There are multiple positives to involving players from all three levels of the defense as pass rushers. The first, and most obvious, is that it is effective—it's a lot harder for an offensive line to know who to block if there are seven or eight players on the line of scrimmage and only four might be rushing on any given play. But another positive is that it highlights something Macdonald emphasizes with his defense on a regular basis, which is that it takes all 11 players to rush the quarterback. That can mean that the players on the back end doing their job in coverage creates time for defensive players to get home, but it can also mean that literally all 11 players can be asked to rush the passer.
Durde said the point of having players raise his hand in that meeting was "To show how important it is to understand how you have to do your job when you rush the passer. Mike says it all the time that it's like a '12 as One' pass rush. Everyone is a rusher, and everyone is a dropper in this defense, and to do that, it comes with responsibility. You can't go outside. Pass rushing is a little great because you follow lines, but you create space. You are attacking somebody, so you have to play off each other. That understanding of doing that down after down and doing it as a unit, that's what we were talking about."
As effective as Seattle's scheme is when it comes to generating pressure, it also takes buy in from everyone, and in particular from the defensive front. The Seahawks have a lot of really talented pass rushers, yet none are among the league leaders in sacks because of the way Macdonald's defense shares the wealth, so to speak. Derick Hall, for example, is having an outstanding season, yet his sack last week was his first.
"That's what's so special here is you don't see as much jealousy," Williams said. "You see a lot of camaraderie, a lot of competition, but at the same time, even for a guy like Derick Hall, who just got his first sack, whenever he's seen one of his peers or teammates get a sack, leading up to his, he's the first one in there celebrating with them. And like I just said, regardless of who gets the sack on third down, overall, we're excited to have a good defense. We're excited to get off the field in clutch situations. So even if it's Spoon (Devon Witherspoon) getting the sack on a blitz, although I want to get that sack, I'm still going to be happy that he got it. He's a part of our defense and we all root for each other."