The Seattle Seahawks are getting real No. 1 seed talk at the perfect time, and legendary defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who recently called Seattle’s win over the Carolina Panthers, didn’t hesitate when asked if the Seahawks look like a top-seed caliber team.
When The Pat McAfee Show pressed the point — “Number one seed potentially for this Seattle Seahawks team. Is that accurate?” — the Watt answered: “That is accurate,” pointing first to Seattle’s defense and the way Mike Macdonald keeps dialing up answers.
Seattle is coming off a 27-10 win over Carolina on December 28, improving to 13-3, and the NFL has now set a Saturday night showdown against the San Francisco 49ers with massive stakes.
“Their defense is just unbelievable,” J.J. Watt says after Seahawks-Panthers
Wattt’s “superpower” answer was simple: the defense is smothering teams, even when the offense doesn’t start fast.
He noted Seattle “started slow” offensively — similar to the week before — but said the Seahawks flipped the game by cashing in on short fields created by turnovers in Panthers territory in the second half.
Watt highlighted the interior strength up front — naming defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II — and said Seattle’s front consistently shut down the run while still impacting the pass game. He also praised Devon Witherspoon and the variety in Macdonald’s pressure looks, calling the head coach “a genius” for how much he changes week to week.
One eye-popping detail from the clip: Watt highlighted an eye-popping stat that midway through the third quarter, Carolina had just 16 passing yards, with “nowhere to go.”
That lines up with the broader picture of Sunday’s result: Seattle held the Panthers to 139 total yards and used takeaways to break the game open.
What it means for Seattle heading into 49ers game
This is where the pressure spikes: the Seahawks and 49ers will play Saturday, January 3 at 8 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN), and it’s the game for the NFC West title and the conference’s No. 1 seed.
In today’s NFL format, that No. 1 seed matters more than ever. It’s the only team in the conference that gets a first-round bye, plus the clearest path to home-field advantage.
The analyst’s “only real nitpick” was urgency early. He said Seattle has to “start a little bit faster,” because slow first halves shrink the margin for error against top opponents, and the 49ers are exactly that.
Seattle’s margin gets even bigger if the offense stops spotting teams a half. Watt noted the Seahawks “started slow” again, then finally found rhythm once the defense created short fields with turnovers. That formula can bury a team like Carolina. but against San Francisco, Seattle will want the early punch and the late knockout to lock in the stakes
Key details to know from the Panthers win
A few concrete takeaways from Week 17 that feed directly into Saturday night:
- Seattle won 27-10 and improved to 13-3.
- QB Sam Darnold threw for 147 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.
- RB Zach Charbonnet ran for 110 yards and 2 TDs.
- Seahawks rushed for 163 yards as a team.
The analyst also pointed to a momentum-swing moment: a “third-and-30” situation where Carolina committed a facemask penalty for an automatic first down, a reminder that one mistake can tilt an entire game.
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