That didn’t take long.
Mike Macdonald’s career as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks has only three halves to it. Some might say that’s bad math; I say it’s 150%. Which is pretty good!
The first half of 2024 began with a 3-0 mirage, cloaking atrocious deficiencies on the offensive line and certain spots on defense, namely linebacker. After jettisoning both starting linebackers near the bye week, Seattle became a different team in Macdonald’s second half; the back nine of the ‘24 season. Then, the Seahawks finished as a top-10 defense in most metrics over those eight games.
A reasonable person might have speculated that coach Macdonald, in his second year, with nearly identical personnel on defense plus DeMarcus Lawrence, could pick up where they left off.
Which brings us to Macdonald’s third half, the beginning of the 2025 season. That assumption, it turns out, was perfectly reasonable.
Two games in, the Seattle defense has perched itself right back atop the list of those whom make quarterbacks’ lives miserable.
The above chart is really pretty astounding. What that means is the Seahawks are the best in the NFL at pressuring the opposing quarterback.
They also do it by virtually never blitzing! Four times less frequent than the Denver Broncos, three and a half times less than the Minnesota Vikings, and on it goes. Seattle is able to keep seven guys in coverage, while Macdonald and his voodoo pressure package make Aaron Rodgers have a Passer Rating of 58. Ironically, that’s also his age. Pretty sure.
The combination of scheme plus diversity of talent along the line has led to some great individual success. Not the least of which is the very noteworthy frontrunner, second-year Byron Murphy.
His progression was another aspect many fans would have hoped for this season. His play was effective last year, but Murphy came away with as empty of a stat sheet as you’ll see for a high first round pick. This season has seen him get off to a much hotter start.
They’ve also held their opponents to under 20 points in consecutive games, one of just a few teams to do so. And they’re 6th in opposing Yards Per Carry at 3.4. Of those six teams, they’re the only ones to face Christian McCaffrey.
Building Cohesion
So how does he do it?
I’m not breaking any news here, but Macdonald has proven he understands the big picture of football better than most his peers. He rarely talks about individual moments, instead choosing to discuss things like “process” and “operation” repeatedly. On the Monday morning following the win in Pittsburgh, Macdonald elaborated (maybe a bit more than typical) about the team’s philosophy to get “four to rush as one.” He does not coach individuals how to beat their blocker; he coaches the unit how to beat the play. It’s pretty fascinating stuff, and a glimpse into what you know must be going on at multiple levels across the defense. In fact in the same interview, he also talked about marrying the coverage with the pressure, indicating that’s an arena they hope to improve upon in the coming weeks.
I feel bad for Spencer Rattler.
There’s another element at play here; one we didn’t know much about, because Macdonald is so new to the scene. Having never been a head coach at another level, and being just 38 years old, how would he do motivating a locker room? Could he build and sustain success, and could he get his envisioned identity into a new team in a second year?
One recent development from the road game speaks volumes. Literally.
This was one of the coolest things to trickle out after the game itself. Apparently, Mike Macdonald remembers some things from his time with the AFC North and the Baltimore Ravens. One of those things is that Renegade by Styx is a Steelers hype song late in the game, played at pivotal moments to capitalize on momentum.
So what did Coach do with the information?
Played it multiple times at practice, prepping the team for the moment that they could now receive with excitement. He likened it to the power of visualization.
Stealing signs is one thing. Stealing an opposing team’s hype song? Boss move.
I guess you could call him a player’s coach, but of an entirely different genre than Pete Carroll.
Regardless, it’s a nasty, nasty defense. Loaded with talent up front, a couple of Pro Bowl big names in the secondary, with what looks to be a healthy dose of surprise or underrated talent back there as well (Josh Jobe, Ernest Jones). Macdonald’s got them believing in his scheme and in each other.
Seattle’s next two games are against the 0-2 New Orleans Saints, and Kyler Murray, who is currently the worst quarterback in the league against pressure.
Keep stackin’ wins.
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