Crazy how different Seattle's and Baltimore's defenses look from last year to now. It's almost like they've switched places. MacDonald is one special coach.
Seen a chart on Macdonald's defense he's mainly using cover 1 cover 3 over 30% of the time with cover 4 at 16% and cover 2 and 6 just 10% of the time he hasnt called cover 2 man or zero blitzes now I'm curious to how he sequences the plays which coverage in what down and distance I find this fascinating
I really think the emphasis for Woolen being a Coverage DB and not a Press DB has made a huge impact in how the back end operates, and unlocks Woolen as a player. He'd play Press because he knew he could keep up with wideouts, and slowing them down was good for their defense in 2023. In the current space, he's (as you said) begging for the ball to be thrown to his side, which is almost always a bad decision now that he's not getting beat by amazing WR's or by himself with dumb hands to the face penalties. He's basically a defensive version of Metcalf, just being an agitator and a ball hawk. This ALSO lets Witherspoon, a much more wily DB but maybe not as physically imposing, play a bit more free and clamp his target down. Its effectively a pick your poison between letting Woolen gets tries on the ball, or get nothing after the catch against Witherspoon.
I mean stating the obvious, but I think Woolen's shoulder injury last year was probably not helpful for his tackling efforts. He definitely did have some poor tackling film his rookie year despite the picks which was notable but not a problem, and this year I don't think he's really been forced to show it to this point yet whether he's improved or stayed put on that front cause the tackling through the middle of the field has generally been much better this year compared to the previous few years that saw the defense as a whole unable to stop the run. But yeah I'll be eager to see where that lands towards the end of the year.
I love these breakdowns!!! Thank you for taking interest in my Hawks and breaking down the film. We've needed this type of coverage. It's greatly appreciated!!
Not just a rematch for Macdonald. The Seahawks have played Detroit in Detroit last year and the year before, winning both games in shootouts. This is the 3rd year in a row. I'm sure the Lions would love some payback.
These two are so talented with such interesting skill sets. I can’t wait to see how their time with Coach Mac plays out. Three games in and they’re a fun and intense duo.
Great vid thank you! This upcoming Detroit / Seattle game is huge! Do you think Goff and St. Brown will be able to do anything against this awesome Seahawk defense?
