Three catalysts to the Seahawks' Super Bowl defense - ESPN

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was standing on stage during a news conference Tuesday, five days before Super Bowl LX, when a reporter asked him about the importance of good defense in winning games in the NFL.

«Well,» Macdonald said before a brief pause, «right up my alley.»

Macdonald, 38, is the architect and playcaller of the Seahawks defense that enters Sunday's championship game against the New England Patriots (6:30 p.m. ET, NBC) allowing a league-low 17.2 points per game. Including the playoffs, it has held opponents to 10 points or fewer five times.

It's the biggest reason the Seahawks won a club-record 14 games during the regular season and will play for the second Lombardi Trophy in the franchise's 50-year history.

But Seattle's defense hasn't always been the dominant unit it is today. Macdonald recalled the growing pains it experienced over the first half of 2024 — his first season in Seattle after replacing Pete Carroll — and how it took a turn once everyone began pulling in the same direction. He cited a seminal defensive meeting going into a post-bye game in Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium, where they'll face the Patriots on Sunday.

«We just made kind of a pact with each other: We're going to be a great defense no matter what it takes,» Macdonald said of that 2024 meeting, «and they bought in. It didn't happen overnight, but that's the type of stuff and the dedication it takes, moving in the same direction to actually make this thing come to life.»

Their success has been built on Macdonald's schematic brilliance and players who fit perfectly within it.

Unlike other teams, the Seahawks' system isn't built around one megastar defender such as Micah Parsons