Seahawks can thank NFC West rivals' awful defense for one 2024 prediction
By Lee Vowell
Most national pundits appear to see the 2024 NFC West race as a two-team event. The San Francisco 49ers are Super Bowl contenders, while the Los Angeles Rams, even though they lost Aaron Donald to retirement, are just a step behind San Francisco. The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals? Not so good seems to be the perception.
In a recent article from Bleacher Report, the Seahawks don't get a lot of love in terms of predicting where they will finish in the division or their overall record. B/R thinks the team only goes 7-10 even though the defense should be better.
This is perhaps the most perplexing part of any Seahawks projection for this season. In the last two years, the team has gone 9-8. This includes last year, of course, but if the reason that Seattle will be 7-10 is because of the improvement of the Rams, this seems farcical. Los Angeles defeated Seattle twice in 2023 (as did the 49ers) so expecting Seattle to be worse in 2024 because the Rams are better doesn't make much sense.
At least the Seahawks are not predicted to finish last in the NFC West
Seattle's defense was also one of the bigger issues with the team in recent years. Run defense was terrible and linebacker coverage was just as bad. If the defense is better, seemingly the team would as well. The offense was good enough to win the last two years with Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, and the rest of the brethren.
Thankfully, however, if Bleacher Report is correct, Seattle will be saved from dwelling in the cellar of the NFC West because of the Arizona Cardinals' defense. Arizona gave up the second-most points in the league last season as well as the fourth-most yards per play. The Cardinals' defense could actually be worse this year because they lost a couple of veterans but did not gain any high-end talent.
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To be fair, the Seahawks likely should have lost to the Cardinals in the final game of 2023 even though Seattle had an outside chance at the playoffs heading into the game. If not for a late touchdown and two-point conversion, Seattle would have finished 8-9.
Still, new head coach Mike Macdonald brings renewed optimism about the potential of the defense could be good. That should be enough for the Seahawks to make some noise in the NFC West and stay out of last place.
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