Seattle marched down the field on their opening drive and kicked a field goal setting the tone for the game as they would add four more field goals and get a defensive touchdown in routing New England 29-13 in a game where the score shouldn’t have been that close.
I predicted Seattle in my post the day before, and while I predicted the score to be 24-21, I really should have expected it to be a little more one-sided based on how Seattle was ranked higher than New England in all my metrics even while having a strength of schedule ranked 7th versus New England’s strength of schedule that was ranked 31st. I should have put more creedence in that.
Do I see Seattle being the favorite next year? No, I do not. There’s a reason why the score of that game was so relatively close. Sam Darnold is still not an elite quarterback. Put an elite quarterback in the game for Seattle, and its a blowout by halftime. So I think Seattle falls back a little next year. With the Rams and 49ers in their division, I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish 3rd in the NFC West next year.
The 2025 season is now a wrap. I have some ideas for new analytics to work on in the off-season. But for now, its time for me to turn my focus to baseball.
Links to Complete Final Rankings