When the Rams visited Baltimore during the 2023 season, the offense faced one of the best defenses in the NFL. Mike Macdonald, the current Seattle Seahawks head coach, coordinated the Ravens D, a defense that had four All-Pros on its roster.
During the game, Macdonald, whose Seahawks are set to welcome the Rams on Sunday, gave the team a lot of film to analyze. The Macdonald defense is a zone-based shell defense that prioritizes stopping the run and keeping the ball in front of the secondary. He does this through a multitude of different defensive looks, utilizing his linebackers and hybrid defenders such as Kyle Hamilton to disrupt passing lanes up the middle.
The Rams should be able to take away several lessons from that game. Macdonald called a series of tendencies that constantly showed up throughout the game.
On third down, he’d stack his linebackers at the line of scrimmage to confuse the QB on whether he was bringing the blitz or dropping his backers into coverage. Most times, they bail out but considering the Seahawks acquired former Rams linebacker Ernest Jones, Macdonald may blitz him to send a message.
Macdonald also calls blitzes in the red zone, especially when the QB is in the shotgun. He’ll use his defenders to eliminate check-downs to the tight end and running back, so having a slot receiver hot read in the red zone is a must.
Macdonald rarely has more than two interior defensive linemen on the field as he expects his linebackers to blow up gaps on runs. As a result, on rushing plays, the linebackers crash hard. Running a trap blocking scheme could give Kyren Williams a clear path to the end zone.
Lastly, Macdonald likes to run man coverage in the red zone. Pre-snap motion in the red zone is a must as the Rams will struggle to find an advantageous matchup against Tariq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon, so diagnosing who they’re covering is key to victory.
