Can the Panthers Follow the Seahawks' Model to Super Bowl Success?

The Seattle Seahawks absolutely dominated in Super Bowl 60, but that is not something that was remotely expected even during the offseason. Could the Carolina Panthers follow a similar blueprint to success?

The Seahawks got there by making wholesale changes to things that weren't working. They swapped out an aging, declining quarterback for Sam Darnold, though that was a fairly decent risk at the time.

They fired their offensive coordinator and traded their star wide receiver. Can the Panthers echo those moves this offseason and see themselves transform from a middling team to potential champion?

The short answer is no, they can't emulate what the Seahawks did. For one thing, they're not in the same position. The Hawks had been mediocre for a few seasons and decided to essentially do a miniature rebuild in one offseason.

The equivalent would be trading Bryce Young and bringing in Kyler Murray, bringing in an offensive coordinator to actually call plays instead of Dave Canales, and trading Jalen Coker so they can open up more targets for Tetairoa McMillan. None of it is plausible.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young on the Up & Adams set | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Panthers can, however, take some lessons from this Super Bowl. For one thing, having a good defense is very important. They've slowly begun building that unit back up, and it made strides last season.

But the Seahawks won off the back of a smothering, swarming defense. The New England Patriots only hung around for so long because they also had a really good defense that day. Defense matters a whole lot.

They can echo the Seahawks in offensive philosophy, though. The Hawks liked to run the ball a lot and use two backs to do it. The Panthers did that in 2025, so the foundation is there. They can also feed McMillan like the Seahawks fed Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The similarities unfortunately end there. The Panthers are not remotely close to having a dominant defense. They're not remotely close to having the return game that Rashid Shaheed has given the Hawks.

There are multiple ways to win a Super Bowl, which is fortunate since the Panthers, if they're to do it any time soon, will not be following the path laid out by Seattle.

- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI -

NFL rule change might take away huge Carolina Panthers advantage

How much did the Panthers actually improve on defense in 2025?

Panthers not expected to contend for playoffs next season for one reason

Two trade proposals would fix major issue with Panthers’ offense