“It looks like Seattle’s playing with 12 men on defense.”
The popular football saying has been especially prominent in the media surrounding the Seahawks recent performances. They suffocated the Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals before their loss to the Los Angeles Rams, which was still arguably the defense’s best performance of the season.
Several factors make Seattle’s defense the best in the NFL at the moment. Nick Emmanwori plays the “joker” role at an elite level as a rookie- a hybrid safety/linebacker who reads the quarterback’s eyes before triggering towards the play. Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II cause destruction in the middle of the field, where soldiers like Drake Thomas, Ty Okada and Coby Bryant are eager to pop anyone’s pads under a different-colored jersey. The defensive end and outside linebacker rotation of DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, Derick Hall, and Boye Mafe have proven extremely effective. But why do commentators and analysts keep feeling there’s an extra man?
The word is culture.
Mike Macdonald has built an unmistakable way of life on his specialty side of the ball. Leaders like Ernest Jones IV step up and give postgame press conferences heard around the league to defend their quarterback on his worst day. Players from Josh Jobe to Okada to D’Anthony Bell and Derion Kendrick step in and thrive when starters go out injured. Starters like Devon Witherspoon come back and play multiple positions, unquestioning of Macdonald’s plan.
Another old football saying goes, “It’s not the Xs and Os, but the Jimmys and Joes that make the difference.” The Seahawks defense runs the revolutionary scheme Macdonald envisioned and personnel John Schneider vetted as ballplayers and humans, but the player-led culture they’ve held above all is the most valuable asset. The only time defensive culture has been this prominent in the franchise was at the height of Pete Carroll’s tenure with the Legion of Boom. In just his second year alongside Schneider, Macdonald has re-established that level of standard.