Can the Seahawks run it forward?<\/p>\n
Winning the Super Bowl back in February puts the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> in line to become the 10th team, and the ninth franchise, to repeat as champions (the Pittsburgh Steelers went back-to-back twice in the 1970s). While a lot of Super Bowl winners experience massive drains of coaching and playing talent after clinching the title, these Seahawks are left in pretty good shape.<\/p>\n Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, and pass-rusher Boye Mafe is now with the Cincinnati Bengals, but the champs return 21 of their 22 starters from the Super Bowl team (Mafe wasn\u2019t technically a starter).<\/p>\n Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was tabbed by the Las Vegas Raiders to become their new head coach. The Seahawks replaced Kubiak with former San Francisco 49ers run game coordinator & tight ends coach Brian Fleury, who has said that he\u2019ll keep most of Kubiak\u2019s passing concepts, with some different wrinkles in the run game. First-round pick Jadarian Price seems to have everything it takes to replace Walker. Price wasn\u2019t the lead running back at Notre Dame only because third overall pick Jeramiyah Love was the star of the show, but Love recently told me that Price can do everything he can do<\/a> \u2026 and in some cases, better.<\/p>\n The Seahawks have the right head coach to run it back in Mike Macdonald, because as he told me over the summer<\/a>, it\u2019s all about running it forward instead. That proactive mindset could make all the difference when navigating the NFC West \u2013 the NFL\u2019s toughest division \u2013 on the way back to the biggest game.<\/p>\n Will the Rams\u2019 all-in approach pay off?<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s most formidable opponent last season wasn\u2019t the New England Patriots<\/a> team they beat in the Super Bowl; it was the Los Angeles Rams team they played three times, going 2-1 with a total score differential of 88-85 in Seattle\u2019s favor. That included the Seahawks\u2019 31-27 NFC Championship game win, and everyone in the Seahawks\u2019 building knew that it had been their toughest test.<\/p>\n What did that loss do to the Rams? It encouraged them to pony up for shorter-term success. Cornerback was the team\u2019s biggest problem last season, so they traded for Trent McDuffie, and then signed Jaylen Watson, McDuffie\u2019s Chiefs teammate, to solidify things. Then, they traded outstanding pass-rusher Jared Verse, a first-round pick, and additional draft compensation to the Cleveland Browns for Myles Garrett, one of the most productive pass rushers in history<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old Garrett is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he tied the NFL\u2019s single-season sack record<\/a>, and he did so with very little help. Now, Garrett joins a defensive line that was already great before he showed up, and may soon include the legendary Aaron Donald, who is considering ending his two-year retirement by the promise of playing with a fellow all-time demolition expert<\/a>.<\/p>\n Snead and McVay have never had a problem going all-in like this before \u2013 they\u2019ve done so in trades for Stafford and defensive back Jalen Ramsey in the past \u2013 and those moves helped the Rams win the Super Bowl at the end of the 2021 season. As long as the 38-year-old Stafford can stay healthy, and the Rams don\u2019t need to rely on their shaky quarterback depth chart, pushing the chips in could pay off once again.<\/p>\n Can Mike McDaniel unleash Justin Herbert?<\/p>\n Every year, it seems that preseason prognosticators want to stick their chests out and declare that this is the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 year. The Chargers are a flashy franchise with quarterback Justin Herbert and talent all along the roster, but it\u2019s been a struggle to align Herbert with the kind of coaching and schematic wizardry that could bring everything out of his rare athletic gifts.<\/p>\n From Joe Lombardi to Kellen Moore to Greg Roman, the Chargers\u2019 offensive coordinators seemed to be more interested in making sure Herbert was as mistake-proof as possible at the expense of explosive plays \u2013 which are the primary currency in the NFL<\/a> today.<\/p>\n I spoke with Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh right after he got the job, and he spoke of the \u201cawesome responsibility\u201d of coaching someone as talented as Herbert. As a former NFL quarterback himself, Harbaugh knows of what he speaks.<\/p>\n Which is where new Chargers OC and former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel comes in. Through his four seasons in Miami, McDaniel proved to be all about those explosive plays, and his schematic marriage with Herbert could pay rare dividends. It\u2019s a boon for McDaniel as well, who was restricted in what he could do with the Dolphins, because Tua Tagovailoa was his primary quarterback, and Herbert is physically in a different universe.<\/p>\n So maybe this is the year that all those filled with hope for the Chargers actually have something to crow about.<\/p>\n Josh Allen is still looking for his first NFL title. Photograph: Adrian Kraus\/APCan Jim Leonhard take the Bills over the top (finally)?<\/p>\n As the Buffalo Bills\u2019 head coach from 2017-2025, Sean McDermott compiled a 98-50 regular-season record that was among the best in the NFL \u2013 only the Kansas City Chiefs had more regular-season wins in that timeframe, with 106<\/a>. But the Chiefs also won a bunch of Super Bowls, something McDermott\u2019s Bills never achieved. So, the Bills fired McDermott in large part because of his 8-8 postseason record, and replaced him with offensive coordinator Joe Brady.<\/p>\n But the big news in Buffalo, and the thing that could finally take Josh Allen\u2019s team over the top, is the hire of new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. The former Wisconsin defensive coordinator has long been regarded as one of the finest defensive minds at any level of football. If you go back and watch any of Leonhard\u2019s Wisconsin defenses through the 2022 season, you\u2019ll see a lot of the line stunts and coverage switches that have become de rigueur in the NFL today, and it\u2019s why those in the know believe that Leonhard is ahead of the game schematically<\/a>, and a future NFL head coach.<\/p>\n Like the Cowboys, the 2025 Bills were a bit under-coached \u2013 the talent didn\u2019t match the results. Leonhard\u2019s ascent could well mirror the Bills\u2019 rise to Super Bowl team.<\/p>\n Can the Patriots stave off regression and internal drama?<\/p>\n The Patriots don\u2019t just have to deal with the threat of regression after enjoying one of the league\u2019s easiest schedules in 2025<\/a>; they also have to contend with the scandal Mike Vrabel got caught up in this offseason<\/a>. We are not here to cast aspersions on Vrabel\u2019s dedication to his job; some things are more important. But if the 2026 Patriots get off to a slow start, and they fail to replicate last season\u2019s secret sauce, things could snowball in a hurry.<\/p>\n The Patriots did do a lot in the offseason to improve \u2013 the additions of receivers AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs give quarterback (and 2025 NFL MVP candidate) Drake Maye better targets than he\u2019s ever had before. But there are slippery slopes to navigate for the reigning AFC champs.<\/p>\n Can the Cowboys bring their defense up to par?<\/p>\n The 2025 Dallas Cowboys defense, \u201cconstructed\u201d by defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, allowed the sixth-most points any team has allowed in NFL history<\/a> (511). But the team still had a 7-9-1 record, because the offense, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, was so good. Eberflus and his outmoded concepts are out now, replaced by former Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator & defensive backs coach Christian Parker. The 34-year-old Parker comes from the Vic Fangio school of defense, with the Eagles\u2019 brilliant DC as the tone-setter for about half the NFL. You should see offshoots of that everywhere in Big D. From the defensive line to the secondary, these Cowboys have the talent to win on defense, and with that top-tier offense already in hand, they could be more competitive than they\u2019ve been in recent years.<\/p>\n Now, it will be about using that personnel the right way. Those in the building are already raving about Parker\u2019s knack for doing what he does.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be a great defensive coordinator, you have to have confidence and swagger, and that\u2019s two things he has,\u201d new defensive lineman Rashan Gary recently said of Parker. \u201cAnd the players now have to back up his swagger and his confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cowboys had three straight 12-5 seasons from 2021-2023 under Mike McCarthy, and they won a grand total of one playoff game in that span. Now, head coach Brian Schottenheimer hopes that Parker\u2019s addition can bring even more value to a franchise that has been far more valuable financially<\/a> than in a competitive sense in recent years.<\/p>\n Can the Texans bring their offense up to par?<\/p>\n Texas\u2019s other NFL team has no such issues on defense. The Houston Texans may have had the NFL\u2019s most formidable defensive unit last season \u2013 they ranked second in FTN\u2019s opponent-adjusted metrics<\/a> behind only the Seahawks \u2013 and if you wanted to lobby for Houston as the league\u2019s best overall, nobody would blink.<\/p>\n It was the offense, and specifically quarterback CJ Stroud, who struggled to keep up. Stroud was the NFL\u2019s offensive rookie of the year in 2023, and it looked for all the world that he would be the league\u2019s next great signal-caller. But a combination of offensive line issues, receiver injuries, and Stroud\u2019s own issues in development, came home to roost. It didn\u2019t show up as much in the regular season, as the Texans managed a 12-5 record and Stroud was generally good enough when healthy. But when the Texans faced the Patriots in the divisional round of the postseason, Stroud fell apart with a four-interception game that showed just how far he had fallen. Stroud\u2019s two-game playoff performance was perhaps the worst in recent NFL history<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, the Texans have refurbished the offensive line with veterans Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith, and they selected Georgia Tech\u2019s Keylan Rutledge in the first round of the draft. They signed former Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery, and they hope that speed receiver Tank Dell has fully recovered from the gruesome knee injury he suffered in December 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n If Stroud can elevate the offense to a better place, the Texans are as Super Bowl-compliant as anybody. If not? Questions will abound as to the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can the Seahawks run it forward? Winning the Super Bowl back in February puts the Seattle Seahawks in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-857763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}