Seattle Seahawks Faced With First Real Test Of Mike Macdonald Era

The Seattle Seahawks opened this season with a surprising 3-0 record. Head coach Mike Macdonald made history in becoming the first man in that role to win his first three games as the Seahawks’ head coach. For Seattle, Macdonald changing the culture after Pete Carroll’s 14-year run in the Pacific Northwest was pretty big news during the summer. In reality, Carroll’s tenure had grown old. It was time for some new blood. What we saw during that three-game winning streak to open the season painted Macdonald in a great light. Seattle was far from perfect. It also had the benefit of an easy schedule. Even then, the ability to come up clutch was a major talking point. That was no more true than in an overtime win over the New England Patriots back in Week 2. Fast forward several weeks, and these good feelings have given in to reality in Seattle. The Seahawks head into Sunday’s road date with the Atlanta Falcons riding a three-game losing streak. They were outclassed at home by the division-rival San Francisco 49ers this past Thursday night. That followed a road loss to the Detroit Lions and a disheartening home defeat at the hands of the lowly New York Giants. At 3-3 on the season, Seattle remains firmly alive in the NFC West race. But the team simply can’t afford for this thing to snowball moving forward. "Look, it stings,” Macdonald said after last week’s loss, via the Seahawks’ official website. “It stings to have lost three in a row, to lose it against your division rival at home, prime time, such a great environment. Guys fought their tails off down to the last minute, but we're not playing well enough to be the team we needed to be.” Seattle has turned the ball over six times with only one takeaway during this three-game losing streak. It has played loose with the ball. On the other side, the Seahawks’ defense continues to be torched. Seattle Seahawks Defense Needs To Get Back On Track Seattle did pull off a trade for Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris on Monday. The veteran will provide depth as Seattle looks to overcome early-season struggles on this side of the ball. The Seahawks gave up 228 rushing yards to San Francisco in Week 6. That came after the Giants surprisingly ran for 175 yards against this unit. Hence, the addition of Robertson-Harris. Unfortunately, the issues are more widespread than that. Last week’s loss to San Francisco was a prime example of this. Seattle’s defense yielded a 76-yard touchdown from Brock Purdy to Deebo Samuel. With the game on the line late in the fourth quarter, this unit then gave up a 76-yard run to 49ers rookie running back Isaac Guerendo. Yielding big plays changes the trajectory of a game on a dime. As a defensive-minded head coach, Macdonald knows that all too well. But it has not been for a lack of effort. At least, that’s what Macdonald sees. "You can't fix everything overnight," he said. "You've got to pick one thing at a time. You've got to be really surgical in our approach, positive. There are good things on tape. The effort was there. The guys are trying to play physical. Trying to play the right way. We've got to look at what we're asking and how we're coaching it and how teams are attacking us, and then go from there.” Earlier this season, I pointed to Smith playing flawless football despite a lack of balance on offense. I also warned that it was not sustainable. That has come out in droves during this three-game losing streak. The former NFL Comeback Player of the Year has thrown three touchdowns compared to three interceptions during this span. All said, he’s accounted for six scores and six picks in as many games. That’s a major downtick in production in comparison to previous seasons. A lot of this has to do with the aforementioned lack of balance on offense. Smith is averaging nearly 50 pass attempts during this three-game skid. It’s also not a coincidence that he’s been sacked 11 times. The Seahawks really need more from running backs Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Seattle ranks 29th in the league at 96.5 rushing yards per game. Smith himself has accounted for 25 percent of the team’s rushing yards through six games. Again, that’s just not sustainable. As Macdonald noted in his post-game press conference, things are just not clicking for these Seahawks. An inability to run the ball coupled with turnovers has led to the Seahawks being unable to play ball control on offense. The game-changing big plays their defense has yielded also plays a role here. Seattle now has an opportunity to end this skid on the road against the Atlanta Falcons this coming Sunday. It will not be easy. New Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is playing at an MVP level. He has Atlanta at a surprising 4-2 on the season. After that, Seattle hosts the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams ahead of a Week 10 bye. This three-game set will act as a prelude to a rematch with the 49ers on the road come Nov. 17. The roof is not collapsing in Seattle right now. But Macdonald and Co. must get this fixed before it snowballs into something more.