Seattle Seahawks might be NFL's best second-tier bet to win the Super Bowl

Nobody expected these Seattle Seahawks to be a contender coming into the 2025 season. In fact, most analysts were predicting that they would take a big step backwards thanks to the Geno Smith-Sam Darnold swap. Instead, things have gone the other way. Smith has been arguably the NFL's worst starter so far, while many advanced stats suggest Darnold is the best.

As good as they've looked the Seahawks have dropped a couple of winnable games via defensive lapses in the fourth quarter, otherwise they might be 5-0 right now rather than 3-2.

Seattle has been ranked among 10 second-tier contenders by CBS Sports - and at +4000 to go all the way Tyler Sullivan thinks they might be the best bet in the bunch.

"Yes, they let the Bucs explode for 38 points in Week 5, but this defense has largely been strong in the early portions of the season. I still expect that side of the ball to be the overall strength of Seattle, but we also can't ignore what Sam Darnold is doing either... The arrow is still pointing up for Seattle despite the loss, and if that defense can get hot at the right time, look out."

Oct 5, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) reacts with tight end AJ Barner (88) after a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Lumen Field. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

On CBS's list the only teams that are grouped ahead of the Seahawks in this tier are the Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams.

Catching up with those teams means two things. First, the Seahawks have to be more consistent running the ball. They did a good job in this department in the loss to Tampa, averaging over six yards per carry against a tough run-defending unit. Now they just need to follow through and keep stacking strong rushing performances.

The other major problem is a defense that's having a lot of trouble finishing games in the fourth quarter. While it's not unsual for a defense to be tired by the end of a game (especially DBs, who tend to play every single snap), the Seahawks have to find a way to minimize this problem or they're going to keep losing close games they would otherwise win.

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