Rich Eisen is not backing off the Seattle Seahawks, but he is backing away from another 14-win season. He said Seattle will split its next-season games with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, then settle into a realistic finish of 13-4 or 12-5.
That is why the comment is drawing attention now. The Seahawks had just captured their first-ever 14-win season, and Eisen is making clear he does not expect them to repeat it. Even so, he still has them in the top tier of the NFC West picture, not falling apart the way some around the league seem ready to assume.
What makes the prediction land harder is the comparison point around them. The Los Angeles Rams have become the team to beat in the NFC West after their additions this season, and that has changed how many people look at the division. Eisen's view cuts against that drift. He still sees Seattle holding its ground against both the Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, which is a very different forecast from the one that treats the Seahawks as an afterthought.
That is also where the friction sits. The Seahawks are being overlooked by many even though Eisen still projects them to finish with a strong 13-4 or 12-5 record. A team can be respected on paper and still be nudged down the pecking order, and that is the shape of this conversation: Seattle has not been written off, but it has been pushed aside quickly enough that players around the team have already been asking why the drop came so fast after the Rams traded for Myles Garrett.
The next test is simple, even if the answer is not. Seattle will have to prove Eisen right in the regular season, first by holding the line against the Rams and then by keeping pace with the 49ers. If the Seahawks land closer to 13-4 than 12-5, the gap between being respected and being treated like the favorite will get a lot smaller. If they do not, the league will have a new reason to believe the 14-win season was the high-water mark.
Related reading: Rich Eisen traces the rise of the NFL schedule release in The Dan Patrick Show.
