Two NFL coaches took responsibility for losing at home. Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell is getting flak for that onside kick, and he accepted the mistake. The other one is Mike Macdonald, the head honcho of the Seattle Seahawks. The 30-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers had the Seattle HC mulling over bettering his team. The first step in that direction is to appreciate the opponents.

Macdonald took the podium after the loss at Lumen Field and addressed the media about where he went wrong. Surely, letting the Cheeseheads score back-to-back touchdowns was a part of it, but Seattle’s offense wasn’t praiseworthy either. In a nutshell, the Seahawks didn’t have a plan in place.

“I thought they helped coach us. We didn’t have a good enough plan in all three phases. I’m responsible for that, and then frankly, we didn’t play good enough. Didn’t do the things we’ve been doing that won us games. We didn’t do those things. We can rattle those off if you want, but just still a team. Good news is everything, that all of our goals are still ahead of us. And we’ll go back to work tomorrow,” Macdonald said in the post-game.

Seattle might have known that the Packers scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter wouldn’t leave room for a comeback. The only points they had in the second and third quarter came from their kicker, Jason Myers. Things started getting even worse in the third quarter after Corey Valentine intercepted Geno Smith in the end zone.

The comeback chances became even more abysmal after a hit by Packers LB Edgerrin Cooper injured Geno Smith’s knees. Green Bay was leading 20-3 and Geno Smith was on a mission. The Seahawks QB was in the air attempting a pass and then, the Packers LB hit Smith in the lower leg. The injury wasn’t only painful, but it was frustrating too.

Smith’s awkward landing had the trainers worried, so they helped him walk off the field. But the frustration was visible. Smith threw his helmet to the ground, after all. Before leaving, Smith made 15 of his 19 passes over 149 yards. Unfortunately, he couldn’t score. Moreover, Sam Howell, who replaced Smith, wasn’t of any help either.

By the time the third quarter ended, Seattle found themselves trailing 6-23. The game transitioned to the last quarter. Zach Charbonnet displayed some heroics with his 24-yard rushing TD, but that wasn’t enough. With 4:59 remaining in the game, Jordan Love captivated the Lumen Field with his 22-yard TD pass to Romeo Doubs (his second TD of the game). The Packers fans were going wild and the chants of “Go Pack Go!” echoed through the stadium. Can’t be a better finish to the game.

So where did Seattle lack tonight? That’s a million-dollar question, and the answer isn’t set in stone.

Mike Macdonald will be looking at Seattle’s numbers

Perhaps this data might help in justifying where the Seahawks lacked tonight. They had 14 first-down conversations, while the Packers had 21. They had a lower third-down efficiency (4/13) as opposed to Packers’ 5/12. And here’s the real kicker: Seattle took 5 penalties, which ended in a loss of 108 yards. Astonishingly, the Packers racked up the same number of penalties, but over a reasonable 27 yards.

The Green Bay team was well off since they didn’t throw a pick and Jordan Love didn’t get sacked. Not even once. Geno Smith, on the other hand, got sacked 3 times. Also, the Packers’ defense sacked Smith’s backup Sam Howell 4 times in his very short stint on the field. Per Yahoo Sports, Howell went just 5-of-14 for 24 yards and threw an interception in the 17-point loss.

Mike Macdonald’s reputation as a defensive mastermind didn’t translate to the field on Sunday. But everything is said and done now and things look bleak as ever. The Seahawks have slipped to 8-6 and have lost their QB1. Right now, Mike Macdonald can only wait as Smith undergoes testing.

“It was a knee for Geno. I can tell you this, this guy is probably the toughest player I’ve ever been around,” Macdonald said in his press conference. “It was severe enough for him not to come back in the game. We’ll do all our tests tomorrow and figure it out as we go. But right now, structurally, it looks like it’s OK. But we’ll get it imaged and all that stuff.”

Let’s hope Geno Smith doesn’t miss the game against the Vikings. Seattle is on the bubble as of week 15 and the NFL says that they still have a 35% chance of landing in the playoffs. This game ended the Seahawks’ 4 game-win streak and if they lose one more game, their playoff dreams will end too.