How should Seahawks’ 2024 season be categorized?

Despite a late-season surge, the Seattle Seahawks will fall short of the playoffs in Mike Macdonald’s first year at the helm. The Los Angeles Rams locked up the NFC West crown last weekend, which means Seattle will miss the postseason for the second straight year and the third time in the past four years.

But with a victory over the Rams in Sunday’s season finale, the Seahawks (9-7) would reach the 10-win mark for the first time since 2020. It would be a one-win improvement from the final two years of former head coach Pete Carroll’s tenure. And it would make the Seahawks the first 10-win team to miss the playoffs since the NFL went to a 17-game regular season in 2021. The previous nine 10-7 teams each made the playoffs – seven as wild cards and two as division winners.

So, how should Macdonald’s first season be categorized? Was it a success, failure or something in between?

Stacy Rost and Seahawks Radio Network analyst Michael Bumpus delved into that topic earlier this week on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

Rost’s take

The 37-year-old Macdonald was hired in large part to fix a defense that had fallen off in the later years of Carroll’s decorated run in Seattle. And after some early growing pains, Macdonald certainly seems to have accomplished that.

Following a dramatic midseason turnaround, the Seahawks have had one of the defenses in the league over the past two months.

Since Week 9, the Seahawks have allowed just 18.5 points, 97.8 rushing yards and 300.2 total yards per game. They have held six of their past eight opponents to 19 offensive points or fewer. They also have held six of their past eight opponents to fewer than 300 total yards in regulation.

It’s resulted in a pretty stark year-over-year improvement.

From 2023 to 2024, the Seahawks went from 29th in points allowed per drive (2.20) to fifth (1.74). They went from 25th in points allowed per game (23.6) to 10th (21.4). They went from 31st in rushing yards allowed per game (138.4) to 18th (123.1). And they went from 30th in total yards allowed per game (371.4) to 13th (328.3).

As a result, Rost views this season as a success.

“The basic thing you wanted to do – the mopping-the-floor situation – was your defense needed to be better,” Rost said. “Your defense had completely fallen off. … Mike Macdonald was brought in to (fix that) and did.

“You are top-10 in limiting passing yards and limiting points, and you moved from 31st to 18th in terms of limiting rushing yards. That is massive improvement. … So I see that as being a success.”

But as Rost said, that’s only the first step toward building a legitimate contender. Now that the defense is on track, Macdonald and the Seahawks need to improve an offense that was far too inconsistent this fall.

Seattle ranks just 19th in points per game (21.6), which is about on par with last year’s finish at 17th (21.4). And the offense fell to 23rd in points per drive (1.82) after ranking 12th (1.93) last season.

“What I’ve found is this feeling of wanting more,” Rost said. “But that doesn’t mean that this season isn’t a success. That’s how teams build into contenders. They start by cleaning up the basic stuff they need to do. And then all of a sudden they go, ‘Well, now that that’s done, we want to be really innovative with our pass game or we want to find an answer at running back.'”

Bump’s take

There were some pretty dramatic peaks and valleys in the Seahawks’ season.

A season-opening three-game win streak. A stretch of five losses in six games that dropped them below .500. A four-game win streak that vaulted them atop the NFC West. And ultimately, back-to-back losses to top-tier NFC North teams that did them in.

But after all the ups and downs, Seattle ended up with the win total Bumpus expected.

“This season was exactly the way I thought it was going to be – nine or 10 wins, maybe get to the playoffs,” said Bumpus, a former NFL wide receiver. “Just show that you that you’re making some progress in some areas, and I think we saw that. There’s a foundation that’s laid. Mike Macdonald has a good thing going on. Changes will be made, I believe, with the roster and with the staff. That’s just what happens during an offseason. But I’m OK with where they’re headed.

“The journey to get there was a bit frustrating. But in the end, it’s exactly what I thought it was going to be.”

Bumpus equated it to a “satisfactory” grade in school.

“I wanted to see some improvement, and I saw the defense got better,” Bumpus said. “… So was it a success? It was satisfactory. This is exactly what should have happened.”

Steve Wyche weighs in

During an appearance on Bump and Stacy earlier this week, NFL Network’s Steve Wyche had a similar perspective on the Seahawks’ season.

Wyche thinks that if Seattle can get to 10 wins, that would be an important achievement in Macdonald’s first year – even though it wouldn’t result in a playoff berth.

“If you get to 10 wins, that’s a big thing,” Wyche said. “I mean, look at all the teams in the NFL this year that would love to get to double-digit wins. So I think that’s a positive step forward for Macdonald going into Year 2.

“The NFL is very top-heavy this year,” he added. “This is the first year it seemed like Major League Baseball, where the good teams were really good and the bad teams were really bad. … So I think this year, if you’re a nine or a 10-win team, yeah, it may not feel great because you didn’t make the playoffs.

“But I think it should be a pretty good accomplishment, especially knowing it’s pretty identifiable what went good and what didn’t.”

Listen to the full conversation on Bump and Stacy at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

 

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