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Seahawks earn solid grade for taking advantage of ‘blatant Pittsburgh blunders’

Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks weren’t super opportunistic during his debut season in 2024. That may be changing after a successful outing at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Russell Baxter|
Sep 14, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Derion Kendrick (1) intercepts a pass over Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) and wide receiver Calvin Austin III (19) during the second half at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
Sep 14, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Derion Kendrick (1) intercepts a pass over Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) and wide receiver Calvin Austin III (19) during the second half at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

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Seattle Seahawks

In 2024, the 32 teams in the league combined for 658 takeaways. That’s roughly 20 per game. The Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers led the way in forcing 33 turnovers. The Jacksonville Jaguars were at the other end of the spectrum with a mere nine takeaways.

In Mike Macdonald’s second and final season as defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, the 2023 AFC North champions were tied for the NFL lead in takeaways (31). In his debut season in the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Seahawks picked off 13 passes and recovered just five opponent’s fumbles. To their credit, the ‘Hawks did return four of those opponent miscues for touchdowns.

In the season opener vs. the 49ers, Macdonald’s team didn’t fully take advantage of two Brock Purdy interceptions. Those miscues added up to just three points for the ‘Hawks, who fell at home to Kyle Shanahan’s club, 17-13.

On Sunday vs. the Steelers, Seattle shrugged off a pair of first-half interceptions by their starting quarterback. They outscored Mike Tomlin’s team 24-3 in the second half in a 31-17 road victory.

Seahawks capitalize on shaky play by sloppy Steelers

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports handed out his Week 2 grades for each team, and gave the Seahawks credit for taking advantage if the sloppy Steelers. ““This wasn't necessarily the prettiest 31-point game, with a couple of blatant Pittsburgh blunders helping steer their comeback. But a win is a win, and Sam Darnold showed resilience, bouncing back from an iffy two-pick first half to pepper Jaxon Smith-Njigba and lean on a bruising Kenneth Walker III (105 yards, 1 TD). By the end of the matchup, the Seahawks outgained the Steelers 395 yards to 267 as the visitors.”

Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished the game with a pair of interceptions, the first an end zone pick late in the third quarter by Seahawks’ cornerback Derion Kendrick, who grabbed the prize off the hands of Steelers’ wideout Calvin Austin. Seattle took a 17-14 lead early in the final quarter and on the ensuing play, Pittsburgh rookie Kaleb Johnson apparently forgot the kickoff rules—resulting in an easy Seattle touchdown.

Talk about the stealing a game? And as Benjamin stated, a win is a win.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.