Field Gulls
It was the biggest regular season game in franchise history, and the Seattle Seahawks delivered one of the most impressive defensive statements in franchise history. It was all Seahawks in a 13-3 pummeling that doesn’t accurately show how much Seattle dominated the San Francisco 49ers.
After beating big brother number one in the Los Angeles Rams two weeks ago, the Seahawks embarrassed big brother number two in the 49ers to win their first division title since 2020, and secure the NFC’s coveted 1-seed for the first time since 2014. It was a historic night to cap off a historic regular season, let’s break down what it all means.
I understand and want to acknowledge the incredible seasons by both Mike Vrabel and Liam Coen have had incredible turnaround seasons, and they are the likely favorites to win the NFL Coach of the Year award. That being said, I don’t think anyone has done a better job than Mike Macdonald in 2025.
When Macdonald took over as the Seahawks head coach, he was taking over the 24th ranked defense that had a culture that felt stale at best, rotten at worst, and was lacking talent and consistency. In one year, he built the 12th ranked defense. In year two, he built the most dominant defense in the NFL, winning the defensive scoring title.
Defensive coach or not, he saw his offensive vision was not to his standard this spring, firing former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and working with Klint Kubiak to have Seattle finish second in the NFL in scoring.
A franchise record 14-3, a franchise record 8-1 on the road, and a 6-2 home record to rebuild some lost goodwill with the fans at Lumen Field. Mike Macdonald has completely transformed the Seattle Seahawks into the best team in the NFL. I don’t know if that will lead to a Super Bowl victory, but Macdonald’s ability to blend the good from Harbaugh’s Ravens and Pete’s Seahawks has created a monster.
I hope he pulls off the upset and wins the award.
Echoing what I just said about Coach Macdonald, the same can be said about the transformation accomplished by John Schneider.
Schneider has achieved the highest highs already in Seattle. A Super Bowl champion that had built a legacy that was in the realm of hall of fame worthy as Pete Carroll’s general manager, Schneider was given a second chance to build something new, as the Pete Carroll era had expired. I think there’s a case to be made that Schneider should already have the NFL Executive of the Year award locked up. Yes, the award is just for the 2025 season, but this is a two year journey of excellence by John.
It would be naive to think he didn’t play some role in the removal of Pete Carroll. While the world was freaking out...
