Sports

How did the Seattle Seahawks become so dominant?

Zach Everett and Maximiliano Garcia • March 22, 2026

How did the Seattle Seahawks become so dominant?

Hello Tigers! In this article we are going to discuss how the Seattle Seahawks became so dominant. The Seattle Seahawks finished this season 14-3 and won the Superbowl. This team was very successful, and they had brought a great defense, stopping teams from scoring and resulting in a dominant season.

Who is on this team?

The Seahawks had a solid offense. Their main power on offense was their wide receiver Jaxson Smith Njigba. In the 24-25 season Jaxon had 137 targets and had 1,130 receiving yards from the quarterback Geno Smith. Geno Smith isn’t that great of a quarterback so the Seahawks decided to let him go. This is where the Seahawks started making good moves. To replace Geno Smith the Seahawks brought in Sam Darnold, a quarterback from the Vikings.

Sam Darnold in the 24-25 season had brought the Vikings to a 14-3 record. The Vikings releasing Sam Darnold can be viewed as a surprise to most as many may be wondering, “why release a quarterback that got you a great record”. This question has two potential answers, first off is how the Vikings potentially didn’t like that Sam Darnold went down in the first round of the playoffs, another answer could be that the Vikings wanted to move on and go all in for their young quarterback, J.J. McCarthy. Anyways, to get back to the Seahawks, Sam Darnold led the Seahawks to a 14-3 season, once again, but this time they didn’t lose in the first round, they won the Superbowl.

Jaxson Smith Njigba had 1,793 receiving yards this season. He was the number one target on offense and this season he would go on to win the OPOTY which stands for offensive player of the year. The Seahawks also had a solid rotation between Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet in their running back core. The Seahawks also had Cooper Kupp who isn’t as great now but in 2021 he was spectacular, but don’t get it wrong he is still solid. Now for the defense, this is where they specialize, with Ernest Jones at linebacker he had accumulated 5 interceptions and he had 126 total tackles. The Seahawks also had Nick Emmanwori at the safety position, he had 1 interception and 86 total tackles.

The Seahawks also had other names on defense such as Coby Bryant, Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, and Julian Love. There are other players on defense but overall these are most notable. The Seahawks also had a solid special team as their own kicker had scored a total of 171 points throughout the season.

How Nick Emmanwori is showing Seahawks were smart to trade up for him | The Seattle Times — Nick Emmanwori has been recently drafted by the Seahawks and is a huge part of the defense. He was drafted in the second round. (Seattle times)

Off season Moves, Early 2025

The Seahawks had made some off season adjustments before going into this season. They let go of DK Metcalf and they had begun to get a new offensive coordinator. They also decided to go for Sam Darnold at quarterback which he had already proved himself valuable based off of the last season he had with the Vikings. Sam Darnold had already gone 14-3 in his previous season with the Vikings. These moves would later benefit them a lot as this opened up their wide receiver one spot for Jaxson Smith Njigba. They overall let go of expensive veterans in return to keep their young talents.

Drafting

In this draft they had a major success. They drafted Nick Emmanwori in the second round. Nick Emmanwori is a massive part of this Seahawks defense as he has the versatility to play as a linebacker and a cornerback. In this draft they also got Jalen Milroe, a quarterback out of Alabama. Throughout this draft Nick Emmanwori would prove himself as a valuable defender and the Seahawks would now know that they need him and another defender, Devon Witherspoon. In the recent drafts they picked up big and valuable names such as Devon Witherspoon, drafted in 2023, and also Jaxson Smith Njigba, drafted in 2023.

Jalen Milroe - Seattle Seahawks Quarterback - ESPN — Jalen Milroe has been recently drafted by the Seattle Seahawks. He is currently a young quarterback that is a 3rd string but is likely to become a starter with experience. (ESPN)

How did they manage to become such a strong team?

The Seattle Seahawks dominated teams with a strong defense. They also had a solid special teams. One example of that is how the Seahawks started off strong by a Rashid Shaheed kick off touchdown. Giving Seattle the momentum, in which they kept the whole game, this led them to beat the 49ers in the divisional round 41-6. They also allowed the fewest points this season which is important because if teams can’t score then they can’t win. It also has been said that there was kind of a mindset shift and potentially that could be why they began to play even better.

Rashid Shaheed, a Pro Bowl kick returner, took the San Francisco 49ers' opening kickoff and ran it back 95 yards for a touchdown, putting the Seahawks on the board before Darnold took — Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kick off for a touchdown to take the lead. This play was important because some could view it as a momentum gainer for the Seahawks. (Seahawks wire)

Overall this team is doing great. They recently lost Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant but hopefully they can regroup and keep on getting better. They could potentially keep on winning and thriving but they need to keep their defense together and strong in order to keep winning. In conclusion this team was one of the better defenses in recent history and this team is pretty young. Many can say that the Seahawks had a good draft in recent years and have created a historic defense.

Citations:

Divish, R. (2026, January 27). Cooper Kupp’s story comes full circle in Seahawks’ NFC title game win. The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/seahawks-cooper-kupp-comes-up-clutch-against-former-team-in-nfc-title-game/

Froschauer, J. (2025, October 30). Seahawks rookie proving team made “Smart decision.” The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/how-nick-emmanwori-is-showing-seahawks-were-smart-to-trade-up-for-him/

ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.). Jalen Milroe – Seattle seahawks quarterback. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/4432734/jalen-milroe

Skene, D. (2026, January 18). Watch: Rashid Shaheed opens seahawks’ playoffs with 95-yard touchdown. USA Today. https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2026/01/17/seahawks-vs-49ers-rashid-shaheed-opens-playoffs-with-95-yard-score/88238504007/

ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.-b). Jaxon Smith-Njigba career stats – NFL. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/4430878/jaxon-smith-njigba

ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.-c). Sam Darnold – Seattle seahawks quarterback. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/3912547/sam-darnold

Staff, A. the N. (2026, February 6). List of “NFL honors” award winners from 2025 NFL season. NFL.com. https://www.nfl.com/news/list-of-nfl-honors-award-winners-from-2025-nfl-season

ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.-d). Seattle Seahawks 2025 NFL regular season players stats. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/sea/table//sort/totalTackles/dir/desc

2025-2026 Issue #4

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About the Contributors

Zach Everett, Staff Reporter

Hi, my name is Zachary Everett, and I am a sophomore at EPHS. I participate in baseball and football for our school. This year, I hope to keep people entertained and happy. For college, I am really hoping to go to the University of Oregon. Personally, it would be nice to play baseball or football at the collegiate level there. I also hope to become a sports medicine physician later in life.

Maximiliano Garcia, Staff Reporter

Hi, my name is Maximiliano Garcia, and I’m a freshman at Elmwood Park High School. This is my first year in journalism. My hobbies include sports and spending time with my friends and family. For EPHS, I play football, wrestle, and play baseball. I have played sports most of my life, and they are a really important part of my life. My goal is to go pro in football or baseball and be a sports journalist when I grow up.