The Seahawks are going to the NFL playoffs.
Yes, you read that right.
After an up-and-down season where they exceeded expectations to finish 9-8, they got the help they needed from the Detroit Lions to beat the Green Bay Packers and secure the seventh and final spot from the NFC.
Not bad for a team that traded its franchise quarterback and released the leader of its defense on the same day last March.
Here’s what national media have to say about the Seahawks’ Week 18 win over the Rams and their improbable playoff berth.
One of NFL.com’s Nick Shook’s takeaways from Week 18 — and the season at large: “Hats off to Pete Carroll.”
Let’s all take a moment and collectively admit none of us saw this coming from the Seahawks. As soon as the 2022 schedule came out and pit the Seahawks against Russell Wilson and the newly minted darling Broncos, Seattle looked like the hunted, not the hunter. Perhaps in that fateful moment — you know, the one in which Nathaniel Hackett sent his kicker out for a 64-yarder at sea level — the Seahawks truly began to believe. Nine wins later, Seattle is off to a once-unlikely playoff berth built on the backs of young playmakers drafted by a front office that mined the 2022 class for plenty of quality talent and watched it pay off. Even if the Seahawks hadn’t made the playoffs, they could be proud of what they accomplished in a season in which most folks expected them to be picking in the top five of the first round. Oh, they still will be doing so — but it will be with Denver’s pick, not their own. How’s that for a last laugh?
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote that the Seahawks’ playoff appearance “should probably tell you something about where the Russell Wilson-Seattle situation was at the end.”
And if you want to know even more about that, just look at Geno Smith’s numbers for the year. The 32-year-old completed 69.8% of his passes for 4,282 yards (a team record), 30 touchdowns, 11 picks and a 100.9 passer rating, having the sort of season that compares to any Wilson had over his decade as a Seahawk. “He has surprised me,” Pete Carroll told me, headed to the playoffs for the 10th time as Seahawks coach. “He has surprised me. But it wasn’t him doubting it. No, he always felt like this could happen. And that’s what kept him going and kept the drive in him to keep getting better and keep pushing so that he could seize the moment when the opportunity came, and then that’s exactly what he did. He seized this opportunity with all the leadership, with all the charisma and the poise and the toughness and all that that we could hope to have. And he did it in great fashion. It’s just a great, great story, and a success for him.”
In ESPN’s playoff preview, Brady Henderson writes that the Seahawks “appear to be heading into the playoffs on the upswing.” But …
Their defense has been a liability for much of the season, particularly against the run. And while they’ve shown improvement in that area of late, that’s come against teams that don’t have strong run games. They’ll face much tougher challenges against the strong rushing offenses that they’ll have to get past in order to make a deep run, especially with linebacker Jordyn Brooks out with a season-ending knee injury. Losing nose tackle Bryan Mone was another blow to Seattle’s run defense.
In looking ahead to the Seahawks’ wild-card matchup with the 49ers, The Ringer’s Steven Ruiz wonders how Seattle will mitigate San Francisco’s pass rush.
Geno Smith’s reward for making the playoffs for the first time in his career will be facing the NFL’s best defense—the same defense that forced two of Smith’s worst games of the season. The common denominator in those previous meetings was pressure. The Seahawks were intent on running the ball on early downs, which didn’t work. And that often put Smith and his young offensive line in obvious passing situations, allowing the 49ers’ pass rush, led by Defensive Player of the Year favorite Nick Bosa, to tee off on the pocket. … Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron needs to try something else if Seattle is going to pull off the upset. A higher dosage of play-action—Smith used it on just 13.8 percent of his dropbacks in the first two games—and other misdirection concepts could help take the teeth out of the 49ers’ rush. … Waldron has to figure out a way to get the 49ers’ front seven thinking right after the snap. If he can’t, and Bosa is able to pin his ears back against a Seahawks offensive line that has regressed over the second half of the season, Seattle will have a hard time covering the 10-point spread, much less winning the game.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell named Geno Smith his top candidate for Comeback Player of the Year.
Sunday wasn’t Smith’s best performance of the season, but in beating the Rams, we saw how he has helped spur the Seahawks to a winning record. … Smith faded out of the MVP conversation, but he’ll finish the season as the league leader in completion percentage (69.8%) and completion percentage over expectation (plus-4.4%) despite averaging 8.0 air yards per throw, which is the league’s 12th-deepest mark. He has become an instant leader and an extremely valuable player for the Seahawks, and he has earned the right to start again in 2023.
Barnwell also listed Seahawks defensive back Tariq Woolen as his No. 2 choice for Defensive Rookie of the Year, behind Jets DB Sauce Gardner.
After accounting for where they landed and what they did as rookies, I’m not sure anybody was a better draft pick in 2022 than Woolen, who was taken at No. 153 overall. Twelve years after Pete Carroll and the Seahawks used the 154th selection on Richard Sherman and landed a Hall of Famer, they went back into the fifth round and landed a guy who might be the next Sherman. Woolen’s six interceptions draw in the attention, although he’s more than just a player picking off passes. His 6-4 frame allows him to battle and compete with any wide receiver and take away contested deep passes. Offenses just weren’t able to challenge Woolen deep this season; against throws 20-plus yards downfield as the nearest defender in coverage, NFL Next Gen Stats says Woolen allowed just one catch for 23 yards on 12 targets.