Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald stresses defensive focus to neutralize Drake Maye's explosive offense and secure Super Bowl victory.
The Seattle Seahawks will be playing in their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history this coming Sunday, looking for their second ever win.
And this means the team is going to do everything in their power to prepare all they can.
They will be up against the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, and they will have to deal with one of the favorites for this year's Most Valuable Player in quarterback Drake Maye.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald talked a bit about his team's approach to the big game in a recent interview, and a big part of what he emphasized was stopping the young field general.
"We’re going through that process right now for how we want to play — I think the key is trying to create as many of those [third down] situations as possible," Macdonald said. "But he is a tremendous player, he really is. He’s strong, he’s fast, I mean you know all the things. Great arm talent. His decision-making [is great]. Yeah, we gotta be on our stuff up front."
The New England Patriots were once a dysncty with the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady leading the way for them. But in the past few years they have not been able to live up to that, as they had just one winning season since he left entering this year.
But in just his second season in the league after being the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Maye has completely turned the team around.
He finished his sophomore year in the NFL with 4,394 passing yards and 31 passing touchdowns. And even more impressive, Maye has done so while leading the NFL in completion percentage at an absurd 72 percent.
Now he is one of the favorites to win MVP, and he could become the first Patriots starting quarterback besides Tom Brady to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
But Macdonald and the Seahawks are on a mission to foil those plans.
While the Pats have six Super Bowl wins in their franchise's history, which is tied for most in the NFL, the Seahawks have just one. If Seattle wants to change that and make it two, they will have to contain Maye and limit the impact he can have on the game.