Who would go all in on fourth down not once, not twice, but three times with the game and first place in the division on the line? Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, the man who knows the odds.
I don’t know about you, 12s, but I got tired of another thing almost as much as the awful offensive line play when it comes to the Seahawks. I mean, other than the losing. That would be Hawks head coach Mike Macdonald hitting repeat on his usual statement after a loss. It would typically be something in the vein of, “I believe in the foundation we’re building.”
Yes, I called for a coaching change, but only inasmuch as I believed that Macdonald needed to turn over defensive play-calling duties and focus on being the head coach. I’m happy to admit that I was wrong. I’m even happier to see that Macdonald knew he was wrong, too. The thing about Macdonald is, he was smart enough to do something about it, and had the courage to act.
The Seahawks Mike Macdonald is a gambler with a precise plan
He saw that his hand-picked inside linebackers, Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson, were building a foundation of sand for the Seahawks defense. He made the bold move of jettisoning both in midseason. When have you ever heard of a team changing the core of their defense in the middle of a season? And when have you ever seen it work?
Well, now you have. Ernest Jones IV revitalized the Hawks defense. The move from Tyrel Dodson to Tyrice Knight has only added to those gains. The Hawks haven’t allowed over 300 yards since those changes. Even better, they’ve given up an average of just 12.3 points per game. Three of those drives were for less than 40 yards, so they weren’t exactly put in the best circumstances on every series, either.
In the game versus the Jets, Macdonald showed he’s got some serious stones. The Seahawks faced fourth and six not once, but twice in this game. The first resulted in the Smith to Smith-Njigba 24-yard connection that set up Myers’ 43-yard field goal to bring Seattle within two points. The second gamble was at the Seahawks own 33-yard line. Yes, Michael Dickson was suffering from back spasms. The odds of Jason Myers getting off a reasonable punt would seem more likely than Seattle picking up a first down there. Again, the gambler rolled the dice and came up big
But a penalty on the confused Jets gave the Hawks a more manageable fourth and one. A deep pass to DK Metcalf drew a clear pass interference penalty and kept the drive alive. Macdonald opted to go for the first on fourth and one at the New York 33-yard line, rather than have Myers try a 50-yard kick to give Seattle a one point lead.
The gamble paid off again as the Seahawks picked up the first on yet another Jets penalty and eventually scored on an eight-yard Zach Charbonnet run. The Seahawks needed to roll the dice several times in this game. They didn’t win on every roll, true. But Mike Macdonald took some big risks, and they clearly paid off.
Leave a Reply