ESPN appears to be acting as if Seattle Seahawks do not exist

Since 2010, the Seattle Seahawks have only missed the playoffs four times. Two of those postseason whiffs have come in the last three seasons. Still, Seattle has not been a bad team; in fact, it has had a winning record in each of the last two years. Seattle made the playoffs at 9-8 in 2022 and missed the postseason with the same record in 2023.

Many of Seattle's recent problems are correctable. Third-down defense has been cruelly terrible for many years, and some of that was due to poor linebacker coverage. That should change under new head coach Mike Macdonald.

Seattle's offense had digressed under former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to where the offense was forced through Geno Smith throwing to his wide receivers and not using the tight ends or running backs correctly. There would be no excuse that Seattle had to do this because many of the Seahawks' games were tight. Seattle wasn't so far behind that they had to throw the ball.

ESPN's recent article another example of disrespect toward the Seattle Seahawks

The new coaching staff inherited a roster with quite a bit of talent. Players such as Noah Fant and Julian Love were ill-used by the former coaching staff. Expecting the new coaches to make quick improvements is logical because of the talent on the team already, not because the coaches themselves are having to do all the work to fix the team.

However, ESPN appears to disagree with all of the above. In a recent article involving 2024 projections and chances for each Super Bowl team, Seattle is hardly anywhere to be found other than ESPN's expectation that the Seahawks will have a losing record in 2024. This is based on ESPN's football power index, which lists Seattle with a projected win-loss record of 7.9-9.1.

Seattle also has the 11th-worst odds to make the playoffs this season. The Seahawks have a 29.1 percent chance. This trails teams such as the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Los Angeles Chargers.

What makes the Chargers interesting in comparison to the Seahawks is that the Chargers were 5-12 and brought in a new head coach, Jim Harbaugh. Los Angeles did not add so much talent that their roster is greatly improved. The big difference is the coaching change, just as that is the huge difference in Seattle, too.

ESPN obviously loves Harbaugh and is not so sure about Macdonald. Harbaugh has been a successful head coach and Macdonald has not been a head coach before, but does that alone make the Chargers four games better than 2023 and Seattle a game worse? No.

ESPN's article is just another post disrespecting the Seahawks this offseason. The best—and only—way to smack back at that is to win real games. The addition of Mike Macdonald and an improved defense should make Seattle better in 2024, but that will disappoint many national pundits.

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