When the Seattle Seahawks appointed Mike Macdonald as their new head coach, they knew he’d bring a creative defensive scheme with him from Baltimore. As the Ravens’ defensive coordinator last season, Macdonald oversaw a defense that became the first unit in NFL history to lead the league in sacks (60), points allowed (16.5 per game), and takeaways (31). Unsurprisingly, his presence is already paying dividends in Seattle.
Macdonald derived a game plan that confused Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix in his Week 1 victory. The Seahawks did an incredible job mixing and matching coverages so that Nix had no idea what was coming on any given snap. According to respected NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, the Seahawks spent 21% of their coverage snaps in quarters defense, 17.5% in Cover 6, 17% in Cover 1, and 10% in Cover 2.
.@MoveTheSticks on @SeattleSports on the Seahawks mixing defensive coverages Sunday
17% cover 1
10% cover 2
21% quarters
17.5% cover 6"They're constantly changing so you can't really get a bead on what they're doing."
— Maura Dooley (@Maura_Dool) September 11, 2024
Quarters coverage, or Cover 4, is a zone-based defense designed to divide the field into four deep zones, with each defensive back responsible for a ‘quarter’ (hence its title) of the field. Cover 2 is another zone-based concept. Cover 1 utilizes one free safety roaming the middle with defenders in man coverage. The Seahawks were calling both man-and-zone concepts.
Nix completed 26-of-42 passing attempts for 138 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions against this complicated Seahawks defense. Nix averaged 3.3 yards per passing attempt, tied for sixth-lowest by any NFL quarterback that attempted at least 40 passes in a game since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, per ESPN.
The ability to mix and match coverages offers the defense a huge advantage. Credit to the Seahawks’ secondary for handling and executing such responsibilities on a snap-by-snap basis. High football IQs are required to play different schemes so seamlessly.
Macdonald is already bringing some of that creative magic to Seattle.
