Mike Macdonald

Two seasons in, the Seahawks defense has flipped from 24th to 2nd in EPA.

In Pete Carroll's last three seasons the defense gave up +0.04 EPA per play on average — a quietly bottom-third unit. In Macdonald's first year it was league-average. In year two it's at −0.124, second only to Houston. A 0.176 EPA/play swing in two years is one of the largest defensive turnarounds you'll find in the modern era.

Best point differential in the NFL in 2025 — by 19 points.

The Seahawks outscored opponents by 191 points — the largest margin in the league, and 19 ahead of the second-place Rams. Defense did the heavy lifting: their 292 points allowed is fewest in the NFL. Most other top-differential teams (LA, NE, BUF) leaned on offense; Seattle is the only one in the top five whose point total is built primarily on the other side of the ball.

Top-5 against the pass AND #1 against the run — only Houston joins them.

Out of 32 defenses, only Houston and Seattle finish top-5 in EPA against both the pass and the run. Most elite units lean one way — Minnesota and Cleveland are top-3 vs the pass but middling against the run. Macdonald's defense is the only one in the league that's #1 against the run while also stopping pass-heavy offenses.

The defensive leap has nothing to do with sacks — sack rate is identical.

Seattle has sacked the QB on roughly 7.3–7.4% of dropbacks every year since 2022. Macdonald didn't bring a pressure renaissance — the rate hasn't budged.

What changed is what happens *behind* the rush: interceptions jumped from 11 to 21 in two years, and total takeaways have rebounded to a Carroll-era top mark. The defense is winning with disguised coverages and turnover opportunism, not with raw pass-rush volume.

14–3 ties the best regular-season record in Seahawks history.

The 14 wins match Seattle's best regular-season total in the database (1999–present), surpassing the 13-win 2013 Super Bowl champions and the 13-win 2005 NFC champs. Doing it in his second year as a head coach — with the same QB position MIN had just abandoned — puts Macdonald in rare company as a defensive HC who immediately reshaped a roster's identity.

Red-zone TD rate allowed: 16.7%, lowest of any defense Seattle has fielded.

Two consecutive years of red-zone defensive improvement under Macdonald, from 19.4% TD rate allowed in Carroll's last year to 16.7% in 2025. The volume of red-zone snaps faced is essentially unchanged — opposing offenses still get there — but they leave with field goals instead of touchdowns. That's the gap between the 2024 (10–7) team and the 2025 (14–3) team in microcosm.