Sep 14, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald gestures on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Mike Macdonald delivers blunt statement on Seahawks' flailing run game

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Jon Alfano | Last updated Sep 23, 2025 10:00 AM ET

NFL coaches are simply a different breed of intense. Even when their team wins in blowout fashion, they will still look at what they could've done better rather than focus on all the things they did well.

To be clear, that's not a bad thing, but it is a very noticeable trend. For instance, just look at Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald after his team's 44-13 win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 3. Macdonald said after the game that the Seahawks still has "room to grow," then doubled down on that during his appearance on Seattle Sports radio Monday Morning.

This time, though, he pointed out a more specific issue: the run game. Seattle averaged just 2.6 yards per carry against New Orleans and is averaging a paltry 3.3 yards per carry through three games.

Mike Macdonald on Seahawks' run game: 'not good enough'

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

“Yeah, it’s not good enough,” Macdonald said. “It’s not even close to being good enough. It’s not what we saw throughout camp. It’s not what we saw in the preseason. You’ve gotta give the other teams credit too. They’re designing some good things and playing hard and tackling well. But we’ve gotta be better. We need to be better.

“We need to target it right. We need to hit our targets. We’ve gotta run off the ball better. We’ve gotta hit our combinations better. We’ve gotta run it better. So it’s truly all 11. We need to step up our game. Nothing that’s not fixable, which is great.”

Kenneth Walker III finished as the Seahawks' leading rusher with 16 carries for only 38 yards (2.4 yards per carry), but also scored two touchdowns. With Zach Charbonnet sidelined due to injury, George Holani took on the role of the No. 2 back and had 10 carries for 27 yards (2.7 yards per carry). Rookie Jacardia Wright, a practice squad elevation, had five carries for 20 yards (four yards per carry).

The Seahawks brought in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak largely to help fix the ground game, and while there's been some flashes so far, there's a long way to go.

With a short week before their Week 4 "Thursday Night Football" matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, however, the Seahawks will have to work quickly if they want to see the ground game improve.

“It’s great that we won in that fashion,” Macdonald said. “But when you watch it, no one on our football team is gonna be satisfied – really on all three phases of the things that we fell short on. We understand where we need to improve, and the run game’s right there at the front.”

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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