-
Jeremy Fowler
THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS were reeling, losers of three straight, and Mike Macdonald set aside a few hours to find hard solutions.
It was Week 10 of the 2024 season, and Macdonald, a first-time head coach after two years as the defensive mastermind in Baltimore, scheduled a meeting with all three of his coordinators and assistant head coach Leslie Frazier.
This was early in the first bye week of Macdonald’s tenure, and he made clear the Seahawks were about to “self-scout everything we’re doing,” as one source with direct knowledge of the meeting recalled. The coaches assessed where the team was and concluded they must treat the bye like it’s the offseason, evaluating everything from pace of play to how they practiced. “You can reset your team [during the bye] if you do it the right way,” the source said. “As long as you have no pride about what you thought you were.”
What followed was a four-game winning streak to catalyze a late playoff push that ultimately fell short. Among the changes: Seattle decided to go slower on third downs on offense, in order to read the defense. Then-playcaller Ryan Grubb had come from a college staff at Washington and was accustomed to playing with tempo. On defense, Macdonald made a bye-week choice to start linebackers Ernest Jones IV and rookie Tyrice Knight over veterans Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker, with Macdonald realizing the new starters fit his scheme better.
This is the power of the bye week, which several teams wielded starting last week. The Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears all had a Week 5 bye, the earliest possible under the NFL’s scheduling format. The Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings are in the midst of Week 6 byes.
They all face the same dilemma: Implement changes that can recharge the season, or risk tinkering with a product you just spent months molding in the offseason and training camp. While Macdonald went bold, others believe the bye week is for rest and finding reinforcements, and will argue that it’s possible to self-scout during other points of the season. For example, the Carolina Panthers coaching staff, whose bye is in Week 14, has chosen to evaluate the bigger-picture team issues every four weeks or so. Some coordinators around the league do self-scouting every Monday to stay current, such as watching back their previous two or three games in one setting.
Macdonald and the Seahawks had the benefit of a midseason (Week 10) bye, which most teams consider ideal. Multiple AFC executives who had an early season bye in recent years used the same word to describe that particular scheduling draw — “brutal,” because the team is still relatively healthy and the weather hasn’t turned yet. They prefer rest in late October or early November, when injuries are more prevalent and a break from sluggish winter practices is welcome. The appeal of jarring changes during an early bye is not great for some coaches.
“It’s more about emphasizing the things you think you’re good at, like getting somebody the ball more or saying, ‘Hey, we were good at this in training camp, let’s get back to that,'” said a veteran NFL defensive coach. “I believe in the Andy Reid approach, get away from one another, get rest and focus on the execution, study the tape, emphasize what you do well and get away from the things you don’t. Changes that revolutionize stuff are sort of overblown. It’s hard to reinvent the wheel.”
But urgency can drive change, as was the case exactly one year ago. The Los Angeles Chargers entered their Week 5 bye in 2024 with two straight losses, prompting a self-scout to emphasize areas where they were close to breaking out. They decided to expand the passing game with Justin Herbert, who threw the ball 73 times in his first two games out of the bye, compared to a total of 91 times the previous four weeks. At the time, offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who once cringed when he saw the early bye on the schedule, called it “a gift from the football gods” because the team cleaned up penalties and technique issues, allowing for a steadier run game and more passing attempts off that.
More famously, at the urging of their offensive linemen, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni leaned into the running game coming out of a Week 5 bye, launching a Super Bowl run with Saquon Barkley. On defense, Vic Fangio benched slot corner Avonte Maddox for rookie Cooper DeJean, which worked brilliantly.
Others noticed a change in Philly — particularly teams that had played the Eagles in the first month of the season. Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris recalled how the Eagles looked “a lot different” at the end of the season than they did in a 22-21 Falcons win in Week 2 of that year.
“They went from kind of getting disconnected up front [defensively] and being able to get off the ball and do some different things up front,” Morris said. “That’s something that coaches usually go back and can notice and look at on tape, but I think it’s pretty normal to go out and do some of those types of things and come back with something different, new wrinkles, things of that nature. We did it last year, too, defense with our pass rush. So, being able to come back, have a different look, we had to get some things generated from the pass-rush standpoint, helped us a lot and I’m sure we’ll do the same things [this week] from both sides of the ball — well, all three sides of the ball — to get better.”
Let’s take a closer look at how all six teams with Week 5-6 byes — the Steelers, Falcons, Bears, Packers, Texans and Vikings — will likely approach the bye.
Jump to:
Bears | Falcons
Packers | Steelers
Texans | Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
One inherent challenge of an early bye is at the forefront for Pittsburgh, which has won three games with different styles of play.
“This early, you’re still finding out what you do well,” a team source said.
That makes use of personnel a key component for Pittsburgh ahead of the Oct. 12 matchup with Cleveland.
The Steelers know a run-heavy Week 4 attack was something to build on but disrupted plans in the passing game, too. Tight end Darnell Washington played 48 snaps in the win over the Vikings in Dublin, well above Pat Freiermuth (15) and Jonnu Smith (13). The feeling in the building is that Washington is making himself difficult to keep off the field due to his blocking prowess. But Smith and Freiermuth were heavily featured together throughout camp and should get more playing time in future weeks. How head coach Mike Tomlin and playcaller Arthur Smith juggle tight end personnel — and what they gleaned about the position during the bye — will be critical.
Running back Kenneth Gainwell looked like a lead back in Ireland with 99 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries versus Minnesota. He has earned more time. But he’s a backup to Jaylen Warren (knee), who missed Week 4. The Steelers are hoping there are plenty of carries for both.
Perhaps the Steelers’ biggest focus on the bye was ensuring the team is peaking late in the year. Pittsburgh was 10-3 last season before dropping five straight, exposed by a 10-day scheduling gauntlet of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City.
To offset that, the Steelers believe they’ve improved depth on both sides of the ball.
“We ran out of gas last year,” a team source said. “That’s why it’s important for a variety of players to get game exposure so it keeps us fresh.”
One other bye-week theme: The Steelers have identified big plays via run-after-catch yards as a team strength — D.K. Metcalf and Warren both rank in the top 10 in yards after catch — and the team wants to lean into that.
Green Bay Packers
Head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters that health was the priority for the bye. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (knee) and right tackle Zach Tom (oblique) are among the Green Bay starters who are banged up. Wyatt could miss some time, while Tom has been battling the oblique issue since Week 2. Starting corner Nate Hobbs underwent a knee scope in August and has started somewhat slowly as a result, making the bye timely for him.
Beyond that, LaFleur had much to consider during the bye when it comes to his team’s makeup and relative inexperience. The Packers are the NFL’s youngest team, with an average age of 25.23 years old. That youth has produced incredible highs — convincing wins over Detroit and Washington in back-to-back weeks — and curious lows — the last-second loss to Cleveland as well as a costly late-first-half fumble vs. Dallas that loomed large in a 40-40 tie with the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football.” To return back to Green Bay at around 4 a.m. that Monday without a win kind of felt like a loss at the time, as one person with the team put it, though the next day was better.
LaFleur told ESPN in the preseason that his team needed to push through the youthful narrative, comments that feel timely now.
“These guys have experience now. They’ve played in big games,” LaFleur said. “So hopefully we can learn from those experiences. There’s no substitute for everything that comes with it. The nerves associated with that, but also understanding how important every play is when you get in those types of games.”
LaFleur has stressed that his team is connected, with a locker room full of “high-character people,” a reminder LaFleur can emphasize over the next week.
“The more connected we can become, the better chance we have to weather some adversity,” LaFleur said then. “I’m a big believer in how important the character of people is in this league, from players to coaches and support staff. That’s what I feel great about. We have the right people.”
Don’t expect the Packers to make sweeping changes to scheme or personnel. Green Bay would fall into the group of self-scout-as-you-go teams as opposed to relying solely on the bye to tweak. As one person with the team put it, “evolving and figuring out who you are” is an ongoing process, from down-and-distance tendencies to red zone work.
Chicago Bears
It seems clear what head coach Ben Johnson wants to tweak during the bye: the offense. Johnson went as far as to call the Bears’ offensive operation “a mess” during his weekly availability last week, blaming himself for sending in calls late in the play clock and citing the team’s 1-for-4 clip in the red zone as concerning.
Johnson has the benefit of reinforcing his message through back-to-back wins, the ideal scenario for any coach: Win with enough bad game to humble players and guard against complacency.
“The bye week’s coming at a good time and we’re really going to be able to take a good look at ourselves and do a little soul-searching,” Johnson said.
That process began last Tuesday and Wednesday in the building, and Johnson promised to “huddle up” this week with his staff to evaluate whether “we want to pivot in certain spots” regarding personnel and scheme. So, on the bye-week-aggressiveness scale, Johnson seemed unafraid to experiment, similar to his playcalling style.
In that vein, here are a couple of themes to keep in mind about Chicago:
-
Expect left tackle to be addressed. Theo Benedet looks poised for a larger role after he replaced starter Braxton Jones in Las Vegas. The Bears could make that switch this week. Jones battled through an ankle injury in the offseason and hasn’t quite been himself since. How he feels coming off the bye is something to monitor.
-
Whispers of Johnson’s rigorous practices have persisted. Johnson clearly is attempting to set a tone of toughness in his first year, to which several players attested back in camp. And veterans responded positively to Johnson’s public challenge, after starting 0-2, to practice more like a championship team.
All of that’s great … but it’s also a long season, and several key starters — guard Joe Thuney, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, safety Kevin Byard III — are 32 years old. Johnson said the bye week will help the Bears with “getting our minds and our bodies back to square one.” Keeping players fresh in the winter months will be crucial, and something Johnson will likely evaluate. Whatever the Bears decide won’t be done passively.
“Everything is aggressive with Ben,” a team source said. “That’s just the way it is. He’s on every detail all of the time.”
Atlanta Falcons
Morris says that, as a head coach, “you always want to study yourself” as a team, which is fitting since Morris already made significant changes before his Week 5 bye.
Coming off a lifeless offensive performance versus Carolina in Week 3, Morris fired wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard and approved the move of offensive coordinator Zac Robinson from the press box to the sideline on game days.
The Falcons saw immediate payoff. The offense got back on track with 34 points and a 313-yard passing performance from Michael Penix Jr.
Morris — who has worked under the likes of Jon Gruden, Mike Shanahan and Sean McVay — has no problem tinkering. That could be the case during the bye, which Morris considers a “nice, full-week sample” of things you can improve.
“You never want to say you don’t want to add anything, because there’s always something that you want to add that you’ve been thinking about,” Morris said. “You talk about over the last couple of weeks … like, ‘Hey, we won’t put it in this week but maybe do it down the bye, some things you want to maybe explore a little bit, just talk about, think about.’ But it’s definitely a chance to go back and look at everything that you’ve done from all three phases of the ball and find out what you can do better and what you can add to it or what you can take out [that] you don’t like.”
Last year’s bye fell on Week 12, when Morris evaluated the best ways to utilize do-it-all linebacker Kaden Elliss. He became a big part of the Falcons’ pass rush late in the season, with four sacks over the final six games compared to one over the first 11. Morris’ goal was to put pass rushers and defensive linemen in different positions in order to “dictate terms a little bit better” to opposing offensive lines.
This time around, deciding whether to commit to a two-TE offense could be on Morris’ agenda. In both of Atlanta’s wins, which were convincing offensively, the Falcons played both Kyle Pitts Sr. and Charlie Woerner more than 65% of the snaps. In two losses, Pitts’ usage remained high but Woerner played 42% and 21% in Weeks 1 and 3, respectively.
Houston Texans
One of the hottest teams in the NFL over the past two weeks would be justified in wanting to skip the bye and keep playing.
The Texans course-corrected their early-season offensive woes, pouring a combined 70 points on the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens over the past two weeks. To be sure, playing Baltimore is a confidence builder for struggling offenses everywhere. But that doesn’t discount the Texans’ progress.
Houston’s offensive line carousel appears to have stopped, settling on Aireontae Ersery, Ed Ingram, Juice Scruggs, Jake Andrews and Tytus Howard as the starting five. C.J. Stroud is regaining his Year 1 momentum, passing for three touchdowns in the first half Sunday. He seems to be settling into Nick Caley’s offense. He has found something with veteran wide receiver Christian Kirk, too, connecting on all four passing attempts to the veteran for 64 yards.
Head coach Demeco Ryans has already made changes to the defense ahead of the bye, releasing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and relinquishing playcalling duties to defensive coordinator Matt Burke.
Personnel usage will be a worthy topic for Houston entering and coming out of the bye. Just when rookie Woody Marks looked poised for lead-back status, Nick Chubb pumped out 61 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and out-snapped Marks 27 to 24 on Sunday. The Texans have the luxury of riding the hot hand weekly. That’s a good thing since Joe Mixon doesn’t appear ready to return any time soon.
Rookie receiver Jaylin Noel is pushing for more time after turning 21 snaps into two catches for 13 yards and a touchdown.
Elsewhere on the personnel front, linebacker Christian Harris has been a healthy scratch, is in a contract year and is well-regarded by other teams for potential trade interest that might intrigue Nick Caserio, one of the NFL’s most aggressive general managers.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are a team that should rejoice over an early bye.
The team is 3-2 despite 10 different starters missing time through the first five weeks: left tackle Christian Darrisaw, wide receiver Jordan Addison, right tackle Brian O’Neill, center Ryan Kelly, offensive guard Donovan Jackson, running back Aaron Jones Sr., safety Harrison Smith, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, linebacker Blake Cashman and quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
People with the Vikings consider this bye incredibly timely from a health standpoint. Plus, the two-week European swing — playing back-to-back games in separate European countries for the first time in NFL history, with stints in Ireland and England — was taxing.
The quarterback outlook will inevitably drive the conversation over the next two weeks. The Vikings have been very pleased with Carson Wentz, who validated that faith with a 2-1 record, 759 passing yards, five touchdowns and just two interceptions while McCarthy was out.
But Wentz suffered a left shoulder injury that the team is evaluating as it returns to the team facility after a long flight. McCarthy is getting healthier and could be primed for a return in Week 7.
When asked Sunday about how the quarterback situation will play out post-bye, O’Connell said, “Yeah, I’m excited we got the win today, and we’re going to move forward in this bye and get as healthy as we can at all positions and attack this thing through the next four games.”
That comment won’t do much to quell the intrigue. There’s nothing funny going on here — McCarthy was legitimately hurt and the Vikings still believe in his future. But the reality is the Vikings are playing well with the backup right now, with a head coach who is skilled at rehabbing once-broken passers. Will that inevitably force tough decisions?
