Seahawks 'Way-Too-Early' Super Bowl Contenders After Hiring Mike Macdonald?
Every season, the NFL has a handful of new teams make the postseason. Will the Seattle Seahawks jump back into playoff contention in 2024?
Super Bowl LVIII is rapidly approaching. It's a bittersweet Sunday for many NFL fans whose own team fell short and don't have alliances to the Kansas City Chiefs or San Francisco 49ers.
While quarterback Patrick Mahomes hopes to defeat Brock Purdy's Niners to be crowned back-to-back champs in Las Vegas, Sports Illustrated decided to look ahead to the top 10 non-championship teams that have the best odds of playing in the Super Bowl next season.
The Seahawks make the list of contenders who could advance to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Here's why:
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"The Seahawks disappointed last season, and they don’t even have injuries to blame as most of their key starters finished the ’23 regular season," SI writes. "Seattle appeared to instead point the blame at coaching when it fired Pete Carroll as the head coach and forced the 72-year-old into a front-office role."
The Seahawks hired Carroll's successor on Wednesday, announcing that Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is Seattle's new head coach. However, SI thinks it'll be "tough" for the Seahawks to do better in Year 1 without Carroll.
"It’s tough picturing the Seahawks doing better without Carroll, but perhaps a younger coach with different philosophies can turn the star-studded roster into a contender in ’24. The Seahawks also have a dilemma with quarterback Geno Smith, who regressed after a breakout ’22 season. If they make an upgrade at quarterback, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Seahawks back in the postseason," SI continued.
Surprisingly, the team at the top of the list is the Cincinnati Bengals, who finished fourth in the AFC North this season. The reasoning is that a healthy Joe Burrow gives the Bengals the best case for advancing to next year’s Super Bowl.
Next up for Seattle is the Pro Bowl. The Seahawks will send six players to Orlando, the most Seattle Pro Bowl selections since having seven in 2020.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner, safety Julian Love, and rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon were initially voted in and then quarterback Geno Smith, receiver DK Metcalf and special teamer Nick Bellore were added to the roster as alternates.
