> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Seahawks Quietly Infiltrating Upper Tier of NFC - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-seahawks-quietly-infiltrating-upper-tier-of-nfc/ - Published: 2025-10-22T16:16:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:17:43.000Z - Author: Nick Lee - Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Mike Macdonald, Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Drake Thomas, Ty Okada Seattle Seahawks fans are used to it. The dismissal or disrespect from national media. Is it the geography? With Seattle being tucked away in the Pacific Northwest, approximately 800 miles from the next closest NFL team? Is it the Pacific Time Zone, with that Monday Night game not ending until past 1:00 AM ET? For whatever reason, the Seahawks are often misplaced in power rankings, misrepresented, or simply ignored by the national media. Sure, they don’t have a playoff appearance since 2022 nor a playoff win since 2019\. They haven’t reached the NFC Championship Game since 2014 with that thrilling comeback win over the Packers. Some of the erasure is due to their own lack of real, tangible success. Even as they keep on winning. It’s not like Seattle has gone through some dark abyss of hopeless, losing seasons like the Jets, Giants, Panthers, Titans, Jaguars, etc. Seattle only has one losing season since 2011\. However, they also have won the NFC West just once since 2016\. That is the same year they last won a home playoff game. We are going on a decade since the Seahawks truly felt relevant in the national eye as far as Super Bowl contenders. However, it’s getting harder and harder to justify leaving the Seahawks out of the conversation among the NFC, or even NFL’s, elite. With Monday’s win over Houston, the Seahawks are now at 5-2, tied for first with the Rams and 49ers atop the NFC West. Only nine teams in the NFL have reached the five-win benchmark to this point. Only one team has more than five wins (as we all expected, it’s the Colts). If you’re a Seahawks fan who loves the[ DVOA metric](https://ftnfantasy.com/stats/nfl/team-total-dvoa?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, which breaks down every single NFL play and compares a team’s performance to a league-average baseline base on situation and opponent), you will be happy to know the Seahawks currently rank No. 1 in all the NFL. [EPA’s power ratings](https://www.nfeloapp.com/nfl-power-ratings/?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) rank the Seahawks seventh in the NFL. [NFL.com’s ](https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-power-rankings-week-8-2025-nfl-season?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)weekly power rankings slate Seattle fourth overall. It appears the national media is finally catching up. The Seahawks are good. Two of their five wins are against teams with winning records currently. Certainly, it starts with the defense. They are fourth in the NFL in yards per play allowed and points per drive allowed. They flexed their muscles against the Texans despite the offense putting them in tough spots several times. Mike Macdonald has that side of the ball humming, even as they have struggled to stay healthy, with players such as Drake Thomas and Ty Okada rising to the occasion to fill the void and then some. Sam Darnold is still very much playing like his upstart season with the Vikings last year. He ranks fourth in the NFL in passer rating. Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving yards by a massive margin after seven weeks, emerging as a superstar. Are the Seahawks a finished product? Far from it. The offensive run game leaves much to be desired (27th in yards per carry). The offensive line still has a few issues (see Anthony Bradford). The offense gave the ball to Houston four times on Monday. There is plenty to clean up. However, it’s a weird year in the NFL. No team has staked a claim as the clear-cut best team in the league. Every assumed Super Bowl contender has shown some warts. Perhaps in this unusual year, there is an opening for the Seahawks to arrive perhaps earlier than expected. They have a real chance to win the NFC West. After this bye week, they will have plenty of chances to prove themselves worthy of the hype they deserve.