When Macdonald returned home Sunday evening, however, he allowed himself to celebrate with some friends and family who came to town for the game.
“You have to,” Macdonald said Monday. “We worked tremendously hard, and a lot of family and friends were in town, too. So, it was cool to take a breath and watch the rest of the Sunday night game, enjoy each other’s company, and cherish the victory.”
Sunday night’s game, of course, featured a pair of teams the Seahawks will see this season the Lions and Rams, so while Macdonald was enjoying the evening with his family and friends, he also may have had his coaching hat on at times while watching Detroit’s overtime win.
Macdonald’s first game as a head coach couldn’t have started off much worse, with the offense turning the ball over two plays into the game, but the defense responded with a quick stop to hold the Broncos to a field goal. Plenty more issues came up in the first half, from sacks to penalties to a pair of safeties, but the defense held strong, and the offense responded with a strong second half, resulting in a Seahawks win. It wasn’t how any coach would draw up a first half, but Macdonald saw good things in how his team responded.
“It’s a shout-out to where our football team is and their mentality,” he said. “It shows us that we have the right guys, and their mentality is right where it needs to be. They also know that we’re going to enjoy the heck out of this game, but we’re on Monday now, and we’re working on towards the next week. We enjoyed it last night. We’re football people, man. We’re like, ‘Hey, we’re on to the next,’ and we have to. You want to stay ahead of these things.”
