The Seattle Seahawks head to the Super Bowl as favorites in the rematch against the New England Patriots. It’s a franchise rematch, as none of the players remain on either team from 11 years ago.
But en
route to an appearance as Super Bowl favorites, the 2025 Seahawks have statistically surpassed the 2013 group that won the whole thing.
By DVOA, Seattle currently sits as the sixth-best team ever charted. The best team in 18 years, since the 16-0 New England Patriots, who ultimately lost to the Eli Manning Giants.
The 2013 Seahawks come in at 15th.
For those unfamiliar with DVOA, Defense-adjusted Value Over Average has been a remarkably good indicator of overall team strength since it came out. It uses a slew of advanced metrics, accounts for specific game situations like down and distance, and compares it to league average to give what is effectively a percentage output of how much better a team is than the average NFL team that year.
For example, the Seahawks and Rams were this year’s number 1 and 2 teams by DVOA. That would indicate the best game of the postseason, and indeed the NFC Championship Game blew the doors off every game prior.
More than that, actually, Seattle and L.A. was the best matchup of high-rated DVOA teams in over 45 years.
The two teams were a full 12 percentage points better than the Seahawks-Broncos Super Bowl.
DVOA gets built from the scores of all three phases. Offense, defense, and special teams. What it means is that this year’s team – when compared to the rest of the league – is as good as Seattle’s 2013 defense, while rostering a better offense and far better special teams.
Interestingly, Aaron Schatz, the godfather of DVOA, noticed that while the Rams were better than the New England Patriots all season, it’s actually the Patriots who are the better team right now. After New England beat Denver and Los Angeles lost to Seattle, the Patriots moved up to the 2nd best DVOA and Rams dropped to 3rd.
Meaning, the Seahawks postseason has gone from facing the league’s “best” offense (San Francisco 49ers) to the best not-Seattle team by DVOA (Rams) to their replacement at second-best (Patriots).
Bring it on.
