Mike Macdonald has Seahawks defense looking much sharper than Pete Carroll early on

In last night's preseason win over the Chargers for Seattle, the rock stars were on the sidelines rather than on the field for a change. Jim Harbaugh might have more name recognition but he got outshined by his one-time Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who's now the head coach of the Seahawks and quite possibly the very-best defensive playcaller in the league already.

Preseason is preseason, but Macdonald's defense was dominant again vs. LA on Saturday night. That was especially true when the starting unit was on the field for a few series in the first quarter, which saw the Chargers net just 15 total yards.

After it was over, Macdonald spoke with reporters and praised the team's effort and tackling, but also said he wasn't at all satisfied.

It may be coach-speak, but it's also true that the Seahawks defense was much sharper tackling than they were the last time we saw them at the end of the 2023 season. Their communication was on-point, their effort all around never really dropped off and we didn't see any glaring blown coverages or missed assignments.

In other words, this was a well-coached unit. Their performance last night stands in stark contrast to the dysfunction that was so common to see for Pete Carroll's late teams, especially early on in the regular season the last few years. Carroll usually got his defenses back on track after no more than a month, but those slow starts cost them dearly.

We weren't expecting a real defensive break-through until 2025, but so far it sounds like Macdonald may be even better than advertised. That could make this team a dark-horse contender in the NFC right away.

More Seahawks stories

Sam Howell was shaky in his Seahawks debut but P.J. Walker was worse

Byron Murphy: Seahawks defense can see the vision after preseason win

Defense headlines studs and duds for Seattle's preseason win vs. Chargers