Seahawks earn Mike Macdonald's first win after finding their 'swagger' on defense

SEATTLE — For perhaps the first time all afternoon, the Seattle Seahawks weren’t on the same page with their head coach.

They wanted to make the postgame party about Mike Macdonald, whose head coaching career began with a 26-20, season-opening win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Lumen Field. They showered Macdonald with joyous roars as he was presented with the game ball inside the locker room. Macdonald, however, had no interest in being the center of attention.

“He quickly diverted it and made it all about us, our first win,” safety Julian Love said. “That’s the guy he is.”

Outside of that postgame moment, the Seahawks were in lockstep with their new coach, who in seven months running the team has become notorious for his stoicism. Never too high, never too low. “Even-steven,” linebacker Tyrel Dodson called it.

Success for Seattle this season will be defined by Macdonald’s ability to craft the team in his image. That was the case in Sunday’s win, which required players and coaches to remain level despite a potentially disastrous start. Geno Smith was sacked on the first play from scrimmage. On the next play, Smith was hit as he threw, and the ball went directly to Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton. Seattle’s first defensive series began at its own 20-yard line.

“Started just like we wanted it to start,” Macdonald joked in his opening statement. “Drew it up that way. Just wanted some adversity.”

In face of that adversity, Seattle’s defense was unfazed. Denver gained 8 yards in three plays before settling for a field goal.

“It’s just a mindset,” Love said of the defense standing tall. “When that happened, there was so much energy and swagger as we were taking the field. We were excited for the challenge. That’s the mindset you want to have Week 1.”

Macdonald was hired in large part because of his defensive mind, and his side of the ball was the star of the show in the season opener. Despite being known for his schematic genius, though, Macdonald has repeatedly said that how Seattle plays will be more important than the X’s and O’s. “A style nobody wants to play” is painted along the wall outside the locker room. Their style, as described by cornerback Tre Brown: “Running and hitting. Simple as that.”

Zach Charbonnet’s touchdown reception gave the Seahawks a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter. (Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)

Denver rookie quarterback Bo Nix averaged 3.3 yards on his 42 pass attempts, and he completed 26 of those throws for just 138 yards. Since 2000, only three quarterbacks have attempted that many passes in a game and registered fewer yards per attempt, according to TruMedia.

The Seahawks anticipated that Nix wouldn’t test them much downfield and knew that if they tackled well, they’d be successful. Denver also averaged just 3.3 yards per play, matching Nix’s passing clip, and its running backs had only 64 yards on 20 carries. Seattle had five tackles for loss, two tackles for no gain on run plays and an additional stop for zero yards on a passing play.

“Mike’s whole mantra for our team is ‘12 as one.’ You want to feel like there’s 12 guys on the field on defense,” said Love, who led the team with 12 tackles. “All those checkdowns, all those little tackle plays, it helps when your brother is coming next to you, and you make tackles. That’s just a mindset. That’s just a swagger about us.”

RIQ PICKS NIX pic.twitter.com/pnzcjFAeK6

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 8, 2024

Nix was sacked twice and threw two interceptions. Love snagged a deep ball intended for receiver Courtland Sutton in the second quarter, and cornerback Riq Woolen got Nix on a crossing route intended for Sutton in the fourth quarter.

The sequence following Love’s interception illustrated how frustrating of a first half the Seattle offense had, though. Love stepped out at his own 1-yard line. On the very next play, right guard Anthony Bradford was flagged for holding in the end zone, resulting in a safety that gave Denver a 5-3 lead. After forcing a three-and-out, rookie returner Dee Williams muffed a punt and gave the ball back to Denver at Seattle’s 9-yard line. Once again, the defense accepted the challenge and forced a field goal.

Smith’s 34-yard touchdown run in the second quarter gave Seattle a 9-8 lead, but that advantage was short-lived thanks to another offensive miscue. A three-and-out led to a Denver punt that was downed at the 1, and on the next snap, running back Zach Charbonnet was dropped in the end zone for another safety. A successful two-minute drill handed Denver a 13-9 lead at halftime, but Smith was among the players encouraging everyone to stay calm and weather the storm.

The defense knew it just had to keep rallying to the ball and tackling, and eventually the offense would come alive. Meanwhile, Smith and the offense had faith that if they could get out of their own way and avoid penalties and other mental mistakes, they’d have no problem winning the game.

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Smith gave a postgame shoutout to first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb for staying with the run game in the second half, as opposed to panicking and becoming pass-happy — a trap into which some play callers can fall. Five of Seattle’s first six plays on its opening series of the third quarter were runs. Ken Walker III ended the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run to retake the lead, and the Seahawks never looked back. Walker had 13 carries for 84 yards in the second half (he finished with 103 rushing yards on 20 attempts).

“Grubb trusted our O-line,” Smith said. “I thought our O-line did a great job settling down and then really took over the game. Ken Walker was a beast (Sunday). He really set the tone for us. … Once the run game opened up, it allowed us to get into some of our tempo stuff, then pass the ball, and then you start to see our offense come alive.”

Smith completed 10 of 13 passes for 112 yards and a 30-yard touchdown to Charbonnet in the second half. He threw for 171 yards in all on the afternoon. His leading pass catcher was Tyler Lockett, who missed nearly all of training camp with a thigh injury and was listed questionable coming into the game. And yet, the soon-to-be 32-year-old wideout had 77 yards on six receptions, including a one-handed snag on third-and-4 to ice the game.

Lockett was being single covered on that play by cornerback Riley Moss on a shallow crossing pattern. Receiver DK Metcalf ran a crosser nearby, going in the opposite direction that created separation between Moss and Lockett, who reached with his left hand, corralled the pass and stayed on his feet for a few additional yards to move the chains with less than two minutes remaining.

.@TDLockett12‘s one-handed catch sealed it. pic.twitter.com/OaTCMcmCYz

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 8, 2024

“Big-time players make big-time plays in big games,” Smith said of Lockett. “I remember hearing that when I was a kid, and Tyler Lockett is the epitome of that. Every time there is a play to be made, he’s going to make the play.”

Between the ’90s throwback uniforms, Seahawks legend Kam Chancellor raising the 12 Flag pregame, Marshawn Lynch giving Macdonald an in-game shoulder rub and other ex-players like Doug Baldwin standing on the sideline, Sunday’s game was somewhat of a blast from the past. But to hear Macdonald’s name announced as the head coach after the starting lineup was a reminder of the present and of what Seattle hopes will be a bright future under new leadership.

This time last year, the Seahawks were lamenting a lifeless second-half showing against the Rams in the season opener — despite being led at the time by a head coach who consistently preached the importance of finishing strong.

Macdonald has a similar mantra, and his team did a much better job embodying it to start the season.

“I remember last year in Week 1, we just kind of got depleted of energy, of swag, of who we are,” Love said. “We didn’t do that (Sunday). Obviously, with a slow first-half start, it could have been easy for that to happen again. But everybody was fired up in that locker room, and knew what the deal was, and that was to come out in the second half and do what we do and be us.”

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Macdonald wasn’t completely emotionless after the game. He shared daps and hugs with his players and wore a big smile as he exited the locker room with his family. But one of his other mantras is “the team, the team, the team,” and it must be said exactly three times to emphasize the message. So, it’s not a surprise that upon receiving the game ball, he made the moment about everyone else — and about doing it again next Sunday against the Patriots.

“I accept it on behalf of everybody,” Macdonald said. “It’s special. Obviously, our first win. It’s hit me and it’s cool, but it probably hasn’t hit me yet. Maybe in a silent moment, it’ll come. But that was special, man. I love our guys. They’re bought in. They’ve done everything we asked them to do. I thought Geno played a heck of a game, just sticking in it and executing the game plan and playing on time.

“One win, awesome. But we need to go do it again next week.”

(Top photo: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)