The Seattle Seahawks entered Sunday’s primetime contest versus the Green Bay Packers on the back of several strong defensive performances. Mike Macdonald’s swarming unit was largely responsible for Seattle’s four-game win streak. Unfortunately, it was borderline unrecognizable in the 30-13 defeat to the Packers.
Throughout Seattle’s four-game triumph, Macdonald’s defense was allowing 15.5 points per contest. It’s worth acknowledging those showings occurred against three teams, the Arizona Cardinals (twice), San Francisco 49ers, and New York Jets, currently slated to miss the postseason. In a real test versus a playoff-bound Packers offense, Macdonald’s defense shriveled up and failed to meet expectations.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love completed 20-of-27 passing attempts for 227 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He encountered little resistance from a Seahawks secondary that was also whistled for multiple pass interference infractions. All in all, Seattle racked up 108 yards in penalties.
Jordan Love is likely to going to finish tonight at 20/26 for 229 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs. 128.5 passer rating.
Seahawks defense was No. 1 in EPA/dropback over the last 4 weeks.
Passing game missed a couple of opportunities but was good overall.
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) December 16, 2024
Packers running back Josh Jacobs also rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown via 26 carries. Macdonald’s defense did recover a Jacobs lost fumble, but Green Bay still out-gained Seattle 140-80 on the ground.
Seattle’s defense had been powering the Seahawks towards a potential NFC West division title. They forfeited control of the division for now, with the 8-6 Rams leaping into first place. Simply put, Macdonald’s defense got gut-punched by a quality Packers offense and failed to respond.
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