Seahawks suffer familiar frustrating fate in 2024 NFL season simulation

Seattle Seahawks fans might have gotten a bit spoiled during the 2010s and that is fine. Fans spend a lot of money to wear the jerseys of their favorite team, buy tickets, and buy other merchandise. We deserve to be spoiled. But it is also easy to lose sight of the reality of most teams.

Most NFL teams don't have a decade-plus of making the playoffs almost every year, and, for a large chunk of that, have a decent chance at making a deep run in the playoffs. 12s did not expect losses, and that made the many close wins even harder to watch. Then, a few years ago, all the confidence that Seattle was going to be good began to dissipate.

In the last couple of seasons, the team has been the epitome of mediocre. Back-to-back 9-8 years means the team is good enough to not be terrible but bad enough to have zero chance at a championship. The biggest problem has been the porous defense, both terrible at stopping the run and being awful in coverage in the middle of the field.

ESPN's Football Power Index simulates what the Seattle Seahawks will do in 2024

Those issues will hopefully be fixed with the new defensive philosophy brought in by new head coach Mike Macdonald. Macdonald has been a very good defensive coach in the NFL, save for one season in 2021, for most of a decade. His scheme works, and the players just need to execute the plan. The defense should be good, which could mean Seattle gets to 10 or 11 wins in 2024.

Not so fast says ESPN's Football Power Index. According to a simulation run by the Index for the entire 2024 season, Seattle is going to be right back to where they have been in the last two seasons: 9-8. The Seahawks will also finish third in the NFC West behind the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. In other words, it is a mirror of 2023. Seattle will also miss the playoffs.

There are some positives for 12s. According to ESPN, the 49ers won't make the Super Bowl again, and neither will the Rams. Los Angeles is projected to have the same record as Seattle, so technically the Seahawks would be tied for second in the division, though in the final standings, ESPN has LA at number two.

The most positive aspect, though? A simulation is not reality. The Seahawks could have a much better defense while the offense is even more efficient under new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. Seattle could win 12 games and be a real threat in the playoffs. Richard Sherman certainly thinks so.

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