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The Seahawks shouldn’t be taken seriously until they can beat top teams again

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The Seahawks shouldn’t be taken seriously until they can beat top teams again


The Seattle Seahawks are just about destined to miss out on the postseason, and for the second year in a row it’ll likely come down to the rarely applied strength of victory tiebreaker.

With the Los Angeles Rams scraping past the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, Seattle is on the verge of elimination and it could come as soon as Sunday. They would’ve been on the better side of the SOV tiebreaker situation had they beaten the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. They didn’t, which is all that matters, and that might cost them their season.

I cannot think of a more appropriate encapsulation of recent Seahawks football, if not the Geno Smith Era in totality, than these past three games.

Week 15: Blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers

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Week 16: Competitive but close loss to the Minnesota Vikings

Week 17: Unbelievably ugly but narrow win over the Chicago Bears

Two different types of losses to Super Bowl contenders and the barest of margins to get past a checked out Chicago Bears team that’s currently on a 10-game losing streak. Te Seahawks typically beat bad teams and don’t beat any serious playoff contenders, whether within their own division or outside of it.

Since 2020, the Seahawks are just 3-17 against eventual division champions (usually Super Bowl contenders, with few exceptions). The .150 win percentage is an abysmal 28th in the NFL. This includes getting swept by the Rams in 2021, as well as the 49ers in 2022 and 2023. One of those “division champion” wins was the 7-9 Washington Football Team in 2020. This stat could actually get worse if they lose to the Rams again and the Atlanta Falcons don’t win the NFC South.

In that same time frame, they are tied for the most wins in the NFL against teams below .400. That stat could fluctuate depending on whether or not the San Francisco 49ers lose out this season. And even then, more than half of those wins were by one possession.

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Yes, I included the 2020 division champion Seahawks to not isolate almost everything exclusively to the Geno Smith era. Beyond any other asterisks we could put on that unprecedented coronavirus pandemic season, those Seahawks were pretty damn inflated. They were a 12-4 team with a point differential more akin to a 10-6 squad despite playing the third easiest schedule in the entire NFL by opponent win percentage. Their only game against a serious Super Bowl contender that season was a complete humiliation against the Buffalo Bills. Against the only other playoff team they faced with a winning record, they went 1-2 versus the Rams and were blown out in the playoffs.

If we isolate to just the Geno Smith seasons, the numbers are grim. As things stand—they’ll be fluid given the possibility of beating the Rams in Week 18—Seattle’s strength of victory has been under .400 in all three of his years as the starter. Their four wins against teams with at least 10 victories are the P.J. Walker-led 11-6 Cleveland Browns in 2023, a genuinely excellent overtime win over the 12-5 Detroit Lions in 2023, Drew Lock’s career highlight against the collapsing 11-6 Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, and the 37-23 beatdown of the 10-7 Los Angeles Chargers in 2022. That’s it. The Browns, Chargers, and Eagles were very clearly not contenders and none of them won a playoff game. Detroit is Geno’s gold standard win surrounded by a stream of Ls that have ranged from blowout to “close but no cigar.”

You can rightly argue that the Seahawks were ahead of schedule given the expectations following the Russell Wilson trade. But I can just as easily counter that we’ve effectively seen the same sort of results with the Seahawks on either side of the trade. Exempting the disastrous 2021 campaign, they’ve been firmly entrenched in the NFL’s middle class of fringe playoff team/faux contender. My designation of the “Geno Smith Era” does not necessarily mean he’s been the main reason Seattle has struggled to beat top-tier teams; he’s had good games in defeat (see: Dallas Cowboys, 2023), horrid games in blowouts (see: multiple 49ers games), and unremarkable games where he neither elevated nor held the team back. We’ve seen the Seahawks defense capitulate repeatedly against elite opposition and the offensive line get destroyed, so it’s usually all-encompassing failure. However, if the organization decides to move on from Smith in 2025, whether justified or not, It’s hard not to think that the lack of signature wins will be one of the main factors.

I believe Mike Macdonald has generally done a good job in his rookie season as head coach and I am optimistic about his future. The end of Carroll’s tenure suggested stagnation and that nothing was going to improve unless he left. I’d also say, however, that citing Vegas over/under win totals as proof of exceeded expectations needs to come with the acknowledgement that the likes of the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, and even the Denver Broncos were all expected to do either much worse or much better than anticipated. If I were to tell you at the start of the season that the 49ers, Dolphins, and Jets would be bad/injured teams and that the Vikings would be pushing for the No. 1 seed, you’d probably readjust your expectations. With the way the schedule has turned out, I do not think it was unreasonable to believe the playoffs were possible. This is as weak as the NFC West has been in years and Seattle unfortunately fumbled fate right out of its hands.

Beating a 13-2 team like the Vikings is obviously much easier said than done, but the main point is that this recent stretch of Seahawks football has been largely defined by middling results. The quarterback has changed, as has the bulk of the roster and coaching staff, and the results have not changed a whole lot in terms of who they beat, who they lose to, and how they win and lose.

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The hope is that Macdonald is coaching the next great Seahawks team, but we’re also basing that on the assumption of linear growth akin to 2010-2013, which is neither guaranteed nor always the norm. If anything, John Schneider’s 2025 offseason decisions (especially at quarterback) will tell us how he feels about the state of his own roster and whether the Seahawks are going to keep looking at competing in one-year increments, or if they may have to risk taking a major step back in order to be better in 2026, 2027, and beyond.

We’ll know when the Seahawks are on the cusp of breaking through to the upper floors again when they show they can win tough games against the best, including within the NFC West. Note that I didn’t say “consistently beat good teams” in the headline, because only the absolute elite like the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Buffalo Bills can do that on an annual basis. The Seahawks of the past five seasons have scarcely shown that, and the lack of playoff success and appearances accurately reflects who they’ve been and what they are right now.

(All stats via Stathead)



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Seattle, WA

Walker’s big night an encouraging sign for Seattle Seahawks

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Walker’s big night an encouraging sign for Seattle Seahawks


It got somewhat lost amid all the late-game drama, but Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III just had one of the best games of his four-year career.

The anatomy of a comeback: How Seahawks stunned the Rams

Highlighted by a pair of explosive plays, Walker totaled 164 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in Seattle’s wild 38-37 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. It was the second-most scrimmage yards of Walker’s career, just shy of his 167 scrimmage yards against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 7 of his 2022 rookie campaign.

Walker rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries against the Rams’ stout defense, including a 55-yard TD run early in the third quarter where he burst through a crease and hit a top speed of 21.07 mph while racing downfield, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He also added three catches for 64 yards, including a 46-yard gain on a throwback screen pass that set up a first-quarter TD.

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In doing so, Walker became the first NFL running back since five-time Pro Bowler Derrick Henry in 2020 to have both a 45-plus-yard run and a 45-plus-yard catch in the same game, according to NFL Media senior researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming.

Walker’s two big plays against the Rams were also among the six longest plays of his career. He had five gains of 40-plus yards over his first two NFL seasons, but none over the past two seasons until Thursday night.

During Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Friday, Mike Salk praised both Walker and Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

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“Best and hardest I’ve seen him run in forever,” Salk said. “Most decisive, most he’s hit holes hard, picked up extra yards. Credit to Kubiak for getting him the ball in space and allowing him to really do the things that he does well.”

Led by Walker’s performance, the Seahawks finished with 171 rushing yards and a season-high 6.8 yards per carry on Thursday night. Even more encouraging was that it came against a strong Rams run defense, which entered the game ranked eighth in the NFL at just 3.9 yards allowed per carry.

The Seahawks have struggled for much of the season to get their run game untracked – including this past Sunday, when they mustered just 50 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per carry in a low-scoring Week 15 win over Indianapolis Colts.

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But prior to that, Seattle had made some strides on the ground, averaging 140.2 rushing yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry from Weeks 10-14.

Walker’s showing on Thursday night was another positive step.

“He was a major factor,” Salk said. “Ran for 100 yards in the game. They ran for over 170 as a team, which kind of gets lost in a lot of the other storylines of the game. A huge credit to Ken Walker. … That’s the best I’ve seen him play in forever.”

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the video player at the top of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Where Seattle Seahawks’ No. 1 seed odds stand after epic win
• Seattle Seahawks Injury Updates: Status of trio of DBs
• Seahawks’ Derick Hall suspended 1 game for stepping on player
• Brock Huard: The reason Darnold was able to lead Seahawks over Rams
• Macdonald explains Seattle Seahawks’ game-winning 2-point decision

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Seattle, WA

Seattle Kraken beat San Jose Sharks 4-2 to snap 4-game skid

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Seattle Kraken beat San Jose Sharks 4-2 to snap 4-game skid


SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Lindgren had the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for his first score with the Seattle Kraken, and they went on to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Seattle Kraken 4, San Jose Sharks 2: Box score

Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist, and Eeli Tolvanen and Ryker Evans also scored for the Kraken, who won for just the second time in 12 games (2-9-1). Joey Daccord finished with 34 saves.

Adam Gaudette and Colin Graf scored for the Sharks, and Yaroslav Askarov had 28 saves.

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Graf gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead 36 seconds into the third period with some help from the Kraken.

Seattle’s Adam Dunn lofted a clearing attempt from behind the net that Igor Chernyshov intercepted in the left circle and sent a pass in front to Graf. Graf tried to lift it over Daccord down on the ice, but the puck deflected off the left post and in front as the goalie, on his back, tried to pull it in. However, Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson skated into the goalie and knocked the puck in.

Evans tied it again at 1:55 with a long shot from the left point through traffic.

Lindgren put the Kraken ahead 3-2 at 4:27, beating Askarov from the left point for the defenseman’s first goal in 33 games since signing with with Seattle in the offseason. Stephenson had an assist on the play to extend his point streak to eight games.

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Stephenson then scored with 1:24 remaining to push Seattle’s lead to two goals and extend his goal-scoring streak to four games.

Tolvanen gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the second period, picking up a loose puck, skating into the right circle and firing a shot past Askarov.

Gaudette tied it with a power-play goal with 8:38 left in the middle period. Celebrini fired a shot at the net from the left point that deflected off teammate Igor Chernyshov in front of Daccord and off Gaudette down onto the ice for an easy backhand poke from the right doorstep.

Celebrini extended his point streak to five games on the play with eight assists and 11 points in the stretch.

Up next

Seattle Kraken: At Anaheim on Monday night.

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San Jose Sharks: At Vegas on Tuesday night.

Seattle Kraken trade away their big offseason acquisition



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Three West Seattle schools’ teams advance in FIRST Lego League competition

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Three West Seattle schools’ teams advance in FIRST Lego League competition


(Photos courtesy Brenda Hatley)

By Hayden Yu Andersen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Dozens of youth robotics teams from elementary and middle schools across the district gathered on December 6 at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School for this year’s FIRST Lego League qualifier. By the end of the day, three teams from West Seattle – Madison Middle School, Lafayette Elementary School, and Alki Elementary School – emerged triumphant, with their sights set on the next round of the tournament.

Of the schools who competed that day, nine were from West Seattle, including Genesee Hill Elementary, Fairmount Park Elementary, Gatewood Elementary, Arbor Heights Elementary, West Seattle Elementary, and the aforementioned teams that are moving up to the next round.

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A local parent tipped us about the students’ achievement, so we set out to get details. We spoke with Brenda Hatley, a coach for Madison Middle School, the only West Seattle middle-school team to advance to the next round, and she says the turnout at the qualifiers was impressive. Hatley first became a coach for her son’s 4th-grade team and was one of the founding parents for Lafayette Elementary’s Lego Robotics team.

She says the program, which pairs engineering with LEGO, coding, and real-world projects, is a fantastic program for students who are less interested in athletics but still want to capture the excitement of a pep rally.

“It’s not a sports team, but they’re still getting so hyped up. The kids were cheering for each other, and the pressure was there; coaching through that was an incredible experience,” Hatley said.

Madison’s team, the Madbots, will play their next match on December 26th, at a to-be-determined location. The teams that do well this month will move on to the city-wide competition in Downtown Seattle, before moving to the regionals at Washington State University, and beyond to the international finals. Regardless of how they perform, Hatley says she and the other parents are planning to travel with their team to the city-wide and regional competitions.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Hatley said. “Last year, the fifth graders didn’t move on, and we had lower expectations; we just went in to learn more and get better. This year, we get to move on and see what the next level looks like.”

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