The Seattle Seahawks can defend again!

Mike Macdonald’s NFL debut is as celebratory as the intrigue surrounding his first season.

The result was close: The Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos 26-20, but Seattle’s offense was to blame.

Let’s focus on the secondary for a minute. New linebackers, new safeties, a Riq Woolen struggling through ups and downs, and a lot of questions surrounding this team.

I thought the guys guarding the defensive backfield gave absolutely everything today. The heroes of the game for me were, in order:

Julian Love

Tyrel Dodson

Riq Wool

Devon Witherspoon

Rayshawn Jenkins

Honorable mentions to Jerome Baker and K’Von Wallace. Neither played badly; in fact, the signs were far more positive than negative. Wallace even had the other forced fumble. But not everyone can put together performances worth writing home about, and the fact that we got five of them is pretty ridiculous in and of itself.

Here are the boys’ stats:

Julian Love 12 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 pass defense, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble.

Tyrel Dodson, 10 tackles, 1 loss, 1 pass defense.

Devon Witherspoon 7 tackles, 1 pass defense.

Riq Woolen 3 tackles, 2 passes defended, one ridiculous interception.

6 tackles by Rayshawn Jenkins.

Anyone who saw the game knows what I saw: The team had two interceptions, but only because they almost had five. These guys were everywhere.

Overall, the stats of these supporting players add up to two interceptions, five pass breakups, two tackles for loss, and, more importantly, the simple fact that these guys were ready to strike every time.

My goodness. Sherm approved it.

For comparison, I chose the first game of the 2023 season against the Los Angeles Rams. The game where the world learned who Puka Nacua was thanks to our beloved Seahawks.

Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks combined for 30 tackles in the opening game, but we learned this season that was not a sign of good things. There were 2 TFL from each in the secondary, and one Pass defense was done by the entire team. No interceptions and no sacks, if anyone cares. They gave up 334 yards through the air. Essentially triple what they just allowed the Broncos.

You can say “sample size, rookie quarterback” all you want, but Seattle’s secondary has looked different over the last four years.

I’m not saying the Seahawks dismantled a rookie quarterback. The point is that this roster has incredibly talented players on defense and we’ll most likely see what that looks like. when everything is put together. They already have three Pro Bowl players in the backfield, but at times they have also boasted the worst defense in the NFL.

In my opinion, Macdonald’s greatest strength may be his ability to design defensive schemes as a cohesive unit. As early as Week 1, you could see the fluidity of the rotation in coverage and his remarkably quick breaking of the ball for tough tackles.

These things, far more than individual numbers, seem to me to be sustainable and a sign that Macdonald’s defense will continue to improve and continue to give his guys opportunities to succeed.

Bonus content:

Since we’ve featured five guys, here are five more: QB hits by Leonard Williams. That’s as many as the Philadelphia Eagles, the Green Bay Packers, and four more than the Kansas City Chiefs had as a team in their first few games.

Let’s go to the “Hawks defense”!