Yes, it is just Week One. Yes, there’s still a long season ahead. And yes, the final story for all these teams isn’t written yet. But the Seattle Seahawks and coach Mike Macdonald showed every indication that this defense will be a top-3, top-5 unit in the league in 2026.

I think the Seahawks’ Week One performance almost got lost in the shuffle. It was the first game played and we saw so many games on Sunday. By the time the weekend wrapped up, the Seahawks’ opener felt like an eternity ago. 

We cannot forget about it though, as Mike Macdonald’s defensive brilliance was on full display. And it looks even better after the conclusion of the rest of the league’s games. 

A dominant showing against a Super Bowl-caliber roster

First off, Seattle was playing the New England Patriots. These were the Super Bowl runner-ups in a Super Bowl rematch, and the Seahawks held them to 10 points. New England brought in wide receivers AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs this offseason, and it didn’t matter. 

I know Brown got hurt, but they weren’t really doing anything with him on the field anyway. That was extremely impressive to me.

Second, Mike Macdonald was working with a banged-up Seahawks secondary. Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada didn’t even play. They also lost Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant in the offseason. Heck, they had Rodney Thomas II out there at safety after being elevated from the practice squad. 

This means no disrespect to Rodney, by the way. He played a really solid game. But Seattle just made it happen without all their pieces, and it was incredible to watch.

They had Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in complete hell. He did not know what to do, did not know where to go with the football, and as a result, they picked him off three times. After the Seahawks lost Sam Darnold on the opening drive of the game, I think we all were a bit worried about the rest of the game. Macdonald made sure to not let it affect them at all. 

How other top defenses fared in Week One

The Houston Texans and Denver Broncos were the other two in the group of top three defensive units from 2025. The Texans let up a whopping 36 points to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in the first game for Bills HC Joe Brady. Denver, on the other hand, allowed 31 points to the Kansas City Chiefs in Patrick Mahomes’ first game back from his ACL injury. Heck, even Cleveland surrendered 34 points to Jacksonville. 

Despite it being Week One, those top-notch units from a year ago did not perform well.

This is what I mean when I say that the Seahawks just seem to be on another level. Seattle was banged up, they didn’t have their full set of stars out there, and it couldn’t have affected them less on defense. Don’t get me wrong, Buffalo and Kansas City typically have great offenses. But the Seahawks faced the Super Bowl runner-ups and the MVP runner-up in Drake Maye and they buried that offense. 

Mike Macdonald’s scheme is becoming bulletproof

Look, here’s the big takeaway I had from this game. If it hasn’t happened already, this might be the sign that it has. You can’t say this about every defense in the NFL, even some of the better ones, but I think you can say it now about Macdonald’s group. His defense and the way he schemes things up and the positions he puts his players in, it’s getting to the point where it almost doesn’t matter who Seattle has on the field.

Now obviously, if they fielded a defense full of practice squad players, they’d probably get torched to a degree. But you get what I’m saying. They don’t need all their guys to dominate, and when they do have everybody healthy, it’s going to be really scary. 

Mike Macdonald just knows how to put the Seahawks defense in the perfect position based off of their scout each week. The scheme elevates the talent rather than depending on it. That’s rare in professional football.

And the best thing about all of this, if you’re a Seahawks fan? Again, this team isn’t even healthy on defense yet. Once they get those pieces back, I think we’re looking at one of the most dominant defensive units in the entire league. Seattle’s defense is going to be scary in 2026, and Week One was just the preview.