If you asked any NFL fan before the season, nobody would've said they expected the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl LX. Sam Darnold and the Seahawks beat the odds and are officially world champions, as Mike MacDonald turned a young roster into one of the league's most dangerous almost overnight.
Macdonald became the first head coach to win a Super Bowl as a team's primary defensive play-caller, which debunked the belief that teams can't win Super Bowls without an innovative offensive coach. The Seahawks finished first in defensive EPA per play and allowed the least points per game, as their defense stifled Drake Maye and the Patriots' offense last night.
Now that the Atlanta Falcons have a new regime coming in, they should be taking notes. Obviously, they hired an offensive-minded coach in Kevin Stefanski, but the Falcons are investing a lot of trust in Jeff Ulbrich to help this defense take a step forward, even if he doesn't hold a candle to Macdonald.
The Seahawks also didn't break the bank in free agency last offseason, while most of their star power consisted of homegrown talent. Their only major signing was Darnold, who was once regarded as a draft bust, but silenced their doubters because their roster was masterfully constructed to cater to his strengths, which the Falcons need to do with Michael Penix Jr.
Falcons fans are falsely hoping Kevin Stefanski will be able to turn around their roster as quickly as Mike Macdonald did with the Seahawks
There are a lot of similarities between the situation Macdonald inherited and the one Stefanski is inheriting this season, but there are also plenty of differences. John Schneider has been around the block as a Super Bowl-winning GM before, while Ian Cunningham is a first-time general manager.
Stefanski is a coach who's had success with the Cleveland Browns, something that's virtually unheard of in the modern NFL. He won two Coach of the Year awards with them and is a better coach than the record suggests, but isn't the level of genius of the man we saw take over in Seattle after Pete Carroll.
If you look past the 8-26 record across the his two seasons in Cleveland, the 43-year-old compiled a 36-30 record that resulted in two playoff appearances. And he did all of this while dealing with a revolving door at QB and an owner whose meddling actively set the franchise back.
Unfortunately, it seems like the Dirty Birds might be straight out of luck with this one. Penix has yet to even confirm the notion he's the face of this franchise and while there are pieces to work with on both sides of the football, their track record in drafting and developing talent left a lot to be desired.
Stefanski has assembled an impressive coaching staff in Atlanta, but there are still question marks. The Emerald City was home to an elite coaching staff that started and ended with Macdonald, so it'll be hard to replicate their model even if the Falcons are headed in the right direction under Stefanski.