HTTR24-7: Know Your Opponent: The Real Seattle Seahawks Defense ( Film Breakdown)

[Lavarleap56]

Seahawk fans were invading every thread earlier this week... Surprised nobody has came with a counter to the topic from a Seahawk perspective, They are brave on twitter though.

[SWFLSkins]

Cover 3 and Cover 1 can look very similar pre-snap and early post snap, especially if its a pattern match Cover 3. But, the telltale indicator will be how they react to crossing routes. Cover-1 will of course follow their man, and zone will look for work within their zone.

From my observartions Seattle plays both Cover 1/3. I think its unlikely BUT If Seattle can train their LBs to play pass first and honor their coverage and not bite hard on backfield action AND not get gashed by our running game at the same time then our base personnel offense could have troubles.

But, we could always go to more spread if our base personnel offense isn't clicking.

This is such a chess match and I think this is where the Shanahan advantage comes into play. He is going to concoct a game plan that will take advantage of what they give us and also have adjustments out of the same formations. I don't think Seattle has played a team as offensively mature as the Redskins.

---------- Post added January-4th-2013 at 08:49 AM ----------

Seahawk fans were invading every thread earlier this week... Surprised nobody has came with a counter to the topic from a Seahawk perspective, They are brave on twitter though.

Twits on twitter speak loudly and carry a soft schtick.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Depends if the offense is capable of consistently attacking the coverage and the quality of defenders playing it. Williams and Blache use always use the "Angel" defense with Taylor or Laron as the deep middle safety 20-30 yards deep.

I hated that defense. Put your best player 30 yards away from the ball.

[skinsfan07]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=311127026

Last year's game.

NEXT LEVEL: Rex Grossman completed 10 of 13 attempts for 167 yards, and two touchdowns when the Seahawks rushed five or more defenders on Sunday. Grossman entered the game having thrown two touchdown passes in his last 51 attempts against an added pass rush this season.

I hope they blitz RG3.

[Bacon]

And what if we lose....

Not a scenario worth considering at this point. Be confident and upbeat.

I love all the Seahawk internet crusaders. They should let their team do the talking; they have played extremely well and will be formidable. I suppose an empty trophy case leads to insecurities? I wouldn't know.

[Mr. Sinister]

I don't thinki they'll be dumb enough to. I think teams (at least NFC East teams) have learned their lesson. You can't blitz this offense without paying the ultimate price.

[doghouse4x4]

Cover 3 and Cover 1 can look very similar pre-snap and early post snap, especially if its a pattern match Cover 3. But, the telltale indicator will be how they react to crossing routes. Cover-1 will of course follow their man, and zone will look for work within their zone.

From my observartions Seattle plays both Cover 1/3. I think its unlikely BUT If Seattle can train their LBs to play pass first and honor their coverage and not bite hard on backfield action AND not get gashed by our running game at the same time then our base personnel offense could have troubles.

But, we could always go to more spread if our base personnel offense isn't clicking.

That's true, but easier said than done for Seattle. Their corner aggression can tend to weaken the look they get off the cover 1 and any linebacker who gets sucked up instantly opens a lot of space. Should be interesting to watch.

[darrelgreenie]

That's true, but easier said than done for Seattle. Their corner aggression can tend to weaken the look they get off the cover 1 and any linebacker who gets sucked up instantly opens a lot of space. Should be interesting to watch.

You lost me....*shrugs*

[doghouse4x4]

You lost me....*shrugs*

Nice. Corner overreaction is bigger problem if there is the slightest linebacker hesitation in a cover 1/3 look defending a hi/lo cross that is the staple of our offense as the windows get real big real fast and puts a lot pressure on the deep safety. So the freelancing can really be attacked if the linebackers aren't super disciplined.

[darrelgreenie]

Nice. Corner overreaction is bigger problem if there is the slightest linebacker hesitation in a cover 1/3 look defending a hi/lo cross that is the staple of our offense as the windows get real big real fast and puts a lot pressure on the deep safety. So the freelancing can really be attacked if the linebackers aren't super disciplined.

I'm not sure what part of my post you are responding to or if you're responding to my post at all because I don't have a clear picture of what you trying to say.

I don't want to respond to an assumption I make about your point and I would like to understand to continue the discussion.

[steve09ru]

Seahawk fans were invading every thread earlier this week... Surprised nobody has came with a counter to the topic from a Seahawk perspective, They are brave on twitter though.

Don't worry, they have a thread on their Message Board saying you are cherry picking hard - facts are pretty straight forward, not much cherry picking imo

http://www.seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=61617

[Taylor703]

Not a scenario worth considering at this point. Be confident and upbeat.

I love all the Seahawk internet crusaders. They should let their team do the talking; they have played extremely well and will be formidable. I suppose an empty trophy case leads to insecurities? I wouldn't know.

I'm very confident I guess I've just never got into the whole trash-talking deal unless it's with a division rival. My brother is a Seahawks fan and we have a no trash talk policy between the two of us lol.

[doghouse4x4]

I'm not sure what part of my post you are responding to or if you're responding to my post at all because I don't have a clear picture of what you trying to say.

I don't want to respond to an assumption I make about your point and I would like to understand to continue the discussion.

Meh, I suck at articulating on the internet, don't worry about it.

Bsically, that the part about "if their LB's defend the pass" is easier said than done. The nature of their scheme couple with their aggressive corners makes for a lot of opportunity.

[darrelgreenie]

Meh, I suck at articulating on the internet, don't worry about it.

Bsically, that the part about "if their LB's defend the pass" is easier said than done. The nature of their scheme couple with their aggressive corners makes for a lot of opportunity.

Oh, I agree it would be quite difficult for the LBs to play pass first and react to run only after they clearly identify the ball carrier. In many ways its counter to the downhill mentality LBs play with. And even IF they manage to avoid getting sucked up by the backfield action it only makes it that much hard to stop/limit the running game.

But, IF their LBs manage to not get sucked up by backfield action AND limit the running game at the same time THEN our base personnel offense will have a hard time.

But, like I said before: (a) I don't see the above happeneing ( even if it does happen we can only go to our spread formation packages

[doghouse4x4]

Oh, I agree it would be quite difficult for the LBs to play pass first and react to run only after they clearly identify the ball carrier. In many ways its counter to the downhill mentality LBs play with. And even IF they manage to avoid getting sucked up by the backfield action it only makes it that much hard to stop/limit the running game.

But, IF their LBs manage to not get sucked up by backfield action AND limit the running game at the same time THEN our base personnel offense will have a hard time.

But, like I said before: (a) I don't see the above happeneing ( even if it does happen we can only go to our spread formation packages

Agreed.

[Rodriggo]

Very interesting link and awesome sig.

I guess you can pick apart any defense, nobody's perfect.

The mantra I keep repeating is "Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson can't beat us."

[Warpath11]

Oh, I agree it would be quite difficult for the LBs to play pass first and react to run only after they clearly identify the ball carrier. In many ways its counter to the downhill mentality LBs play with. And even IF they manage to avoid getting sucked up by the backfield action it only makes it that much hard to stop/limit the running game.

But, IF their LBs manage to not get sucked up by backfield action AND limit the running game at the same time THEN our base personnel offense will have a hard time.

But, like I said before: (a) I don't see the above happeneing ( even if it does happen we can only go to our spread formation packages

Looks like you came to the same conclusion to the defense you proposed as I did. With the LBs playing soft against the run they will be mauled by our o-linemen getting to the second level in addition to Alf being hard to bring down when he has a head of steam going against LBs that were stationary/backpeddling to play the drop zones. They may limit the explosive runs but with the plan you proposed they will give up 5+ yards per carry. If however they stop the run with just their front 4 well they will win the Superbowl Finally, like you said playing like that is not in their nature so I doubt we see that unless it is an obvious passing situtation (3rd and long).

[pjfootballer]

I hope we can continue to exploit over agressive defenses like this. We've been doing it all year.

---------- Post added January-4th-2013 at 11:45 AM ----------

and what was funny is that they (well, most of their fans anyways) seem to think that this won't effect their passing game.

All one needs to do is watch Dallas on Thanksgiving... where Dallas went to take away the run... AlMo still ran for over 100 yards and a TD, Rob threw 4 TDs and ran for over 40 yards...

Then... pop in the second Dallas game where they were like "We're not going to let Robert beat us through the air." AlMo gets 33 carries for 200 yards and 3 TDs, Rob throws when he needs to and moves the chains that way.

They are right about something... Seattle gets to pick what they shut down... but by doing that, they pick which way we kill them. Choose wisely

I've been saying this to all our opponents all season: Choose your poison!

[Ghost of]

I just heard on Bill Simmons AWFUL podcast (I'm sorry, he goes on and on, incisive? he's the opposite of that on the radio) with Schatz (I think) and they said that the Seahawks are the WORST offense in the league against more than 4 pass rushers. We are the best offense in that same situation.

LL, I know the coaches are smarter than me but they have to NOT be tempted to hang back in coverage because THAT is where Wilson seems to excel. They are...again..the WORST in the league in blitz situations.

[pjfootballer]

Great great post! I think 'smart' Skins fans are not too worried about this game.

I worry EVERY game. It's just my nature.

[darrelgreenie]

Looks like you came to the same conclusion to the defense you proposed as I did. With the LBs playing soft against the run they will be mauled by our o-linemen getting to the second level in addition to Alf being hard to bring down when he has a head of steam going against LBs that were stationary/backpeddling to play the drop zones. They may limit the explosive runs but with the plan you proposed they will give up 5+ yards per carry. If however they stop the run with just their front 4 well they will win the Superbowl Finally, like you said playing like that is not in their nature so I doubt we see that unless it is an obvious passing situtation (3rd and long).

Call me a homer but even if they manage to limit our running game with their LBs playing soft that only stops the base personnel packages. My favorite aspect and imo underused/underrated part of our offense is our spread formation packages. If we spread them out and 3-4 wide w/ Garcon, Tana, Hank and Morgan out there together I think they'll be hard pressed to stop them playing Cover 1/3.

[doghouse4x4]

Call me a homer but even if they manage to limit our running game with their LBs playing soft that only stops the base personnel packages. My favorite aspect and imo underused/underrated part of our offense is our spread formation packages. If we spread them out and 3-4 wide w/ Garcon, Tana, Hank and Morgan out there together I think they'll be hard pressed to stop them playing Cover 1/3.

The more I think about this and the more tape I look at, I actually wouldn't be shocked to see more spread. We have run a lot more base this year, and I can see Shanny adding the wrinkle to throw them off.

[Jumbo]

Call me a homer but even if they manage to limit our running game with their LBs playing soft that only stops the base personnel packages. My favorite aspect and imo underused/underrated part of our offense is our spread formation packages. If we spread them out and 3-4 wide w/ Garcon, Tana, Hank and Morgan out there together I think they'll be hard pressed to stop them playing Cover 1/3.

I think this is a good call. I would love to beat them with Griffs arm. But I will happily settle for a 3-0 win, too.

[Warpath11]

Call me a homer but even if they manage to limit our running game with their LBs playing soft that only stops the base personnel packages. My favorite aspect and imo underused/underrated part of our offense is our spread formation packages. If we spread them out and 3-4 wide w/ Garcon, Tana, Hank and Morgan out there together I think they'll be hard pressed to stop them playing Cover 1/3.

It would be great if we can spread them out but I just dont trust our o-line to pass protect in those situations. Unless it is a quick screen to a WR I dont think our oline can pass protect out of that formation on a consistant basis especially on any long developing downfield plays (5 to 7 step drops).

[darrelgreenie]

It would be great if we can spread them out but I just dont trust our o-line to pass protect in those situations. Unless it is a quick screen to a WR I dont think our oline can pass protect out of that formation on a consistant basis especially on any long developing downfield plays (5 to 7 step drops).

I don't expect a significant change from pass pro from base to spread, the passing game would consist of quick game and short drops same as usual we're not a heavy 5-7 step offense right now. We just give help to Polumbus.

I think it will be easy to run the ball against a sub-package or nickel defense using read-option.

Against a spread formation the defense will always be at a disadvantage in the numbers game, especially when we read the DE instead of block them.