The Athletic’s NFL simulator predicts the Seahawks’ win total for 2023

On Thursday, the Athletic published projected win totals for each of the NFL’s 32 teams.

Unsurprisingly, last year’s Super Bowl participants led the way with the Kansas City Chiefs projected to win 12.0 games, and the Philadelphia Eagles projected to win 11.2.

But where did the Seahawks land in The Athletic’s projections? And how does that compare to their NFC West rivals, and the NFC overall?

The short answer is that The Athletic’s NFL Simulator predicts that the Seahawks will win 8.3 games. That’s tied for No. 18 league-wide, and No. 8 in the NFC.

Putting that another way, the simulator expects the Seahawks to be a .500 team and to just miss the playoffs.

Personally, I’m not buying that the Seahawks will be a .500 team (or that they’ll miss the playoffs), but The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar does provide some relevant points in his write-up about the simulator’s projected win total for Seattle:

The Seahawks are neither juggernaut nor bottom feeder, so a win total projection that has them near the middle of the pack is probably safest. Seattle should be stronger in areas like passing efficiency and quarterback pressure, aspects of the game that tend to be consistent year to year, especially when applied in third-down, red zone and two-minute situations. Better fortune in one-score games will likely push them to either nine or 10 wins. Seattle went 4-6 in those situations last year and hasn’t been above .500 since 2020.

Elsewhere in the NFC West, the San Francisco 49ers land at No. 6, tied with the Dallas Cowboys, with a projected win total of 10.3 games. Only Philadelphia has a higher projected win total among NFC teams.

The other NFC teams ahead of Seattle are the New Orleans Saints (9.5), the Detroit Lions (9.0), the Minnesota Vikings (8.6), and - surprise, surprise - the Atlanta Falcons (8.5).

Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos squad is one spot behind Seattle with a projected win total of 8.2.

The Los Angeles Rams are 24th with an expected win total of 7.4.

Last, but not least (okay, maybe least) is the Arizona Cardinals with a projected win total of 5.7 games.

Technically, the Cardinals are tied with the Chicago Bears at 5.7, but I don’t think it was a mistake to list the Bears ahead of them in the article. After all, Chicago’s running quarterback is healthy and Arizona’s . . . isn’t.

Cardinal fans shouldn’t be too discouraged though . . .

The Texans are 30th at 5.8 so, at least according to The Athletic’s projections, the 2024 NFL Draft is looking pretty good for Arizona. And, yes, it’s fun to think that that the one thing Cardinals fans have to look forward to at the start of the season is next year’s draft.

Go Hawks!