"We have our process," Macdonald said when asked about those fast starts. "I think we're learning our process, too, about how we get ready for a game. The guys are doing a great job. They're mentally prepared. I think our coaches are doing a great job being very clear about how we're going to start games so guys can go play fasts and decisive. It's only happened how many times. It's not going to happen every time. When it does you're appreciative of the guy's effort."
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is already over 1,000 yards this season after adding 93 more yards on Sunday, including a 43-yard touchdown, echoes his coach's sentiment that the team's preparation has been crucial to their early-season success.
"Preparation," he said when asked for the reason behind the 7-2 start. "Our culture in the building. The guys that we have in this locker room, doing whatever it takes to win. That's from Monday to Sunday. What we're building here, we all feel like we have something special and we just want to keep it going and protect what we have."
Part of what has made the Seahawks' strong start to this season so impressive—and feel so sustainable—is that they are playing well in so many different phases of the game. The defense, which produced two touchdowns in this game while also coming up with several impressive third and fourth-down stops, has been outstanding all season despite injuries to several key players. On offense, Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are off to fantastic starts, the offensive line has stepped up in a big way, and if Sunday's 198-yard rushing performance was any indication, the run game might be finding its way in the second half as well. And on special teams, there have been numerous big plays throughout the season, including turnovers to set up scores, a punt return touchdown and a kickoff recovery touchdown.
"A win in our league is hard," Macdonald said. "It's hard to get to. It takes everybody. Took all 70 today. We had some guys go down this week as you guys are well aware. We had guys step up and nobody flinched. It took all 70 again. That's how we roll. You know, you attribute it to our guys, you know, dedicating how we play our style of football all the time no matter the situation. That's what we're chasing. When we do it right, we play really good ball."
That concept of all 70 players contributing to the team's success has been a common refrain this season, a reference to backups as well as the practice squad—or ready squad as the Seahawks like to call it—being an important part of the team. Throughout the season, the Seahawks have dealt with significant absences on defense, and on Sunday that included starting linebacker Ernest Jones IV being out with a knee injury, while defensive tackle Jarran Reed and safety Julian Love were on injured reserve.
Yet with those players out, there was still Ty Okada making big hits at safety, and there was Brandon Pili shooting into the backfield to help stop a run at the goal line, and of course, there was Tyrice Knight, filling in for an injured Jones, forcing a pair of fumbles on sacks, both of which were returned for touchdowns by outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence.
"I believe it's a testament of what we built in training camp," Lawrence said. "We've been going at this for a while, and our young guys are stepping up, playing good football, and we're able to stay healthy and stay out there on the field. We've got a good thing going."