Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald shares great respect for Baker Mayfield

The season opener against the 49ers was the biggest game that the Seahawks have played this year so far, but Sunday's home game against the Buccaneers is nothing to sneeze at.

If the NFL playoffs were to begin today, these two teams would be playing in the Wild Card round, albeit in Tampa rather than at Lumen Field.

That makes this a huge game with potentially massive playoff implications. Fans shouldn't expect an easy blowout like the game Seattle played against the Saints a couple weeks ago.

It took time, but Baker Mayfield has grown into his full potential as a No. 1 overall pick and is arguably playing at a fringe top-five level right now.

Don't take our word for it, though. Here's what Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald shared about Mayfield earlier this week, according to Brady Henderson at ESPN.

"Coach Mike Macdonald said that by the Seahawks' in-house metrics, Mayfield is probably the best quarterback in the NFL right now in terms of extended-play situations. "That's something you have to deal with, but he also plays on time," Macdonald said. "He's extremely accurate, he's got a great arm, and then when he extends plays, obviously he's a great competitor." Mayfield has the eighth-fastest average time before throw at 2.68 seconds."

Mayfield might be an elite quarterback now, but he'll be facing an equally elite Seahawks defense that ranks second in ESPN's pass rush win rate and second in points allowed per game.

The only real blemish so far for Seattle's defense has been their performance in the fourth quarter, which is the only quarter where they have a negative scoring differential. Taking Riq Woolen off the field might solve most of that problem, but he's not the only DB that's given up a big play in crunch time this year.

The Seahawks will need to plug that particular hole as they go against a deep Buccaneers recevier corps that will be dangerous even without Mike Evans.

More Seahawks on SI stories