Head Coach Mike Macdonald On The 27-10 Win vs. The Panthers

Mike Macdonald (0:00)

Good to see everybody all the way across the country.

Look, it was a great win by our guys. You know, I felt like it's the same story every week, but we didn't flinch. Big emphasis this week was like, can we stack plays in all three phases? It took us a half to do it, but I felt like in the second half we did a great job by responding to the takeaway. DeMarcus Lawrence had a phenomenal play, then we were able to punch it in. AJ Barner was really a spark plug for us on offense. And then come back with another takeaway with Julian in a phenomenal play and then just go finish out in the fourth quarter. I feel like it was cool to end the game in a four-minute touchdown. I thought that was something that we've been wanting to get done all year and the guys did a great job. So, you know, fly back home and get ready for next week.

SPEAKER_2 (0:50)

Mike Lawrence, how big are the young teams for the veterans stepping up at this time of the year? How big is their presence at this time of the year?

Mike Macdonald (0:58)

Yeah, it's big time. Yeah, it's big time. I mean, with D-Law, you feel like it's a play waiting to happen. And Julian, he has a playmaking ability about him. But there's also a poise about him as well. So two great players that we love and we love having them here.

SPEAKER_3 (1:16)

Zach Charbonnet, first 100-yard game of the season. He's a key third-down in the commercial agency for that today.

Mike Macdonald (1:24)

It's probably Zach's best game as a Seahawk, I would imagine. I mean, definitely in the last two years.

And you know, I was telling Kane I kind of played a great game, too. Sometimes that's the way the game goes on some of those creases and things. And then, I mean, the third-down conversion was incredible. Some of those black zone runs are like 95 was unblocked in the hole. It makes the guy miss. It's a two-yard game. But I got to big-time two yards. So it's not just the explosive runs. It's all those tough yards as well. And then, obviously, finishing out in four minutes was big time.

SPEAKER_4 (1:57)

What about after the run game? Two weeks in a row now, you guys had 170 last week, 160-something this week. Do you feel like?

Mike Macdonald (2:03)

Yeah, you know, it's good. You know, it's right where we want to be at this point. And we've got to keep going. You know, San Fran is a good run defense. And go put a great plan together. And let's rock and roll.

SPEAKER_5 (2:15)

You've been saying, you know, go back to last year. Do you feel like you have two starting running backs?

Mike Macdonald (2:19)

Yeah.

SPEAKER_5 (2:19)

I mean, he's passed your game for like, illustrate that with one guy going 100 last week.

Mike Macdonald (2:23)

Yeah. Yeah, it's great. I mean, that's the thing with Kenneth. He's like, hey, man, like, he's playing great football. And he's an integral part of our operation, just like Zach's been when Ken's been, you know, getting the bulk of the carry. So it's great. You know, we've got two really great backs. And sometimes, you know, it's just like when sometimes when the offense needs to pick up the defense and vice versa, it could be the same thing within a position group.

SPEAKER_4 (2:45)

Coach, you guys have obviously had a lot of defense, several games where you've given a few points than you did today. But it seemed like from the outset, you guys are tackling those as good as it's been all year. Ty said at this stage that you are tapping for loss early. What were your thoughts on the way the team tackled today?

Mike Macdonald (2:59)

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. You're absolutely right. I thought our guys, this is a good offense, you know, and they've been moving the ball and they've been creating explosives and they've been doing a great job recently. And it's because they got great players, great scheme the whole nine. And those are some open field tackles as well that those guys are making and those are critical yards. I mean, you missed that tackle, now you're in a third and two. It's a great fourth down team. You know, the kind of the shape of that drive really takes a turn when you're able to kind of staple guys. So I felt like it was all three levels. So I'm glad you brought that up.

SPEAKER_3 (3:32)