Macdonald played to win on offense, not to win on defense.
New Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was faced with the first big game management decision of his nascent coaching career, and his decision paid off. The Seattle Seahawks seemed to be in firm control up 26-13 against the Denver Broncos, but a Bo Nix touchdown made things a little interesting.
Faced with 3rd and 11 and less than two minutes remaining, a first down would’ve iced the game, whereas failing to convert would’ve given the Broncos the ball back with plenty of time remaining for a possible winning touchdown. Denver jumped offside, and Noah Fant was two yards short of the marker, giving Seattle another crack at 3rd and 6. Running the ball wouldn’t have been completely unjustified and would’ve likely forced the Broncos to use their final timeout, but Zach Charbonnet was stymied when Kenneth Walker left the game due to injury. Why put the game in the defense’s hands voluntarily? Ryan Grubb dialed up another pass play, this time to ol’ reliable Tyler Lockett for a ridiculous one-handed catch. Game, set, match. In his Monday interview with Brock Huard and Mike Salk on Seattle Sports 710, Macdonald broke down that critical, game-clinching call. “We kind of code out our four-minute third downs, based off the risk that we want to take and how we want to handle the clock,” Macdonald said. “And just with where Denver was with timeouts, it just felt like we needed to be aggressive in that situation. “Ultimately, all these decisions are my decisions, so just get that to Grubb. I think I got it to him after the first-down call, and then he calls the rest of the drive accordingly. “I thought he made a great call. I just finished watching the play, and it’s just a tremendous play.” Mike Salk asked what went into the decision-making process and the risk-reward factor. “It’s a sliding scale,” Macdonald said. “If you did quick back of the napkin math, you’re looking at I think if I remember right—if we didn’t complete that pass, you’re looking at like 1:40 with a timeout. They’re in a four-down situation anyways. That’s plenty of time to go down the field. “We were going to have a four-down situation on defense regardless. If we ran it and they used the timeout, now you’re still looking at 1:40 but no timeouts. That’s still a lot of time to go down the field. So, we’re like, shoot, it’s basically the same situation. Let’s go try to put it away right now.” While I’m sure Macdonald would’ve trusted his defense to come up with a stop had the offense failed to deliver, it’s still fascinating to hear his reasoning and why he didn’t go the conservative route. It was ultimately a winning decision.
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