By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

After 49ers Loss, Seahawks Target Decisive, Relentless Response

With little time to reflect on the past, the Seattle Seahawks returned to work Monday morning, a day after their 32-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.  The undefeated Niners turned three  Seahawks turnovers into 21 points. Sam Darnold‘s first-quarter interception flipped into seven points on Brock Purdy’s seven-yard pass to Mike Evans. Fred Warner forced an Emanual Wilson fumble, which led to an 11-yard touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey.

The biggest transgression of the trifecta occurred just before halftime.  Running back George Holani fumbled in his own endzone, and the ball was recovered by the Niners Gracen  Halton for another seven points. While turnovers had the biggest impact on the game, execution issues also contributed to the loss, according to head coach Mike Macdonald

“We expect to grow in all three phases. There’s a sense of urgency to go. Sometimes, you grow best by doubling down on your core competencies and the things you believe in. That’s something we want to focus on is making sure that we’re all aligned in all of the things, from players to coaches and how we want to play and how we want to execute and what’s expected of us,’ said Macdonald during his Monday press  conference.” We’re growing on defense. We’re growing on special teams. Our special teams took a jump yesterday. Offense is right there with it, but there’s a sense of urgency to get going.”

QUICK TURNAROUND AGAINST A GOOD TEAM

The sense of urgency for Macdonald and his team is twofold. The team has to get right to start winning games and that urgency to get right must come to fruition in a matter of four days. The Seahawks’ next game is Thursday against the Denver Broncos in Mile High Stadium. The 3-2 Broncos come off a 23-17 win over the winless Los Angeles Chargers. With the quick turnaround, the Seahawks have had to adjust their schedule to prepare for a talented Broncos team.

“They’re a tough team. They’re really talented. Defensively, they pair their personnel well with their scheme. They’re aggressive. They do a really good job affecting the quarterback, affecting the ball, and denying the ball,”  said  Macdonald. “Offensively, it’s a tried-and-true scheme that Sean’s (Payton) done over time. I know he just took over playcalling again, but the quarterback is playing at a very high level. He extends plays. It’s complementary football. They’re a good football team.”

As for the short turnaround between the Niners and Broncos game, the team made minor adjustments to its practice routine.

We’ve tweaked our schedule a little bit. We’ve done it multiple ways. You’re fighting a battle on two fronts. It’s the health, body battle of trying to get your body ready to play the best you can. How you recover and how you get reps without going full speed, there’s an element there. There’s also something to be said about getting your body moving at some point before the game, that’s something that we consider. That’s number one. Two, it’s into the balance of having a great, clear, concise, aggressive plan that you can go execute at a high level,” said Macdonald

NEED TO BE DECISIVE, RELENTLESS, AND SHOCKING

For the Seahawks, the opponent is as important as the team’s process of playing relentless, decisive, and shocking football. These elements define Seahawks football and have shown up in spurts, but they haven’t shown up consistently from start to finish of a game this season.

“ Decisiveness is mind, body, and spirit. It’s clarity; it’s a sense of connectedness. It’s confidence. It’s a feeling of, ‘I’m letting go of the result because I’m confident in the things that I’m going to do, process-wise, and the inputs.’ That’s decisiveness. Shocking is the level of detail. It’s all the things that go into what makes running a great slant route. It’s what makes E.A.T. come to life. People talk about silent tape all the time, what pops off the silent tape.” Said Macdonald.

” Relentless is the spirit we have of playing without circumstance. We just go until the job’s done. There’s evidence to that throughout the game. You watched a relentless team yesterday. We are those things a lot of the time, but it hasn’t been as connected and as consistent as it needs to be to put great Seahawks football out there to the degree and caliber that we believe we can get to.”

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