Head Coach Mike Macdonald On The 31-7 Win vs. The Arizona Cardinals

Mike Macdonald (0:00)

All right, really, really proud of our team.

Shout out to the 12s. What a great showing by the 12s. I think really incredible. I mean, really never ceased to be amazed by how hard we show up in droves. So really helped us today, provided a lot of creative energy, especially in the second half. They're on silent cadence and the gun, which is really cool. So shout out to them. But our challenge to our team was to stack plays and really take our game to another level. I think we did that today. And the great news is I think there's still a lot of room for improvement situationally. And the guys will be the first to admit that. But loved how we closed the game out. Just really, really proud of the effort, all four quarters, how we played in the second half, how we stuck together.

Really all three phases, coaching, make adjustments. They had a good game plan. They got to some things in the first half that we weren't prepared for, but we made great adjustments and the guys did a great job. So really proud of our team.

SPEAKER_2 (0:56)

Three or four first downs after the touchdown, what allowed the defense to really lock in after that score?

Mike Macdonald (1:01)

Yeah, we had some uncharacteristic communication, not issues, but we just weren't ahead of plays as much as we should have been.

So I think it was just a matter of taking a deep breath and realigning and then just keep playing. We didn't have to make a couple of adjustments in terms of setting the front, things like that, and they ran a run that hadn't shown yet. So we had to adjust to that. But other than that, keep finding solutions and guys kept playing.

SPEAKER_3 (1:30)

I think it was just the play Surratt made on the other side.

Mike Macdonald (1:33)

Yeah, great play by Chazz. I saw the ball out and then you're thinking about we're up on defense and all of a sudden he's carrying it down the sideline. So Chazz is a great player and took advantage of his op, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_4 (1:46)

Jigba just told us Mike that Brian Fleury credited him for moving him around, getting away from foul coverage. How big of that and how has Brian Fleury climbed onto that just so early?

Mike Macdonald (1:56)

Yeah, I thought our offensive staff did a tremendous job. Brian included how he's calling it.

But to me that shows you that we're clicking as an operation. And Jake Pieces, there was a shout out for that as well, our pass game coordinator, Jax, Fritz being able to, I mean, it's not, it's easy to say, hey, we'll move you around. But, you know, like, you know, that's changing positions. That's understanding alignments. That's a lot of, it's a lot of work to go into a lot of brain power to kind of be able to get that done. So shout out to those guys.

SPEAKER_3 (2:27)

A lot of people talk about their backup quarterback being a starting quality player. Seemed like Drew was making some pretty high level throws today. What did you see from him?

Mike Macdonald (2:35)

Yeah, really proud of Drew, really happy for him. I mean, we're on record how we feel about him, so he just backed that up today. But at the 12 was one thing, everybody having each other's back. And I mean, he just couldn't be happier for the guy. We just love him. And all the things we said about throughout the week, I mean, we weren't, that was real. I was from the heart. And really proud of the way he played today. He did a tremendous job. Managed the clock. I think we only had one operation penalty.

Really one, maybe one offensive penalty total. I'm not sure, but just the operation improved drastically and Drew deserves a lot of credit for that. I thought he was, you know, aggressive when he needed to be and took care of the ball when he needed to be. I just did a great job.

SPEAKER_2 (3:15)

How were you running the ball down that last drive? Emmanual Wilson running the way he was. What did you think of finishing that way?

Mike Macdonald (3:21)

Yeah, happy free man. He was tired there. We took a timeout so he could catch his breath. We were down to one back. But offensive line got a game ball today. JV broke it down, which is awesome.

I mean, that's how we want to close games out, you know? I mean, that's Seahawk football right there. That's how we want to play. And really proud of our team. You know, pushing piles, playing through the echo of the whistle, playing physically, identifying the front. I mean, just there's a lot of great stuff there, playing together. And really proud of how we closed the game out. Outside that run, that second and last run, that was kind of crappy.