Heading into a week 15 matchup with the 9-4 Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, the 8-5 Seattle Seahawks controlled their destiny to the NFC playoffs and their first NFC West division title since 2020. Riding a four-game winning streak on the back of a defense that was allowing 15.5 points per game over that stretch, Seattle’s hopes for the playoffs were well and alive after a questionable 4-5 start.
Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the Los Angeles Rams were looming. After a 1-4 start, the Rams closed out the season winning five out of their last six games. In week eight, The Rams beat the Seahawks in overtime. That win proved to be the deciding factor in the 2024 NFC West title race.With matchups against two of the top teams in the conference on the horizon, the Seahawks showed they were still a tier below the best teams in the National Football Conference. Green Bay walked out with a 30-13 win. A week later, the 12-2 Minnesota Vikings were in town. And yet again, the Seahawks suffered another home loss.
Seattle went into week 17 with hope, after picking up a win vs the Chicago Bears, but then again the Rams kept on winning. After Sunday’s slate of games, the Rams got all the necessary tie-breakers, ending the Seahawks season before the final week of the NFL regular season.
Regardless, quarterback Geno Smith and the rest of the team came out urgent to come away with a victory against those same Rams, who rested several key starters in preparation for the Wild Card round.
“You got to go out there and you got to give it your all no matter the circumstance. No matter what the record says, no matter the situation, for me it was another opportunity to go out there with my teammates and grind out a win,” Smith said in his end of season presser.
The team parted ways with Offensive Coordinator Ryan Grubb just one day after the conclusion of the season.
“We want our offense to be a physical unit and dictate terms of the defense and play complimentary football and get the ball to our playmakers in space and let our quarterback play fast… it really was just a vision thing and that’s why we made the decision [to move on from Grubb],” head coach Mike Macdonald said in his end of season presser.
The Seahawks ranked top 15 in passing offense but struggled to establish a run game, ranking 28th in the league.
“We have a talented roster that we can grow from, especially a young talented core that is going to grow and develop. I believe in this young crew,” Macdonald said.
Referring to players like Devin Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Leonard Williams, who all had career years, the team is set up to contend in the upcoming years.
One of the biggest offseason questions for the Seahawks will be what happens with Geno Smith and the quarterback position. According to Spotrac, Geno Smith is expected to have a cap hit of $44,000,000 for 2025. This is a lofty cap hit for Smith, who will be 35 in October and passed for over 4,000 yards this season but struggled taking care of the ball with 15 interceptions.
“This team is heading in the right direction, this team is on its way and that’s with or without me,” Smith said. “I believe the best of the best is going to happen for this team, and I just want to continue to fight with these guys.”
Before taking any questions, wide receiver Tyler Lockett took some time to recognize the equipment staff.
“Our equipment staff and athletic staff should definitely get a raise. If you see the things that they do day in and day out, our equipment staff literally has to stay overnight just to be able to put our stuff back. Literally they barely even sleep. It speaks volumes about the people we have in this building and being blessed to be able to know them.”
Drafted in the third round of the 2015 out of Kansas State, Lockett is the longest-tenured player on the team. Lockett’s first-ever regular season game in the NFL was against the Rams, and now what could’ve been the last game of his Seahawks career ends against the Rams.
“Maybe this isn’t the end, maybe it is the end, but I will always be a Seahawk through and through,” Lockett said.
If this is his last game, Lockett walks away as one of the most beloved players in franchise history and second in franchise receiving yards to Hall of Famer Steve Largent.
The Seahawks now close the doors on the 2024-2025 season and head into the offseason perhaps without their longest-tenured player, and their quarterback.
