Former defensive coordinator of the Seahawks “Legion of Boom” defense and current Commanders head coach, Dan Quinn, will host his former team in Week 9 on Sunday Night Football. With the orchestrator of one of the league’s more notorious defenses on the docket this week, an ode to Quinn’s masterpiece in the Pacific Northwest seems in order…especially with a new defensive mastermind quietly piecing together his own iteration of a great Seattle defense this season.
Current Seahawks head coach and defensive architect Mike Macdonald has built his own version of a great Seattle fortress. The 2025 edition has allowed 4.7 yards per play this season (3rd in the NFL), the fewest since they allowed 4.6 yards per play in 2014.
Now, the 2013-14 “Legion of Boom” defense Quinn built is considered one of the greatest units in NFL history. There is no comparison between the two lineups in terms of historical production or relevance. The LOB made two Super Bowls and won one (XLVIII over the Broncos), while being just one of two teams since 1970 to boast the No. 1 scoring and total defense in back-to-back seasons (also the 1985-86 Bears).
Over those two seasons, the defense was led by a plethora of perennial Pro Bowlers in the back seven: linebacker Bobby Wagner, cornerback Richard Sherman, and safeties Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor. The team was powered by its elite pass defense, which paced the NFL in passing yards per game allowed (178.8), pass yards per attempt allowed (5.5), and pass touchdowns allowed (33) over the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
This year, Quinn’s contemporary has led a revival of the Seahawks defense and given Lumen Field a small taste of what Century Link relished in seasons of yesteryear. However, this time it’s Macdonald’s formidable front that has spurred the Seahawks return to defensive dominance.
The Seahawks have the NFL’s No. 1 run defense by many metrics. The unit has allowed the fewest yards per game (75.7), yards per carry (3.3), rushing touchdowns (2, tied), runs of ten-plus yards (8), and yards per carry after contact (2.0). And the unit hasn’t used extra bodies to stop the run game; Seattle has the fourth-highest light box rate (50.9 percent) this season, according to Next Gen Stats (light box: six or fewer defenders).
The Seahawks have shut down more than run lanes. The team also has the fourth-highest quarterback pressure percentage (39.0) this season. This has also been attained without sending extra defenders: the Seahawks have blitzed at the second-lowest rate (19.0 percent) in the NFL. Their crowdsourced pass rush deploys seven players that have double-digit pressures this season, while only them and the Patriots have four players with more than 20 pressures (Byron Murphy II, Uchenna Nwosu, Demarcus Lawrence, and Boye Mafe).
The strength of both Quinn and Macdonald's defenses upfront? Depth. The old LOB also rotated a variety of fresh bodies against opponents, with names like Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Chris Clemons, Bruce Irvin, Brandon Mebane, and Red Bryant, among others, holding down the front lines for its storied secondary. We obviously didn’t have the luxury of Next Gen Stats during their run, but the NFL Throwback film tells the tale there.
While the “Legion of Boom” moniker is reserved for a window in time—for the 2013-14 defenses that live in infamy—Mike Macdonald has given a valiant effort in creating his own variant in the Emerald City. It also doesn’t take too deep of a dig to see how Macdonald’s presence can transform a defense.
The Seahawks are 10-1 on the road under Macdonald, the best in the NFL since 2024.
He took over a Ravens defense that ranked 19th in scoring the season prior to his arrival. It ranked third (2022) and first (2023) in the metric during his two seasons. The Seahawks ranked 25th in scoring defense in 2023. They hired Macdonald the next offseason and rose to 11th in 2024; they are seventh through Week 8 this season. Also, a glance at how the Ravens defense has fared since Macdonald’s departure, falling from first in scoring in his last season with the team all the way 30th just two seasons later.
What’s more, the Seahawks defense could be just scratching the surface of its potential. The bye week and the return of key personnel might quicken its ascent. Last season, the Seahawks allowed 24.6 points per game (24th in the NFL) before their Week 10 bye. They allowed just 18.4 points per game after that, good for fifth best in the NFL. The team also expects the return of its own Pro Bowl defensive backs, as Devon Witherspoonand Julian Love are set to return after multiple-game absences.
The new-age Seahawks are trending towards being one of the league's elite units, allowing fewer than 20 points in six of their first seven games for the first time since pre-Dan Quinn (2012). A Week 9 matchup against the original orchestrator of the “Legion of Boom” seems like the perfect launch pad to spearhead the redemption of a once-historic defense in the Rain City.
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