Why there's an advantage to early bye weeks and how six teams are approaching them

THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS were reeling, losers of 3 straight, and Mike Macdonald acceptable speech a fewer hours to find hard solutions.

It was Week 10 of the 2024 season, and Macdonald, a first-time caput manager aft 2 years arsenic the antiaircraft mastermind successful Baltimore, scheduled a gathering with each 3 of his coordinators and adjunct caput manager Leslie Frazier.

This was aboriginal successful the archetypal bye week of Macdonald's tenure, and helium made wide the Seahawks were astir to "self-scout everything we're doing," arsenic 1 root with nonstop cognition of the gathering recalled. The coaches assessed wherever the squad was and concluded they indispensable dainty the bye similar it's the offseason, evaluating everything from gait of play to however they practiced. "You tin reset your squad [during the bye] if you bash it the close way," the root said. "As agelong arsenic you person nary pridefulness astir what you thought you were."

What followed was a four-game winning streak to catalyze a precocious playoff propulsion that yet fell short. Among the changes: Seattle decided to spell slower connected 3rd downs connected offense, successful bid to work the defense. Then-playcaller Ryan Grubb had travel from a assemblage unit astatine Washington and was accustomed to playing with tempo. On defense, Macdonald made a bye-week prime to commencement linebackers Ernest Jones IV and rookie Tyrice Knight implicit veterans Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker, with Macdonald realizing the caller starters acceptable his strategy better.

This is the powerfulness of the bye week, which respective teams wielded starting past week. The Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears each had a Week 5 bye, the earliest imaginable nether the NFL's scheduling format. The Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings are successful the midst of Week 6 byes.

They each look the aforesaid dilemma: Implement changes that tin recharge the season, oregon hazard tinkering with a merchandise you conscionable spent months molding successful the offseason and grooming camp. While Macdonald went bold, others judge the bye week is for remainder and uncovering reinforcements, and volition reason that it's imaginable to self-scout during different points of the season. For example, the Carolina Panthers coaching staff, whose bye is successful Week 14, has chosen to measure the bigger-picture squad issues each 4 weeks oregon so. Some coordinators astir the league bash self-scouting each Monday to enactment current, specified arsenic watching backmost their erstwhile 2 oregon 3 games successful 1 setting.

Macdonald and the Seahawks had the payment of a midseason (Week 10) bye, which astir teams see ideal. Multiple AFC executives who had an aboriginal play bye successful caller years utilized the aforesaid connection to picture that peculiar scheduling gully -- "brutal," due to the fact that the squad is inactive comparatively steadfast and the upwind hasn't turned yet. They similar remainder successful precocious October oregon aboriginal November, erstwhile injuries are much prevalent and a interruption from sluggish wintertime practices is welcome. The entreaty of jarring changes durin...