The Seattle Seahawks and the dreaded trap game. The game or games on your team’s schedule that you immediately mark down as a win. Because …. well, there’s just no way you could lose.
If you watch the NFL long enough, you learn that no game can be lost. Key injuries can wreak havoc with the best of predictions. Every year, an upstart or two plays well above their assumed level. Last year, many prognosticators had their teams scoring easy victories against Denver and Washington. A lot of those prognosticators were wrong.
Trap games are a little bit different. In a classic trap, one team is better. Perhaps the underdog is somewhat undervalued due to their recent past, but still, the favorite should win the game. If they don’t, it’s usually because they didn’t prepare properly. They took their opponent lightly.
They might have been coming off a big emotional rivalry game, or perhaps were looking ahead to a showdown a week later. For some reason, they failed to respect a downtrodden opponent. And when you do that, you often come out of that game with a big L.
What are the trap games on the Seahawks' schedule in 2025?
Seattle has three games on their schedule this season that just scream “TRAP!”
The first comes in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Seahawks host two 2024 playoff teams before and after a cross-country trip to Florida. Neither Tampa Bay nor Houston is an emotional rivalry game, but Seattle could be riding high early in the season.
They will not be favored in all four opening games, but they are all winnable, especially if Week 2 opponent Pittsburgh doesn’t solve its quarterback situation.
Seattle could be 3-1 heading into their Week 5 game against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If they manage to win that one, it will be tough not to peek ahead to the Week 7 Monday Night Football showdown with the Texans, and completely overlook the Jaguars.
Jacksonville has not been good for the last few years, but in 2025, they will have a new hotshot offensive genius head coach and will give Trevor Lawrence his most dangerous set of receivers in Brian Thomas, Jr., and Travis Hunter. The Jags will probably put up points. Seattle had better execute on offense well enough to outpace them.
A few weeks later, in Week 11, Seattle gets its first crack at the reigning NFC West champs, the L.A. Rams. They travel to SoCal for the game. It promises to be one of the emotional highlights of the season, and it is likely to take a lot out of the team.
The following week, they hit the road again. They travel almost two thousand miles – more than four hours by plane – to take on a Tennessee Titans squad that finished last year 3-14. This year, they have a new quarterback in the top overall pick, Cam Ward.
They also will have several players who might view the Seahawks’ game with extra interest. Tyler Lockett, Dre’Mont Jones, and Cody Barton all figure to suit up for the Titans when the Hawks come to town, and you know how much they would like to make a statement against their former team.
Finally, if Seattle plays well enough to be in contention for a playoff spot late in the season, the games in Weeks 16 and 18 against rivals L.A. and San Fran figure to be intense. That Rams game will be at home on Thursday night in front of a national audience.
It will be tough for everyone to get amped up for the game, sandwiched between the Rams and 49ers against the league’s top doormat in recent years, the Carolina Panthers. But once again, this is a very long, cross-country trip, with a final matchup against the 49ers just over the horizon.
Last year, the Panthers won two of their final three games against Arizona and Atlanta, while Seattle stumbled down the stretch against Green Bay and Minnesota.
If the Seahawks do not play well this season, perhaps the “trap” part of that final game will vanish. It's hard to fall victim to the trap when a team is already out of the playoff hunt. If that is the case, then Mike Macdonald will just need to beat a team like Carolina to maintain confidence in his job as head coach.
But hopefully, the Seahawks will play well in 2025 and be in the middle of an exciting push toward the playoffs. In that case, they do have to beware of the trap.