Macdonald previews Seahawks’ pivotal rematch vs Arizona

Dec 6, 2024, 10:34 AM | Updated: 11:27 am

Seattle Seahawks Leonard Williams Kyler Murray pass breakup 2024...

Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams breaks up a pass by Arizona QB Kyler Murray on Nov. 24, 2024. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

BY CAMERON VAN TIL

Seattle Sports

It’s been quite the week for Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.

Huard: What Seahawks need to repeat against Cardinals

On Sunday, the 37-year-old first-time head coach guided his team to a wild 26-21 road win over the New York Jets. On Monday, his wife, Stephanie, went into labor. And on Tuesday night, the couple welcomed their first child: Jack David Macdonald.

“Jack knew better than to show up on a Sunday,” Macdonald joked to Steve Raible during Friday morning’s Mike Macdonald Preview on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

“We’re really blessed,” Macdonald added. “I mean, so many things have to go right to get to this stage and everybody be healthy. … It was a really magical couple days. It was awesome.”

After becoming a first-time dad earlier this week, Macdonald is now busy preparing the first-place Seahawks for what might be their biggest game of the season. Seattle (7-5) travels to the desert to face the second-place Arizona Cardinals (6-6) in a pivotal NFC West showdown that serves as a massive swing game in the division title race.

It’s a rematch of the Seahawks’ smothering 16-6 win over the Cardinals two weeks ago, when they held Arizona to a season-low six points and 298 total yards. That victory was part of a dramatic turnaround for Seattle’s defense, which has held four straight opponents to 17 offensive points or fewer in regulation.

But as Macdonald knows, his defense has to bring the same level of intensity to Arizona that it’s shown over the past four games.

“You’ve gotta do it every week,” Macdonald. “You’ve gotta do it every day. … That’s the mentality you have to have all the time. If you start saying, ‘Hey, we had a couple good games on defense, let’s just roll the ball out there,’ you’re gonna get embarrassed and humbled really, really quickly in this league.”

The Seahawks will be facing a high-powered Arizona rushing attack. Led by the tandem of dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray and veteran running back James Conner, the Cardinals rank second in the NFL in yards per carry (5.1) and sixth in rushing yards per game (141.4).

Seattle completely shut down Arizona’s ground attack in their first meeting, holding the Cardinals to a season-low 49 yards on 14 carries. Murray had just two carries for 9 yards, while Conner mustered just seven carries for 8 yards.

“A lot had to go right for us to have the performance we had when we were here against the Cardinals,” Macdonald said. “This is a heck of an offense. … We definitely have our hands full. Our guys know that. The guys understand what it took for us to have success. And so we’re gonna do our best to take the next step against these guys back at their place.”

The Seahawks’ defense could be getting another reinforcement on Sunday after activating outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu off injured reserve on Thursday.

Nwosu totaled a career-best 9.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss during his debut season with Seattle in 2022, but has been plagued by injuries over the past two years.

Last year, he missed the final 11 games after suffering a season-ending pectoral injury in Week 7. And this year, he missed the first four games of the season with a sprained MCL that he suffered in the preseason finale. He then returned in Week 5, but exited that game with a thigh injury that landed him on IR for the past seven games.

“Man, it’s great to have Chenna back in some capacity, really in any capacity,” Macdonald said. “This guy’s gone through a lot of adversity over the last couple of years. So to have that opportunity to come back and put himself in a position to play speaks a lot about him and the type of guy he is. … He’s just a great person, great man and a guy that we love.”