SEATTLE — While the Seahawks continue the search for a new head coach after a disappointing end to the regular season, their bitter rivals to the south are packing their bags for yet another Super Bowl appearance.
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game, punching the team's ticket to Super Bowl LVIII for a matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs (and just about every Taylor Swift fan in the country).
The Seahawks were outscored 59-29 in two games against the 49ers in 2023, including a lopsided 31-13 defeat at home on Thanksgiving night in front of a national audience. Drew Lock started the second of the two games against San Francisco with Geno Smith out, but the Seahawks scored more in that game than the team did with Smith on the field in Week 12.
In 2022, it was the same story. The 49ers outscored the Seahawks 89-43 in three matchups, including the 41-23 Seattle loss in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs. The point is, there is a sizable gap between the Seahawks and the cream of the crop in the NFC West down in the Bay Area.
So what can the Seahawks do about it? They appear to have taken a first, albeit surprising, step this offseason by parting ways with longtime head coach Pete Carroll, who had been in his role since 2010. The language from the team's announcement made it sound like a mutual decision between the sides, but Carroll's media interviews after the fact and his reported interest in the Los Angeles Chargers head coaching job seem to contradict that.
Seattle has yet to select a new head coach, but it brought a handful of options in for in-person interviews last week. Now that two of the most sought-after coaches are no longer in the playoffs, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, expect the Seahawks to speak with both men at some point this week.
The Seahawks will interview Johnson on Monday night and Macdonald on Tuesday, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer and Conor Orr reported Monday citing sources. Dan Quinn remains a common name linked to the opening, and he has been interviewed multiple times. Quinn has ties to the organization that few other reported candidates have, with two stints on the Seahawks' staff on his resume.
Once the coaching situation is figured out, the Seahawks still need to improve the roster significantly if they hope to compete with the best of the best in the NFC. Smith has a contract guarantee that kicks in next month if he remains on the Seahawks' roster, so the team likely will be deciding on whether he is the best option at quarterback for 2024 once they finalize a new head coach.
Similar to the Seahawks' best years in the mid-2010s, the 49ers have an elite defense led by a star middle linebacker in Fred Warner, arguably the NFL's best at the position. The Seahawks still have Bobby Wagner playing at a high level for now, but the team will need to bring in some stronger talent around him at linebacker and eventually find a successor for Wagner once he decides to hang up his cleats.
Overall, the Seahawks simply have to get better. Since the team's last Super Bowl appearance a decade ago, the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams each have gone to two Super Bowls, with the Rams winning one in the 2021 season.
With a very young quarterback and a stable of stars locked up on multi-year contracts, the 49ers won't be going anywhere in 2024, whether or not they end up winning the championship.
As the franchise enters a post-Carroll era, it will need to work immediately on how Seattle can become more competitive with the NFC West's top teams.
