The Seattle Seahawks were slept on nationally for much of the season.
Most projections coming into the year had the Seahawks winning eight or nine games. And even after they started to exceed those expectations during the season, many didn’t take them as a serious contender until the last minute, or even up until they actually punched their ticket to Super Bowl LX.
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But they are now the popular pick to hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday in Santa Clara, California.
Oddsmakers have them as the favorites, and national pundits are heavily leaning their way, especially after they beat the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship.
It’s easy to see why Seattle is the favorite when looking at the paths it and the New England Patriots took to get here.
The Seahawks had to navigate the gauntlet that is the NFC West, which set a league record for having three teams with at least 12 wins. They faced the 12-win Rams and 12-win San Francisco 49ers twice apiece in the regular season, then one more time each in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Patriots benefited from playing in the AFC East and having a last-place schedule after finishing at the bottom of their division in 2024. It resulted in New England playing only three games against teams with winning records during the regular season, less than half of the eight the Seahawks played. And in the AFC Championship, the Patriots just got by with a 10-7 victory over a Denver Broncos team that was playing a backup quarterback with four career starts.
According to Tankathon, New England had the easiest schedule in the league with a .391 opponents’ winning percentage, while Seattle was near the middle of the pack at .498.
While many have jumped on the Seahawks’ bandwagon recently, NFL Network insider and former league scout Daniel Jeremiah has been a believer in them throughout the season. When Jeremiah gave his keys for the Seahawks in the Super Bowl to Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday, Jeremiah described “the only way” he thinks the Patriots will be able to beat them.
“If this game is played consistently with a long field for both teams, then Seattle wins this game 10 times out of 10. The only way, in my opinion, they lose this game is if they give New England a bunch of short fields,” Jeremiah said.
Hear to the full conversation with Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in audio player below. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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