Seahawks In NFC West Race Despite Recent Struggles

The NFC West is wide open for the taking, and the Seattle Seahawks know it.

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) passes against the Buffalo Bills during the first quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Seattle Seahawks' recent stretch hasn't been very fun, losing four of their last five games by multiple scores each.

Seattle started the season 3-0, but as the level of competition increased, the team's flaws became far more apparent. Slow starts, a bad run game and run defense are just a few of the things that have contributed to the Seahawks' recent struggles.

However, perspective is always important. Despite this rough stretch, the Seahawks remain in the thick of the NFC West race at 4-4 (0-1 division). They're in third place in the NFC West behind Arizona Cardinals (4-4, 2-0 division) and San Francisco 49ers (4-4, 1-2 division), while the Los Angeles Rams are close behind at 3-4 (1-1 division).

Unlike previous years, the NFC West is anyone's for the taking, and the Seahawks know it very well. But a loss to the Rams would drop Seattle all the way to last place, even if the gap between all four teams is small.

"Yeah, and it's to give you the reality of the situation," head coach Mike Macdonald said Monday. "Everyone wants to be 8-0 at this point, and I don't believe anybody is. But, we're right there. You kind of look at it as it's kind of the first game of the season here. Second half of the season, an opportunity going into the bye (week) to feel optimistic and positive about where we're at. There's a lot of good things going on out there."

Additionally, the Seahawks' schedule ends up being a bit of a blessing. They still have five of their divisional games to go, four of them coming over the next six weeks. None of those games will be easy, but the Seahawks' destiny is their's to control.

That divisional gauntlet kicks off on Sunday, when Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Rams in a crucial showdown.

Before thinking about the division, though, the Seahawks know they have a long way to go to become the best version of themselves.

"We talked about this, the reason you become a football coach is to see your players succeed and get better," Macdonald said. "When you see growth in your football team, it's extremely exciting. In order to do that, you've got to put the work in. You just got to grind it out and you've got to attack it.

"That's what makes games like yesterday really frustrating because you feel the growth. You feel like we're taking some steps in the right direction, and then you kind of get punched in the mouth. How are you going to respond to that? It doesn't mean this is the end of the journey, it just means 'Hey, this is something that we have to go through as a football team to get to that next level.' It's never the road that you expect, but it is going to keep going up." 

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