Eight games into his tenure as the Seattle Seahawks head coach, Mike Macdonald realizes he might have to cull some of his plans for the 2024 season.
"I think you gotta start making some decisions on where to narrow it down. You can't focus on everything," he said earlier this week, . "So taking out the stuff that we feel like is kind of sunk costs at this point, maybe trying to trim that and then really focusing on and honing in on the stuff that we want to go excel at. That's stuff that I feel like (there) may be opportunities that we haven't been able to take advantage of at this point. And stuff that we do feel like we're doing well, we can try to build on that a little."
The Seahawks got off to a hot start, winning three straight games to open the season, but have crumbled, losing four of their past five games to fall to 4-4 and concede the NFC West lead.
Macdonald might have entered the season wanting to install everything in all three phases, but right now, he needs his team to simply play fast and loose.
"Maybe less is more at this point, and just getting better at it," he said.
Macdonald added: "So it's frustrating, you know. You know you have things that can help schematically. But the answer, at the end of the day, is not the X's and O's. It's really not."
The answer is putting his players in a position to make plays. Those players need to come through.
Through eight games, the offense has been a wicked roller coaster, finding extreme heights and plummeting slopes. The defense has been a disaster at times, missing tackles and blowing assignments.
Macdonald was later asked which areas he thinks the Seahawks need to hang their hat on the rest of the season.
"To start with offense, I think one thing that gives us an edge is how we move and shift and formation and varied tempos," Macdonald said, . "And so I think that's something that we need to double down on. And we'll do that."
Potentially getting DK Metcalf back on the field will help jumpstart the offense that had its worst game of the season without the big-play receiver in Week 8.
"Defensively, situationally, I think we have done some good things. It just does seem it's a little hot and cold right now on a per-game basis," Macdonald added. "The red zone and third down stats last game [were bad], but on the whole, I feel like we've made a jump in those areas."
The wallowing defense is one reason Seattle made two recent trades, bringing in linebacker Ernest Jones and defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris. Plugging all the gaps isn't possible, however, causing Macdonald to search inward for the answers.
The Seahawks are allowing the most yards per play (6.5) in the NFL since Week 4 after allowing the fewest yards per play (3.9) in the NFL from Weeks 1-3. Seattle ranks in the bottom two in both rushing yards per game allowed (31st) and passing yards per attempt (8.4) since Week 4. They've also allowed 30.4 points per game since Week 4 (30th).
Sunday's divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Rams is pivotal for Macdonald's first season. A loss puts the Seahawks in the NFC West cellar. A win keeps them in the thick of it.
