The Seattle Seahawks once again reached the postseason. The NFC West franchise grabbed one of the two NFC wild card spots. Jadeveon Clowney played a key role on the team.
The Seahawks didn't go all the way, though; they then watched a divisional rival in the San Francisco 49ers capture a NFC crown, making a trip to Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Florida.
Even after a successful season in 2019, the Seahawks will need to step it up in a big way come next season as the NFC West will surely prove to be one of the toughest — if not the toughest — divisions in the entire league in 2020.
With the 49ers obviously poised to return to glory next season with the Seahawks surely slated to be right behind San Francisco, it is also worth noting that the NFC West also houses both the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals.
With the Rams just a few seasons removed from a Super Bowl berth of their own, the Cardinals are one of the most dangerous up-and-coming franchises from around the league thanks to the presence of soon-to-be second-year quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray. The Seahawks have their work cut out.
Because the Seahawks will be forced to directly compete against such a thorough and tough divisional field, Seattle must make some notable moves this offseason. Perhaps the most notbale move should be doing everything in the team's power to retain former Houston Texans pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
Ultimately acquiring Clowney from the Texans via trade just before the start of the 2019 campaign, the Seahawks will now need to make a point to keep the longtime Houston standout in the Pacific Northwest.
The main reason that Clowney was even acquired by the Seahawks in the first place was because the team previously parted ways with fellow pass rusher Frank Clark, who just won a Super Bowl title as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the absence of Clark, the Seahawks needed to go out and find a veteran pass rusher elsewhere, which is where Clowney came in.
Even with Clowney on board, though, the Seahawks still ranked toward the bottom in the NFL in team sacks while the defensive newcomer didn't produce his typical sack numbers in what could potentially become his lone season in Seattle. Over the course of 13 regular season appearances as a member of the Seahawks, Clowney tallied a single-season career-low three sacks — outside of his shortened rookie season, of course.
Even with Clowney posting a mere three sacks and the Seahawks tallying a total of 28 sacks, the second-fewest in all of football last season, Seattle impressed as an all-around entity en route to a playoff berth.
If Clowney and company can turn things around in a hurry, which is more than likely given the talent on the field, the Seahawks should once again make a deep run come playoff time.
Even with a less than stellar year from Clowney in terms of sack numbers, his presence alone if a major game changer. For that reason, the Seahawks absolutely need to retain Clowney for the foreseeable future, especially if Seattle wants to remain in the conversation in both the NFC West and NFC as a whole.
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