The Seattle Seahawks run to Super Bowl LX is truly remarkable if you take a second to think about it. The Seahawks hadn’t had a playoff win since 2018, hadn’t made it past the divisional round since 2014 and haven’t won a championship since 2013. It’s hard to think about the Seahawks as an underdog, but when you look at how they got here, it’s easy to see why everything seemingly fell into place.
From trading Geno Smith and DK Metcalf this offseason to signing Sam Darnold, here’s everything that led to the Seahawks miraculous turnaround in Mike Macdonald’s second year as a head coach.
How Seattle unlocked its offense after trading Geno Smith, DK Metcalf
When Seattle decided it was parting ways with Geno Smith, it didn’t really sound an alarm. Smith was a glorified bridge option that had a lot of success when he took over for Russell Wilson. The biggest question was who was going to take over for Smith. The Seahawks didn’t take long answering that question, signing Darnold to a three-year deal. The trade that caused a lot of ripples was offloading Metcalf.
Metcalf had a phenomenal start to his NFL career in Seattle. He had at least 900 receiving yards in each of his first six seasons, including three 1,000-plus yard seasons. He was as destructive as any other top receiver. Seattle knew what they had in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which is why they had no problem parting ways with Metcalf, collecting a third round pick as part of the deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Those two moves helped unlock this Seahawks offense in a way we never would have anticipated. Especially because the engineer of the offense ended up being the one quarterback that had all the pressure to be elite this year.
The Seahawks aren’t in the Super Bowl if they don’t sign Sam Darnold
Darnold made a lot of people mad when he lost the last two games of the 2024 season – a loss to the Detroit Lions of the NFC North division and the No. 1 seed in the NFC and then a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams. I didn’t know there was another level of evolution for Darnold and he showed that this season.
Truthfully, he didn’t look extraterrestrial until the NFC title game. Nothing went wrong for him against the LA Rams. He looked like the top 5 pick in the NFL Draft like he was supposed to. That game proved that Darnold can actually play in big games, and that was what Darnold needed to prove after last season.
This offense needed a capable quarterback. Darnold was throwing to Justin Jefferson in 2024, of course he was going to succeed with Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks turned to Smith-Njigba to be their No. 1 target and it was clearly the right decision. Not only did it make this offense look even better, it allowed them to draft one of the most important pieces to the defense.
Seattle turning DK Metcalf into Nick Emmanwori was a secret weapon no one saw coming
Nick Emmanwori might have ended up being one of the biggest gems in the 2025 NFL Draft. His insertion into Macdonald’s defense has been seamless and largely been one of the biggest assets to this defense. Had Seattle not moved off Metcalf, they could be missing a blossoming star.
According to Pro Football Focus, Nick Emmanwori ranked inside the top 30 of safeties this season, out of 91 qualified. He was an elite safety as a run stopper, pass rusher and coverage defensive back. He had an overall grade of 74.6 this season. Had it not been for Carson Schwesinger being as elite as he was on an already elite defense, he was a shoo-in for the defensive rookie of the year.
He’s a player the Seahawks are going to enjoy having around and will help them forget about the mistake they made in trading for Jamal Adams.
Hiring Klint Kubiak was the biggest move Seattle did last offseason
Klint Kubiak had a brief stint with the San Francisco 49ers and crossed paths with Sam Darnold. Who knew their paths would come back together in Seattle and lead to a Super Bowl. But one of the most important things when it comes to the coach and the players is them being in sync. Kubiak and Darnold have been an unstoppable force this year and you have to appreciate that.
It only lasted one season with Kubiak headed to Las Vegas, but you can’t deny just how impactful having Kubiak on the sidelines has been. As good as Darnold has been, he’s not what he is without having Kubiak.