Seahawks defense might face first real test in preseason Week 3 versus Browns

Head coach Mike Macdonald did something against the Los Angeles Chargers in Seattle's first preseason game of 2024 that Pete Carroll would never have done. Macdonald chose to play all of his healthy starters on defense (which was basically all of them) on the first two series of the game. Los Angeles failed to make a first down and had two straight three-and-outs.

Seattle's tackling was better, and even though the scheme was vanilla, the get-off on the snap seemed faster than in previous seasons. Still, while the defense appeared immediately better under Macdonald, 12s should also temper that by understanding what fans were seeing was a glorified scrimmage. Just because the defense appeared better in a preseason game doesn't mean the unit is fixed.

In Week 2, Seattle's defense, however Macdonald chooses to use it, should not be overly tested either. The Tennessee Titans might play starter Will Levis some, but mostly the contest will feature backups Mason Rudolph and Malik Willis. Neither of those quarterbacks is going to truly scare a defense, even in the preseason.

Deshaun Watson expected to play against the Seattle Seahawks in preseason Week 3

Tennessee also doesn't feature a bunch of explosive offensive players. In other words, what 12s saw from Macdonald's defense against the Chargers might be the same kind of thing they see against the Titans. We might not know the defense is better this year if there have been opponents who can test it.

That should change in Seattle's final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday that he plans to play Deshaun Watson against Seattle to give the quarterback some work before the real games begin a couple of weeks later. Watson hasn't been great since he left the Houston Texans in 2020 to join the Browns, but he is obviously very capable of hurting opposing defenses.

Seattle did not face Watson last year when the Seahawks defeated the Browns. During that game, PJ Walker played quarterback for Cleveland. Brown is no longer with the Browns and is attempting to stick on the Seahawks roster as QB3. Had Watson played against Seattle, the outcome might have been different. Seattle won 24-20 on a last-minute touchdown pass.

What will be interesting, since Macdonald began the preseason by playing his defensive starters, is if he repeats that throughout the three meaningless games. Maybe he doesn't play the starters much against the Titans, but does against the Browns to see how close his defense is to playing at a high level to begin the regular season.

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