Macdonald: Offensive struggles a ‘Seahawk problem to solve’

The Seattle Seahawks sputtered to another rough offensive performance in their 34-17 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

Seahawks Injury Updates: Several players have ‘a chance’ to return this week

Seattle went three-and-out on five of its 11 possessions, averaged just 4.5 yards per play and finished with 252 total yards. It marked the fourth time in eight games the Seahawks have been held under 300 yards this season. Last year, that happened just three times in 17 regular-season games.

During his conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday morning, head coach Mike Macdonald refused to place the blame on any one player or position group.

“This is a team game, man,” Macdonald said. “This is a Seahawk problem to solve. This is not a one-person, one-position-group problem.”

Seattle’s offense got a personnel boost with top running backs Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet returning from injury on Monday night, along with recently acquired three-time All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson making his Seahawks debut.

However, similar issues persisted.

Sam Darnold was under heavy duress, with the Bears pressuring him on 16 of his 39 dropbacks, according to Sumer Sports. He took three sacks and six quarterback hits, while finishing just 17-of-34 passing for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

The passing attack was seemingly Jaxon Smith-Njigba or bust, with the star wideout accounting for 118 of the team’s 188 receiving yards.

And the ground attack was largely ineffective, with Seattle’s running backs combining for just 61 yards on 17 carries.

“We didn’t play good enough football as a team,” Macdonald said. “You can splice it however you want. Whatever position group, … it wasn’t good enough.”

Growing pains along the new-look O-line

Macdonald acknowledged that the offensive line shuffling created some growing pains. With Nelson taking over at left guard, 2025 first-round draft pick Grey Zabel slid over to make his first NFL start at right guard. And with Charles Cross out with an injury, backup Josh Jones got the start at left tackle.

And of course, it didn’t help that Seattle’s O-line was facing All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who Chicago acquired in a blockbuster trade last week.

“There’s a little bit of a learning curve with the new group and the new alignments,” Macdonald said. “There’s a couple coaching points that are going to happen, and it should be fewer and far between from week to week.

“We should be growing at a pretty good rate here, but there are things that are going to happen inevitably with a new group and guys lining up next to each other, and we have to work through those things and try to minimize those as best we can.”

Macdonald also emphasized that the pressure and sacks allowed are a “team stat,” and not always the offensive line’s fault.

“Maybe (the quarterback) is expecting a receiver to be in a certain spot and he’s not there, and now that throws off the cadence and the timing,” Macdonald said. “And now the offensive line, maybe they thought they could short-set this guy and jump-set him because the ball’s supposed to be out, and now the ball’s not out.

“You just never know what’s going on (in) that particular play on why the play didn’t work. So, just to cast it on Sam or cast it on the offensive line, I think isn’t the right thing to do in this moment. But to put it on our football team that we need to be better? Yeah, I think that’s a fair criticism.”

Mike Macdonald joins Brock and Salk on the day after Seahawks games at 9:30 a.m. for The Mike Macdonald Show. Listen to the full conversation at this link or watch the video at the top of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Seattle Seahawks news and more

• Stacy Rost: What led to Seahawks’ dismal showing vs Bears
• Wyman: Bears’ defense flipped the script on Seattle Seahawks
• Brock Huard: Seattle Seahawks show ‘no answers’ for Bears

Related

Arizona Cardinals put RB Jeremiyah Love on IR ahead of facing SeahawksSeahawks Injury Updates: Several players have ‘a chance’ to return this weekStacy Rost: What led to Seahawks’ dismal showing vs BearsWyman: Bears’ defense flipped the script on SeahawksBrock Huard: Seahawks show ‘no answers’ for BearsRecap: Seahawks fall to Bears 34-17