The path to Super Bowl LX runs through Seattle in the NFC after the Seahawks capped off the franchise’s best regular season in over a decade.
The last time the Seahawks finished with only three defeats in the regular season was 2013, when a speedy offense and one of the most feared defenses in league history in the ‘Legion of Boom’ led Seattle to their first and only championship in Super Bowl XLVIII.
In 2025, it’s a similar story. While Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the Seahawks offense is a potent, high-scoring unit, the defense is where Seattle shines.
The brain behind the operation is Aden Durde, a native of Middlesex, England who has engineered one of the best turnarounds in football in recent years.
When he took the job under new head coach Mike McDonald in 2024, Seattle’s defense struggled the year before. They were third-worst in total defense, second-worst in rush defense and in the bottom eight in scoring defense.
In just two years, under McDonald and Durde, Seattle sits sixth overall in total defense – anchored by the third-best rush defense and the top scoring defense in the league.
Seattle coordinator Aden Durde has helped resurrect the Seahawks defense to new heights
Durde turned one of the worst units in the league into its best in a matter of two years
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Durde revealed that what led to the turnaround of the defense – returning it to one of the strongest in the league.
‘I think it’s just a day-to-day process of attacking it and understanding fundamentally… the guys write down their goals, what they want to improve on,’ Durde said in response to a question from the Daily Mail.
‘We look at defensive goals, set intentions on the day-to-day basis. Mike has done a good job of us doing that every day.
‘So you’re working through OTAs, through training camp, how are you improving at different parts of the season, how are we winning that week.
‘I think if you bring it back to the moment and you have clear goals and clear understanding of what you want to achieve, you’ll get what you emphasize. I’ve set out the goals and we’ve attacked them.’
Those goals will look different this week than in the months prior. By virtue of clinching the No. 1 overall seed, the Seahawks have earned an automatic bye to the divisional round.
However, their opponents have not yet been determined. Seattle won’t know who they face until after the last game ends on Monday evening.
This gives the Seahawks plenty of time to rest and recover, but they will not be able to properly focus on one upcoming team.
Durde (R) tells Daily Mail that goal-setting guides his team to continuous success
Durde and coach Mike Macdonald (above) don’t know who their next playoff opponent is yet
When asked by the Daily Mail how he will prepare this week, Durde said, ‘I think you really have to look at it just like a game week and just say, again, how are you attacking these things?
‘What do we need to get better on? How have we been attacked? What fundamentally do we need to improve on? Look at individual players. What’s one thing can they work on?
‘Every opportunity in this league when you have time is a time to improve. I know it sounds like a constant message, but those are the things that have… Those consistent messages from our head coach has allowed us to grow, and we’re on the same track.’
While the Seahawks don’t know who they face next, Seattle does have homefield advantage through the NFC Championship game – if they reach that stage.
