D-train wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 3:21 pm
Hawks have the 2nd highest Point differential in the NFL at +44 only behind the Lions who are at +49. I hope the run game gets going and they are more aggressive on offense but that seems pretty good.
I was thinking about the differential reading this Seaside Joe article.
Seahawks are biggest threat to overthrow the NFC
John Schneider's masterclass on flipping over a defense and an offense in 2 steps in less than 2 years
You look at what they have done the last two seasons, since Pete was canned. Remember how shitty the defense was that last season of Pete's? MM has put together what's amounting to an elite defense with many of the same players Pete had.
In the final 9 games of 2023, the Seahawks defense ranked:
29th in points allowed
32nd in rushing yards allowed
32nd in YPC allowed (5.2)
32nd in rushing TD allowed (17)
28th in passer rating allowed (97.8)
31st in completion rate allowed
Even the passer rating is generous because teams didn’t have a need to throw for touchdowns against a defense that was so soft against the run.
Macdonald inherited the worst defense in the NFL and left the best defense in the NFL for Seattle’s job, which to Schneider’s credit he was willing to wait to offer until the Ravens were eliminated in the AFC Championship game. That wait caused the Seahawks to miss out on some potential offensive coordinator hires that would have been better than Ryan Grubb, but allowed Seattle to get the most influential defensive coach in modern football.
And then the next season to turn Smith into Darnald on the offensive side, and its not just the performance, its the cap angle as well.
In 2022, the Seahawks fleeced the Broncos. In 2025, it’s not the same kind of fleecing but check this out:
Geno’s new cap hit in 2025 is $40 million
Darnold’s is $13.4 million
Geno has $18.5 million guaranteed in 2026
Darnold has $0 guaranteed in 2026
The Seahawks didn’t want any part of that and less than a month into his new job the “put in Kenny Pickett” talk isn’t from fringe Raiders fans, it’s also beat writers.
But what is maybe even more interesting is the future possibilities. Darnald is young and cheap, they are going into next season with the most cap space in the league.
Trading Geno was cited as a “terrible move” by mainstream media, some called it the sign of a full teardown by Seattle. Now they just sort of pretend like they always liked Sam Darnold, and by the way the Raiders aren’t the only team feeling the impact of the offseason QB carousel.
The Vikings either got cheap or scared, maybe letting the media boo-birds influence their decision to let Darnold leave in free agency because of his last two starts in Minnesota despite an MVP-caliber season. Yes, J.J. McCarthy was drafted to be the future but so what? You don’t go to the future, it comes to you.
The Vikings had an elite team last year with Darnold and they gifted him to the free agent market over a contract that would have paid him less money this year than T.J. Hockenson, Brian O’Neill, and Jonathan Greenard. Correct me if I’m wrong, but does this happen…ever?
Its really been pretty remarkable how JS has kept "the plates spinning" terms of a legit qb. And he's done it without investing either much money or draft capital, RS's second contract has been it
https://www.seasidejoe.com/p/seahawks-m ... am-darnold