Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is football's best defensive mind

The Seahawks' defense is anything and everything all at once. (1:43)

The 2025 Seahawks are coverage-agnostic – they don’t have a type of coverage they rely on beyond all else. This season, they’ve run Cover-1 10% of the time, Cover-2 15% of the time, Cover-3 31% of the time, Cover-4 16% of the time, and Cover-6/Cover-8 22% of the time. In all those coverages, the Seahawks have allowed completions on 152 attempts for 911 yards, six touchdowns, seven interceptions, four more dropped interceptions, 10 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 76.4, fifth-best in the NFL.

They also don’t blitz a lot. The Seahawks have rushed four defenders on 80% of their snaps, the NFL’s third-highest rate, but their 12 sacks are tied for the league lead with the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams, and their pressure rate of 24.7% ranks seventh-best in the league. 

So, how does Macdonald put offenses in a blender without a signature concept? On the front end, his pressure calls are real problems, because it’s so hard to call protections. You never know who’s rushing and from where, and who’s dropping into coverage. 

Let’s take a couple pressures against the Cardinals as examples. This isn’t complicated stuff per se, and that’s by design, but Macdonald has his guys so in sync, it usually works. .

Seattle's pressures can beat your numbers advantages. (1:25)

With eight seconds left in the first quarter, Seattle lined up in a familiar overload front concept – three to one side, a linebacker as the standup three-tech to the other side, and an edge-rusher to that side looking to benefit from one-on-ones. The 49ers do this with the great Fred Warner as the standup three-tech a lot. Warner can either pressure or drop. In this case, linebacker Ernest Jones – a very underrated part of this defense – dropped into coverage to rob the middle of the field.

Now, it was a four-man pressure against five blockers, but the Seahawks still had the advantage because Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence performed a stunt to mess with the protection that sent Lawrence to the other side of the line as a looper, Jones’ drop forced Kyler Murray to bail because he didn’t have a clear look downfield, and with Lawrence chasing him down, Murray ran out of bounds. That was third-and-15, so drive over. 

The Seahawks pressures are smarter than your blocks. (0:40)

Macdonald loves to use deception in his pressures as well. With 3:10 left in the third quarter, the Seahawks lined up in what looked like standard two-deep coverage with four rushers. Cornerback Josh Jobe was playing tight against receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., and cornerback Devon Witherspoon was playing slightly off against receiver Michael Wilson. The one thing you would not expect out of this alignment was a dual cornerback blitz with three droppers at the intermediate level, but that was the call.

The Cardinals helped out with a flea-flicker that put extra time on the protections, and both Jobe and Witherspoon got home. Once again, the Cardinals had the numbers advantage – seven blockers at the line out of 12 personnel – and once again, Macdonald won anyway because he knew better how to deploy his numbers. 

One way to note which coaches are really doing their jobs is how many previously unknown players come into their systems and become stars in short order. We’ve mentioned Ernest Jones, who’s one of those guys, but the real hidden gems this season have been in Seattle’s secondary. 

The Seahawks' hidden gems tell the story of their defense. (1:39)

Cornerback Josh Jobe, who we’ve also mentioned already, barely saw any snaps in two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, was an unheralded signing in Seattle in 2024, and has really come on in these schemes in 2025. This season, Jobe has allowed 16 catches on 31 targets for 117 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 47.4. 

Cornerback Derion Kendrick, who allowed six touchdown passes with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 and 2023, is another major surprise. Kendrick missed the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL, didn’t make final cuts in 2025, and the Seahawks signed him in late August. All Kencdick has done this season is to allow four catches on nine targets for 23 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, three pass breakups, and an NFL-best opponent passer rating allowed of 12.0.

Two undrafted free agents in 2022, originally signed by other teams, who are all suddenly playing like Pro Bowlers with the Seahawks. That’s how you know that they’re being coached up. 

There are a lot of great defensive coaches in football today at all levels. But if you go by organizational redefinition, it’s hard to say that anyone has been a better defensive coach this decade than Mike Macdonald.