Despite shattering franchise records and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, Seattle enters 2026 as an underdog while star-studded division rivals command the spotlight and overlook the champions.
The Seattle Seahawks did just about everything possible last season to earn the benefit of the doubt.
They won 14 games. They captured the NFC West and the conference's No. 1 seed. They ran through three 12-win teams in the postseason and finished the job by beating New England in Super Bowl LX.
Somehow, Seattle enters 2026 feeling like it has to prove the whole thing again.
The Los Angeles Rams have commanded plenty of attention this offseason, and understandably so. They added Myles Garrett to an already talented defense before Aaron Donald announced his return from retirement in August.
Los Angeles looks terrifying on paper.
It also finished behind Seattle last season.
The Seahawks went 14-3, beat San Francisco 41-6 in the divisional round, knocked off the Rams 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game and defeated New England 29-13 to win the second Super Bowl in franchise history.
Seattle's 14 regular-season victories were also a franchise record.
That résumé makes the rush to crown somebody else in the NFC West feel a little premature.
CBS Sports' John Breech seems to share that sentiment.
Breech picked Seattle to exceed its projected 10.5-win total entering the season and wrote that he had “never seen a situation where everyone seems to be sleeping on the defending champs.”
He expects Seattle and Los Angeles to go toe-to-toe for the division.
That feels much closer to where the conversation should be.
The NFC West could be brutal. San Francisco won 12 games last season and took the race for the division and No. 1 seed all the way to Week 18. Los Angeles went 12-5 before making its run to the NFC Championship Game, then spent this offseason adding even more star power.
Seattle still has plenty of reasons to believe its championship standard can carry over.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is coming off a historic season in which he set franchise records with 119 catches and 1,793 receiving yards while earning first-team All-Pro honors. Sam Darnold already proved he can quarterback this team through January. Mike Macdonald oversaw a defense that allowed the fewest points in the NFL last season.
Macdonald has also made his approach to the title defense pretty clear.
“We're not defending anything,” Macdonald said this offseason while emphasizing that the 2026 Seahawks have to establish their own identity.
That may be the healthiest way to approach what comes next.
The Rams deserve the hype they are receiving. San Francisco deserves to remain in the conversation.
Seattle deserves something, too … respect for what it already proved.
Until somebody actually takes the NFC West away from the Seahawks, treating the defending Super Bowl champions like they have fallen behind feels awfully premature.
