THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The 'defensive coach' made an offensive decision late

This one is on Coach Mac.

Sure, there were plenty of goofs on both sides Sunday afternoon, and the Seahawks made their share by losing three fumbles.

Still, this 17-13 loss to the 49ers — the kind of home opener that makes you gnash your teeth — didn’t turn on a penalty or a pass interception.

Nope, it was a decision by coach Mike Macdonald that flipped the game in the wrong direction.

What’s more, you kind of felt it at the time.

Maybe got a queasy feeling in your stomach.

Macdonald made a call that told both teams, and the full house at Lumen Field, that he wasn’t going to be brave.

We discovered that he didn’t trust his offense on a fourth-down play with the result likely hanging in the balance.

The distance the Seahawks had to cover: Oh, barely more than a foot.

Certainly not more than a yard.

They were at the 49ers 19-yard line, with the score tied 10-10 and 3:24 remaining in the game.

Mac, you’ve GOT to go for that one.

Sam Darnold is a big guy and your interior lineman are tough hombres.

You’ll get it with a quarterback sneak 99 percent of the time.

BUT, NOPE.

Macdonald sent out his kicking team, Jason Myers bunted through his chip shot and Seattle took a 13-10 lead that, honestly, gave you the creeps.

For one thing, the 49ers could probably tie the game with their final drive.

Winning was optional, and then some.

When a team is protecting a lead, being up by three is the worst — especially with more than three minutes left.

In your mind, you’re thinking you’ve got to make a stop around the 30- or 35-yard line.

Maybe Mac was thinking of the 49ers’ kicking woes.

Jake Moody had already clanked one field goal try off the left upright, and had another blocked.

For the 49ers, reality might have been touchdown or nothing.

Macdonald perhaps thought: “Surely, we can keep these guys out of the end zone.”

Cue Ricky Pearsall, zooming right past cornerback Riq Woolen, for the catch that turned the Seahawks’ strategy upside down.

If you’re wanting to give Macdonald some love here, consider that he’s a defensive coach — not the guy running an offense that needed a yard on fourth down.

Macdonald’s offense came off the field with heads drooping when he chose not to try for that one yard.

The coach has an encyclopedia of analytics for every situation, but Seahawks fans wanted a decision made with the heart, not the head.

Let your big guys smash ahead for that yard, the crowd goes crazy and the offense does some excited head-butting.

You want your team and your fans to BELIEVE that this is going to be a year of kicking rear ends.

Or never being afraid to try.

TAKING the field goal was a downer, in a wildly emotional sport.

A sport where downers really hurt.

Yep, it was three points to give the Hawks the lead, but it felt like an underdog move.

Macdonald said on his radio show Monday morning that if he’d strictly followed the team’s analytics, the Seahawks would have gone for it.

“It was favored to go for us on our model,” Macdonald said.

But as he pointed out, the decision had to be made “in real time.”

Fair enough.

However, Macdonald and his staff of thousands no doubt had thought about and discussed this exact scenario as the offense moved into range.

Where would they kick, and where would they go for it?

Mac added that the official’s placement, after Darnold had hit Cooper Kupp for 6 yards to the 19-yard line, looked like they needed more than just a yard.

Everyone had different angles, but the TV shot (right down the line of scrimmage) made the distance look shorter.

Seattle had a 67 1/2 percent chance of winning the game after the field goal, via ESPN’s analytics.

“It wasn’t easy,” Macdonald said. “There’s definitely an argument to go at it the other way.”

He has no regrets about the call — only the final score.

“I felt pretty strongly about the decision in real time,” he said.

Unfortunately, the 49ers also feel pretty good about it.

At least, now they do.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”