Patriots opponent preview: Get to know the Seattle Seahawks

Just like that, the 2025 NFL season is down to two teams. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will meet in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, to decide this year's champion.

Much like the Patriots, the Seahawks were not expected to be at this point coming into the season. They had +6000 Super Bowl odds, while the Patriots were at +8000, per Pro Football Reference. Both sides had a preseason win total of 8.5.

Also like the Patriots, significant roster turnover and the growth of young players keyed the Seahawks exceeding expectations. Big free agency signings on both sides of the ball were the initial highlights, but the development of players selected going back to the 2023 NFL Draft took things to a text level.

Seattle began the year at 3-2, including hard-fought wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. From there they flipped a switch, especially after their Week 8 bye. They've lost just once since Oct. 5, dropping a close game to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11.

Playing in one of the toughest divisions in football they played multiple marquee games late in the year, with an overtime home win against the Rams in Week 15 and a road win at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17 to lock up the division title, the top seed in the NFC, and a tie for the best record in the NFL. They then had to go back through the Rams and 49ers in the playoffs.

What should Patriots fans know about the Seahawks? Let's take a look...

The Seahawks wide receiver group is highlighted by NFL Offensive Player of the Year finalist Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and rightfully so. Smith-Njigba, a third-year wideout out of Ohio State, has a diverse route tree and can win at all three levels. Despite being a player defenses will dictate their coverage around, he still managed to catch 119 passes for an NFL-leading 1,973 yards this year. After a quiet Divisional Round he went off in the NFC Championship Game with 10 catches for 153 yards against the Rams.

Part of what makes Smith-Njigba so tough to guard though is the fact that there's too much talent elsewhere at wide receiver that can burn defenses when left alone. That starts with Cooper Kupp, a free agency pickup who is still able to make an impact in his age-32 season. In particular Kupp can be a problem on 3rd and 4th downs. He was the team's second-leading receiver in those situations this year, and in particular his 11 first downs on 3rd and 4th were second only to JSN.

Finally there's Rashid Shaheed, who the Seahawks picked up at the trade deadline. He's been one of the best deadline pickups around the league. On offense Shaheed is an X-Factor whose speed can be used as a deep threat and on designed touch plays - including handoffs. He's also a major threat as both a kick and punt returner.

In left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abraham Lucas, the Seahawks' offensive line is solid on the edge. Inside though, they've had their issues.

Rookie right guard Anthony Bradford has been a weak link at times, including in the playoffs. In particular, he's struggled in pass protection. His 35 pressures allowed this year rank among the most by guards in the NFL. Last week against the Rams he allowed six pressures and a sack while picking up a penalty. When he loses, he has a tendency to lose quick which can create interior pressure right off the snap.

Joining Bradford in the middle are left guard Grey Zabel and center Jalen Sundell. Zabel, like most rookie offensive linemen, has been up-and-down this year. He played some of his better football down the stretch but did also struggle in the NFC Championship Game. As a rookie, he's a likely player to test. Sundell has been fine, but isn't the kind of player a team would ideally want to base protection around and will have his hands full if both guards on either side of him are struggling.

The Seahawks had the fourth-highest pressure rate in the NFL this year at 38.9%, and were tied for the seventh-most sacks with 47. They did that despite only blitzing 22% of the time, the eighth-lowest rate in the NFL.

Yup, their front is just that good.

For one thing, they have a ton of talent. Their core rushers with DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, and Boye Mafe on the edge and Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II in the middle all have a great combination of athleticism, power, technique, and outright violence.

Coaching is a big part of their success too though, with the scheme designed by head coach Mike MacDonald. Seattle uses line games - stunts, twists, etc. - at one of the highest rates in the league. That can be tough to managed for even an experienced offensive line, and can give a young line fits.

Even with that aggressiveness, they're strong against the run. They allowed just 1.09 yards before contact to opposing rushers this season, the eighth-lowest in the NFL. As a team the Seahawks allowed a league-low 3.7 yards per carry.

The Seahawks gave a good cornerback group, and for the most part have shut down opposing wide receivers. However, they've been much more susceptible to getting beat in the passing game by tight ends.

Seattle allowed the fifth-most catches (105) and sixth-most yards (1,080) to opposing tight ends this year. A lot of that has come even with traditional tight end usage, and not move tight ends who more mimic wide receivers. To be fair though, those numbers are driven up a bit by facing First-Team All-Pro Trey McBride twice.

Using running backs as an outlet has also been a common tool for offenses against the Seahawks. No team allowed more catches to opposing running backs that Seattle (97). While they did a good job of limiting the damage with just 6.5 yards per catch off of those, a running back good in space could do some serious damage.

Finally, even quarterbacks have been able to take advantage against the Seahawks as primary ball handlers. Seattle has allowed 5.03 yards per carry to opposing quarterbacks this year, the fifth-highest in the NFL.

QB Sam Darnold: After his bounce-back year in Minnesota last year, Darnold's career resurgence has continued in Seattle. He's been one of the most explosive passers in the NFL this year, ranking third with 8.5 yards per attempt in the regular season along with a 67.7% completion percentage. He's first and second in those respective categories in the playoffs at 8.9 yards per attempt and 69.8%.

However, turnovers have remained a big problem for Darnold - and the Seahawks as a whole because of that. He was third in the NFL with 14 interception this year, and added a league-leading 11 fumbles. He lost six of those fumbles, and ended up accounting for 20 of Seattle's 25 total turnovers this season. Just like earlier in his career, those issues become exasperated when he's put under pressure.

RB Kenneth Walker: The Seahawks used a running back tandem for most of the year, but with Zach Charbonnet tearing his ACL late in the season it now all falls on Walker. A smart, physical runner Walker was one of the best big-play threats at the position this year. His 10 carries of 20+ yards were tied for the third-most by a running back in the NFL this season. He's just as good at running through defenders as he is at running over them, with his 69 forced missed tackles ranking second among running backs this year.

WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba: We already talked a little bit about Smith-Njigba, who is one of the best offensive players in the sport. The Seahawks take full advantage of that, and will come up with creative ways to use him. While he mostly lines up on the outside they will pick there spots to mix things up. For example, last week he caught a touchdown coming out of the backfield.

DL Leonard Williams: The first of three Seattle All-Pros on defense - with one at each level - Williams is a three-down threat. He rarely comes off the field, with his 812 defensive snaps this season the second-most among interior defensive linemen. He's among the league leaders for interior defensive linemen in terms of both quarterback pressures and run stops. With physicality and a high motor he regularly finds his way into the backfield and will be a tough task for the Patriots' interior offensive line. It's tough to focus the blocking just on him though with players like Murphy and Lawrence also up front.

LB Ernest Jones: Another All-Pro, Jones was Seattle's leading tackler with 126 takedowns this year. Jones instincts and athleticism give him the range to make plays sideline-to-sideline, and he's a reliable clean-up crew when runs break through the line of scrimmage. That range also shows up in coverage. He had a team-leading five interceptions and seven pass breakups this year. Quarterbacks had a 67.1 passer rating when targeting him this year - the lowest among qualifying linebackers.

CB Devon Witherspoon: The third and final All-Pro, Witherspoon gives Christian Gonzalez a run for being the best cornerback in the 2023 NFL Draft. In 14 games this regular season he allowed just 46 catches for 409 yards with an interception and seven pass breakups, often while covering the opponent's best receiver. Seattle can use him a bit as a chess piece - while he mostly lined up outside this year he was significant experience playing as both a slot and box defender. They'll even send him on the blitz occasionally, with his 21 pass rush snaps this year the third-most among cornerbacks primarily playing on the outside, per PFF.

While the Seahawks' defense has been excellent pretty much all year, the NFC Championship proved to be an anomaly for them. Their 479 total yards allowed to the Rams was their second-most in a game this season (after one of the regular season Rams games) and they had to hold on to claim a 31-27 win. The Matt Stafford-Puka Nacua connection did a lot of that damage, with Nacua putting up 165 yards on nine catches.

Darnold and Smith-Njigba had their own show though. Darnold threw for 346 yards with three touchdowns, with Smith-Njigba catching 10 of his 12 targets for 153 yards and a score.

The offense had its own anomalous performance too, but this time in a good way. After their turnover-heavy games during the regular season, Seattle did not have one giveaway in the NFC Championship (Darnold did fumble once, but it was recovered by the Seahawks).

One things Seattle's defense did do characteristically well? Handle third downs. The Rams were just 1-of-8 converting on third downs in that game.

The last time the Patriots and Seahawks squared off was last year, in Week 2 at Gillette Stadium. That one went to overtime, with the Seahawks winning 23-20 to hand the Patriots their first loss of the year.

While Seattle put up 358 yards of total offense in that game, most of the production came from players no longer with the team. Geno Smith threw for 327 yards and a touchdown, with D.K. Metcalf his leading receiver with 10 catches for 129 yards. A busted coverage on Metcalf late in the first quarter led to a 56-yard touchdown and was a key turning point.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba did play in that game, and was productive. He caught 12 passes for 117 yards.

Overall, the offense is structurally different as well. Klint Kubiac replaced Ryan Grubb as the offensive coordinator after Grubb wasn't brought back following 2024.

Jacoby Brissett was the Patriots' quarterback in that game. Most of his pass-catchers are also no longer with the team, but Hunter Henry did catch eight passes for 109 yards.

Defensively Seattle has more carryover. Meanwhile the Patriots' defensive in that game featured players like Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers, Keion White, and Jonathan Jones.

That's the most recent Patriots-Seahawks game, but the one from this series the instantly comes to mind for most is their previous Super Bowl matchup, in Super Bowl XLIX. Considered by some the best game in the history of the sport, both teams had multiple to-be Hall of Famers up and down the roster. That back-and-forth game ended with the Seahawks throwing an interception to Malcolm Butler on the goal line, as the Patriots survived with a 28-24 win.