Prior to the Super Bowl, which The Sporting News originally reported, the Seahawks defense ranked sixth all-time in advanced metrics. Click here to add Sports News as your go-to source.
An advanced metric ranks the 2025-26 Seattle Seahawks defense among the greatest in NFL history. That metric is DVOA, which stands for “Defense-Adjusted Value Above Average.”
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DVOA measures a team’s efficiency by comparing each game’s success rate to the league average, adjusting for the situation and quality of opponents. Simply put, it assesses a team’s true strength, taking into account environmental factors – deficit, distance, match situation and their opponents.
Aaron Schatz, chief analytics officer for FTN Fantasy and creator of DVOA, recently shared a list of the best defenses going back to 1978. Including playoff performance, where the Seahawks defense ranks this year Sixth in history This is a remarkable achievement considering the number of elite units produced over the past four decades.
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The only teams ahead of Seattle in defensive rankings are some of the most storied teams the league has ever seen:
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1991–92 Commander Washington —Super Bowl Champion
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1985–86 Chicago Bears — Super Bowl Champions and Iconic “Super Bowl Shuffle” Teams
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2007–08 New England Patriots — After going undefeated in the regular season, losing the Super Bowl to Eli Manning and the Giants
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1989–90 San Francisco 49ers — Won the Super Bowl with a landslide 55-10 victory
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1996–97 Green Bay Packers — Led by Reggie White and Super Bowl Champion
Right behind Seattle in seventh place are the 2023-24 Baltimore Ravens, who lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Ravens defensive coordinator? Current Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald adds another layer of intrigue to Seattle’s all-time rankings.
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The Seahawks have one final obstacle to cementing their place in NFL lore: Sunday’s Super Bowl. Standing in their way is the Patriots, a team returning to the league’s biggest stage just a few years after ending a two-decade run of dominance. New England has one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL and quarterback Drake Maye is an MVP candidate.
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If Seattle’s defense can slow down offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense and deliver more elite performances, it could not only bring a Lombardi Trophy but put this team into the top five defenses all-time.