The 2024 season was a tale of two halves for the Seattle Seahawks' defense. After an up-and-down first half of the season, the defense really settled in during the second half once head coach Mike Macdonald had more time to install his scheme and find players that fit said scheme.
Of course, Macdonald's work is far from complete. Not only is he still working to find impact players, but he's still refining his scheme as well.
In fact, he already knows one way he can improve. Macdonald reportedly told former quarterback Kurt Benkert that he's "adamant that he didn't dial enough enough blitzes last season," and he wants to turn up the heat in 2025.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Seahawks blitzed on 23.6 percent of plays last season, tied for the 17th-highest rate in the league. Interestingly, that's a higher blitz rate than Macdonald's Baltimore Ravens defenses had, as he dialed up extra pressure at a rate of 21.9 percent in 2023 (25th) and 21.3 percent in 2022 (21st).
Defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who previously served as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line coach from 2021-23, has a bit more experience in blitz-heavy schemes. The Cowboys blitzed at a rate of 28.5 percent in 2023 (13th), 25.6 percent in 2022 (13th) and 29.1 percent in 2022 (10th). Durde obviously didn't coordinate those defenses, but he of course worked closely with the pass rush.
The good news is that the Seahawks managed to generate a good deal of pressure despite not blitzing very often. They had 45 sacks last season, tied for the eighth-most in the league. All but one of the teams that had more sacks than them blitzed at a higher rate, the lone exception being the Ravens, who blitzed 20.3 percent of the time and had 54 sacks.
If Macdonald ends up bringing the heat more often this season, and can do so without taking away from the Seahawks' pass coverage too much, this pass rush has serious potential.
