NFL analyst groups Seattle Seahawks with 3 other fringe playoff teams

Just what are the 2025 Seattle Seahawks, exactly? That's still to be determined and there's a lot of football left to play before it's decided. However, if the season were to end today the Seahawks would be the NFC's fifth seed and preparing to visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Wild Card game.

That's a pretty big step up over where they've been the last few seasons, which is the dreaded no man's land between just missing the playoffs and getting blown out by a far superior team in the first round.

A new analysis by Alex Kay at Bleacher Report has Seattle in the third tier of potential playoff teams - making the "on the fringes" group along with the Buccaneers, Colts and Chargers.

"Seattle shook off a Week 1 loss to blow the doors off both the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, then dug in and gritted out a key NFC West battle against the Arizona Cardinals this past Thursday. This team clearly has heart, but it still remains to be seen if Darnold can elevate this group beyond a wild-card appearance."

While it's certainly possible it's going to be really tough to win the NFC West this season. The Seahawks are tied with the 49ers and Rams at 3-1 but they've already lost a tiebreaker to San Francisco and they have yet to beat LA with Matt Stafford in the lineup.

Hopefully the addition of Darnold will give them a leg up they haven't had before against the Rams - and so far he's gone above and beyond our most-hopeful expectations. It's also worth remembering that the Seahawks were one play away from upsetting the 49ers in Week 1, otherwise they'd be 4-0.

Seattle is elite defensively, superb on special teams and their passing game is even stronger than it was during's Russell Wilson's peak years. If they can find a way to get their run game going there will be no stopping them, no matter how tough their division might be.

Sep 25, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald looks on before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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