The Seahawks won the NFC West with a 14-3 record last season, but not many think they can repeat as division champs in 2026.
The Seattle Seahawks are going to enter the 2026 season knowing that they will get every team's best shot week in, week out.
That can be a tough thing to navigate, especially when you are trying to defend your Super Bowl title. But in order to do that, you have to make the playoffs.
Normally, that would be a given for a team that won 14 regular-season games last year, but that isn't the case in 2026 for Mike Macdonald's Seahawks.
Why? Because of their division.
Housing the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, two teams that many think can easily win the Super Bowl in 2026, Seattle has four games against the pair it has to navigate, which can be tough.
Division winners last season, the Seahawks are going to have a hard time repeating as NFC West champs simply because the Rams and 49ers are near the peak of their powers.
For CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan, in a piece where he ranked each division winner in 2025 based on the chances they get dethroned, the Philadelphia Eagles have the best odds at keeping their crown, followed closely by the Seahawks, but there's still a lot of doubt.
"While they have championship DNA and have brought back many of the players who climbed the mountaintop a season ago, it'll be a tough go to repeat. Why? Because they play in arguably the most competitive division in the NFL," Sullivan writes.
"The NFC West doesn't just house the defending Super Bowl champions; it also has the betting favorite to win Super Bowl LXI, the Los Angeles Rams. So, not only will Seattle have to deal with the Super Bowl favorite Rams, but the 49ers, who have the eighth-easiest strength of schedule next season, will be in the conversation as well."
The Seahawks, aside from facing the Rams and 49ers, will also take on the New England Patriots, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
That's 10 of Seattle's 17 games.
Coming out of those contests at .500 is going to be a tall order for the Seahawks, but Macdonald will be confident in his team's ability to match it with the best.
Given how much of a home-field advantage Seattle has at Lumen Field, entering the playoffs as a division winner is crucial if the Seahawks want to give themselves the best shot at repeating as Super Bowl champs.
But goodness me, it's going to be a serious gauntlet they'll have to navigate before even getting to the postseason.
