One Game to Go, But This Seahawks Season Has Meant Everything to Me

It’s been a couple of days now since the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams in a thriller in the NFC Championship Game, 31–27, to advance to their first Super Bowl in 11 years.

And isn't it funny that the last time they were here, they faced the New England Patriots, and now, once again, they’ll face those same foes from Boston for all the marbles.

We all know what happened last time. The Russell Wilson interception at the one-yard line by Patriots cornerback Malcom Butler. The Seahawks blowing the game and not winning back-to-back championships. And, essentially, sparking the second half of the Brady-Belichick Patriots dynasty, where they went on to win two more Super Bowls together after that.

Seahawks fans, let's move on from that awful night.

I’m writing this on Tuesday night (January 27th), 12 days away from Super Bowl LX kicking off on February 8 in San Francisco. As the days get closer, I already know I’m going to get more and more nervous. I do think the Seahawks are the better team. I think we have the best unit on the field with our defense. I think we have the best player on the field with Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And based on what we’ve seen in the playoffs, while I would not take Sam Darnold over Drake Maye long-term or even going into next season, if we’re simply looking at their postseason play this season, Darnold has been the better quarterback over the last month.

I’ll preview the game more as we get closer, but for now, this isn’t really about breaking down the matchup. This is about how much fun this season has been.

Win or lose the Super Bowl, this season has been amazing.

Going into the year, I didn’t have huge expectations for the Seahawks. I thought this was a transition year. We were coming off a 10–7 season in 2024 and somehow didn’t make the playoffs, the first team ever to win 10 games in the 17-game format and miss the postseason. It just felt like nothing would go our way.

Then in the off-season, we traded Geno Smith (who honestly has gotten a bad rap over the last year), but it was getting harder to believe he was going to take us to the promised land. Then two of my favourite Seahawks ever were gone when they traded DK Metcalf to Pittsburgh and released Tyler Lockett.

And I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the Sam Darnold signing at first. But he’s proven me wrong every step of the way.

I just didn't entirely understand John Schneider and Mike Macdonald's vision for this team. But I will never doubt them again.

Let's just say, I didn’t expect this. I thought maybe a playoff appearance, and even that felt optimistic to some people. But week by week, game by game, month by month, I started to feel it. This team was becoming special to me in a way I haven’t felt in a long time about one of my favourite sports teams.

I think the reason this Seahawks run has been so special is because it’s been gradual. They got better every week. They trusted Mike Macdonald’s vision. What John Schneider built in the offseason with his roster moves was starting to click.

I went to the Week 5 game against Tampa Bay, and even though they lost, that game felt huge at the time. It was a quarterback duel between Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. Baker lit up our defense that night, and Mike Macdonald clearly took that personally. From that point on, the defense was elite (aside from the two Rams games at home).

Watching this team improve week after week, without expectations, and seeing it blossom right in front of you is why I've loved this team and sports in general. You learn to expect the unexpected. That’s exactly what this Seahawks team has done for me.

They made me fall in love with the team again. They made me trust the organization again. The drafting. The decision-making. The rise of these young players. It’s been so special to see it unfold in real time.

I don’t want to say I’ve been tortured since that Super Bowl loss, but that was around the time I really got into football. I wasn’t a huge fan during the peak Legion of Boom years, I actually became a diehard as it started to disintegrate. So this is the first truly elite, championship-calibre Seahawks team I’ve followed from start to finish.

We’ve had fun teams since then, but I don’t think we’ve been truly elite for a while now. 2020 started fun and ended terribly. When we traded Russell Wilson, I had no idea what we were doing.

But John Schneider did.

He built this team from the ground up, even if sometimes the decisions were unpopular. Schneider, Macdonald, Jody Allen, and yeah, even Pete Carroll deserves credit for drafting some of these guys who have helped get the team to this point.

So Seahawks fans, I’m going to be a mess over the next two weeks. I like our chances. But I also do love Drake Maye, I’ve said that since he got drafted. I called the Patriots a sleeper team to do some damage, but I didn’t think they’d get this far, but it feels poetic that this is the team we’re facing.

If this run ends with us going through the 49ers, the Rams, and then the Patriots (in the 49ers’ stadium) to hoist the Lombardi… That gives me chills just thinking about it.

No matter how it ends, heartbreak or confetti, thank you to the Seattle Seahawks.

You made me proud to be a fan again.