Last week, after the Seattle Seahawks blew out the Arizona Cardinals, the national media were beginning to view the Seattle Seahawks as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. However, after a close loss to the Los
Angeles Rams, will this bubble of optimism that has been following the Seahawks pop?
As can be expected after a loss, the Seahawks were moved down by four of the five national media sites polled (NFL.com, Pro Football Talk, Bleacher Report, ESPN, and CBS Sports). Despite this, Seattle is still within the top seven of the league amongst all five national media sites.
Let’s start with the lowest rankings and make our way up. All three of Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, and ESPN have Seattle at No. 7. As stated last week, the fact that the lowest ranking for the Seahawks is 7th truly shows how talented this 2025 team is. CBS Sports who moved the Seahawks down six spots, after having them ranked first, made note of Sam Darnold’s four turnovers, and ask the question on if this game was an aberration, or something the team needs to worry about. Bleacher Report, who moved Seattle down three spots, from 4 to 7, also made note of Darnold’s subpar performance. However, they also noted that the Seahawks “should feel encouraged that they were in a position to win the game despite Darnold’s turnover-ridden outing.”
ESPN, who moved the Seahawks down from 5 to 7, took a different approach in their analysis. ESPN, who this week were noting which players are under the most pressure, mentioned right guard, Anthony Bradford Seattle. ESPN noted that Bradford had faced criticism over his inconsistent play this season, and now with injuries to center, Jalen Sundell, and left guard, Grey Zabel, the pressure is just turning up.
Pro Football Talk (PFT) was the one national media site this week to not move the Seahawks down at all. Instead, PFT kept Seattle ranked at 6th. Similar to Bleacher Report, PFT noted that it is telling how good this Seahawks team is given the fact that they were in position to win the game on the last play despite four turnovers by Darnold.
NFL.com, who have long been the biggest hype source for the Seahawks still have the team ranked the highest of the five national media sites polled. Despite this, they still dropped them out of the first-place ranking, down three spots to fourth. NFL.com mentioned that if the Seahawks “can avoid turnovers, they’re good enough to beat anyone.”
Overall, it is not a surprise to see the Seahawks move down after a loss. That is how power rankings go. The general consensus for Seattle seems to be that they are still a force to be reckoned with, especially if they can limit turnovers. Though, that is a monstrous “if.” After Week 10, the average power ranking between the five sites (NFL.com, PFT, Bleacher Report, ESPN, and CBS Sports) was 1.6. After week eleven, the average power ranking between those same sites is 6.2, still within the contender level, though with a fair drop after a loss to the Rams. With the Seahawks taking on the Tennessee Titans in Week 12, it will be interesting to see how Seattle moves in the power rankings, as even a win over the 1-9 Titans may not move the needle enough for the national perspective. A loss to Tennessee would invite a massive drop.
