NFL expert says Seattle Seahawks can forget about playoffs in 2024

There is a chance that the Seattle Seahawks could be worse this year than in the previous two seasons, but while national pundits appear to mostly assume this, the reasons are unclear. Seattle still has as much offensive talent as it did in the previous two seasons. The defense could be even better with a new defensive scheme.

According to Yahoo Sports' NFL expert Frank Schwab, however, even with a new defensive direction, Seattle isn't going to be as good in 2024. This is because the team is in transition as almost the entire new coaching staff is new. The problem with the theory is that any tweak can make the team better defensively and that could be enough to get Seattle back to the playoffs.

Schwab, while somewhat praising the Seahawks for the hire of Mike Macdonald as new head coach (and defensive guru), power ranks Seattle as the 12th-worst team in the NFL this year. His subheader even reads, "Preview focus: It's a season of transition in Seattle, but that's not necessarily a bad thing."

Seahawks far from a playoff team in 2024, according to one NFL expert

This is why pundits thinking Seattle will be worse than 9-8 is so confusing. The team made coaching moves and has likely more talent than the last two seasons and that makes the team...worse. Maybe pundits believe that Seattle will be a lot better in 2025, but why can't two things be true? The Seahawks could be more dangerous this year and even better next season.

At least Schwab still has Seattle power-ranked higher than the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona is 25. Maybe the Yahoo Sports writer simply does not like the NFC West because he has the Los Angeles Rams, a playoff team in 2023, ranked at 14. That barely rates as the top half of the league.

Most of the first half of the article deals with Pete Carroll and how he deserves more respect. That is true. Schwab also does not cross the line into fully saying Carroll should still be the coach because he shouldn't. Schwab even writes, "It doesn't take a wild fantasy to envision the Seahawks being really good."

His biggest issue seems to be with Geno Smith's 2023 season which, again, is odd. The quarterback's numbers did dip a bit from 2022, but Smith still led the NFL in fourth quarter comebacks and game-winning drives last year. That is probably just as important as Smith's NFL-leading completion percentage in 2022 because Seattle had the same record last year as the previous one.

Schwab also admits, "Seattle is another team that could move up the rankings very quickly." He isn't wrong in his thinking because first-time head coaches will face challenges they have never seen. The Seahawks, though, have a bit more talent than most first-time head coaches will inherit and that talent alone should help overcome any first-year mistakes by Macdonald.

More Seahawks news and analysis: