF, in the entire league. His favorite target, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, is ranked second out of 126 wide receivers. That is exceptional.
There were questions about Darnold when he arrived from Minnesota. They will no doubt persist until he carries Seattle to playoff success. But thus far, he has answered them all. 2024 was not a fluke. He obviously is not the best quarterback in the NFL, but he is playing at an extremely high level and there is little reason to believe it will not continue.
And as Darnold has risen, so to has JSN. He was well-established as a quality possession receiver who could be effective out of the slot. This year, he is proving that he is among the best all-around receivers in the league. He seems to make one or two splash plays each week. His yards-per-reception has increased an extraordinary five full yards from last season, from 11.3 to 16.4.
Harsh truth – Right guard remains a major issue
John Schneider appears to have solved his problem at left guard. First-round draft pick Grey Zabel has been solid from day one. The rest of the line has performed well. But Anthony Bradford remains a conundrum at right guard. The third year LSU alum can be dominant at times.
But he can look lost too often, especially in pass protection, where he often loses leverage and is pushed back into the pocket. His current 18.0 pass blocking grade is third worst in the entire league. With no obvious replacement on the bench, Schneider may be exploring a trade during the bye week.
Bright spot – Abe is back
But all is not gloom and doom on the offensive line. Right tackle Abraham Lucas has remained healthy and is playing his best football. The fourth-year lineman has been limited to just 13 games out of a possible 34 in the past two seasons due to injuries.
It caused the Seahawks to rely on a revolving cast of inexperienced youngsters and journeymen, and made it very difficult to develop a cohesive offensive attack.
This year, Seattle has one of the top offenses in the league and Sam Darnold, who was sacked almost three times-a-game last year, is only being dropped 1.3 times-per-game. It is the lowest sack rate of his entire career. For his efforts, Lucas is presently rated as the 17th best tackle (out of 77) in the NFL.
Harsh truth – Where is the tackling?
As noted, Seattle’s defense has been very good this year. But one failing is preventing them from being dominant. Seattle currently has the second most missed tackles in the entire league. The teams joining them in the top (or bottom) five – Cincinnati, Washington, Miami, and the New York Jets – have a combined record of 7-21. Clearly, this is not a statistic that corelates to winning a lot of football games.
Surprisingly, Ernest Jones IV and Coby Bryant are the leading culprits, but the entire defense seems infected. Six players have missed-tackle rates of over 17%. Some are backups who are rarely on the field, but Bryant and Jones, along with Leonard Williams, Boye Mafe, Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen all have rates in the double-digits.
This may not be sustainable. But I imagine Macdonald will fix the problem. His defenses traditionally finish pretty high in this category so hopefully this is merely a statistical anomaly.
Bright spot – Josh Jobe
You know who is tackling pretty well? Josh Jobe. He has missed three, which works out to an 8.1 rate. That’s not bad for a cornerback. Of course, corners are usually valued more for their coverage ability.
So far this year, Jobe, who has been pressed into a bigger role by Devon Witherspoon’s injury, is allowing fewer than 50% of his targets to be completed. That is the best rate on the entire Seahawks' team. He is far outpacing both Witherspoon and Riq Woolen in most other metrics, including passer-rating-allowed.
When Witherspoon returns, he becomes the Hawks top corner, but Jobe has clearly established himself as their second best, and a regular starter. Not bad for an undrafted free agent who was simply seen as a depth piece when he was signed to the practice squad just before the 2024 season.