SEATTLE SEAHAWKS' FUN, FEARLESS TEAM BREAKS THE MOLD AND LEADS THE NFL IN UNEXPECTED STYLE – A GAME-CHANGER IN 2025!
Defensive excellence was expected when the Seattle Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald as head coach a year ago, and while results weren’t immediate, the unit is finally living up to expectations, thanks to a position group bucking trends in 2025 to lead the NFL.
It’s the defensive line that’s prompting a change of sorts in Macdonald’s system. He made his name as a purveyor of sophisticated blitz packages as defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, but Macdonald is travelling a different way in Seattle and still getting results.
Those results include the “Seahawks leading NFL with a 49.4% Pressure Rate via Next Gen Stats,” per Ben Fennell of CBS Sports. That number is made possible because “Seattle is using 4-man rushes 83.1% of the time, and blitzing at a 31st rate 13.0% (only team blitzing less is Cincy). This is a nasty unit that has horses to get home on the front. Really fun group.”
#Seahawks leading NFL with a 49.4% Pressure Rate via @NextGenStats
Seattle is using 4-man rushes 83.1% of the time, and blitzing at a 31st rate 13.0% (only team blitzing less is Cincy). This is a nasty unit that has horses to get home on the front. Really fun group.
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) September 15, 2025
The Seahawks’ front four flexed its collective muscle during Week 2’s 31-17 win over Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several standout performers set the tone for a group able to power the Seahawks into the ranks of the league’s elite.
Seahawks Studs Taking Over Games
Individual talent is doing more than X’s and O’s to help Seattle’s defensive front seize ownership of the line of scrimmage. It’s starting along the interior, where veterans Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, along with second-year pro Byron Murphy II “dominated the Steelers up front,” per highlights from NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger.
Two-time Pro Bowler Williams is arguably playing his best football in his 11th season. He’s combining natural first-step quickness with a formidable 6-foot-5, 310-pound frame to shift the line of scrimmage at will, but 31-year-old Williams is getting plenty of help.
Most of it is coming from Murphy, who is playing like the 16th player taken in the 2024 NFL draft. Murphy’s mauling centers, while his 1.5 sacks logged against the Steelers surpassed his total for quarterback takedowns as a rookie.
There’s no shortage of muscle inside, but these Seahawks are also tough on the edges. Where former Dallas Cowboys roving standout DeMarcus Lawrence is making an impact alongside versatile holdovers Boye Mafe, Derick Hall and Uchenna Nwosu.
Having this many riches along the line is helping Macdonald rein in his more aggressive instincts as a play-caller and defy what most of the rest of the league is doing.
Mike Macdonald Changing Seahawks Defense
Blitz percentage rates per dropbacks are up across the NFL through two weeks. Almost everywhere except in Seattle, where the Seahawks have a blitz percentage of just 10.3, according to Pro Football Reference.
The number is in sharp contrast to the Kansas City Chiefs, who top the pressure charts at 43.9 percent. Those Chiefs are one of 15 teams around the league blitzing at a rate greater than 25 percent.
Macdonald’s 2024 Seahawks defense neared these lofty heights at 23.6 percent, but things are changing because of the bluechip talent underpinning the front seven. Players like Mafe winning individual matchups and generating “instapressure,” the way Nate Tice of Yahoo! Sports highlighted here, are making the new way a success.
If Mafe, Williams and the rest of the group can continue applying heat at the same rate, the Seahawks will have a defense capable of sparking a playoff push.
Struggling Broncos QB Told To Stop Trying ‘Patrick Mahomes Plays’
If you have watched Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix play this season and wondered what happened to the player we all saw at the end of last season, you’re not alone.
Nix has been terrible through the first 2 games of the 2025 regular season as the Broncos have barely kept their heads above water with a 1-1 start and getting ready for a marquee showdown on the road against the unbeaten Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3.
The Chargers aren’t just unbeaten, either. Beating the Broncos wouldn’t just represent a 3-0 start to the season but a 3-0 start in the AFC West Division with their first 2 wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
Through his first 2 games, Nix is 47-of-70 passing (.671) for 380 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and has a putrid 44.3 QB rating.
According to Pro Football Focus, he’s been the worst quarterback in the league with an overall grade of 40.4 — putting him 40th out of a possible 40 eligible NFL quarterbacks.
The pressure is on Nix, on a very basic level, to just not be as bad as he’s been. And part of that means being himself and not trying to be someone else.
“I think it’s on Bo Nix to kind of just like take the plays that are there because you know … there’s just too much dip on that chip,” ESPN’s Mina Kimes said on September 18. “I feel like he went to Costco and bought like a family style dip this offseason and Bo Nix is just out there, like trying to make these Patrick Mahomes plays and the time and it’s just a little too much.”
Nix Seems Like He’s Forcing Everything
Kimes’ comparison to Nix is funy, sure, but also speaks to something everyone has seen in Nix’s game so far this year. He’s trying to force the ball into windows where it just doesn’t fit for a player with his skill level — throws Mahomes could make but are not even in Nix’s universe as a football player. And may never be.
To that end, the Broncos stumbled and bumbled their way to a win over the lowly Tennessee Titans in the regular season opener at home followed by a “what just happened” road loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
Against the Titans, Nix was 25-of-40 passing for 176 yards, 2 interceptions and 1 lost fumble — bad enough that he was one of just a handful of quarterbacks to be given an “F’ grade from Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski in Week 1.
One Specific Area Nix Could Focus On Improving
If we are going to pick Nix’s game apart, then the one area he could improve on the quickest would be knowing when to use his feet.
Through 2 games, Nix has 11 carries for 38 yards and zero rushing touchdowns. As a rookie in 2024, the former No. 12 overall pick had 18 carries for 157 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns through the first 3 games.
“He was an ideal fit for Sean Payton’s offense and a mature prospect, which led to an easier transition compared to most,” Sobleski wrote on September 9. “At the start of Year 2, though, Nix didn’t look nearly as comfortable .. three turnovers, while averaging 4.4 yards per attempt, won’t be enough against much better opponents.”
