There are always going to be multiple areas in which a coaching staff wants to improve, but two clear things that emerged from Sunday’s loss were that the Seahawks need to run the ball more on offense, and need to do a better job of stopping the run on defense.
As well as Geno Smith has been playing so far this season—”Geno is a big bright spot on our football team right now, he’s galvanizing force,” Macdonald said—Macdonald knows it’s not the best formula moving forward to lean so heavily on the passing game. Last week in Detroit, Kenneth Walker III carried only four times in the first half while Smith attempted 24 passes, then things balanced out more in the second half with Walker carrying eight times for 74 yards. On Sunday the Seahawks were even more imbalanced, with Smith throwing 40 times while Walker and Zach Charbonnet combined for seven carries.
“We all know we need to run the ball more,” Macdonald said. “Everybody knows that, our opponents know that. Our players in our locker room know that, (offensive coordinator Ryan) Grubb knows that, our coaches do, and I do. We have to create more situations where we can run it as well. And that’s a team stat as well. So that’s all three phases where we have to create those.”
On the other side of the ball, the Giants were able to rush for 175 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. With the Patriots able to rush for 185 yards against Seattle in Week 2, and with a dangerous 49er rushing attack coming to town Thursday, the Seahawks know they need to get better in that facet of the game.
“We’re not stopping the run the way we need to be in certain coverages that we’re asking to do,” Macdonald said. “That’s on the edge guys, but it’s on the interior guys, second-level players, it’s all 11 guys. If the ball squirts out and you force the ball, but your secondary contained player isn’t where he’s supposed to be, which I’m not saying that happened in every situation, it could be a corner and the ball gets out. So, to attribute it to just the edge players I think is unfair to those guys. There’s plenty for them to work on as well. But your run stat, it’s a team stat, it’s all 11 guys and how it works together.”
Despite the recent losses, the Seahawks have a lot to be proud of early this season, but what those losses have shown is that they still need to get better, and with a Thursday night game coming up, the clock is ticking.
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