First-year Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is in an enviable spot, earning an undefeated start to his career while knowing his club still has higher heights to reach.
Seattle is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2020. The Seahawks have made the playoffs each of the last five times they've started 3-0. Macdonald is also the first head coach in Seahawks history to begin his tenure 3-0.
"We are in a great position where we've done enough to win each game that we've played," Macdonald said, via the team's official website. "There's a lot of great stuff on tape, but we're also at the beginning stages of this team and who we are going to become, and the guys know that. It's very clear when you watch the tape where we need to improve, and there's a great opportunity for us to improve. The message is, 'Let's take advantage of this opportunity that we have.' We have the opportunity to learn so much about who we are, how we're going to grow our operation throughout the week, how we prepare, and we can be so much better. It's so early in the season we're in a great position. Obviously, it's way better than the opposite, and so we're excited about that, but there's a sense of urgency, too, on where this football team needs to go."
The Seahawks are the first team since the 1979 Steelers to start 3-0 and allow fewer than 150 passing yards in each of their first three games in a season (the 1979 Steelers finished 12-4 and won Super Bowl XIV). Macdonald's defense has allowed just 3.9 yards per play.
On offense, Geno Smith has performed well behind an offensive line that has struggled mightily at times this season. Despite three interceptions through three weeks -- two of which came on tipped balls in Sunday's win over Miami -- Smith has made several ridiculous throws, particularly against pressure, to put his club over the top. If the offensive line gels in the coming weeks and provides more than a modicum of protection, Seattle's offense could take another step.
It must be noted that the Seahawks' three opponents to open the season haven't been the stiffest competition. They faced rookie Bo Nix making his first career start in Week 1, survived at New England in Week 2, and blew out a Tua Tagovailoa-less Dolphins squad in Week 3. Still, lesser teams could have stubbed their toe in one or more of those games. Macdonald's did not.
Week 4 brings the stiffest test thus far as Seattle travels to Detroit to face the Lions next Monday night. The Seahawks have won six straight matchups against the Lions, including the past two years in Detroit.