The first two plays of Mike Macdonald’s career as a head coach started with his quarterback getting sacked and then throwing an interception while being hit.
“Started just like we wanted to start. Drew it up that way. Just wanted some adversity there,” the new Seattle Seahawks coach said with a hint of humor.
Luckily for Macdonald and the Seahawks, that rough start and a poor first half led to a strong second half and a 26-20 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, marking Macdonald’s first win as the youngest head coach in the league.
Kenneth Walker III ran for 84 of his 103 yards and a touchdown in the second half, leading a comeback after a first half filled with mistakes.
The Broncos were ahead 13-9 at halftime, partly because of two safeties. But Walker turned things around in the third quarter as Seattle focused more on running the ball. He gained 53 yards on five carries on Seattle’s first drive of the second half, finishing with a 23-yard touchdown run.
Although another touchdown by Walker was taken back due to a penalty, he still had his seventh career game with 100 or more rushing yards.
Walker seemed to injure himself on a 7-yard run early in the fourth quarter and did not return to the game because of an abdominal muscle issue. He said he would be fine.
“When we went in and made adjustments everybody was locked in. We were poised. Everything (didn’t) go as planned as you saw in the first half, but after those adjustments just felt we played as a team better,” Walker said.
Seattle quarterback Geno Smith struggled early on but found his rhythm in the second half. Smith ran for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter — the longest run of his career — and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Zach Charbonnet on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving Seattle a 26-13 lead.
Smith ended the game 18 of 25 for 171 yards.
“Once the run game opened up it allowed us to then get into some of our tempo stuff and then start to pass the ball, and then you started to see our offense really come alive,” Smith said.
