Former Super Bowl Champion Heaps Praise on Seattle Seahawks' Defense

The Seattle Seahawks' defense looked noticeably better compared to last season in Sunday’s win.

Sep 8, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks safety Julian Love (20) celebrates after making a tackle against the Denver Broncos during the third quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

When the Seattle Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald as head coach this offseason, the main goal for him was to fix a defense that was inconsistent at best and outright bad at worst last season.

It's only been one game, but the early results are definitely encouraging. In the Seahawks' win over the Denver Broncos in Week 1, the defense looked much better as it allowed just 3.3 yards per play. Allowing 20 points wasn't ideal, but that can largely be attributed to a subpar offensive performance.

It was an impressive showing all things considered, but just how impressive? Well, according to three-time Super Bowl-winning guard Mark Schlereth, Seattle's tackling alone was worthy of high praise.

“I thought it might be the best tackling performance I’ve ever witnessed in watching an NFL game,” Schlereth said on Seattle Sports' Wyman and Bob. “Either we got a bunch of dudes (in Denver) that have zero athletic ability to break a tackle in space or (the Seahawks are) the greatest tackling team I’ve ever witnessed – and maybe it’s a little combination of both.

“I don’t know that there was two, three, four yards after contact in that game by the Broncos. … From my perspective, from the Broncos’ perspective, it was one of the most pathetic performances I’ve watched, and at the same time I was marveling at the Seahawks’ ability to tackle – the way they broke on balls, the things they broke up.”

Getting ball-carriers on the ground was a struggle for Seattle last year, so to see such a quick turnaround is refreshing. If Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde can keep it up, there could be big things ahead for the Seahawks' defense.

“If all you do is tackle well, you’re going to have a top-flight defense,” Schlereth said. “… If you just tackle well, you know it’s going to be hard to score and you’re not going to give a bunch of extra yardage up, so you’re not going to have a bunch of explosive plays on you. If that’s all you do is tackle well, you’re going to be pretty stellar. … I don’t remember seeing a better tackling game by a defense than what I witnessed on Sunday. I thought they were amazing.”