INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In his first game as a head coach, an easy 16-3 win over the Chargers on Saturday, Mike Macdonald said he took pages of notes that he’ll use to improve his game-day procedure.
But make no mistake, a Seahawks defense that had not been up to snuff the past two years under Pete Carroll showed glimpses of being a hard-charging, aggressive unit. And while that came against an anemic Los Angeles offense led by backup quarterback Easton Stick replacing an injured Justin Herbert, Macdonald still liked the way his group played in his debut on the Seattle sideline.
“I always expect us to go out and play hard, play physical and be clean,” said Macdonald, the former defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, No. 1 in the league last year. “If it’s not the way we want to look, then we’re going to want to make that right. It wasn’t a perfect showing by any stretch, but it was a solid start.
“I think the guys know that we should be able to take a jump here moving forward. We’ve got a big week ahead of us practicing against Tennessee and then having a game against those guys. So we’re looking forward to that.”
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Most of the Seattle starters played the first two series on defense, which included two three-and-outs. The Seahawks held the Chargers to 21 total yards and no first downs in the first six possessions of the game. The Chargers finished an embarrassing 2-of-13 on third down.
Safety Coby Bryant corralled an interception and almost came down with another one. The Seahawks kept the Chargers out of the end zone and held them to 3.7 yards per play. Seattle also heated up the pass rush, with three sacks, five quarterback hits and six pass deflections.
Bryant said Macdonald is very detailed in his approach and has high expectations for his unit, and that resulted in a mostly clean game from the defense.
“It starts in practice, Coach Mike being on us every day,” Bryant said. “Just the communication and us being on the same page, and we want to make our mark early.”
Last season the defense routinely missed tackles and allowed 138.4 rushing yards a game, No. 31 in the NFL. On Saturday against the Chargers, the defense was much more decisive and effective in bringing down players in the open field.
Bryant says that’s no accident.
“We practice on tackling each and every day — without pads or with pads,” he said. “I feel like last year we had a lot of missed tackles. In order to be a good defense, you have to work on tackling.”
In his 19 snaps, first-round pick Byron Murphy II looked like the real deal with a tackle for loss and consistently pushing the pocket in the interior. Also, the return of one of Seattle’s best defensive players in outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu seemed to improve the team’s ability to stop the run and get after the quarterback. Last year, Nwosu was lost for the season in Week 7 with a pectoral injury.
Seattle’s defense should get a much better test against Tennessee this week. The Seahawks will have two days of joint practices against the Titans before facing them in the team’s second preseason game in Nashville.
Macdonald expects his starters to get good work in the controlled environment of joint practices this week, but most likely they will not play in the game this weekend.
Carroll developed a reputation for innovation over the years. He spawned the Seattle Cover 3. He drafted and developed rangy, long defenders like cornerback Richard Sherman and outside linebacker K.J. Wright. He turned Red Bryant — a talkative, run-stuffing defensive tackle — into a tone-setting defensive end and team captain. And in J.R. Sweezy, he converted a college defensive lineman into a starting offensive guard.
And while Seattle’s defense has a long way to go to earn a nickname like the Legion of Boom, Macdonald certainly showed he has things headed in the right direction on that side of the ball.
“It’s the first game, so it’s the first time doing all the operational stuff for real,” a stoic Macdonald said. “I thought our operation was clean for the most part.
“Overall, I’d say that it’s a foundational first game. This is something we want to build on.”
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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