And it isn't just injuries that have caused Macdonald and Seattle's defense to evolve. The Seahawks have "detoured pretty significantly" from what Macdonald though they would be on defense as he tries to cater to what players do best. One example is Seattle's low blitz rate this season, which is a departure from what Macdonald has done as a play caller in the past. With Seattle's defensive front emerging as one of the best in the NFL, the Seahawks are using a four-man rush on 79 percent of opponent dropbacks this season, the third-highest rate in the NFL, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
And when rushing with four, the Seahawks have generated the fifth-highest pressure rate (36.1 percent), while they've blitzed at the third-lowest rate (19.0 percent). The Seahawks are effective when blitzing, recording a 51.7 percent pressure rate that ranks third in the league, but how infrequently they're doing it is just one example of how Macdonald is catering his defense to what players do best.
"Frankly, we've detoured pretty significantly from where we thought we were going to be at the beginning of the season, and that's not really personnel driven," Macdonald said. "I think it's really what we're doing well and what our guys have shown that they're good at. Which is good, to me, that paints a clear picture, means we're watching our players and we're listening to them. We're listening to them when they tell us, through how they play, what they do well. That happens every year, but I'd say, let me be clear, it's not personnel driven. It's really what we're doing well."
Players, of course, are going to appreciate a head coach who tries to cater to their strengths in a way that also produces good results for the team.
"The biggest thing is that he's trying to put us in the best position to make plays, which is good," said safety Coby Bryant. "We have a ton of playmakers on our defense. Whenever a coach does that, especially a head coach—just trying to put us in a position to showcase our talent, that's always fun.
"He's smart, man. He's always trying to find ways to get better, as we are too."
With the defense thriving, and also getting healthier—Witherspoon and Hall have a good chance to get back this week, Macdonald said—the Seahawks are looking to go on a run coming out of the bye much like they did last season when, after losing five of six prior to their bye, they won six of their last eight to close out the season.
"Year 2, we're a lot more comfortable," Bryant said. "We have the right people in our locker room to lead us to where we want to go.
"Last year, we got on a little run after the bye, and this year, we need to just keep doing what we're doing and continue getting better every week."
A big reason Macdonald feels good about his defense and his team as a whole is that he can see a clear identity for this team, something the Seahawks were still finding last year in Macdonald's first season as a head coach.
"We're trying to be decisive, shocking, and relentless," he said. "here's a lot of times we're there, but we know that's what we're striving towards. I think it's clear on my front in terms of messaging about how we're operating, but we want to be aggressive, we want to be physical, without hitting all the coaching buzzwords. But that really is who we want to be, we want to be attacking and unrelenting and play an exciting brand of ball."
There was no singular moment that Macdonald felt his team and defense found that identity, but that process over the past year-plus since he arrived has the Seahawks in a good position coming out of the bye.
"I don't think there's like an aha moment," Macdonald said. "I think we're all going in the same direction the whole time. Probably starts with me being clear and the offseason definitely helps, having a whole offseason and working through it and getting people on the same page, having another year under our belt of understanding how we want to operate and who we want to be, given certain situations. So, I think it's kind of everything. I think it's probably a natural progression. You know me, I always want things that happen, probably sooner than they actually happen. I'm not the most patient guy but really everybody in the building has been tremendous, like, more than you could ever hope for being in a new situation coming from my lens. You realize it takes everybody, and it's really important to get everybody on the same page, pulling in the same direction, and it's not easy to do. It's not easy to do when there's new things going on and our people have been awesome."