Mike Macdonald breaks down major key to Seattle Seahawks' defensive success
The Seattle Seahawks' defense showed great promise throughout head coach Mike Macdonald's first season in 2024, but the 2025 defense? This is what they envisioned when they hired the defensive mastermind back in early 2024.
Through four games, Seattle's defense has not only been great, but has looked like it could be one of the best in the league as many predicted. The Seahawks entered Sunday's slate of games ranked fourth in scoring defense (16.8 points allowed per game) and 11th in total defense (297 yards allowed per game), but they have seemingly been improving each week.
In Week 4, the Seahawks went on the road and completely shut down the Arizona Cardinals for about three and a half quarters, and while it got too close for comfort late, it was still a very strong performance all around. The highlight of that performance was their six sacks against Cardinals star Kyler Murray, and what made it even more impressive is that they did it without blitzing all too often.
Mike Macdonald explains relationship between Seahawks' coverage and pass rush
During his appearance on Seattle Sports radio Friday morning, Macdonald explained how the Seahawks are able to generate such consistent pressure while only rushing four players, noting that the coverage is just as important as the rush itself.
"Look, if we just put everybody like in man-to-man and just stared at their guy, and we just played man-to-man every snap, teams would know where to throw it and they would throw it on time and you could literally win every rush known to man kind, and you might get there every once in a while," Macdonald said. "Or you could just play like Cover 2 every snap and everyone knows you're in Cover 2, and the quarterback's going to know where to go and he's going to be decisive, you could win every rush and you're not going to be very effective."
"We live in the middle. We want to make the quarterbacks have to progress and not trust what they see, that's a starting point, and then the rush has to come alive because they have to work together based on the timing of the play. So it takes all 11. Like, our corner could be just as instrumental in us getting a quarterback pressure as our D-tackle. That's our philosophy is it's really 11 guys working together at all times."
Macdonald is one of the brightest defensive minds in the NFL today, so hearing him break down concepts like this is always fascinating. With him on the sideline, the Seahawks' defense will be in great hands no matter what.
Cowboys Add WR From Practice Squad With CeeDee Lamb Out vs. Packers
With star WR CeeDee Lamb out for a few weeks with a high-ankle sprain, the Dallas Cowboys have elevated WR Jalen Cropper from the practice squad for Sunday night’s game against the Packers. Cropper will provide depth in a wide receiver room that’s a little thin with Lamb out of the lineup.
Cropper, a former undrafted free agent out of Fresno State in 2023, has spent his entire NFL career on the Cowboys’ practice squad. He was elevated for one game in 2024, but has yet to record a statistic in the regular season, though he’ll have a chance to do just that against the Packers.
Lamb was injured early in the Cowboys’ Week 3 loss to the Bears. He lined up in the backfield and ran to the right, with the defender rolling up on his legs as he made the tackle in the flat. In two-plus games in 2025, Lamb has 16 receptions for 222 yards. He has yet to find the end zone this season.
The Dallas Cowboys Offense Relies Heavily on Injured WR CeeDee Lamb
Stacy Revere/GettyARLINGTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 22: Jalen Cropper #16 of the Dallas Cowboys participates in warmups prior to the NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Atlanta Falcons at AT&T Stadium on August 22, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Cowboys’ offense runs through Lamb. He’s their field-stretcher, zone-beater, one-on-one separator, and reliable third-down target all in one. Since his rookie season in 2020, in which he had 74 catches for 935 yards, Lamb has had at least 1,100 receiving yards in four consecutive seasons.
His best season statistically came in 2023, when he had 135 receptions for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns, dominating the NFL in every category. WR George Pickens was acquired from the Steelers this offseason to provide a secondary target in Dallas’ offense to take some pressure off of Lamb, but now Pickens is being thrust into a role he’s not ideally suited for.
With Lamb out and WR Jonathan Mingo on Injured Reserve (IR), the Cowboys will turn to a combination of WRs Pickens, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and Ryan Flournoy. TE Jake Ferguson will also play a big role — he leads the team in targets and receptions so far this season and is reliable in the short and intermediate areas of the field.
Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Has a Lot Riding on This Game vs. the Packers
Cowboys fans are all too familiar with Jones making a mess of things in the media, and this week has been an all-timer in that regard. Jones infamously traded away Defensive Player of the Year-candidate ED Micah Parsons before the season, ending a summer-long dramatic saga of contract negotiations — or the lack thereof.
Jones didn’t want to pay Parsons, and while he got a pair of first-round picks and DT Kenny Clark in return for the star pass rusher, Parsons has been a revelation in Green Bay, transforming their defense. Meanwhile, Dallas’ defense has been awful to start the year, ranking near the bottom of the league in both points and yards allowed per game.
The Cowboys’ pass rush, in particular, has struggled without Parsons. As he returns to Dallas on Sunday night, Jones continues to take shots at his former pass rusher, claiming the team will be fine without him and insinuating Parsons is at least partially responsible for Dallas failing to win a Super Bowl during his time with the team. If Parsons has a big game in his return and the Cowboys lose, it’ll put Jones’s comments right back in the spotlight.
