They're second in championships only to the Free Jacks. It's not unusual for them to have a slow start, even when they were defending champs. It may as well be considered MLR v2 this season. Seattle have a bunch of former Houston players, so you have kind of two different packs of players used to themselves and last year's franchises playing styles, so they have to merge that together. I think they'll do well this year.

If you weren't watching last season or, during the off season, the league went from 11 teams down to 6. Seattle are the last original team standing. Houston, NOLA, and Utah all withdrew from the league and San Diego was absorbed by RFCLA but they kept the Legion branding. Miami also withdrew from the league. There was quite a bit of change in league rules for limiting foreign players (which is the likely cause for Miami and Houston leaving) in favor of developing US-eligible talent for both the 2027 World Cup and in 2031 when we're hosting the Cup. Utah and NOLA just couldn't find new investors/owners. But the overall strategy seems to be working, as Anthem (being the team funded in large part by World Rugby to develop US players rather than private owners looking for profit) is competitive now with the first wins in their franchise history (after going 0-32).