1. Seattle Seahawks
The no. 1 team in our NFL power rankings approaching the AFC and NFC title games is the Seattle Seahawks, who picked apart the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, and, after missing the playoffs all together in 2024, are hosting the NFC title game.
The main move to essentially swap Geno Smith for Sam Darnold has paid off big-time for the Seahawks. Offensively, Seattle can throw the ball down the field with ease, and on defense, this unit is about eight deep along the defensive line and sport an elite secondary.
There really isn't a major weakness with this team. As we have talked about before, though, the most likely weakness of this Seahawks team in the rest of the NFL playoffs might just be if the stakes get too high for Sam Darnold.
We got a glimpse of this back in 2024, as Darnold simply did not play well in those final two games for the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold did turn the ball over 20 times in the regular season, which led the NFL, really has to play his best football this coming weekend.
If not, Matthew Stafford and the Rams are going to be good enough to take advantage of any mistake that Darnold makes, but from top to bottom, the Seahawks are the best remaining team in the playoffs and might be the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl this year.
A huge thing to note here, though, is that running back Zach Charbonnet is out for this game with a torn ACL, so the Seahawks might be a bit more one-dimensional on offense without one of their top weapons.
Mike Macdonald-coached teams also tend to play better on the road than at home, so there's really a lot of factors at play here, but when the rubber meets the road, the Seahawks are the best remaining team.