The Seattle Seahawks are trying to get back on track after two straight losses. After losing 17-14 to the Denver Broncos in overtime last Thursday, the team is trying to find consistency in their offense.
Seattle got a first down on all 12 possessions, but struggled to sustain drives; now offensive coordinator Brian Fleury is under fire for the Seahawks’ offensive struggles.
Fleury had the unenviable task of replacing Klint Kubiak as coordinator after a Super Bowl victory, with the pressure to repeat. Still, head coach Mike Macdonald isn’t willing to throw Fleury under the bus.
Defending Fleury
Mike Macdonald is trying to get the Seahawks back in the win column, but he’s not pointing fingers at his offensive coordinator Brian Fleury for the two-game skid.
During his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Friday, Macdonald defended Fleury despite the Seahawks totaling just 168 yards against the Broncos. Michael Strite of Seattle Sports wrote about the conversation in his October 17 article.
“We have high expectations for ourselves,” Macdonald said. “I want to call the perfect game. I’m sure Brian wants to call the perfect play every time. When we don’t, it kills us. But that’s coaching, man. How could you live with yourself any other way?”
Macdonald also defended Fleury’s preparation.
“Brian’s well prepared and incredibly smart, but as an offense, we need to look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, what we’re asking certain people to do, how we build it throughout the week,” Macdonald continued. “We need to look at all those things right now and make sure we’re taking some steps in the right direction quickly.”
Fleury still has time early in the season to settle in before any drastic moves, but the offense needs to turn around its misfortunes immediately.
Sense of Urgency
The 2026 season is off to a rocky start for quarterback Sam Darnold, who was injured almost immediately in the first game. With sacks and turnovers rising, the Seahawks need answers fast to avoid a bigger disaster.
In his October 19 article for The Athletic, Andrew Destin wrote about head coach Mike Macdonald and his feeling that the offense needs to fix its issues fast.
“I think there’s a sense of urgency to get better in several areas of our football team,” Macdonald said. “A lot of those are on offense, operationally, how we’re protecting the quarterback, how we’re running the ball.”
While the offensive line has also come under fire, Macdonald also believes the Seahawks’ struggles have been a group effort.
“Could the offensive line, can they, step their game up? Yes. Absolutely,” Macdonald said. “But, just to put it on the offensive line, I think same thing as the takeaways with Sam: Does Sam bear responsibility for taking care of the football? Do our runners carry responsibility for taking care of the football? Absolutely.”
The Seahawks’ next chance to get their offense on the same page comes on Sunday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs and their former Super Bowl MVP running back, Kenneth Walker III.
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald Comes to the Defense of Criticized OC Fleury