Seahawks’ track record should worry Pats QB Drake Maye

When Mike Macdonald arrived two years ago, he brought a defensive philosophy to the Seattle Seahawks that consistently ranked among the league’s best. That reputation had 12s excited that he could be the ideal successor to Pete Carroll and revive the defense back to levels not seen since the Legion of Boom.

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In only Maconald’s second year, the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense is the best in the NFL and has drawn worthy comparisons to the greatest defenses of years past.

One of the areas where a defensive scheme can stand out is against young and inexperienced quarterbacks. Future Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick was famous for giving rookie quarterbacks nightmares.

With the Patriots’ Drake Maye set to become one of the youngest quarterbacks to ever start a Super Bowl on Sunday, it’s worth pointing out that Macdonald’s Seahawks have established a fearsome reputation of their own.

Here’s how quarterbacks aged 24 and under have done against the Seahawks since 2024:

• Denver’s Bo Nix (2024) – 26/42 passing, 138 yards, two sacks, two interceptions
• Chicago’s Caleb Williams (2024) – 16/28, 122 yards, seven sacks, one interception
• Houston’s CJ Stroud (Week 7) – 23/49, 229 yards, three sacks, one touchdown, one interception
• Tennessee’s Cam Ward (Week 12) – 28/42, 256 yards, four sacks, one touchdown
• Minnesota’s Max Brosmer (Week 13) – 19/30, 126 yards, four sacks, four interceptions
• Carolina’s Bryce Young (Week 17) – 14/24, 54 yards, two sacks, one interception

By the way, the Seahawks went 6-0 in those games.

Before I average these numbers out, let’s remove Max Brosmer, who was an undrafted rookie thrown to the wolves for his first career start due to injuries for the Vikings. The other five quarterbacks were all first-round picks, with Nix being the only one taken outside the top two. The average performance was a 57.8% completion percentage, 160 yards, and 3.6 sacks for just 3.3 average yards per drop back. In total, these quarterbacks could only manage two touchdowns compared to five interceptions.

Almost all of them were stifled by the Seahawks’ defense, with the exception of Cam Ward who turned heads by moving the ball consistently down the field and avoiding any turnovers. The Seahawks led 30-10 in the third quarter before Ward led two touchdown drives. The Hawks were still able to leave Tennessee with a 30-24 win.

What does this mean for Drake Maye? Right now he’s in a class of his own among the young quarterbacks, expected to receive a significant number of MVP votes. Even if he delivers an MVP-worthy performance on Sunday, perhaps a defensive wrinkle that Maye hasn’t seen in his young career will be just enough to generate an interception or a sack fumble.

If the right game plan does generate an impact play for the Seahawks, swinging the momentum of the game, you can bet the front office will be patting themselves on the back for hiring Macdonald.

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