Mike Vorel: Seahawks weren't ready for Super Bowl when season began

Mike Vorel, The Seattle Times on Feb 10, 2026

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — As 12s prepare for a parade, as John Schneider shines his second Lombardi Trophy, as Sam Darnold and Kenneth Walker III sit in a spinning teacup at Disneyland, as Mike Macdonald makes his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” debut, it’s easy to forget where this Seahawks season started.

It started with a 17-13 loss to the rival San Francisco 49ers.

In it, Walker ran for 20 yards on 10 carries. Darnold threw for just 150 yards and fumbled off right tackle Abraham Lucas’ helmet on an ill-fated final drive. The Seahawks lost at home for the seventh time in their past eight games.

The point isn’t to rain on your soon-to-be literal parade.

It’s to highlight a relatable lesson.

The Seahawks weren’t Super Bowl-ready when the season started.

Even this team, this rolling tank, had to start somewhere. Even this battering ram had room to improve.

As Macdonald relayed to local media after the loss: “I just told the team, ‘I think we have a really good football team, and we’re not there yet. So let’s go to work. Let’s go figure out things we can do better and move forward,’ which we will. We’re a good team now, and we’re only going to get better.”

Most could have never guessed how much.

Consider two categories — the running game and ball security — where Seattle made its most seismic strides. After Darnold delivered four interceptions in a 21-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 16, Seattle’s offense reached a philosophical fork. The Seahawks chose to reduce the risk in their vertical passing game, leaning instead on a rushing attack that finally found its legs.

Credit Macdonald and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak for rapidly adapting, and credit the players who made it meaningful.

The results? Though Seattle averaged just 123.3 rushing yards (10th) and 4.1 yards per carry (24th) in the entire regular season, those statistics soared to 150.8 rushing yards, 4.7 yards per carry and nine rushing touchdowns in its last six games. And after Walker crossed the century mark in just two of 17 regular-season games, he did so in two of the Seahawks’ three playoff victories.

Seriously: when Walker turned in 20 rushing yards against the 49ers, or 38 yards against the lowly New Orleans Saints, or 42 yards against the (equally lowly) Washington Commanders, who would have bet on him becoming Super Bowl MVP?

Meanwhile, Darnold — who surrendered 10 interceptions and lost four fumbles in his first 10 games — produced four picks and two lost fumbles in the season-ending 10-game winning streak. After leading the NFL with 20 turnovers (14 interceptions, six fumbles) in the regular season, he didn’t give the ball away once in his last four games.

Seriously: when Darnold sank the Seahawks with four picks at Sofi Stadium, who would have bet on him becoming the first starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl without committing a single postseason turnover?

Metaphorically, the Seahawks bet on themselves. They grew together.

That two-fold improvement was the difference between a playoff exit and a downtown parade.

“When you talk about stacking wins, which is one of our core philosophies, you have to believe and have faith in the power of doing that over the course of time,” Macdonald said Sunday, after the Seahawks’ 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. “You can really take any element of our team and go back to that philosophy.

“Our run game is a great example. Everybody was talking about our run game at the beginning of the season. But we just stuck to it, kept attacking the details. Takeaways is something [else]. It’s always something. There’s always some part of your team that you’re trying to attack and improve on. But if you stick to the process, and the process is right, the results will get to where you want.”

The results got the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. The process propelled them from a season-opening loss to the 49ers to a champagne shower in San Francisco’s stadium.

On Sunday, Walker rushed for 135 yards and five yards per carry, becoming the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Denver’s Terrell Davis 28 years ago. Darnold threw for 202 yards and a touchdown, without a turnover — and Seattle harassed New England QB Drake Maye into a fumble and two second-half interceptions, including a 45-yard pick six.

“I think one of the great things about our team is that we grow together,” Macdonald said Sunday.

When he said “we’re only going to get better” five months and one day earlier, this is what he meant.

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