‘Not Good Enough’: Seahawks’ Special Teams Play Not Meeting Standard Early in 2026 Season

RENTON, Wash. - When it comes to on-field performance, Mike Macdonald has set the bar incredibly high for the Seattle Seahawks, expecting his players to play to a championship standard in all three phases of the game all the time.

On the way to a Super Bowl LX title last season, for the most part, the Seahawks met those expectations. But through three games, coming off their first loss in 10 months at the hands of the Commanders in a 33-31 road defeat, Macdonald isn’t thrilled with the results being produced from the team’s typically excellent special teams units.

“To put it plainly, it’s not good enough,” Macdonald said on Monday. “There’re things process-wise that we can improve on. We've talked about this throughout training camp, and really since we got here, but a Seahawk play needs to look like a Seahawk play. There are plays on tape that we're not doing that.”

Statistically, Seattle hasn’t been atrocious on special teams by any means. Kicker Jason Myers has rebounded from an awful preseason by making all four of his field goals and nine extra point attempts thus far. Even after uncorking a few dead ducks off his leg and watching his first touchback roll into the endzone in Sunday’s loss, punter Michael Dickson has remained a field position-altering weapon, leading the NFL with 36.4% of his punt attempts resulting in the opponent starting inside their own 10-yard line without a single return even attempted.

But looking beyond Myers and Dickson generally maintaining their excellence in the kicking game and Chris Stoll continuing to be as reliable of a long snapper as any in the league, the Seahawks have shown far more cracks in their special teams armor this season.

In 2025, according to TruMedia, Seattle finished third overall in special teams Expected Points Added (57.88), often dominating opponents in the ever-important third phase. Coordinator Jay Harbaugh coached up a well-rounded unit, headlined by a kickoff coverage team that allowed the third-best EPA (-22.98) and a potent punt return team featuring Tory Horton in the first half of the season and Rashid Shaheed starring after coming over in a trade deadline deal from New Orleans in the second half and playoffs.

So far this season, however, the Seahawks have largely been a shell of their 2025 selves. They currently rank 23rd in total special teams EPA (-3.91), a massive drop off from the stellar play from a year ago. The biggest dip has come on kick coverage, where the team ranks a dreadful 28th in EPA (-8.77) and 30th in yards allowed per return (30.1) through three weeks. They also haven’t been near as dangerous in the return game with blocking not being nearly as effective so far, dropping from third in yards per kick return (28.0) to 12th (27.4) and plunging from third in yards per punt return (15.4) to 21st (9.6).

What has fueled the regression? On kick coverage, opponents have benefited from bigger creases being opened up for returners to work with, both a testament to improvements from other teams adjusting to the dynamic kickoff rules put in place in 2024 and the Seahawks not doing as good of a job of getting off blocks, handling their lane responsibilities, and finishing tackles. On Sunday alone, the Commanders produced 38 and 33-yard kick returns, starting those respective drives at their own 44 and 36-yard lines, and Myers then failed to hit the landing zone on a fourth quarter kickoff, which automatically gave the home team the ball at the 40 to help set up a go-ahead field goal.

As for the return game, Shaheed has looked a bit more tentative returning punts, including a couple of questionable fair catch decisions in the season opener where he appeared to have plenty of room in front of him to try and make a play with his elite speed. Horton missed the season opener coming back from a hamstring injury after missing the second half of his rookie year with a fractured shin, so he has just been starting to work back into the rotation and has only returned a single kickoff so far. Neither have had much to work with in the blocking department, which has been noticeably worse than last year.

While injuries can’t and won’t be used as an excuse, the Seahawks have suffered from far greater attrition in that regard than they did during their championship run last season. Only a few weeks after fullback Robbie Ouzts ended up on injured reserve with a neck injury, special teams stalwart Jake Bobo tore his ACL in mid-August, while second-round pick Bud Clark, who was expected to contribute some on teams, suffered his own season-ending broken ankle just two days later in Nashville. Meanwhile, receiver Irv Charles - who the team acquired from the Jets in June - missed most of training camp and the entire preseason before landing on injured reserve to open the season and has yet to play.

Those injuries have magnified the losses of receivers Dareke Young and Cody White, who now both reside in Las Vegas and have been key contributors for the Raiders surprising 3-0 start. Young excelled as a gunner on punt coverage, held his own on kick coverage, and emerged as one of the best kick returners early last season, at least in terms of yards per return average, and that all-around skill set has been missed so far. White also historically played well on teams, including blocking a punt in 2024.

With those injuries and departures kept in mind, however, Seattle brought back most of its core special teams players who were free agents this past offseason, including fullback/tight end Brady Russell, linebacker Chazz Surratt, and Shaheed. Considering the rare amount of continuity across the entire roster for a defending Super Bowl champion, losing a few players to injury should not be leading to such a substantial decline in overall performance.

As is always the case just three games into a new season, sample size matters, and the Seahawks have plenty of time to clean up the issues that have dogged them so far in the third phase of the game. Harbaugh has shown that he knows how to consistently push the right buttons to coax better play, and with a number of young players looking for ways to contribute, tinkering with a few lineup combinations could be all that the team needs to get back to performing at an elite level once again in short order.

For those reasons, Macdonald remains confident Seattle will play much better on special teams moving forward, especially after several mistakes such as Myers’ landing area gaffe ended up looming large in a two-point defeat in Landover. But the NFL season moves swiftly and with three games already in the books, there isn’t time to waste and improvements must be expedited to stay in the hunt in the deep, talented NFC West division.

“The standard is higher on special teams here. We've proven that, and the guys will get it right. But there's definitely a sense of urgency to make it look like us and play our style of ball on.”