Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald didn’t just give a fiery halftime talk in Atlanta — he called his shot on a Rashid Shaheed kickoff-return touchdown, then watched the speedster respond with his best game as a Seahawk in a 37-9 blowout of the Falcons.
Shaheed housed the second-half kickoff from 100 yards out, then stacked impact plays on offense to finish with 4 catches for 67 yards and 3 returns for 148 yards, giving him 215 all-purpose yards and his first Seahawks touchdown.
Mike Macdonald Calls His Shot on Kickoff TD
Multiple Seahawks said this wasn’t some lucky guess — Macdonald literally told them what was about to happen.
Rookie do-everything defender Nick Emmanwori said Macdonald laid it out before the team even left the locker room.
He recalled the coach telling the group at halftime that “Sha’” was going to take one back to the house, and that all the coverage guys had to do was win their blocks. On the very first play of the third quarter, Shaheed caught the kick, sliced through the seam the return unit created and was gone.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon told a similar story, saying Macdonald gathered the kickoff team and challenged them to spring Shaheed, emphasizing, don’t let your guy make the tackle. The message: the return was there if everyone did their job.
Shaheed backed it up in his own postgame comments. Asked if Macdonald really predicted it, he smiled and said the coach did, adding that the team knew from film they’d have a shot to steal one coming out of halftime. The staff dialed up the right return, the blocks held, and Shaheed finished it.
Macdonald played coy at the podium when reporters pressed him on the called shot, answering “maybe” and joking that he’d also called a Coby Bryant-style interception last year in the same building. But his players weren’t treating it as a coincidence — to them, it looked like preparation, trust and timing all colliding on one game-breaking play.
Shaheed Delivers His Best Game as a Seahawk
The called shot would’ve been a cool story on its own. The stat line turned it into a breakout game.
Before Sunday, Shaheed had just 4 catches for 37 yards and 36 rushing yards in four games with Seattle, plus modest return work after arriving via trade from the New Orleans Saints.
Against Atlanta, he nearly matched his entire Seahawks receiving total in one afternoon and added the kind of return highlight Seattle hasn’t seen in a decade. His 100-yard runback was the franchise’s longest kick return since Tyler Lockett’s 105-yarder in 2015 and the longest touchdown in the NFL this season, per the team and Elias Sports Bureau.
Shaheed said the difference is simple: more time with Sam Darnold and the offense.
He talked about the timing and trust finally clicking — knowing where he’s going to be, what Darnold expects on routes, and getting featured more on third down. Darnold echoed it, saying he’s seen Shaheed win in practice all year and that this felt like the game where the work finally showed up on the scoreboard.
Inside the locker room, teammates were already treating Shaheed as a “key” piece. One offensive leader said they see it as a two-on-two game on the perimeter now — that Shaheed’s speed can spring other receivers open and vice versa, making him “a vital piece” of the passing attack moving forward.
What It Means for Seattle’s Playoff Push
The blowout win pushed Seattle to 10-3, with seven wins in their last eight games and back-to-back weeks without allowing a touchdown.
Macdonald has hammered the idea of “stacking plays” over chasing results, and his team is starting to look like the embodiment of that message:
- Defense forcing three takeaways and holding the Falcons to nine points.
- Special teams delivering both a blocked field goal by Nick Emmanwori and the 100-yard return.
- Offense rebounding from a sputtering first half as Darnold threw three second-half touchdowns.
In a locker room that already believed it was built for January, Shaheed’s breakout and Macdonald’s bold call only added to the feeling that special things are coming, and that Seattle now has another game-changer defenses have to fear every time the ball is kicked in his direction.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Seahawks’ Rashid Shaheed Erupts for Best Game in Seattle After Bold TD Call appeared first on Heavy Sports.