{"id":333556,"date":"2025-09-01T17:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T17:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/333556\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T17:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T17:09:11","slug":"seahawks-analyst-rob-staton-on-extra-importance-of-49ers-opener-nfc-west-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/333556\/","title":{"rendered":"Seahawks analyst Rob Staton on extra importance of 49ers opener, NFC West outlook"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Seattle Seahawks have trimmed their roster to 53 players, preseason is in the books, and the 2025 regular season is finally here. On this episode of The Hawks Eye Podcast, I was joined by Rob Staton of Seahawks Draft Blog<\/a> to break down where the team stands heading into Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

The show kicks off with an in-depth discussion of the Seahawks\u2019 final roster decisions. We examined which players earned their spots, which surprise cuts stood out, and where the roster still feels thin. From young rookies cracking the lineup to established veterans proving their value, the roster conversation sets the foundation for Seattle\u2019s season outlook. While the Seahawks moved on from Marquez Valdes-Scantling, which Rob didn\u2019t expect, he has a positive view of Seattle\u2019s receiver group, which is led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba.<\/p>\n

All eyes this week are on the Week 1 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers. Seattle opens the season against its toughest divisional rival, and Rob breaks down key matchups \u2014 including the battle between Seattle\u2019s offensive line and San Francisco\u2019s vaunted pass rush. With the 49ers entering the opener with a banged-up wide receiver corps, the Seahawks\u2019 defense has a real opportunity to take advantage and tilt the matchup in their favor. An early win would be a statement, but at the very least, this game will be a true measuring stick for Macdonald\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a very important game,\u201d Staton said. \u201cI think if you lose, like, you\u2019ve you\u2019ve had a big reset, you had a bad home record last year. I think if you lose your opening game at home to an NFC West opponent, it\u2019s a setback. Now, it\u2019s one game. It\u2019s doesn\u2019t mean the season\u2019s going to be over, but if they lose, I know as I\u2019m leaving Lumen Field, I\u2019m going to be wondering, \u2018Are they ever going to get the home field advantage back? Are they ever going to get to this point where they can make teams fear coming here again?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I also think they\u2019re getting the Niners at a decent time because they\u2019re they\u2019re quite banged up at receiver. They\u2019ve got a young defense that might be a bit more settled in in a few weeks time. I know on the other hand that, you could argue, well, Christian McCaffrey may well be hurt in a few weeks and you\u2019re getting him fresh and ready to go and all of that, but I just think it\u2019s vital that they start off with a win. And it doesn\u2019t have to be a spectacular performance because it very rarely is. Like even in the sort of the peak Russ years there were often\u2014remember that Miami [Dolphins] game where he was hobbled and they just about won, and there was a game I think against the [Cincinnati] Bengals where they just about won on the opening day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was all sorts of games like that where they just scrape through against teams they were expected to beat. So they don\u2019t have to to smash the Niners or anything. I just think you need to win and that will send a message itself you know that the Seahawks mean business.\u201c<\/p>\n

Finally, we widen the lens to the NFC West picture. The Rams boast exciting young talent, but the lingering concern around Matthew Stafford\u2019s back injury could derail their season. Meanwhile, the Cardinals remain a mystery \u2014 can they finally become a true contender for the division, or are they destined to remain inconsistent and up-and-down? Against that backdrop, Seattle has a real chance to establish itself as the biggest challenger to the 49ers. Rob closes by offering his win-loss projection, and he\u2019s just as bullish as I am about Seattle\u2019s chances of winning the division and hitting double-digit victories in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think now is the time to take a step [to win the NFC West],\u201d Staton said. \u201cAnd it is about taking a step. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s about taking a jump. You know, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to go from \u2018well, we\u2019ve not made the playoffs for the last two years to, oh, look, we\u2019re in the NFC Championship game.\u2019 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s impossible by the way, because I think the NFC is wide open. But I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something that we should expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think winning the NFC West, getting a home playoff game, that would give you a chance. I know\u2014touch wood\u2014 the home form is better. That would give you a chance to win a home playoff game, progress to the divisional round and feel like, okay, we can have a bit of excitement in January again. That that would be a step forward. And I think that is there for us to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob also sees this year\u2019s 49ers as potentially like the 2017 Seahawks, after which major changes were made in the offseason on the coaching staff and on the roster.<\/p>\n

As far as the Cardinals, a trendy playoff pick?<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that the Cardinals have become that team that every year everyone\u2019s going that they\u2019re the ones that are going to make a step this year. And I\u2019m looking at the defense. I just do not see enough difference makers on that defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

And lastly, the defending division champion Rams.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople keep forgetting the Rams had the same record as Seattle last year. The same record, and they played Minnesota who collapsed, and Darnold collapsed, and then they played the Eagles hard but still lost, and everyone\u2019s like acting like \u2018Well now they\u2019re a contender now.\u2019 McVay\u2019s a genius, Stafford if he\u2019s healthy can play\u2014they didn\u2019t play well in the regular season. I\u2019m just not sure they\u2019re as good as some people think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think now is the time; you\u2019ve built a decently young roster. It\u2019s not as good as some of the [best] in the NFC, but it\u2019s maybe an offseason away from being there.\u201c<\/p>\n

For Seahawks fans eager for clarity heading into the year, this episode provides sharp analysis, bold predictions, and an honest look at what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to The Hawk\u2019s Eye<\/a>!0 Comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Seattle Seahawks have trimmed their roster to 53 players, preseason is in the books, and the 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[7,6,238,237,261,52201,52202,2635],"class_list":{"0":"post-333556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-seahawks","11":"tag-seattle","12":"tag-seattle-seahawks","13":"tag-seattle-seahawks-analysis-and-opinion","14":"tag-seattle-seahawks-podcasts","15":"tag-seattleseahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115130149750655852","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}