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Advanced stats review for week four
It was very evident that Seattle blitzed a lot less in Miami and that shows up in their blitz percentage for the season — which has dropped to 30.2% from 36% last week.
It’s also clear that Seattle is essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of trying to create sacks. They know they don’t have anyone on the D-line they can rely on to win 1v1. The pass rush has never looked this weak. As a consequence, they’ve had to blitz a lot to try and manufacture pressure.
That in turn led to a ton of explosive plays and yards being conceded. Seattle remains #2 in the NFL for explosive plays given up (20) behind only the hapless Atlanta Falcons (21). They have given up 1604 passing yards which is still easily first in the league. The second placed team, Atlanta, have conceded 1366 yards.
Seattle has given up 1111 air yards, the most in the NFL. Second placed Cleveland have given up 813. The Seahawks have given up 609 yards after the catch — third most in the league behind only Arizona and Las Vegas.
The Seahawks are also conceding 7.8 yards per pass attempt.
So they reigned things back against the Dolphins. The blitzing was replaced by a much more conservative approach which clearly suited the second level defenders. The big question now is — how do they create pressure playing this way?
Even taking the Miami game into consideration, the Seahawks have blitzed 65 times this season — third most in the league behind only Baltimore and Buffalo and level with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh.
Despite missing the Miami game, Jamal Adams (31) remains the fourth most blitzed player in the league behind only Alexander Johnson, Shaquil Barrett and Matt Judon.
Bobby Wagner has blitzed 21 times — 20th most among all players.
The blitzing enables Seattle to lead the NFL in QB knockdowns (20) and their knockdown percentage of 10% is ninth best in the league.
They have 21 TFL’s so far — sixth highest in the league. Jamal Adams, Alton Robinson and Poona Ford have three TFL’s. K.J. Wright and Benson Mayowa have two. Bobby Wagner, Ugo Amadi, Quinton Dunbar, Lano Hill, Bruce Irvin, L.J. Collier, Bryan Mone and Anthony Rush have one each.
Unsurprisingly the heaviest blitzers — Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay — lead this category with the lowly Jets having the same number as Seattle. Again, as we’ve discussed, blitzing clearly manufactures production in the way of pressures, QB hits and TFL’s. The key to whether you’re succeeding doing it is sack percentage and that’s where Seattle is struggling because they don’t have a proper starting DE on the roster.
The Seahawks have only six sacks in four games. Only five teams have fewer sacks (Detroit, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Carolina). Despite blitzing so much, their pressure percentage is 20.5% — just outside the bottom third in the league.
Seattle’s sack percentage dropped from 3.1% to 2.9% after the Miami game. It’s now the second worst mark in the league behind only Carolina (2.0%). That’s the statistic, in my opinion, that is the most concerning for this team.
Snacks Harrison, who is joining Seattle’s practise squad and will eventually be added to the 53-man roster, is not going to make a jot of difference in terms of sacks. He has just 11 sacks in his eight-year career. He’s a run-stuffing, classic nose tackle.
Their ability to find someone — anyone — who can win off the edge in 1v1 situations is the key to the Seahawks truly elevating their defensive performance. I still think they should be aggressive in the trade market to solve this problem.
Pull this off and we could easily see a rapid improvement. Clearly some things are working. Their turnover percentage is 17.8% — the fifth best mark in the league. That’s likely why the Seahawks are ranked 21st on defense per DVOA (and not lower). Add a pass rusher and who knows what they could achieve?
The Dolphins carried on the trend of opponents not running against the Seahawks. People have put this down to ‘great run defense’ but it’s more a result of scoreboard pressure and Seattle’s inability to defend the pass.
Miami running backs only carried the ball 15 times on Sunday. Myles Gaskin managed 40 yards on his ten carries.
As a consequence of this performance, where the Seahawks gave up 103 rushing yards, their expected points contributed by the rushing defense dropped from around three points to -0.97.
Seattle’s passing defense has an expected points contributed tally of -50.09 — sixth worst in the league behind Atlanta, Jacksonville, the Jets, New Orleans and Dallas.
A lot of people seem to want Dan Quinn back in Seattle if he’s fired by the Falcons. His defense has an expected points contributed by the pass-defense of -76.46 — by far the worst record in the league in this category. You might also notice that Quinn’s defense is among the worst across the board in most categories and he’s leading an 0-4 team.
Shaquill Griffin has been targeted 36 times this season, second most in the league. He’s given up the second most completions (24). Tre Flowers has given up 23 completions despite only starting two games. Griffin has given up the most yards in the NFL (348) and Flowers is third on the list (290).
The Seahawks have only missed 19 tackles so far — a big improvement on last season. That’s the third best tally in the NFL.
It’s well known that Seattle’s special teams is excelling. The Seahawks force their opponents on average to start drives on the 21-yard line. That’s the best record in the league and a credit to the punting of Michael Dickson and the kick-coverage.
Roster moves
On top of Snacks Harrison joining the practise squad, the Seahawks also added Jonathan Bullard to their 53-man roster (with Neiko Thorpe heading to IR).
Bullard was a highly rated prospect in 2016 who somewhat unexpectedly fell to round three. After an underwhelming period in Chicago he had a year with the Cardinals and was recently on their practise squad.
His main issue was size. His best position was operating as an interior disruptor yet at 285lbs he wasn’t going to be able to play early downs. Yet equally he lacked the length and profile to play as a defensive end who kicks inside.
He does have a desirable profile though with 33.5 inch arms, a 1.65 10-yard split, a 4.56 short shuttle and a 9-8 broad jump. He’s explosive and aggressive and had a superb highlights reel at Florida.
The Seahawks might utilise him as a specialist interior rusher. They could also have him offer some depth at the five-technique seeing as Rasheem Green is still out. It’s an interesting addition.
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Did I hear you drop “trickeration” Rob?
Brilliant
Indeed…
Unless the PS rules changed this year which is entirely possible, I believe SEA needs to keep Bullard on the roster for 3 weeks since they signed him off another team’s practice squad. Maybe Green’s injury isn’t healing the way they hoped?
Reading Rob’s reports on him from a few years ago, they reminded me a lot of LJ.
Wed Press Conf w PC
“Have opp vs Vikings before bye, looking to find consistency that we’ve had to win 4 games. A lot of areas to improve on. Have to stress getting better. Take care of the ball, have a good chance of winning. Vikings difficult schedule and played well. Great scheme, run FB hard & tough, explosive in passing game w WRs. They know us, we know them. Hope to put together a winning plan.”
[bob condotta] Snacks & Bullard? “Both guys hoping they’ll help us. Bullard, background with him. Clint coached him a while back. Excited to see how he fits in rotation. Snacks been a real force in the league. Real strong and stout in the middle. PS give him a chance to work and get ready, want to use him ASAP. Take full adv of PS and make most of it. Snacks a player that has big character in the locker room. Special.”
[jen] Dalvin Cook broken tackles? “Explosive, great speed. Quick accelerator. Whole field available to him on every play. Inside, wind up outside too. Great shape. Great pass catcher too. Create balance in their offense by having him in backfield. Play action game too.”
[corbin] Tennessee COVID, players holding own practice, forfeiting punishment? “League business. I don’t know. NFL doesn’t want teams to find a way to get ahead of other teams. Level playing field. I don’t know what’s appropriate right now. Fine, docked something. Don’t have a good thought. Got to expect league to take action.”
[john boyle] PS like this flexibility? “Great, oh yea. For a lot of reasons. Imagine being on a PS and knowing you can’t play. Now, you have a shot. It’s better. Flexibility, opp to use those variables to coach is a cool part of it. Calls for JS and I to work together on this. Great new way. Plus 16 guys instead of 10.”
[Curtis crab] Adams, Dunbar, Brooks injury? Neko IR? “Neko athletic hernia symptoms. Working hard to get back and can’t get going. Can’t stride and go. Get him fixed up, not sure what course will be. Brooks still working on coming back. Hard for him to get back this week. Dunbar practice tomorrow, see how it fits. Determined to be back. Adams a week away still.”
[joe fann] Snacks free up Reed for pass rush? “Run defender. Not a guy 3rd down pass specialist. Doesn’t mean early downs he can’t free up space. Hope for that. Gotta get him back in there first.”
[Jackie] Jefferson Minn explosive plays? “Took him a game or two then he exploded. Really good after the catch. Made people miss in open field. Terrific player.”
[matt] Metcalf last year vs this year? “Quite a bit. New last year, didn’t overload him. End of season realized he could handle whole package. Move him around now, diff position, diff route. Dedicated himself to finding every competitive way to get as good as he can get. Works so hard, cares so much, so talented. Opened up the world of being a great player to us. Time w RW in summer beneficial for confidence and chemistry. Well on way and will get better. Improved in every way.”
[tim] Snacks clear to practice from COVID protocol? “yes”
[tim] Ryan Neal saw from him? “Atlanta running around, showed aggressive style, tall and long. Thought he could play CB for us. Attack player.
[michael shawn] Metrics to determine good D? “Really starts with not letting people have easy long plays. Giving up long plays, not playing well. Emphasis from 2 weeks ago to last week. I’m not accustomed to that. Giving up long plays, it doesn’t work. Productive offense helped us through growing pains. Next thing is run defense, and then getting after the FB, taking away from your opponent. Turnovers change the fortune of the game and season. Just getting started. Not doing much with fumbles yet. Always anticipate being at top of league in TO ratio.”
[Gregg bell] Snacks play Sunday night? “Practice field first. Learning D fine, no problem at all. How fit he is question.”
[Gregg] COVID protocol big change? “no.”
[art thiel] Snacks not on FB field 10 months, more difficult to make midseason transactions where can’t know much about guy? “Once we’re in season not different. All kinds of info would have gathered in offseason. Snacks in town for 5 days. Once they’re here, it’s the same.”
[brady] Like most about RW play? “Consistency. Each game like last. Command of what’s going on, comfort in pocket. Connection to WRs.”
[Jackie] Carols and Carson? “Love combo, can’t wait for Carlos to get back at it. Like issues they present to opponents. Aggressive. Don’t look same when they run but results similar. A constant we can bring with two hammers.”
[Curtis crab] Rasheem Green after bye? “Really good chance that should happen. Couple things he has to get done. All reports likely to happe.”
[bob condotta] Carlos shoulder same as last year? “No, other shoulder. Red jersey practicing to get timing and conditioning. Bye week works in different ways to project. Should come out of bye with a real boost in personnel. Wants to play this week.”
[bob] Dorsett back after bye? “Just talked to him, exactly what we’re hoping for. That’s the plan.”
So glad we cleared up the difference between D.K. Metcalf this year and last year.
Pete’s never been asked about that.
Ever.
Nope.
Nobody ever asks about Metcalf’s progression.
Oh actually, it gets asked every week.
“What do you like most about RW’s play?”
Dust off the Pulitzer. This is crack stuff.
Loved that question.
Cutting edge.
Big issue? Addressed.
I’m waiting for a question about how Blitz and the Sea Gals are holding up this season given the circumstances…
‘Do you know if they voted?’
These Pete Carroll pressers…😬😔😭
I’m wondering why Snacks wouldn’t help the pas rush. Wouldn’t he need to be double teamed? Play him with Reed in the middle on third down and let’s see what happens.
Because he’s never even had 4 sacks in a season. He’s not a pass rusher. And if he was a good pass rusher, he wouldn’t be available as a free agent that nobody else essentially wanted to put on the practice squad for a few weeks. At 31-years old, he’s not going to suddenly become a pass rusher (especially after missing all of training camp).
I do like the idea of Snacks in run stuffing situations and Bullard in passing situations. That’s a needed improvement. Every little bit helps especially if they can win the Super Bowl in spite of their DL.
I believe Dan means because he can swallow up O-line Blockers so that others can make plays. For instance, he could make it easier for Adams or a LB to get a clean shot. I’ve been hoping the same thing. Obviously, have a legit rush DE Tremaines the most important piece
You still gotta have guys who can beat their man one on one unless you blitzing every play. Outside corner play is struggling too much to keep a high blitz rate. It’s not sustainable even with Snacks “potentially” eating up double teams on early downs.
Clowney not doing much with the titans…
Clowney has a 72.9 PFF grade.
Benson Mayowa has a 59.2 and L.J. Collier a 56.0.
Make that a quiet 72 grade. I’ve watched a couple of Titans games and hardly heard his name. Still no comparison with who we have in his place.
I wonder with the messy situation with the Titans if he’s second guessing his decision. The scheme that was supposed to be better suited for him hasn’t paid off, yet.
Well they’ve played three games Bruce.
Didn’t Robinson have a 72 this week?
Robinson does have an overall 65 which is encouraging. Limited snaps and played some poor offensive tackles in his two active games though
And?
7 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 fumbles, 0 interceptions- 15 million… sure it’s only been 4 games but come on man. People need to get off this Clowney train say he would be the greatest thing for Hawks d line.. nope they’d still be shitty. 72.9 PFF woooppiiiideeedooo
What Clowney train?
You are the one who brought Clowney up. Nobody else was talking about him.
You sound unhinged. I’d recommend a hot cup of English tea.
Maybe he had too much Tennessee Tea. The whiskey will really get you.
I started to write a long explanation about what a player like Clowney does for those around him….But I deleted it. Too tired of going on and on about that. Just ask Bobby how badly he misses him.
He WOULD be the greatest thing on our d-line, and by an incredibly wide margin. THAT’S the problem. Maybe we wouldn’t be missing Clowney at all if we’d even attempted to actually replace him. But we didn’t, so here we are.
Previous Bullard write up from Rob here:
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/seahawks-meeting-with-jonathan-bullard
Thanks!
Can I recommend a drink for you 1 oz. Bacardi 151 Proof Rum.
1 oz. Everclear (190 Proof)
3/4 oz. Triple Sec.
3/4 oz. Amaretto.
Cola. Really makes the hair stand up on your twig and berries. But really come on man he’s mention quite a bit don’t dismiss because he not mentioned on this thread.
I’m sure you appreciate that it’s a bit rich to come into a thread, bring up Clowney unprovoked and then have a dig at other people… for talking about Clowney.
And people are well within their rights to talk about him. The Seahawks called him a ‘priority’ to re-sign prior to free agency starting and were still insisting they were ‘in the mix’ before he joined Tennessee. They’ve done a bad job ‘fixing’ their pass rush. They’ve essentially replaced him with Benson Mayowa. The team lacks an X-factor on the D-line and regardless of his numbers in Tennessee after three games, he provides that.
You probably didn’t see it but in Tennessee’s last game, Minnesota had three guys blocking him at times.
So if people want to talk about him, they can do.
Annnndd.. now I read this. Guess my cocktail prediction was kinda close!
Tennessee Tea:
Whiskey
Triple sec
Sweet & sour
Cola
“Twig”?
🤭
He’s literally been mentioned five times in the past week. 5 comments out of 1075. 2 of those were sarcastic, and one was a passing mention in a comment about the Seahawks defense from 2012-2016.
(Source: Google.)
But ok: choo choo!
Waiting for a response. Guessing it won’t be forthcoming.
🤭
Why can’t they just stick with one guy and develop him instead of cycle through jags that they’ll cut a week later and make no impact.
I would guess this happens because none of the guys they have tried to plug in (to the DL especially) have done anything to keep the job. So, you have to keep trying different guys and hope you hit on someone. Unfortunately that’s the situation we’re in with the DL. This is the price you pay for not fixing a well known problem early in free agency. We are forced to raid other teams practice squads for guys who can’t make their own 53 man roster!
Pete mentioned Ryan Neil as a corner? Hmmmmmm………..what was his 40 speed like?
Northwestern Pro Day 2018
6017, 187, 31 3/4 arm, 75 3/8 wing
4.47 40yd, 4.29 SS, 7.18 3C, 37.5 VJ, 10’7″ BJ, 15 bench
Thanks Sea Mode. Aren’t those arms clearly shorter than their preference?
Just 1/4 an inch shorter than the 32 mark? Measurements can vary depending on how they are taken at each place, so it’s not necessarily a deal breaker.
The usual wingspan is 77.5 inches, so yeah, he doesn’t hit that.
From Rob’s article a few years back: https://seahawksdraftblog.com/the-2017-cornerback-class-has-a-wingspan-problem
Richard Sherman — 32 (arms) 78 (wingspan)
Brandon Browner — 33 (arms) 80 (wingspan)
Byron Maxwell — 33.5 (arms) 77.5 (wingspan)
Jeremy Lane — 32.5 (arms) 78 (wingspan)
Tye Smith — 32 (arms) 78 (wingspan)
DeAndre Elliott — 32 (arms) 77.5 (wingspan)
Neiko Thorpe — 31 3/4 (arms) 78 1/2 (wingspan)
Stanley Jean-Baptiste — 32 3/8 (arms) 78 3/8 (wingspan)
Pierre Desir — 33 (arms) 77.5 (wingspan)
Then adding more recent ones:
Shaq Griffin — 32 3/8 (arms) 74 3/4 (wingspan) – but also ran a 4.38 40yd
Tre Flowers — 33 7/8 (arms) 79 3/8 (wingspan)
Quinton Dunbar — 32 5/8 (arms) 79 (wingspan)
Thanks for this. He isn’t far off. I mistakenly thought their benchmark was 33. It just intrigued me what with Griff in a contract year and all.
I think they see the kid can play. The numbers matter a bit less once they are no longer trying to project how people will do.
So we added a DT & DE & so far it cost us nothing. At least we can put the Snacks issue to bed. We really don’t need to add a DE until the deadline as long as keep winning.
They need to add a proper DE as soon as possible.
Bullard will be cut in like two weeks after playing five snaps
Let’s give him a chance to succeed before we write him off. We could use the help.
Didn’t see it. No issues with anyone talking about Clowney or other Seahawks needs, failures or wants – just be able to handle a different view point. People can agree or not – doesn’t matter to me but won’t stop me from expressing an opinion – well maybe if I get blocked lol. Btw none of this is an attack to “dig” as you non chalantly insinuate. I like to think I treat everyone with human decency.
You see, this is the problem Nick.
You’ve come on here and told everyone to ‘stop talking about Clowney’ — when nobody was talking about Clowney.
When this was pointed out to you, you’re now saying, ‘just be able to handle a different view point’.
Let me offer some friendly advice. If you’re going to accuse people of:
1. Talking too much about Clowney
2. Being unable to handle a different viewpoint
It might be best not to come into a forum and start a debate about Clowney while insisting everyone stops talking about him because YOU have a different viewpoint.
Because otherwise you just make yourself look a bit of a tit.
Sea Mode says:
October 7, 2020 at 3:23 pm
He’s literally been mentioned five times in the past week. 5 comments out of 1075. 2 of those were sarcastic, and one was a passing mention in a comment about the Seahawks defense from 2012-2016.
(Source: Google.)
But ok: choo choo!
Not sure I ever said talking too much about Clowney ever entered the keyboard there, Rob. Or insisted any to stop in any fashion or form. Your problem is you can’t deal with opposition which makes you come across a lil bit of a boob.
You brought up Clowney, then accused people of ‘mentioning him quite a bit’ and being on ‘the Clowney train’ — which is the same as accusing people of talking about him too much.
When it was pointed out to you that nobody was talking about him and that you had in fact instigated a conversation about Clowney, you’ve now resorted to accusing me of being unable to ‘deal with opposition’ (despite insisting people ‘get off the Clowney train’ because you personally don’t want to talk about it anymore — which sounds an awful lot like someone who is unable to deal with opposition).
Let me be frank with you, Nick. This type of bollocks isn’t welcome on here. Not because I or anyone else ‘can’t deal with opposition’. The sheer fact I’m indulging this conversation is evidence to the contrary. It’s because you’re contradicting yourself, trying to police the discussion and making no sense.
It’s just a load of wank.
Christ man let it go
Nick-
Don’t agree that Clowney’s been a flop over in Tennessee, or that we shouldn’t have signed him (which I don’t think was ever was your point anyway), but I will say this: if he thought a transition to a more talented line was magically going to help him improve his counting stats, he’s been proven wrong and then some — so far, at least. Maybe the big game like he had for us against SF is still to come. But as was mentioned above he’s still getting triple teamed. I highly doubt he’s headed for the 10+ sack year he was hoping for. He’s not a sack machine like Frank Clark at this point in his career. Great player, but won’t get the sacks to prove it any more than he did in our system.
Want to add also that I’m not the owner of the blog and know considerably less about football than does Rob, but I at least appreciate the difference in opinion, even if it’s just in a devils advocate sense.
Not that we need him nut has anyone heard anything about Josh Gordon?
PC was asked about him in every single press conference for a while and just replied, “I have nothing to say,” so I think they finally let up for the time being.
Basically, as far as I know, he’s signed with us and just waiting for the league to let him play again. When that might actually happen is anyone’s guess.
Rob,
Curious of your thoughts on how poorly Diggs has been playing. I’m sure blitzing so much with Adams has put some pressure on him trying to cover the poor corner plays. Buti If Diggs continues this trend throughout the year do you think they may have Ugo or Blair try reps next year out at FS? With Blair and Ugo doing average/above average at nickel and who knows what DJ Reed may provide at NCB. It could push them to the thought, I know Blair and Ugo played FS in college so they wouldn’t be to fresh to the position.
I don’t — I think Diggs is the starter for the season if healthy.
But I think his tackling has been particularly poor so far and he hasn’t been around the ball in the way he was last season.
What’s the thought process on signing snacks to the practice squad rather than 53? Is he out of shape? Just giving him a look? Doesn’t that make him vulnerable to other teams picking him up?
As noted in the podcast it’s a way of checking him out but also retaining Rush and Mone. They can call Snacks up as a PS ‘extra’ for the weekend if he’s ready, if not he has time to get in shape and come back in week seven. Then they can make a call on who he replaces on the 53.
It was also mentioned to be because of an adjustment to the Covid period for FAs by Condotta.
This isn’t the case.
He practised today.
An FYI, down here in Texas there have been a couple articles about Snacks. He lives in the Dallas area and was expressing a desire to play close to home………..meaning, of course, the Boys. Yeah, almost every available player at some time or other is linked to the Cowboys, so that’s less meaningful than where he lives. And, again of course, he wanted to play for a contender, so that might leave out the Boys now since the feeling down here is they’re a hot mess. Despite the scuttlebutt that he was thinking retirement, he swung back toward wanting to continue in the league on a good team (supposedly wanting to rid himself of a bad Patricia taste). What I found most interesting of his goals/desires commentary was that he spent the off time working to get to a lighter playing weight than he has been. I haven’t seen any commentary about where he scales, but I don’t see a lot of Seattle news like most folks here. Any reliable word on his current weight?
Titans players, not doing the right thing. Unauthorized practices and meetings while in NFL/NFLPA sanctioned COVID protocols.
(yes I know some of you poo poo Clayton) But Clayton said on the afternoon drive cross talk that he thinks the Titans might forfeit this weeks game and get a whopping monetary penalty for the team and for some of the players. They might even lose a draft pick (top 3 rounds).
To top it off, if I heard it right, they have 2 more players test positive today as well.
Wish they could get it together, for the leagues sake.
re: social dilemma
I’d give ’em the forfeit.
Thanks Rob and Robbie for another enjoyable video. I agree with the shootout you both predicted. But, I am curious to see if the defense shows further signs of growth. Can they hold Minnesota to less than 30 points?
The Snacks signing is a meh for me. But I would be happy if he shows enough in the next couple of weeks to start after the bye in place of Poona. Pete called him a plus guy in the locker room so maybe that elevates him a bit above Ford/Mone/Rush when he is game-ready.
For a Vikings preview, you guys spent a lot of time talking about the Rams. I don’t think that there is a clear cut #3 team right now. Chiefs/Ravens and 5-6 others in a similar tier with Seattle in that group.
Thanks for the stats here Rob.
Can you help me understand the ‘sack problem’ a bit more? I was convinced last year that sacks weren’t the end all, and we looked closer at pressures, hits, etc. to measure disruption. As you state, those are improved across the board this year.
However this analysis suggests low sacks could be a cause for the horrid pass defense. Just trying to make sense of the numbers.
When you blitz more, your pressure percentage inherently is going to be higher. The success of a blitz isn’t based off of pressure (because there aren’t many people in coverage), but getting to the QB and preventing him from getting the throw off. The pitiful sack percentage reflects that even with Seattle blitzing as much as they are, they aren’t getting home because they don’t have a dominant presence up front
Thanks Steve. So we’ve manufactured the pressures and QB hits by blitzing and those stats only matter if they translate to sacks (when blitzing). I think I get that part.
What about the more objective implications of those metrics (not specific to blitz king per se)? We put a lot of value on individual players that produce pressures and hits as an offset to sacks to suggest they are still disruptive. Does that production need to be weighted against blitzing? Said another way, if Seattle wasn’t blitzing and was producing the same stats, would the defense be considered better?
I know we’re trying to analyze why the pass D sucks and this analysis points to one key area of ineffective blitzing. I’m just not quite getting why the correlation of sacks matters because I thought pressures and qb hits were also important disruption metrics.
I think it’s a slippery slope, we could just as easily argue the coverage sucks and if better, would create more sacks because guys are getting pressure.
Rob explains it well here
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/fact-checking-seattles-defense
The short version is guys like Clowney who may not have recorded tons of sacks, but has an elite pressure percentage (even when being frequently double teamed) are extremely valuable.
Think about that for a minute. If Clowney generates pressure, say while being double teamed, that means 3 other DL are being blocked 1on1, and teams may be more inclined to have a RB or a TE stay home and help, which means they can’t be running a route. If you get pressure with 4, you can leave 7 are back in coverage. Meanwhile, the offense has 5 or 6 blocking and the QB throwing, which means they can only have 4 or 5 running routes. So the Seahawks could effectively clog the throwing lanes AND get the QB to hurry his throws which severely reduces the chances of a successful play.
So even if the pass rush doesn’t get the QB to the ground, the disruption combined with flooded coverage makes them much harder to beat. The defense gets a pressure and the chances of a completion are lowered.
Of course, the Seahawks have no one who can beat double teams now, let alone absorb them and free up teammates. How does that hurt them?
Look at what the Hawks were doing the first 3 weeks. They can’t get pressure with 4 DL on 5 OL. So they send blitzers. And since teams frequently handle the blitz with 5 OL, that means there’s 5 running routes now covered by 5 defenders. Sure, the blitzers can record a pressure, but those extra 2 seconds a single covered receiver is going to come free. So the defense gets a pressure and at the same time gives up an explosive play.
Hope that helps.
With the Seahawks running more Blitz plays this year, a new narrative popped up here – When Blitzing, pressures do not count for much, it’s sack or bust.
I am sorry but this is far from accurate.
Sacks are a loss of down + loss of 5-10 yards for the offense. The offense can make up for it when it happens on 1st down and it is not much bigger than an incomplete pass on 3rd down.
Even the best blitzing defense in the NFL fails to sack the QB on 9 out of 10 blitz plays. The reason they keep doing it is that it shorten the time to throw, creates pressures that lead to incompletions and/or mistakes leading to turnovers. The holy grail of defensive plays is turnovers, not sacks. (Just watch both of Neal’s interceptions as a direct result of Mayowa hitting the QB)
Blitzing exposes the back field because they have to cover with less manpower. It promotes more man 1on1 situations in the backfield that the QB can exploit. Still, all NFL teams employ blitzing at a certain rate.
The main issue with the Seahawks blitzing this year imo is not the low rate of sacks. The high number of pressures and hits is just what the doctor ordered in this case. The problem is subpar secondary/cover play so far. They trusted their revamped secondary to stay on top, keep cover integrity and generate turnovers out of QBs operating under pressure. The secondary failed and exposed them to big plays etc.
I believe that has a lot to do with getting Adams. His talent at playing near the LOS, blitzing etc. is too great to ignore. Getting the rest of the backfield on the same page playing the proper cover shorthanded, in a month, with the off season limitations has proven too tall an order.
I hope that with the bye coming they can do some work on it and get backfield in sink.
“With the Seahawks running more Blitz plays this year, a new narrative popped up here – When Blitzing, pressures do not count for much, it’s sack or bust. I am sorry but this is far from accurate.”
I’m afraid the only thing inaccurate here is your assertion. The point I have made is that it is possible to manufacture pressures by blitzing. And as evidence of that I listed the highest blitzing teams and their blitz percentage and showed that each of the teams were among the leaders in pressures. Which is predictable. If you are bringing six or seven rushers against five blockers you will have someone in the backfield and will tally a pressure. That’s just a numbers game and stating the obvious.
The problem is a pressure can often be determined by someone being in the vicinity of the passer on a blitz. Yet if you don’t get home, by bringing seven you are often exposed at the second and third level. So in order for blitzing to be deemed successful you generally have to ‘get home’ at a reasonable rate (you take more risks for greater benefits). While a heavy blitzing team like the Steelers have a sack percentage of 12.3% and the Buccs have a sack percentage of 9.3% — the Seahawks have a sack percentage of 2.9%. Even the Jets, who also blitz a lot, have a superior sack percentage.
If you don’t get home at such an alarming rate it creates obvious problems. I’m a bit surprised that I have to highlight that given everyone witnessed the Seahawks’ defense in the first three weeks where they were giving up 430.7 yards a game through the air and have conceded the most explosive plays in the NFL.
“Even the best blitzing defense in the NFL fails to sack the QB on 9 out of 10 blitz plays. The reason they keep doing it is that it shorten the time to throw, creates pressures that lead to incompletions and/or mistakes leading to turnovers.”
And the Seahawks weren’t getting home 9.8 out of 10 blitz plays. And they were giving up the most explosive plays in the league. And they were giving up 430.7 yards. The pressures did absolutely nothing. And let’s remember — Seattle’s pressure percentage isn’t even that good. It’s just outside the bottom third in the league.
“Blitzing exposes the back field because they have to cover with less manpower”
“The main issue with the Seahawks blitzing this year imo is not the low rate of sacks. The high number of pressures and hits is just what the doctor ordered in this case. The problem is subpar secondary/cover play so far.”
Do you not see the contradiction in what you’ve written? The secondary defenders are exposed yet it’s their fault for not covering better?
Was the coverage good? No. You have to do some fairly serious mental gymnastics to try and argue though that a heavy blitzing team only getting home 3% of the time ‘isn’t the issue’.
Here are the top blitzers in the league and their sack percentage:
Pittsburgh — 12.3%
Baltimore — 5.3%
Tampa Bay — 9.3%
Buffalo — 6.0%
Arizona — 7.6%
The Seahawks are clearly lagging behind these teams at 2.9% (the second worst rate in the league). If you’re going to blitz you need to be getting home more often than the Seahawks are. It’s too much pressure on the second and third level and we see that with the results in terms of passing yards, yards per pass attempt, explosive plays conceded and several other stats.
If you want to add to that argument and say the coverage in the secondary has been crap — that would be a valid discussion. But this isn’t some ‘narrative’ we’ve cooked up. The numbers simply provide hard evidence to one of the big issues with Seattle’s defense this year. Their sack percentage is bad and particularly so given they are among the heaviest blitzers in the league.
I am sorry for my long winded comment.
“the coverage in the secondary has been crap” was the main point I was trying to make.
To put the sack percentage above in perspective – It’s 1-2 extra sacks a game. Its great to have but not a game changer especially when teams can easily make up for it with an explosive play over the top of the secondary on the next play.
I was not making a case for the pass rush, I was pointing a finger at the secondary play which imo is as big of a problem if not bigger so far.
No need to apologise. It wasn’t long winded.
““the coverage in the secondary has been crap” was the main point I was trying to make.”
As noted in my other reply, it’s a fair point. The secondary has not played well. I would struggle to construct an argument against it. The stats in this article show how poorly the cornerbacks have played.
However, we also saw how much better Griffin played when they only blitzed five times at the weekend. So the increased blitzing is putting tremendous strain on players like SG — because the results in the first three games versus the results on Sunday are night and day.
“To put the sack percentage above in perspective – It’s 1-2 extra sacks a game. Its great to have but not a game changer especially when teams can easily make up for it with an explosive play over the top of the secondary on the next play.”
I’m not sure it’s valid to play down 1-2 extra sacks a game. The Seahawks currently have five sacks which is the third lowest tally in the league. An extra six sacks, let’s say, would put them in the top-10 for sacks.
Let’s also think situationally. What if those sacks happened on first down? You’re then less aggressive on third down and maybe you avoid giving up the big, game-changing explosive play because you can drop more bodies into coverage? Maybe you get off the field to avoid it?
“I was not making a case for the pass rush, I was pointing a finger at the secondary play which imo is as big of a problem if not bigger so far.”
It might’ve been better not to open with suggesting there’s a ‘new narrative’ on the blog that, ‘when Blitzing, pressures do not count for much, it’s sack or bust. I am sorry but this is far from accurate.’ If your point was about the poor play of the secondary, it might’ve been better to avoid the legitimate points made about sack percentage and simply argued that the secondary defenders haven’t played well. I noted in the article the yards conceded by Griffin and Flowers.
However, as I also said in my previous reply, it takes some serious mental gymnastics to play down Seattle’s pathetic sack percentage. Last year, when the pass rush was on its knees, the Seahawks had a sack percentage of 4.5%. This year, despite increasing their blitzing to a third of their defensive snaps, they are only sacking the quarterback at a rate of 2.9%.
That is a serious, serious concern.
Makes you wonder about Flowers, Griffin, and all these other corners Carroll has “coached up” during his time at the helm back when we had a good pass rush and ET and could thus pressure with 4. Great system for corners who aren’t the most agile. This year with all the blitzing has provided a truer reflection on the corners we have on the team IMO.
Carroll’s system seems to give corners an easier job at the expense of pass rusher stats. Makes it even weirder that the front office has historically avoided paying top dollar for guys who could allow for a 4 man rush.
Last year we used pass rush win percentage to highlight Clowney’s performance despite his lack of sacks. It highlighted the impact he was having despite his high percentage of double teams faced. He only blitzed once per PFR last year, so they weren’t manufacturing those wins too.
Pressure percentage for teams, as I’ve shown over the last few weeks, can be manufactured by increased blitzing. All of the heaviest blitzers are among the leaders in pressures and knockdowns and TFL’s (even the Jets). But when you blitz so much, you have to get home. Bringing seven rushers against five 36% of the time will automatically put someone in the backfield. That’s just maths. If you don’t get home though, you leave your second and third level exposed.
The problem for the Seahawks is their sack percentage despite blitzing so much is an atrocious 2.9%. Pittsburgh’s is well over 12%. Tampa Bay’s is about four times what Seattle’s is. They are examples of successful, aggressive defences.
If you blitz you need to get home.
Thanks Rob.
https://twitter.com/gbellseattle/status/1313985210506121216?s=10
Cody Barton for scale.
6’5″ 350lb Anthony Rush #63 on the right for scale
https://twitter.com/bcondotta/status/1313982564302946304?s=10
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/10/06/pfts-week-five-power-rankings-3/
It appears Tennessee players violated NFL rules and held an unauthorized practice during Covid quarantine. That violation may have extended the length of their Covid breakout and put their game in jeopardy for the 2nd week in a row. If true, what is an appropriate punishment? And if the game against Buffalo can’t happen, how do you reschedule given Tennessee has already had their bye?
I think extending the season to 18 weeks with 2 byes is almost a certainty.
There’s already an extra week built in. The playoffs can also be pushed. But they could end up having to forfeit.
If the league wants to let the teams know they’re serious about COVID protocol, they’d hand down a forfeit.
Best way to handle this is a fat L.
It won’t stop until there is financial disincentive.
Considering PC got a $100,000 fine for not always wearing a mask, their fine should be at least a mil when you consider the lost revenue from games.
The D-lines of the PC era
2010
5t- Red Bryant, EJ Wilson
3t- Brandon Mebane, Craig Terrill
1t- Colin Cole, Kevin Vickerson
LEO- Chris Clemons, Dexter Davis
2011
5t- Bryant, Raheem Brock
3t- Mebane, Pep Livingston
1t- Alan Branch, Junior Savaii
LEO- Clemons, Davis
2012
5t- Bryant, Jason Jones
3T- Mebane, Clinton McDonald
1T- Branch, Jaye Howard
LEO- Clemons, Bruce Irvin
2013
5t- Bryant, Michael Bennett
3t- Mebane, De’Anthony Smith
1t- Tony McDaniel, Jordan Hill
LEO- Clemons, Cliff Avril
2014
5t- Bennett, Greg Scruggs
3t- Mebane, Hill
1t- McDaniel, Kevin Williams
LEO- Avril, O’Brien Schofield
2015
5t- Bennett, Frank Clark
3t- Mebane Hill
1t- Ahtbya Rubin, Demarcus Dobbs
LEO- Avril, Cassius Marsh
2016
5t- Bennett, Quinton Jefferson
3t- Reed, Hill
1t- Rubin, McDaniel
LEO- Avril, Clark
2017
5t- Bennett, Jefferson
3t- Sheldon Richardson, Nazair Jones
1t- Reed, Rubin
LEO- Avril, Clark
2018
5t- Branden Jackson, Jefferson
3t- Jones, Shamur Stephen
1t- Reed, Poona Ford
LEO- Clark, Jacob Martin
2019
5t- Ziggy Ansah, Rasheem Green
1t- Ford, Al Woods
3t- Reed, Bryon Mone
LEO- Jadeveon Clowney, Jefferson
2020
5t- L.J. Collier, Green
3t- Reed, Mone
1t- Ford, AnthonyRush
LEO- Benson Mayowa, Damontre Moore
Summary: sh*t hit the fan after 2017. Then they got cleaning products with Reed and Clark combining for 24.5 sacks. The cleaning products didn’t work and the sh*t got everywhere in the house after Clark was traded. Tried to clean it up in 2019 with Clowney, and then in 2020 FO said f*ck it and decided to live in the sh*t stained house.
That 2017 dline seemed so promising but in my memory severely underperformed
Well Avril only played 4 games and Bennett had a nagging foot injury all year I think?
Under PCJS, this team really has only had an “elite” or “great” dline in 2013. 2017 looked promising but fell flat. If I remember Bennet and Avril both underperformed in 2014, at least I don’t remember that being a strong year on the defensive line at all.
Clinton McDonald was a major factor on that 2013 line, no?
I remember Bryant and Mebane as two players that held the interior line together in the early years. Bennett was another big player from 2014 on. I’ll lay the ultimate success of the defensive ends on Cliff Avril and Bennett, with later addition of Clark.
One of the key factors in the 2014 superbowl loss was Avril getting injured, after which the pass rush was anemic against Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Pleasantly surprised to see that the tackling has improved – sort of contradicted the eye test in that respect. Maybe I am too haunted by Barton’s attempt on Sunday…
There were many comments in the last game about “old man” Fitzpatrick scrambling for first downs. He got 47 yards and a touchdown rushing. That contributed to the visuals of missed tackles.
I’m not sure about that
Weird to see Isaiah Simmons only get 10 and 9 snaps the last two games. Cardinals don’t know what to do what to do with him?
Seems that way.
Coaching seems like an issue there. Started 2-0 and two poor efforts to slump back to 2-2.
Rob, it seems Arizona has drafted a few favorites of yours that haven’t worked out. Simmons, reddick, Kirk. I wonder why the players haven’t been successful, must be coaching?
Well it’s a bit early to say Simmons ‘hasn’t worked’.
Kirk has been fine. He wasn’t so much a favourite as simply someone I thought they would have a lot of interest in. Hard to get targets this year with Nuk soaking them up.
Reddick —- it just seems like they’ve never been able to find the right role for him.
They have not developed anyone in their front 7 for a long time.
Not gonna lie, absolutely love the idea of snacks and Bullard joining the dline. I liked Bullard in the draft, and DeAndre Walker (even if that was short lived) in the draft. I don’t have the highest expectation for Bullard since he hasn’t managed to stick yet on a rooster, but the type of player is exactly what the team needs. He isn’t Donald or Dockett but holy crap he was a force in college, I wouldn’t be that surprised if he worked his way into a starting position either. Having a 350 pounder beside him, should let him be pretty aggressive attacking the pass, knowing he he’s help on the run. I’m making the assumption that Snacks has been a professional long enough he’ll be able to perform at a high lvl as long as used sparingly in the run game and as a space eater. No doubt the Hawks have some monsters in goal line situations, and the value of those plays is so high I don’t think an argument can be made that bringing in snacks is a bad thing. The post from Jmelare was awesome, and highlighted another factor. The Hawks old school lines functioned well, with far less draft capital invested. We are somehow spending more and getting less.
Me too. Good chance he doesn’t work out, but it cost them very little for a guy with physical traits they could use more of. Not only that, but they have background on him and o find it hard to believe they would have brought him in if his attitude or work ethic was bad.
First Quarter Report Card
MVP: 1.RW, 2.Michael Dickson, 3.Bobby Wagner
1.RW is playing at league MVP levels. The 3 game TD record and his only “true” INT is on a leaping grab by Howard. He’s showing what he can do with some pass pro.
2.Dickson is back to being a weapon, and he (hot take) might be the best “defensive” player on the Hawks right now. Top 3 in all punting stats. Tied for the lead with 10 punts inside the 20. The absolute rebound from a blah 2019 I was hoping for. With these defense in the shape it is, a few extra yards in punts might be just enough to give the D an extra play or two to make the stop.
3.Wagner is not having his best year highlights wise, but he’s still the lynchpin of the defense. And he gets bonus points for “most valuable” for two reasons: lining up and leading the defense, and given that Cody Barton is behind him, thinking about the defense with Barton at MIKE makes my stomach queasy.
ROY: 1.Damien Lewis, 2.Freddy Swain, 3.Alton Robinson/DJ Dallas
1.Easiest pick for #1 on the list. He’s lived up to the billing and has been a fantastic draft pick.
2.Bumped Ursua off the roster and has seen more playtime already in 2020 than Ursua did in 2019. When he’s on the field the defense can’t assume RW is throwing to the other WRs.
3.Neither has seen much action but encouraging signs. Alton, nice, capable slate of play after oddly being a healthy scratch for 2 games. Dallas in one game has shown why PC raving about him in camp. Shifty, feisty and better potential than Homer.
Pleasant Surprise: 1.ST, 2.Ethan Pocic, 3.Ryan Neal/Ugo Amadi
1.Hawks ST are probably the NFL’s top unit. No penalties so far. None. And they had an abrupt departure of longtime ST coach Brian Schneider. A critical part of the Seahawks’ success this year.
2.An afterthought and an easy cut to get $1m back this offseason, Pocic has won the starting job and achieved a pretty good standing for a center: rarely getting his name mentioned during a game, while taking all offensive snaps.
3.Very solid play from two guys who were practically afterthoughts. Ably filled in with injuries to Adams and Blair. Providing depth that championship teams have. Guys who make coaches think “How can we get him on the field more?” rather than “Can we speed up the starter’s injury recovery?”
Biggest Disappointment: 1.Defensive GamePlanning, 2.BJ Finney , 3.Trey Flowers
1.Not the offseason moves, the first quarter game decisions and strategy. Blitzing every warm body and allowing explosive plays? Mayowa and Reed playing 80-90% of snaps? Camp surprise Alton Robinson a healthy scratch for 2 games while Luke Willson takes 5 special teams snaps? The Miami game is a step in the right direction, but overall this first quarter probably kept PC up at night more than any other time in his Seahawks tenure. And frankly, it should.
2.Finney: $8m for 2 seasons. Zero snaps in 2020 for the Seahawks. A priority signing for the Hawks early in FA, but never even in the running for starting C, and even at times #3 behind UDFA Kyle Fuller.
3.Flowers regressed from his middling 2019 play. PC mentioned his confidence has been hurt by the Dunbar acquisition. So rather than rise to the challenge and show the initiative he had his rookie year to move from S to CB, he’s frequently been targeted with ease by teams.
2nd Qtr Prediction: 3-1
Wins with Minnesota and SF at home. Splitting the road games with Arizona and Buffalo.
Nice write up 👍🏻
I’d be real happy with that 3-1. Then need a split with the Ra
……Rams in the next 2 quarters
Great stuff Cha!
Quality content! I think I’d have to consider Adams as an MVP candidate as well even though he missed last week.
Really???
Haha I didn’t mean over Russ for #1! I meant consider him for top 3 over Bobby.
I’d give some love in your team MVP voting to DK – he’s leading the league in receviing yards through a quarter season, and averaging a crazy 25.2 ypc.
To me, Shell has been the most pleasant surprise, I think he’s really helped solidify the line, and I had no idea what to expect out of him. Pocic deserves the credit you gave him too.
Maybe it’s just me but as well as DK Metcalf has played, I’m not putting a guy at MVP who has dropped a few passes and had a ball punched out on the GL for a touchback because he celebrated too early.
Brian Schneider is still listed as the Special Teams Coordinator for the Seahawks. He is on a “Leave of Absence” for personal reasons. This was reported on September 11, 2020. He could be back. It hasn’t even been 30 days, yet.
Perhaps he gets his personal issues resolved and wants to come back to work. Should he lose his job because with him absent, the Seattle Seahawks’ Special Teams has been the top unit in the NFL in the first four weeks? We don’t know what was said to him, when he left by Head Coach Pete Carroll.
Does anyone know if has Pete talked about this?
I don’t want to talk about it on here.
Let the man handle whatever issue he’s dealing with.
And for all we know it was Schneider’s preparation and work that helped deliver a special teams improvement this year.
I wonder if Carlos Dunlap could be a trade option? The Bengals dont ever trade but maybe.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30071439/cincinnati-bengals-de-carlos-dunlap-upset-lesser-role-baltimore-ravens
Therein lies the problem. The Bengals don’t trade.
If they rang Mike Brown up he’d probably ask for a first round pick.
They wanted a R2 for Eifert a year ago!
Momma did a 180
Well maybe she’d like to be a Grandmother at some point and that’s why she had reservations.
“But momma, I wear protection.”
“Oh in that case, I’m good with it”.
Colin Cowherd says the Texans should trade…J.J. Watt
I know Rob said he was tired of hearing about it and it would never happen but there are a number of different people saying that Watt could/should be on the market; especially if he requests a trade. And, Seattle is on the list of desirable trade partners.
I appreciate Colin’s suggestion.
But it’s so impossibly unlikely, he might as well have said trade for Aaron Donald.
Bill O’Brien has just been fired in part because of a massive blow up with JJ Watt. The franchise has essentially sided with its heart and soul player. Watt is practically the mayor of Houston. He is beloved, he’s as much that franchise as DeShaun Watson is — if not more.
There is no way — no way — Houston trades him mid-season. When he eventually leaves the Texans, whenever that is, it’ll be because he’s retiring or it’ll be done in a way where they can give him a proper send-off. That send-off won’t be losing a home game in front of no fans.
And finally — the Texans have no business ridding their team of talent. They don’t have a first or second round pick next year. They have no incentive to give up on the season and start making moves. Are they really going to trade JJ Watt for what would be at best a late second round pick???
Moving him would basically be tanking for the benefit of the Dolphins, who own their picks.
Colin might have a direct line to Russell Wilson but he clearly doesn’t have one to Houston.
I think the key is whether JJ asks for the trade. If he does, they’ll trade him.
He says he’s sick of losing. He might want a ring as part of a HOF career. He apparently had a blowup with the defensive coordinator too. Does he want to finish his career on a poor team that will take years to rebuild?
Why would Watt ask for a trade?
They just fired the coach and picked Watt in the stand-off.
He loves Houston. He virtually is Mr. Houston.
Him saying he’s sick of losing is a call to arms for the Texans to get their arses in gear not a ‘come and get me’ plea.
And that’s before we even get into a deal. What exactly are you offering for the greatest ever Texans player??? A late 2021 second rounder???
Why would they even accept that???
Well HOU is also dealing with salary cap problem for next year though not as bad as other teams (-7 million after carrying 8 million cap credit from 2020 to 2021) They could trade Whitney Mercilius this year to bring that cap credit up to 14 million, clear Mercilus’s cap in 2021 which brings it down to -3 million and then have +11 million in going into 2021 offseason. For SEA i believe Mercilus’ cap hit in 2020 would be 6 million and in 2021 it would be 12 million and in 2022 it would be 14.5 million. It could work for both sides if HOU wants to replenish draft picks.
Mercilus is untradeable look at his dead hit.
its only 6 million dead hit for HOU according to overthecap.com
I think you need to go and have another look.
The dead money on his contract this year is $27.2m.
Given his cap hit is only $12m, they would be paying quarterback money for him to play somewhere else.
There is a 0% chance of Whitney Mercilus being traded.
And the accelerated cap hit of $15m would put them over the cap for 2020. They couldn’t trade him without trading, cutting or restructuring someone else to get them back under the cap. The NFL wouldn’t approve the trade without that in place.
according to spotrac, if HOU traded away Mercilus, they treat it as a post June 1 trade, which opens 10.5 million for HOU and incurs a 1.5 million dead cap hit, which is also what overthecap says as well. My understanding is that the giving team (HOU) is only only responsible for guarantee money for that year of trade and any remaining guarantee money on future years of the contract, the giver (SEA is what I’m using as the example) is responsible for.
I’m not aware of any provision that lets teams spread out prorated bonus money over 4 seasons after trading a player away. Maybe there’s something in the new CBA that I’m not aware of. But traditionally all prorated bonus money has accelerated to the year a player is traded and that makes for a whopping hit that creates real disincentive to trade a player you paid big bonus money to.
Watt is such a fixture there it’s hard to see it. I think for this to even remotely happen, Watt has to go to ownership and say something like “look, I love it here, and we’ve had some great years together, and Houston will always be home. But I want a ring before I retire, and let’s be honest, that’s not happening here. Can you help me out?”
And I’m not sure I see Watt saying that.
JJ and Russ do want to play together… just saying.
JJ Watt is still standing in the Texans building.. after the coach and GMN got shown the door.
That is all you need to know right there. He ain’t going anywhere. Maybe O’Brien said he was going to trade him and the owner finally had enough and tossed him out on his ear.
The Chicago defense doesn’t seem to have much of a pass rush going against Tampa Bay. Obviously why they are getting torched by Brady.
It’s so nice not having to worry about having Ifedi out there. Just had flashbacks.
I would have liked to see him succeed. He just couldn’t quite get the holding penalties and false start penalties out of his system. I wonder if he would have been better this year, if he had another year under the current OL coach and the current system they are utilizing.
Is Shell any better?
Shell has been pretty good. He’s a lot better than ifedi in pass protection.
Shell doesn’t get penalized, which makes him a huge upgrade from Ifedi. I don’t think he’s that great in pass protection though.
It’s a bit of a small sample size to compare, but Ifedi has one penalty this year and zero holding calls. Shell has 2 penalties and 1 holding. Ifedi also grades a 71 (albeit at guard) vs Shell at 63. Also Ifedi is playing for peanuts at $900k vs Shell at $3.5MM cap.
It’s difficult to compare the two this year at different positions, and I was in the camp of moving on from Ifedi, but I’m not going to reach and say Shell is an objectively a better solution.
Spot on, Denver.
Yes, Shell is better. It’s early & we haven’t faced a defense that makes us all feel like sheeit about everything but I’ve got to say that all 3 of our new OL starters have performed satisfactorily to date. It’s been a ‘good’ unit for the first time since…
Rob, you sly dog…..
You put the RW in Action Green Jersey in the thumbnail for the youtube video….
….and the Seahawks are rolling out the uniform on SNF vs the Vikings.
Fuller, lit that guy up right there….
Yeah, textbook hit
And good job by the refs picking up the flags after that hit. Probably watched it on replay but regardless it was the right no call
Vita Vea. He’s transitioned well to the pros. Teams can’t run on TB and he provides interior pressure. Very valuable skill set.
Vita Vea has been a beast on every level. A man with his size, skill set, and work ethic, rarely have much of a transition even at this level.
And he took a bad ankle shot and just got carted off.
Broken leg. What a shame.
Broken leg, out for season…injuries have been brutal around the NFL this season!
https://www.nfl.com/news/buccaneers-dt-vita-vea-believed-to-have-suffered-broken-ankle
Pressuring him is the key to beating the Rams:
Luckily, he can’t do this though:
I know it’s a small sample size, but Justin Herbert is looking like he might be a good one.
Indeed
Yep.
Got to get pressure on Goff.
Need to trade for someone before the deadline.
Indeed
Vikings game watch points
Hey Seahawks, you want to stroll into your bye week 5-0 and show the NFCW and the rest of the league that you’re a team to be reckoned with? You’ll have to prove it to yourselves and to the league on national TV Sunday.
Offense: Prove you are ready to ascend to new levels.
RW is amazing. Lockett, DK and Carson are cornerstones. The OL is improved. Scoring is plentiful. But there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
This Viking defense is having a rough year. Run defense is awful. They give up lots of explosive plays. Their leading tackler (Kendricks) is banged up. This isn’t a top flight defense you’re facing.
Schottenheimer, you don’t have to overthink things. Let’s see some balance in the play calls. Sometimes being predictable is OK. The talent on this roster can succeed without always being clever. Running and utilizing the TEs builds momentum, keeps the defense fresh and eats the clock. You should be able to control this game with your offense. Let’s avoid the strange, sputtering series and head-scratching play calls in key spots we’ve occasionally seen this season. And RW, let’s break the streak of a “wonky INT per game” you have going vs Minnesota.
OL: Prove your versatility by being a good run blocking unit.
Pass blocking has been much improved this year. Now let’s round out your game and drive the Vikings off the ball and dictate to this defense. Last year you guys took it to the Vikings in the run game. Brown and Iupati ate the Viking DL’s lunch. They got Baldy all fired up. Do it again.
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1201895205709836290
Run defense: Prove your high statistical ranking among NFL defenses.
The run defense has been good in a small amount of reps. Well, Dalvin Cook and his 5.7 yards/carry are going to see lots of reps Sunday. Through Week 4 he led the NFL in Rushing First Downs, Missed Tackles Forced, Rushing TDs and Yards After Contact. The Vikings’ rushing offense is 3rd in the NFL in explosive play rate. 16% of their rushes have gone for 10+ yards.
You’ve got yeoman’s work in front of you. Gap integrity, patience and sure tackling are going to be key for such an elusive and tough player. Enough with the praise about the run defense as a salve to your fans’ and coaches’ feelings about the horrid pass defense. Mount up.
Pass defense: Prove you can be consistent. Keep reducing the explosive plays.
The Vikings are first in the NFL in explosive play rate and first in explosive pass rate. 15% of their pass plays have gone for 20+ yards. Was last week a step in the right direction or an aberration? Can you maintain the model put together for the Miami game and keep Justin Jefferson in front of you? Will Dalvin Cook running 25 times lull you to sleep? Can you limit Theilen’s impact? Will this game be another assault on Seahawk fans’ nervous systems?
Quandre Diggs, Trey Flowers, Cody Barton: Prove you belong in the Seahawks’ long-term plans.
Diggs, you’ve not been near the adrenaline shot for this defense that you were last season. Poor positioning, costly penalties and a lack of turnovers marred your first 4 games. This defense sorely needs to see you flying to the ball and providing a spark.
Flowers, you’ve got to make peace with the fact the Hawks went and traded for the guy ahead of you in the lineup. You’ll get your chances. Dunbar is injury prone and may yet face a suspension. You’re playing tentatively and it’s not helping anyone except the opposing QB. Dig deep and find your confidence. The Hawks need you.
Barton, PC acknowledged you made mistakes last week. We all saw Kendricks and 2 other LBs coming in for a visit 2 days later. Brooks likely won’t play Sunday. I’ll say it again: You’ve got a chance to show something. Dalvin Cook and Kyle Rudolph are coming to town Sunday. PC said the mistakes you made ‘won’t happen again.’ Don’t make a liar out of him.
Bonus Prove It: Front Office, prove you know and understand how special this team can be.
You should be embarrassed by your inability to get a bona fide starting quality edge rusher this offseason. You should be equally emboldened to make a move after seeing what this team has done without one so far. Go get one. You have 2 full weeks to figure a deal out and get the guy through protocols.
Forget dumpster diving for former draft prospects. Forget hoping Robinson will develop in-season. Or that Green will come back from injury and be your “leading sacker”, or that banged up rookie Taylor will provide you with a boost. Go get someone who makes all those guys complementary depth and will alter your defense for the better. Send a message to the NFC West and the NFL. “We’re serious. And we’re coming for you.”
Excellent work Cha!
Ditto from me
Good call on Cook – he will definitely test the premise that we are stout against the run. He’s the hottest back in football so far this year.
Feels like another high-scoring game coming . . .
Agree on all points 100%. Well articulate.
This is really good stuff cha. You have been on fire with these kinds of posts over the past couple weeks.
Thanks for the kind words everyone. Glad you like it.
Russell Wilson Could Capitalize on Vikings Low Pressure Rate | Next Gen Stats
https://youtu.be/UZqVZxe5qSA
Vikings have 2nd-lowest pressure rate in NFL this season (18.5%).
WOW! Jonathan Bullard. I just can’t believe how fast time flies. Bullard is now in his fifth season. WOW! I remember just like yesterday the 2016 NFL draft. Bullard was a player I was hoping the Hawks would be interested in(Of coarse there I am interested in almost EVERY healthy defensive lineman) Bullard. That seems like yesterday. Now a Bullard is in his fifth season. Time goes fast.
What should be expect from Bullard? Since many people has idea about player do you guys think he can contribute as a rotational player or can be starter?
I don’t think anything should be expected, per se, but it is a low-risk move with plenty of potential upside.
what can one expect from a guy in his fifth season sitting on his couch during the season…
I have a pretty bad feeling PC’s gonna get hit with at least a couple of these…
smh
Might as well trade their second rounder next year before it’s too late
That’s what I was thinking.
Been thinking to myself – “what is he doing?” when Pete takes off his mask to approach officials.
Watching some of that Indy D, boy are they legit, and S Julian Blackmon is phenomenal. Future star written all over him.
Liked what I’ve seen so far from CB Jaylon Johnson too. So far, and on limited viewing, him & CJ Henderson look like the 2 best rookie corners.
They are going to be a tough out in the AFC with that defense and OL.
They will be tough but Rivers will find a way to lose them games.
So far very few holding penalties. Look for that to change soon. Maybe this week. Last night there was a few cheap holding penalties called in the Tampa Bay-Chicago game.
Showers’ in the forecast Sunday night. Run the football Schotty.
Ngakoue with 4 sacks in 3 games… wouldda, shoudda, couldda
He’s not needed.
LOB II is going to cover Benson Mayowa to 16 sacks…
😬
Nah. I’d rather have Darrell Taylor “working out really well” and “really excited to get him back in a few weeks”
He’s on track to be back in about 52 weeks so worth waiting for.
…and 16 pressures vs 7 fir the rest of the Vikings d-line.
Love the gallows humour, boys
Branden Jackson was going to be our Yannick Ngakoue.
I’d rather have him than Adams.
That being said, the Vikings defensive line has generally been ineffective at rushing the passer outside of Yannick.
Imagine giving Isaiah Simmons to the bland Vance Joseph. Pisses me off.
Football, more so than many other sports is often about where you are fortunate enough to end up.
They were expecting Derrick Brown to be there and when Carolina drafted him instead of Simmons they panicked
Friday Press Conf w PC
[john boyle] Vikings 1-3 but talented? “Tough schedule, good teams they’ve played. Can do a lot of stuff, bigtime firepower on offense. Scheme defense done well. Marvelous job mixing stuff. Tough matchup anytime you play these guys.”
[Curtis crab] Bullard & Snacks enough to play Sunday? “Both able to get work. Gives us chance to choose. That’s where we are. Play it all the way until Sunday.”
[corbin smith] Longshot for Brooks to play, Questionable? “Feeling a lot better. Has made a turn. Positive with bye week looming, hard not to utilize that. Back of my mind for sure.”
[tim booth] Dunbar? “Did well yesterday, full go in practice. Really good chance he’ll be ready to go.”
[tim] Pitch count? “Wait and see.”
[jem] Carlos Hyde? “Both weeks good for him, speed work done. Just have to decide whether he’ll be safe to go. Don’t want to set him back with break coming. Probably could play in this game. Gonna have to do some politicking and see how we go sunday.”
[joe fann] Adams not happy being hurt? “Really hard on him. So competitive. Far end of spectrum in kind of energy he brings. Frustration not being able to express that is difficult. I recognize that as a strength, a positive. That’s why I made the declaration early. So he can focus. Applying himself to rehab just like he does to FB.”
[maz veda] OL consistency? “Really helped. Shortened offseason, big Q mark, the key Q mark. Early decision to give Lewis a shot to go for it w limited info. Turned out great, made a big diff. Earlier commitment to Pocic also helped. Communication worked out. Great job. Lucked out with early decisions. You can see there’s continuity.”
[Gregg] COVID bubbling? “No. 60 straight days of maintaining.” (( 3 questions on COVID going on 7 minutes… ))
[art thiel] 4-0 team but be last in defense would you bought it? “I would’ve challenged that thought. Every week look at O and D near end of week. See what opponents looking at. This morning came away proud with way guys are playing. Working hard as hell. Playmaking out there. Numbers just aren’t’ there. As long as we feel good about it, the way we’re practicing and coaches are teaching, they’ll come down. First Q I would’ve asked – what’s our TO ratio? Getting there.”
[ben] Homer and Dallas? “Homer unique player, singled himself out early on. Approach to the game, tough, explosively strong and fast. Showed up really early in camp. ST work. Weren’t surprised how he did in games. Brought little brother Deejay with him this year. Real versatility. Didn’t appreciate how tough he was. Homer and Deejay feed off each other. Like Griffins, really close. Special, we love what they’re doing.”
[Curtis crab] Lano setback? “Still issues dealing with. Pattern, hasn’t changed much. Got some stuff dealing with, get to and resolve. If he doesn’t could be a long term deal with him. Good attitude, but not getting relief that should happen. If he does, he does but doesn’t look like it.”
[Curtis] Iupati? “Felt good, lower back spasms resolved.”
The one reporter hasn’t asked any more hard hitting questions… interesting
https://twitter.com/CableThanos_/status/1314689366749401088
OMG
Incredibly creative,
“Wilson again” made me smile.
+3 for the “Wilson again”.
Might as well just start molding the statue…
/image https://twitter.com/CableThanos_/status/1314689785357758465/photo/1
That was a fail. How do you embed in an image in this archaic system?
Here’s another scoreline they had playing boring, old-fashioned, out-dated football:
43-8.
Morpheus Schotty — massive W
Ante Up — massive W
Russ in the rafters twice — massive W
CableThanos_ is the gift that keeps on giving.
I love the Seahawks, coaches and players.
Things will get political in this day and age, it’s fine. People can express themselves. But if some political beliefs are tolerated, you have to realize there’s a spectrum. I don’t like the culture of silencing/shaming the other side. That’s a big culture in this area of the country.
People who know what I’m talking about will know what I’m talking about.
I agree.
And I am tired of politics infecting everything.
Freedom of opinion isn’t freedom from consequences. Especially when you have a public facing job.
Get a football person in that role anyway.
And who polices the consequences?
Social media?
Those who shout loudest?
In a free market, often your employer.
Sure.
Social media pressure still has a big impact.
Shout loud enough. Happens all of the time.
Tweeting about your politics is dumb and nobody should do it.
But that should be across the board, not just the people you disagree with.
Oh, absolutely.
As Herm Edwards said, “don’t press send”. The upside is absolutely nil.
The “mad online’ contingent is silly, but powerful. And corporations end up making decisions if their consumers yell loud enough or if an employee sufficiently embarrasses them.
Thom Brennaman, Kathy Griffin, Curt Schilling – all would have been better off keeping their mouths shut.
Anyway, I appreciate this being civil and don’t want to derail a football forum.
I think you are dead on with the impact of social media. The majority of people in the world live in a pragmatic middle ground in society and off of social media, and social media hosts loud extremes on both sides that is not an accurate representation of people at large.
Keys to the game
Defense: Don’t let Dalvin Cook.
Offense: Let Chris Cook.
Defense: Attack the interior of the OL for the Vikings.
Offense: Get the TEs into the passing game plan.
Defense: Control explosive plays by Jefferson.
Offense: Expose the young Viking CBs with the top 4 Seahawks WRs when possible.
You have the better QB by a fair amount, RW is ready for SNF prime time coming out party.
38 – 33 Seattle Wins (closer at end than it was during the game)
Also (don’t cover the spread of -7.5)
Joseph Ossai, EDGE, Texas is super intriguing.
(If anyone doesn’t care to comment on it, please just skip over.)
I’m just curious to hear others’ thoughts on the Rapoport suspension.
My 2¢: if it’s part of his contract for the network to approve any endorsements of its employees on air, then there’s not much for him or anyone to say. The whole little “#freeRapoport” thing is dumb.
Also, a big +1 to CaptainJack’s comment above.
I work for the BBC. I know I could never push something on social media like manscape.
Rapoport is naive and silly to do it without checking.
(ugggh… Sorry, Vol. for the big, fat reply fail on mobile…)
Ossai is good though and have had his name on my watchlist for a while now:
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/jadeveon-clowney-speaks-stalemate-continues#comment-503437
I like the dude. He is pretty raw but he has a lot of the stuff they look for.
Anyone ever check out Jordan Smith from UAB? Good length and speed. Former 4 star dude that transferred from Florida. Had some thing to work on but maybe meet their criteria in round 2.
I watched him last week. Didn’t see that much to get excited about.
I am so looking forward to the bye week, and then week 7…
Seahawks will likely see the return of:
Jordyn Brooks
Darrell Taylor
Marquise Blair
Rasheem Green
Jamal Adams
Neiko Thorpe
Phil Haynes
Philip Dorsett
That’s a tremendous amount of defensive talent and a little boost to ST and offense. Brooks is such a huge upgrade over Barton or Kendricks, Taylor and Green added to Mayowa and Robinson could bring us up close to average on situational 3rd down pass rush, Adams is a moveable swiss army chess jack of all trades, special teams can only get better with the return of the Thorpedo, and Haynes can really move some dirt. We don’t have any idea where Dorsett fits it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he opened up the seam for DK, Lockett, and the TEs.
As disastrous as the defense has been so far but we’ve somehow gotten to 4 and 0 with a mishmash of backups playing critical roles and an absent pass rush. Adding 4-5 starters back to the mix is going to taste sweet. Very upset about the loss of Irvin for the season, but the Brooks pick might start to look quite prescient in the second half of the season.
Blair is out for the season.
And eventually we’ll be told Taylor is too.
And possibly Thorpe too
https://twitter.com/snacks/status/1315006116342820864
Guessing he’s active tomorrow