This NFL season was full of surprises, with the Seattle Seahawks shocking the west. The intriguing endings and high scores of their games made it a season not to forget. The Seattle Seahawks started the offseason with a bang, trading quarterback Russell Wilson, and releasing Seahawks legend Bobby Wagner. The Seahawks and Denver Broncos came to an agreement when it came to Wilson: The Seahawks would trade Russell Wilson and a 2022 fourth round pick in trade for five draft picks and quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, and defensive end Shelby Harris. As for Wagner, he would end up signing with the Los Angeles Rams.

To start out the NFL season, the Seahawks were indecisive about who would start as quarterback. The first matchup of the season for the Hawks would be against the Denver Broncos. Seattle would end up winning the game 17-16 after Denver missed a field goal. With that win behind their belt, the Seahawks would now head to San Francisco to take on the 49ers, but in an unfortunate upset, the 49ers would take the win 27-7. Following that was another loss on their home turf in Seattle to the Atlanta Falcons, who would win the game in a back-and-forth ending 27-23. But the Seahawks brought it back against the Detroit Lions, winning 48-45. With that win the Seahawks record for the season would be tied up two and two. Rolling into next week with building momentum, the Seahawks would face on the Saints in New Orleans but ended up losing 39-32. With the Seahawks’ loss came a big game changer: running back Rashaad Penny, after getting injured, was forced to end his season. “It’s hard to win in this league when giving up that many points,” cornerback Ryan Neal said.

With that game behind them it was time to head back home to Seattle to face off against the Arizona Cardinals. The defense put on a dominant performance, putting up six sacks, one fumble recovery, and an interception, only allowing the Cardinals nine points the entire game. The game would end with a Seahawks win 19-9. Through the next three weeks the Seahawks would defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 37-23, the New York Giants 27-13, and the Cardinals once again 31-21. With a four-game win streak, the Seahawks prepare to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Munich, Germany, but in the end, they would lose the game 21-16. Coming out of their bye week the stage is set for the Seahawks to take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Seattle. Despite hopes of keeping the season afloat the Seahawks would receive a crushing defeat in overtime, 40-34. The Seahawks looked forward to playing the Rams during week 13 in hopes of reconnecting with linebacker Bobby Wagner and would end up winning the game 27-23. Tyler Lockett had some words on playing Wagner. “An amazing big brother to me, to a lot of people on this team that got the chance to play with him. Being able to play against him, it’s really cool, because you go against somebody every single day in practice, and now you finally get a chance to line up and see what it’s like to go against Bobby, a Hall of Fame player, one of the best to ever do it at linebacker,” the wide receiver said. “I wish he was still here, man, but it was a great just to be able to play against him.”

With that win against the Rams under their belt, the Seahawks go back to Seattle and face off against the Carolina Panthers. The Seahawks would lose the game 30-24, which seems to have led to a loss in spirit, with a three-game loss streak starting. The second loss came from the 49ers, 21-13, then by the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in a 24-10 loss. In order for the Seahawks to keep their playoff hopes alive, they would need to win out the rest of the season. Going into week 17 the Seahawks were to play the New York Jets at home, all eyes were looking at young corner back Sauce Gardner. But the Seahawks would show up and win 23-6. All the hopes of going to the playoffs were down to the final Sunday of the NFL regular season. For the Seahawks to go to the playoffs they would need to beat the Rams at home and pray that the Lions could beat the Packers in Green Bay. With the Seahawks’ victory over the Rams in overtime, it was all down to the Lions to win that game. The Lions’ game was full of thriller plays and eventually the Lions would take down the Packers, finalizing the Seahawks’ place in the playoffs. Reporters asked Coach Carroll how he felt watching the game knowing it had such high stakes for the Seahawks. “It wasn’t hard. It was a freaking blast. I was just like anybody else,” Caroll said. “I was yelling and stuff, I was hooting and hollering on the turnovers going crazy and stuff. I was just hoping and anticipating that was just going to be one great night, and it was.”

With the Seahawks making the playoffs it “sent a message for all of the NFL to hear”. The Seahawks are the wildcard. But here’s the catch: their playoff game would be against their division rivals, the 49ers. The 49ers ending the regular season with a record of 13 and four, it would be a tough game for the Seahawks as they travel to play on the 49ers home turf of San Francisco. The Seahawks would start the game off being behind 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, but during the second quarter the Seahawks would take the lead 17-16 at half. After halftime it would all fall apart as the Seahawks would give up seven points in the third and 18 in the fourth quarter. Losing 41-23 making it a wrap on the Seahawks season.