Mike Macdonald goes from Seahawks hero to embarrassment in three games

Mike Macdonald will eventually fix the Seattle Seahawks. 12s have to believe that, right? After the team let go of long-term head coach Pete Carroll this offseason, Macdonald was hired. He had never been a head coach before, and he would be the youngest head coach in the NFL. Still, he had a record of high-end defensive success with the Baltimore Ravens as the defensive coordinator.

Also, this is not about Macdonald getting fired. That kind of thinking is as ridiculous as it is impractical. Seattle didn't just take a short-term chance on Macdonald. They signed him to a six-year deal at $9 million a year. Almost all of that money is guaranteed. Seattle could not afford to get rid of Macdonald even if they wanted to.

Plus, Macdonald does need a grace period where he finds his head coach footing, and the team gets the right players to fit his system. While the team has talented players such as Boye Mafe and Leonard Williams, Seattle doesn't have enough good players. Not yet.

Mike Macdonald has not fixed anything defensively with the Seahawks so far

But we cannot lie to ourselves and say that we did not begin to believe that the hiring of Macdonald was going to immediately fix the defense. That would then make the Seahawks better, make the playoffs, and be dangerous once there. Sure, the New England Patriots ran for 183 yards against Seattle in Week 2, but surely, that was going to be an outlier.

Instead, New England's success was foreshadowing the doom we have seen from Seattle's defense in the last three games. In Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers in a 36-24 loss, Seattle allowed 483 total yards, and 228 of those yards were rushing. This was the case even though San Francisco didn't have All-Pro Christian McCaffrey and also lost backup Jordan Mason during the game.

Third-string Isaac Guerendo entered the game and ran for 99 yards on ten carries, including a game-clinching run of 76 yards late in the fourth quarter. Entering the game, the running back had run 12 times for 41 yards in 2024, his first season in the league. He ran over and through Seattle defenders as if he was playing a college team.

In the last three games, which include losses to the 49ers, Detroit Lions, and New York Giants, Seattle has allowed an average of 473 yards per game. 179 yards per game have come from the other team running the ball with relative ease. Just as bad, the last three opponents have averaged 6.2 yards a rush against Seattle.

So what happened? Macdonald's scheme proved to work in Baltimore, or did he have good players that would have succeeded almost as well? To be sure, the Ravens are struggling a lot more defensively so far in 2024. They ranked 22nd in yards allowed per play and 19th in yards allowed. In 2023, with Macdonald, Baltimore was in the top six of both categories.

A big problem is that Macdonald is seemingly being out-schemed and out-prepared in recent games. He is supposed to be a defensive guru, but he hasn't yet proven that. He will, and Seahawks fans have to believe that. Otherwise, Seattle will be an embarrassment for the next several seasons defensively.

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