The following is an excerpt from Warren Sharp's 2025 Football Preview book. In addition to Warren's deep, detailed write-up on all 32 NFL teams, each chapter features page after page of full-color charts, stats, and heatmaps as well as penalty analysis from Joe Gibbs. Click here for a full FREE chapter from the 2025 Football Preview.
Penalties are an under-discussed aspect of NFL success and failure. Average teams can become playoff contenders with good discipline, and good teams can become great simply by winning the penalty battle.
Let's look at how the Seattle Seahawks performed from a penalty perspective in 2024 and where they can improve in 2025.
How Did Penalties Impact the Seattle Seahawks?
The Good
- Despite being one of the most penalized teams in 2024, the Seahawks were excellent on the road, averaging just 5.5 penalties per game.
- The Seahawks defense was a below average penalized unit on third down plays, ranking 24th per game.
- DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both ranked in the top 10 as beneficiaries of defensive pass interference penalties. Unfortunately, both players will be on new teams in 2025. Seattle will be hard pressed to find replacements for that production this year.
The Bad
- The Seahawks ended the 2024 season ranked sixth overall in penalties per game.
- The Seahawks averaged 8.44 penalties per game at home, ranking them second overall in this category.
- Seattle ranked as a top 10 penalized team for pre-snap infractions. It's worth noting pre-snap infractions were also an issue for Sam Darnold in Minnesota last season.
- The Seahawks offense accounted for 61% of the team's penalties. In raw numbers, only the Browns averaged more offensive penalties per game than the Seahawks in 2024.
- Offensive holding and false starts accounted for 46% of the Seahawks' penalties, significantly higher than the league average of 38.7%. In raw numbers, the Seahawks co-ranked No.1 (with the Titans) in penalties per game for this combination.
Grade: C
From a coaching and overall offensive talent perspective, Sam Darnold enters a situation that is a downgrade from his supporting cast in Minnesota last season.
Growing pains as Seahawks players acclimate to new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak‘s system could also be an issue early in the 2025 season.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald stamped his mark on the defense in his first year, particularly in the second half of the season, and Seattle needs to keep that defensive momentum rolling from the get go in 2025.
Darnold was great in Minnesota last season, but that performance was an outlier in his seven year NFL career, which had largely been underwhelming before 2024.
The investment in Darnold is built on the belief that his 2024 performance will be the standard going forward.
Darnold’s history suggests he won’t pay the dividends Seattle anticipated when they acquired him in the offseason, leaving the Seahawks on the outside looking in at the playoffs once again in 2025.
This analysis continues in the 2025 Football Preview
Order Warren Sharp's 2025 Football Preview to get penalty analysis for all 32 NFL teams.
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Warren Sharp's book shares insights into the players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal: to prepare you for the 2025 NFL season with the smartest information delivered in the fastest, most direct way possible for optimal reviewing and retention.
- Team Chapters previews are in-depth, data driven & full of actionable info
- Fantasy Football player profiles, predictions, and ranks
- Vegas Odds forecast team wins, division rankings, lines for all 2025 games
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- Front Office Analysis positional spending, roster construction & cap analysis
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- Rookie draft class deep dive into impact for every team
- Rankings for every positional unit on every team with analysis
