By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Three things we learned from Mike Macdonald Monday press conference

With the mystery surrounding   the NFL Week 18 cleared up, the Seattle Seahawks ( 13-3)  will travel to the  Bay Area and play the  San Francisco Forty Niners ( 12-4)   on Saturday, January.  The winner will claim the  No.  One Seed in the  NFC. The Seahawks offense struggled early but  finished the game with two late drives that sealed the team’s 27-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. The defense continued its dominant play and held the Panthers’ offense to just 139 total yards. Head Coach Mike Macdonald held his weekly media session with the Seattle Media.

QUICK TURN AROUND

With the game being  played on Saturday rather than Sunday, both teams have a quick turnaround to  prepare for a similar opponent, but have not played against since week one of the regular season

“To me, it’s like, it’s a West Coast trip. So, it’s a one-day trip for us, and you start there and work backwards. There’s a balance of how do you get your guys recovered, body ready to go, how many reps do you get, what speed, and things like that. Right now, we have a plan. The guys are going to come in tomorrow afternoon, it’s kind of a Thursday, Sunday combo, if that makes sense. But then once we hit the ground on Wednesday, the scheduling is, this Wednesday, football, Thursday, we’ll take it from there, but tomorrow will be a little bit different for the guys.”

THE SEAHAWKS SHOWED AN ABILITY TO   CLOSE OUT THE GAME

The offense showed resiliency and an ability to close out a game with a Jason Myers 30-yard field goal that was followed up by a Zach Charbonnet one-yard run.  The Myers field capped a 14-play, 55-yard drive that consumed over eight minutes of the game clock and extended the Seahawks’ lead to 20-10 after the Panthers had scored their first touchdown of the game.   The Seahawks defense forced a three-and-out, which gave the ball back to the Seahawks offense, which closed out the game with five consecutive runs by Charbonnet.  

“We talk about—I’m a broken record here—complementary football. Our offense didn’t have their best output yesterday, but in those critical moments in the second half, being able to play off the defense and really put the game away are things that we have to be able to do in order to win these games coming down the stretch. So, that was great, “ said Macdonald.

 “We had a break with the facemask penalty, but we also had some plays in that game that didn’t go our way as well, so it balances out in the end. But our guys did a great job. Zach (Charbonnet) strung together some phenomenal runs. Our  guys blocked their tails off and it was good football there in the fourth quarter.”

SAME BUT DIFFERENT TEAMS

A lot has transpired for both teams since the 2025 regular season opener, which saw the Niners leave Lumen Field with a  17-13 victory.  Macdonald was asked how much his team has  grown since the season-opening contest with the Niners.

“ It’s funny. I just think we’ve grown as a defense and coaches included of how we prepare our guys. We have a better feeling for what our guys are good at and what they can handle on a game plan basis. We had to pivot pretty drastically in that game. That happens all the time, and you’ve got to be able to do that to win,” said Macdonald. “We’re going to have a plan this game that we feel great about, hopefully. You’ve got to have a backup plan too, if things don’t really go your way. You never know what’s going to happen. We just have a better understanding of who we are, who can do what, and how much we can carry. We have more clarity at this point, which I’m actually glad that’s the case otherwise that wouldn’t be a very good job on our part.”

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