Mike Macdonald on Lessons Learned from Conference Championship Loss Two Years Ago

Mike Macdonald is no stranger to Conference Championship week. Just under two years ago, he was coaching in one as Defensive Coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. Just like now, he was coaching on the top seed in the conference, hosting the game. That time, the season ended in heartbreak, as the Ravens lost 17-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Of course, you’d be hard-pressed to put the blame for that loss on Macdonald’s unit. The Ravens’ offense turned it over three times, including twice in the fourth quarter as they attempted to come back from an early deficit. The defense, on the other hand, shut the Chiefs out in the second half, allowing just six first downs in the final thirty minutes.

Nevertheless, it was a crushing loss for a team that was nearing the end of their Super Bowl window. Two years later, the Ravens are coming off a losing season and have fired Coach John Harbaugh. 2023 may have been their last solid chance at a championship during the Lamar Jackson era, and Macdonald hasn’t forgotten that experience.

During a press conference, he was asked about what he takes away from the experience of coaching during this weekend previously. Obviously, he did not get into specifics, nor should he. Mike is a bit of a secretive and vague guy in general anyway, and it’s a very bad idea to give away detailed information publicly right now. But he did acknowledge lessons learned.

“Look, a lot, a lot of our philosophy is coming from…you know, our experiences, right? That’s how you generate, you know, these thoughts on things, so, that has helped shape, you know, why we do what we do, why we treat it just like another week,” Macdonald said. Macdonald is the only member of the 2023 Ravens on the 2025 Seahawks, player or coach.

“There’s some things we took away from that game that you kind of said, okay, if we’re gonna get there again, we’d handle it a little bit differently. From my perspective, not from like, how John [Harbaugh] built the week or anything like that, just how you want to get your team ready to go,” he added.

There are other similarities as well. Both the 2023 Ravens and 2025 Seahawks had the #1 scoring defense in the league, and both were backed up by elite offenses (4th in Baltimore, 3rd in Seattle). Both won in massive blowouts in the divisional round. Now it’s up to Mike to orchestrate a different ending, this time as the full-on head coach.

And while we may not know the specifics of the lessons he learned from that experience, we can all be grateful that he has those lessons to lean on as he guides the team into one of the biggest games in franchise history.

Macdonald is just one game away from the Super Bowl that he fell short of in Baltimore. — Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald during the second half at Levi's Stadium. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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