The Seattle Seahawks will have four prime-time games in the 2025 season, two at home and two on the road. They play one game on Monday Night, one on Sunday night, and two in the Thursday night slot. There are no holiday matchups or trips overseas, which is probably a blessing. Those games have prestige but are logistical nightmares.
This seems like a reasonable allotment of games for a team that has been hovering around the middle of the NFL pack for the past few years. And with a schedule that sees the Hawks take on both the AFC and NFC South divisions, Seattle should have a good chance at equaling or perhaps even bettering last year’s 10-7 mark.
Now, that is not what you will hear from many prognosticators. Some have the Hawks falling to the bottom of the NFC West, or at least ceding the second spot to San Francisco this year. There are understandable rationales for this dire forecast. The primary reason is the unknown that always accompanies a new quarterback. How good will Sam Darnold be? That is the million-dollar question.
Seahawks' game-by-game predictions for the 2025 season
Beyond that, there is the disappointing way in which the Hawks closed out 2024 and the fact that Mike Macdonald has yet to really establish a clear team identity after one year as head coach.
On the positive side, the predictions of a major drop-off to 5-12 or worse seem unlikely. Macdonald has built too good a defense for that to happen. That defense should keep Seattle competitive, even against the best teams in the league. The bigger question mark is whether Klint Kubiak’s new offense can be productive enough to actually win a lot of those games.
Let’s do an optimistic game-by-game breakdown of the season. Mind you, I said optimistic. Not pollyannish. This will be realistic, but it will also assume Darnold plays pretty well and that there are no debilitating injuries. Seattle does not have proven depth across the roster yet and so one big injury to the likes of Devon Witherspoon or Ernest Jones IV could have devastating impact on the final record.
No reason to think the worst. It’s not as if we’re one of the New York teams.
Seahawks vs. 49ers – Week 1
- Date: Sunday, September 7
- Time: 1:05 p.m. PT
- Channel: Fox
- Venue: Lumen Field
All opening days matter but this one seems to matter a little more than most. Both teams are in a state of transition. Seattle is breaking in a new QB and offensive philosophy while San Fran is trying to bounce back from a disastrous 2024.
I expect Macdonald to have his team revved, and the 12s will be loud. But as much as this game matters to the Seahawks, I think the 49ers need it even more. They have to re-establish themselves early. Kyle Shanahan has done this before, and despite having a rebuilt defense, he has enough firepower to hit the ground running.
I am not as confident that Seattle’s new offense will do the same. I think it may take a few weeks for Darnold and company to begin clicking, and so though I expect the defense to show up, I don’t think the Hawks score enough points for the win. But don’t worry, the points will come soon enough.
Prediction: Loss (0-1)
The good thing about losing week one is that you have an entire season to make up for it.