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Following 18 weeks and 272 games, the 2025/26 NFL playoff picture has been set, with the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos securing the #1 overall seed in the NFC and AFC, respectively. Only one of those two teams, however, finished the season backed by a statistic that suggests they should be the favorites to win the Super Bowl in a few weeks, and that’s the Seattle Seahawks.
Not only did the Seattle Seahawks win the NFC West over two other teams with double-digit wins — the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams — and secure the #1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs, but they also finished the 2025 regular season as the #1 ranked DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) defense and the #1 overall DVOA team.
This has happened five times in the NFL before, with four of those teams going on to win the Super Bowl: the 1985 Chicago Bears, 1996 Green Bay Packers, 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs, and the 2013 Seattle Seahawks. The only team to finish with those rankings and not win the Super Bowl were the 2023 Baltimore Ravens.
The Seattle Seahawks finished the season backed by a statistical fact that suggests they should be the favorites to win Super Bowl LX in a few weeks
The Seahawks are going to finish as the #1 ranked DVOA defense, and likely will finish as the #1 overall DVOA team.
That’s only happened 5 times previously. Four of the five won the Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/cLyOdB4BRR
— Brian Nemhauser (@hawkblogger) January 4, 2026
Not only is there mathematical precedent that makes the Seahawks the postseason favorites, but there may be divine intervention on their side, as well, as the team has advanced to the Super Bowl each of the last two times a new Pope was elected.
2005: a new Pope is elected, the Seahawks win 13 games and advance to the Super Bowl
2013: a new Pope is elected, the Seahawks win 13 games and advance to the Super Bowl (and win)
2025: a new Pope is elected, the Seahawks win 13 games, and…? 👀
— Kole Musgrove (@KoleMusgrove23) December 28, 2025
The Seahawks closed out the season with seven straight wins to finish 14-3 and secure the #1 overall seed in the NFC. The Seahawks’ only losses of the season came against the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Bucs, and San Francisco 49ers. All three of those losses, however, were by 4 points or less.
Quarterback Sam Darnold — or “Ginger Cuz”, as he was deemed by Marshawn Lynch after securing the NFC West title over the weekend — started in all 17 of the Seahawks games and completed a career-high 67.7% of his passes, while throwing for 4,048 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
While Darnold is in just his first season with the Seattle Seahawks, he’s become just the second quarterback in NFL history, alongside Tom Brady, to win at least 14 games in consecutive seasons, as he put up 14 wins with the Minnesota Vikings last year.