As the Seattle Seahawks gear up for one of their most important games of the still-young 2024 NFL season, Mike Macdonald's defense has been dealt a series of crushing blows ahead of their Week 6 game against the San Francisco 49ers.
First came the decision to place OLB Uchenna Nwosu on IR with a thigh injury, a move that was somewhat expected but will stress a depth chart all the same. Then came word a pair of premier young defensive contributors being officially ruled out for Week 6, as ESPN's Brady Henderson reported on social media.
“In addition to OLB Uchenna Nwosu, who’s headed to IR, the Seahawks ruled out DT Byron Murphy II and CB Riq Woolen for their game tomorrow night vs. the 49ers,” Henderson wrote on social media. “OLB Boye Mafe, OLB Derick Hall, and S Julian Love are questionable.”
Dealing with a hamstring and ankle injury, respectively, losing Murphy II and Woolen will be tough to stomach for the Seahawks in Week 6, as they theoretically would have played big roles in slowing down two of the 49ers' biggest threats, Jordan Mason and Brandon Aiyuk. Factor in the potential absences of Mafe, Hall, and Love, too, who have all been solid enough contributors for the Seahawks in 2024, and suddenly, Macdonald could be game-planning for one of the premier offenses in the NFL with half a deck of cards at his disposal.
The Seahawks defense has tailed off over the past five weeks
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After dominating defensively over the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL season, allowing just 132.3 passing yards and 116.3 rushing yards per game, the Seahawks have really fallen off in Weeks 4 and 5.
Facing off against the Detroit Lions and the New York Giants, one very good team and one very bad team, the Seahawks have allowed an average of 259 passing yards and 145.5 yards on the ground on the way to two straight losses. Suddenly, the Seahawks went from surrendering an average of 14.3 points per game to 35.5, and the shine of Macdonad's much-hyped defensive front had started to fade.
What gives? Has the Seahawks' defense been exposed? Or have injuries simply stacked up and left Macdonald's defense inexecutable? Either way, if the Seahawks are down a half-dozen core defensive players in Week 6, Macdonald will have to seriously hit the books and design something to have any hope of matching strikes with the 49ers, as he won't have some of his top players to rely on for an easy pick or a big play.
