For much of the first three quarters, the Super Bowl showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots was a snooze fest. Points seemed impossible to come by, New England’s offensive line looked like a set of traffic cones, and Seattle couldn’t convert solid drives into touchdowns.
There were fireworks in the final frame, but there was much to take away from those first three kinda-dull quarters. If the Green Bay Packers want to take the next step in 2026, they must recognize key takeaways from the Seahawks and Patriots.
Seattle and New England have premier cornerbacks in Devon Witherspoon and Christian Gonzalez. What really rubs salt into the wound is that the Packers selected Lukas Van Ness at No. 13 overall in 2023, and Gonzalez went four picks later to the Patriots. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. The Packers didn’t.
Gonzalez has developed into one of the premier cornerbacks in the NFL in just a few short seasons. He made two incredible plays to prevent the Seahawks from scoring even more. One came on a deep shot to Rashid Shaheed, where Gonzalez cut underneath the route at the end to get a pass breakup.
Later, Sam Darnold targeted Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the end zone on what looked like a routine pitch-and-catch for a touchdown — that is, until Gonzalez cut in front for another pass breakup and a near interception.
On the opposing side was Witherspoon, who graded out as the top cornerback in the league this year, according to Pro Football Focus. There are many ways to win a championship, but Seattle and New England showed the critical importance of having a true No. 1 cornerback.
Even if the Packers can’t accomplish that in the offseason, it behoves general manager Brian Gutekunst to take another swing. Signing Nate Hobbs last offseason didn’t work, but that can’t deter Green Bay from trying again this time around. Nobody is saying the Packers have to find a Witherspoon or Gonzalez. There aren’t many cornerbacks like them. But Green Bay shouldn’t try to run it back with the same top three cornerbacks it rolled with in 2025. It didn’t work.
Secondly, Seattle’s investment in special teams is more than admirable. No team in the league spent more on its kicker and punter in 2025 than the Seahawks. Seattle invested over $9 million in Jason Myers and Michael Dickson alone. Myers earned $5.2 million in 2025. Dickson was the highest-paid punter in football.
Myers went five for five on field-goal attempts in the win, and Dickson stuck three punts inside the 20-yard line, including a crucial one inside the five-yard line.
On top of that, go back to the divisional round win against San Francisco.
The Seahawks and 49ers had just squared off in Week 18 for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Seattle won that affair, 13-3. Going into the playoff tilt just a couple of weeks later, both sides knew points would be hard to come by. How big was it, then, when Shaheed housed the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to put Seattle up 7-0? It sucked the life out of the San Francisco sideline, and Seattle never looked back.
Seattle finished the season ranked first in the NFL in EPA on special teams. They’ve made a significant investment in that area, and it paid off. Green Bay ranked 25th.
Some will argue special teams can’t win you playoff games, but nobody can argue that they can’t lose you games. Green Bay is the poster child for that hard truth. Try as we might, fans haven’t forgotten the recent litany of special-teams travesties: The botched onside kick recovery in the 2014 NFC Championship, the blocked punt that buried the Packers in the 2021 Divisional Round, or, most recently, kicker Brandon McManus missed both his field-goal attempts and an extra point in this year’s Wild Card loss.
Come hell or high water, the Packers have to figure out what has plagued their special teams for decades. At minimum, they need to add a legitimate returner in the offseason and figure out if McManus is the answer at kicker. Daniel Whelan is a stud at punter. That box is checked off.
Seattle proved this entire postseason how valuable a top-tier special teams unit is. They made the investments to make it happen, even trading a future fourth- and fifth-round selection to land Shaheed at the trade deadline this year.
The Packers have so much going in the right direction. They have the quarterback. They have one of the best defensive players in the league in Micah Parsons. There’s All-Pro talent elsewhere with Xavier McKinney and Zach Tom. Still, some things have to get better.
Watching the Super Bowl, it was never more evident how important special teams are and how much an alpha at cornerback can make a difference.
