The Seattle Seahawks defense was downright dominant in Sunday’s blowout 24-3 Week 3 victory over the Miami Dolphins. Mike Macdonald’s pass rush accumulated six total sacks. They sacked Skylar Thompson on five occasions, and Tim Boyle, who replaced Thompson due to injury, once.
Only four teams have racked up more sacks than Seattle’s 11. Defensive coordinator Aden Durde watched his defense collect 21 total pressures against Miami’s backup quarterbacks. Consistently getting into the backfield completely derailed Miami’s offensive game plan.
Macdonald’s defense has totaled 77 total pressures thus far this season. Boye Mafe leads the defense in pressures with 17, according to Pro Football Focus. Derick Hall ranks second with 12, and Leonard Williams is the third defender with double-digit pressures (11).
Seattle’s defense has been so dominant that they’ve gathered 50 more pressures than the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals, according to Brett Kollmann. Macdonald and general manager John Schneider will especially appreciate that their NFC West rival Cardinals are so much worse at rushing the passer.
Underrated storyline this year is the emergence and dominance of the Seahawks pass rush.
They have 77 pressures so far on this young season. For context, that is 50(!!!) more than Tennessee and Arizona have right now.
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) September 23, 2024
Macdonald has brought a creative defensive scheme to the Seahawks that’s allowing their pass rushers to apply constant pressure on quarterbacks. Macdonald oversaw a Baltimore Ravens defense last season that led the league in sacks with 60. Perhaps the Seahawks will threaten to post a league-leading amount of QB takedowns this season.
