Entering Week 4,the Seattle Seahawks took a hit in the power rankings
after their surprising loss to the Washington Commanders. However, will Seattle start to make a move back up the rankings after defeating the Los Angeles Chargers (albeit in a rather sloppy manner)? Let’s take a look at five national media sites (NFL.com, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report (BR), Pro Football Talk (PFT), and ESPN) to see where they rank Seattle.There are a lot of similarities between three of the national media sites who
all moved the Seahawks up one spot, from fourth to third best in the league. In this ranking, NFL.com noted that Seattle took their foot off the gas too early against the Chargers, yet were still able to rebound after their loss to the Commanders a week earlier. B/R, which also moved Seattle up to number three, brings up Sam Darnold’s bumpy start (referencing his three interceptions in two games). However, B/R also notes that the Seahawks defense continues to get the job done, citing their four quarterback sacks and 10 hits on Justin Herbert.
While ranking Seattle the third best team in the NFL, ESPN used four words to describe the Seahawks first four weeks of the season: “Eventful – not always positive.” To add some context to these four words, Brady Henderson of ESPN brings up the many different events that occurred over the first month of the Seahawks 2026 season. Including Sam Darnold and Jadarian Price’s injuries, a franchise-record 150 penalty yards against the Chargers in week four, and even Mike Macdonald’s interview mishap regarding Sean Payton.
Not every national media site has the Seahawks ranked as the third best team in the NFL. CBS, which moved Seattle up one spot from 5 to 4, also cited Seattle’s impressive defensive performance as the reason they were able to defeat the Chargers. Meanwhile, PFT has the Seahawks ranked the lowest among these five national media sites, leaving Seattle as the fifth best team in the league, one spot up from last week. In their reasoning, PFT simply states “Let Rashid cook.”
Overall, the Seahawks moved up slightly after defeating the Chargers. Entering week four, the average power ranking between the five polled sites was 4.6. Entering Week 5, that average has risen to 3.6. Next week against the San Francisco 49ers will be the biggest test Seattle has faced all season. In all five of the national media site’s power rankings, the 49ers came in as the number one team in the league. If Seattle can pull off the victory, it may be tough for any of these national media sites to keep the Seahawks out of that number one spot.
