Seahawks could steal wins if Mike Macdonald fixes this Pete Carroll problem

The Seattle Seahawks moved on from former head coach Pete Carroll this offseason. While the move came as a bit of a surprise to some, to be fair, anything that can possibly happen in the NFL will happen. Plus 14 years to spend with one team is unusual. Carroll had a good run and 12s are probably mostly happy Carroll led the team to the kind of success he did throughout his tenure.

Seattle, though, now has Mike Macdonald in charge of the on-field product. He will be tasked with taking the collection of players that general manager John Schneider signs, keeps, or drafts, and turning the unit into one that exceeds the recent level that Carroll got the team to achieve. Macdonald will be in complete charge of the defense, at least in his first season, so that should mean Seattle's defense is better as Macdonald is a brilliant defensive mind.

The offense is a bit of a question mark because of the ability (or potential inefficiency) of the offensive line and new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will be in his first season leading an NFL offense. Maybe Grubb will be fantastic, but we cannot be sure. We can only hope,

Mike Macdonald could steal a Super Bowl with one small adjustment by the Seattle Seahawks

But there is one aspect that Macdonald can improve his team more than Carroll could and that should mean an extra win most seasons. One more win could also mean a playoff spot. That would have been the case in 2024.

For whatever reason, Carroll simply could not sustain the same kind of success in games following a bye week that he could in general. Carroll's teams were just 7-7 in bye weeks in the last 14 games, and he was 0-4 in the last four. That was two games with Russell Wilson and two with Geno Smith so quarterback play was not the common denominator to the problem; Carroll was.

Carroll's win percentage overall with the Seahawks was .606. He was 137-89-1. He was a good coach. Yet, for some reason, he simply did not have his teams as prepared following a bye week as he did during a normal time of preparation. Maybe he was too lax when his players returned from their breaks, or once they did return, Carroll did not immediately get them focused on the next game. This is obviously just a guess, but there was some reason for why Carroll was just .500 in the last 14 games following bye weeks.

Macdonald is a different kind of coach. He might be a generally nice guy as well, but he likely will not be the players' pal as much as Carroll liked to be. Macdonald likely will require a higher level of focus from players when they are in the building. This could mean more victories in games that follow bye weeks.

That is the hope, of course. One win might mean a playoff spot instead of missing one such as in this past season. Once in the postseason, anything can happen. Maybe besides Seattle simply stealing a win here or there, they can steal a Super Bowl victory as well.

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