The Seattle Seahawks defense dismantled the Houston Texans on Monday night. Things like 31 yards allowed to running backs, 10 tackles for loss, and 12 passes defensed, you know. Just a normal day in Mike
Macdonald land.
Anybody who watched the game knows the score and discrepancy should have been an avalanche, had the refs accurately diagnosed a safety, or Klint Kubiak didn’t get so weird. It was, outside of three plays and some dumb play calls, a beatdown. But on Seattle Sports 710 the day after, Macdonald curiously indicated he’s been holding back quite a bit, for the sake of the players themselves.
The whole segment starts at the 8:50 mark for any who want a watch. His example was centered around Nick Emmanwori, specifically following up how “fun” it is to use him in versatile plays, but that they can’t play him in “17 different positions,” or else he gets diminishing returns.
Just a couple games back from injury, Emmanwori had a dynamite game in his own right against Houston.
Macdonald followed up the praise of the second-year defensive back by saying, “Part of the thing this week is figuring out what to do with our guys, without going crazy.”
It’s remarkable if you think about it, Macdonald immediately lost four of his most versatile and/or niche players in the first month of the season. Sitting at 5-2 now, that’s pretty good for a team set to return some of the most important pieces after the bye week. Julian Love, Devon Witherspoon, and Robbie Ouzts look to get back to playing, which will unlock some of the specific packages the team simply hasn’t been able to employ.
By his comments, and you can see this in the limited time Spoon and Emmanwori have been on the field under his scheme, is that Macdonald is nowhere near deplete of defensive ideas. Part of his growth process as head coach and defensive coordinator is learning how not to overwhelm his players with options, because he has them all. Macdonald speaks as if he has solutions for nearly every offensive alignment, and I’m inclined to believe him, but has recognized that at least some measure of restraint seems to be good for the players.
The Seahawks play man coverage at the second-lowest rate in the NFL. That means they’re in various zone coverages a ton.
Charts can try to box these categories in all they want, but they don’t even tell the full story. Just this week we saw Boye Mafe deflect a pass a good 10 yards downfield, and Leonard Williams – not for the first time, I might add – run down a screen pass.
Even within one of the highest uses of zone coverage, Macdonald’s far more mad scientist than the other defensive coordinators would dare.
And he’s holding back.
And his two best DBs are about to return.
Both with significant experience playing multiple looks and multiple positions. If there’s three guys on the team that excel at the crazy stuff, even if Macdonald believes he’s got to save them from himself sometimes, it’s Spoon, Love, and Emmanwori. Again, they’ve been together in 2025 for four snaps.
The NFL’s best defense is about to get even crazier.
