Seattle's Run Defense Puzzle

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As Mike Sando recently posted, the Seahawks were 2nd against the run (3.3 YPC) in weeks 1-6, but fell to 32nd against the run (5.3 YPC) from week 7 through 15. If you wonder why we're less comfortable with our defensive prowess recently, this is it. (Yes, we're not great on 3rd down either, but that's been true all year long.)

So... let's dig a little deeper. During our recent 8-game span we faced the number 1, 2, and 4 running teams (MIN, SF, BUF) and we won two of the three games. Of those, the Vikings game was an outlier.  They put up a whopping 9.0 YPC on us with 243 yards on 27 carries. Yes, it was Adrian Peterson. Yes, we missed some assignments - badly. And, yes, that led to some long runs, including a 74 yarder that Kam Browner ran down at the last moment. Hill KJ Wright was injured in concussed on the first play of that game, and our inexperience (Mike Morgan, 2nd year, USC) showed. Let's call it a "learning experience".

Looking at the other games, we held most teams near their average - some slightly above, some slightly below - except one. Miami. The Dolphins put up 6.8 YPC (189 yards on 28 carries) against us. On average, they gain 4.0 YPC which ranks 20th in the league. (Keep in mind that our bad defensive performance helped inflate that number!)

Week	Team	YPC Rank	Overall YPC	YPC vs. Seahawks	Difference
7	SF	2	5.2	5.5	+0.3
8	DET	16	4.2	3.8	-0.4
9	MIN	1	5.5	9.0	+4.5
10	NYJ	23	3.9	3.8	-0.1
12	MIA	20	4.0	6.8	+2.8
13	CHI	19	4.2	4.0	-0.2
14	AZ	31	3.5	2.7	-0.8
15	BUF	4	5.1	5.6	+0.6

It's not like we can chalk up the Miami game to one breakout run. Their longest gain was 22 yards. It also wasn't that one guy got hot. Tannehill averaged 8.25 YPC (33 yards on 4 carries). Bush got 6.21 YPC (87 yards on 14 runs). Thomas earned 6.67 YPC (60 yards on 9 runs). That tells me that this one was on us.

As I recall, Miami got many of their yards with speed to the outside. It was after this game that Carroll announced that Red Bryant had been suffering with plantar fasciitis. Maybe we were more banged up than we had expected. Maybe we were sluggish after the bye. Whatever the reason, this was a bad day for our run defense.

If you remove the Viking and Dolphin games (yeah, it's a cheat), we end up with 4.2 YPC from Week 7 on. It's still not the 3.3 YPC we started with, but it's a whole lot better than 5.3. In fact, it's right around the league average. We should be doing much better than this.

Fortunately, we don't face Adrian Peterson on Sunday night. Unfortunately, San Francisco's offense is #2 in YPC and Kaepernick adds the threat of speed to the edge to compliment Gore's power between the tackles.

We have to hope that our young players take their experience to heart and that Red's foot is on the mend. Mostly, we need to shut down explosive run plays to keep it close. Keep in mind that even with Minnesota's 9.0 YPC, we beat them. Against Miami's 6.75 YPC, we only lost by three. And even with San Francisco's trap game gashing us with 5.5 YPC, we were within a touchdown.

Finally, keep in mind that this game will be in Seattle. 9.0 YPC wasn't enough to beat us at home.

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58 Reasons that the Seahawks Beat the Cardinals

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Here are the 58 reasons that the Seahawks beat the Cardinals in Week 14 of the 2012 NFL season (in no particular order):

1 Wilson, Russell
2 Hauschka, Steven
3 Ryan, Jon
4 Kearse, Jermaine
5 Martin, Charly
6 Flynn, Matt
7 Rice, Sidney
8 Lane, Jeremy
9 Turbin, Robert
10 Trufant, Marcus
11 Lynch, Marshawn
12 Sherman, Richard
13 Robinson, Michael
14 Thurmond, Walter
15 Thomas, Earl
16 Chancellor, Kam
17 Johnson, Jeron
18 Washington, Leon
19 Shead, DeShawn
20 Parker, Ron
21 Maxwell, Byron
22 Maragos, Chris
23 Gresham, Clint
24 Wright, K.J.
25 Irvin, Bruce
26 Smith, Malcolm
27 Wagner, Bobby
28 Farwell, Heath
29 Hill, Leroy
30 Morgan, Mike
31 Unger, Max
32 Jeanpierre, Lemuel
33 Johnson, Rishaw
34 Sweezy, J.R
35 Omiyale, Frank
36 McQuistan, Paul
37 Giacomini, Breno
38 McDonald, Clinton
39 Moffitt, John
40 Person, Mike
41 Okung, Russell
42 Bryant, Red
43 Tate, Golden
44 Moore, Evan
45 McCoy, Anthony
46 Miller, Zach
47 Baldwin, Doug
48 Jones, Jason
49 Clemons, Chris
50 Mebane, Brandon
51 Howard, Jaye
52 Scruggs, Greg
53 Branch, Alan
54 Bradley, Gus
55 Cable, Tom
56 Bevell, Darrel
57 Schneider, John
58 Carroll, Pete

Note: We should have scored more so I could have listed all of the coaches, members of the front office, and our practice squad.

Swimming with the Seahawks

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While my favorite fan sport is Seahawks football, my personal sport is competitive swimming. So here I was, doing a half mile of freestyle as one segment of my workout, going at a good clip, making flip turns, and counting the lengths of the pool, 1, 2, 3, 4... I'm feeling pretty good as the swimmers in the other lanes are older and slower than I am, 5, 6, 7, 8... At the quarter point, I've loosened up a bit and turn up the juice, 9, 10, 11, 12. But not too much, 13, 14, 15, 16. I've got to do 32 lengths, 17, 18, 19, 20. And I want to finish strong, 21, 22, 23.

23?!!! That's my favorite number. The Lotus 23 is my favorite old sports car. And Marcus Trufant has long been one of my favorite Seahawks!

I gotta do Tru proud, so I really crank it up - way beyond what I can maintain for the next nine lengths. And then I do my flip turn. ...24.

Crap! 24 is Marshawn's number! Marshawn gives it his all until the echo of the whistle. I can't let him down!

So I crank up my kick and swim with determined power - my arms a bit wider than usual to mimic Lynch's wide-legged style. I'm swimming in Beast Mode! I flip again and push off the wall. ...25

25?!!! Holy hell. That's Richard Sherman's number. He's my very favorite Seahawk. We both grew up in Southern California, moved to Northern California, and ended up in the Pacific Northwest. I'm just shy of his height and weight. He's my Seahawk doppelganger. The minute the Pro Shop gets his jersey, it's mine!

So I push even harder, getting my arms and legs pencil narrow and pulling in long, fluid - and fast - strokes. I'm like #25 covering a go-route. With that speed, I get to the wall quickly, grab a big breath, summersault, and count ...26.

26?!!! That's Mike Rob's number. Pro Bowl fullback. Co-captain on special teams. Real Rob Report. There's no slowing now!

So I hammer my kick as hard as I can, like a fullback racing toward a collision with Ray Lewis. By the end of that length, I'm losing my speed. But hey, fullbacks aren't built to win the 100 yard dash.

I finally slow back to normal on the 27th length. I didn't have enough oxygen to remember or care if that was Winston Guy's number. I remembered Atari Bigby - and the team let him go.

I've got to admit, I didn't do Earl Thomas (29) or Kam Chancellor (31) justice as my mind was elsewhere. But #32, Jeron Johnson earned my respect with his excellent play in the preseason, so I finished my half mile at a full-on sprint - like a rookie who needs to earn his spot with excellent special teams play.

After that, the 400 IM and butterfly sprints that followed didn't intimidate me at all - after a bit of a blow and a few sips of water.

Maybe I'll do a 2,500 meter swim this weekend, trying to remember all the uniform numbers on the team. I can fill in some of the holes with guys like Hasselbeck, Alexander, Strong, Jones, and Largent. I'll swim to the right of the lane on length 3, scrambling like Russel Wilson. By the time I get to Alan Branch, I'll be whooped.

Anyway, it was fitting to finish with Jeron Johnson's #32 today. 32 is 23 backwards.

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Lynch, Wilson Haunt Patriots

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In the Reader’s Digest version of the Seahawks’ win over the Patriots, Seattle’s stingy defense and rookie Russell Wilson’s big-time passes surprised Tom Brady as the Seahawks’ running game struggled to gain traction. That last part is only true if you measure the running game by yards gained on the ground by actual, living humans. To fully understand how Seattle’s running game helped beat New England, one must look to the paranormal: phantom footsteps, cold breezes, and beasts that appear only to suddenly vanish. Rather than attacking the Seattle offense, Patriots’ defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, was left chasing apparitions, grasping at phantoms, and tackling shadows.

Play after play, the Patriots stacked the short middle of the field in fear of Beast Mode and in hopes of frustrating a short quarterback who would rather run than pass. But like a house of mirrors, Seattle OC Darrel Bevell twisted our reputation for tough runs, conservative passes, and quick scrambles into a game of wide throws and deep bombs. While the Patriots would position players for expected action, they ended up sinking in quicksand, neither rushing the quarterback nor covering receivers. That gave Wilson target after target in one-on-one coverage. Given that advantage, Wilson and his receivers were able keep New England off balance while making a series of big plays. The rest is history.

Let’s look at the key plays of our scoring drives…

Scoring drive 1: 1^st quarter, 9 plays, 84 yards, 5:17, Field Goal.

3-1-SEA 25(11:20) 3-R.Wilson pass short left to 22-R.Turbin for 6 yards.

The Patriots crowd the line looking to stop the run on a short yardage play as the Seahawks load three tight ends on the left side. We fake a zone right – except that Turbin goes left, fakes taking the handoff, and receives the pass for a gain of 6 and the first down. Presto-change-o.

1-10-SEA 31(10:53) 3-R.Wilson pass deep right to 18-S.Rice for 29 yards. Penalty for Illegal Contact, declined.

A typical, zone right play with two backs and one tight end – except that it’s play action and three New England defenders end up standing around in the short middle. After illegal contact by Chung, Sidney Rice gets wide open on the right side for a gain of 29 yards. It started out one-on-one (good) and ended up zero-on-one (great).

1-10-NE 40(10:29) (Shotgun) 3-R.Wilson pass deep right to 86-Z.Miller for 22 yards.

In a three receiver set, the Pats start out with eight in the box. Miller goes deep at the numbers, is covered by a linebacker (nice mismatch) and the safety is late. Wilson puts it up high for Miller, who comes down with a great catch for 22 yards. This is as close to the shallow (22 yards?) middle as we get on our scoring drive plays.

Lynch goes on to get stuffed in the backfield on 3^rd and 1 (McQuistan went left on a zone right play - oops!) and we settle for three points.

Scoring drive 2: 1^st quarter, 7 plays, 85 yards, 3:59, Touchdown.

2-3-SEA 22(5:05) 3-R.Wilson pass short left to 81-G.Tate for -6 yards.

With eight in the box, the Patriots bring pressure while respecting the run to the right. Wilson throws a quick screen left to Tate that would have been killer, except for a missed block by Robinson. Great setup. One flaw in execution. Loss of six.

3-9-SEA 16(4:25) (Shotgun) 3-R.Wilson pass deep middle to 89-D.Baldwin for 50 yards.

On 3^rd and 9, our run threat should be no help here. Pats initially play pass with two deep safeties. However, New England still dedicates a man to Turbin and a safety comes up to monitor Wilson. Baldwin beats his man deep, one-on-one, and our line has no problem with a four man rush. 50 yards, almost all in the air.

1-10-NE 34(3:37) 3-R.Wilson pass short left to 18-S.Rice for 6 yards.

The Patriots load up the middle again, leaving the two receivers on the left, one on one. Our backs fake right. Rice crosses from the slot to the left sideline for a six yard reception.

1-15-NE 24(1:59) 3-R.Wilson pass deep middle to 89-D.Baldwin for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

With three receivers and one back, the Pats play pass but respect Wilson by continuing to guard the short middle. Again, our protection holds up against a four man rush as Baldwin ends up one-on-one in the end zone with no safety help. Touchdown.

Scoring drive 3: 4th quarter, 5 plays, 83 yards, 2:00, Touchdown.

1-10-SEA 17(9:17) 3-R.Wilson pass deep middle to 81-G.Tate for 51 yards. PENALTY, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards.

The Patriots put six on the line and cheat three more on 1^st and 10 to stop the run. Tate gets to their deepest man and wins the one-on-one battle for 51 yards. Add 15 more for unnecessary roughness to get 66 yards in one play.

4-3-NE 10(7:26) 3-R.Wilson pass short left to 17-B.Edwards for 10 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Penalty, Defensive Pass Interference, declined.

On 4^th and 3 at the 10 yard line, New England leaves four defenders standing around in the middle of the field with nobody to defend but ghosts. Edwards is one-on-one on a fade route to the left side of the end zone. Touchdown. Did I mention that this was 4^th and 3? This was a HUGE 4^th quarter play.

Scoring drive 4: 4th quarter, 4 plays, 57 yards, 1:20, Touchdown.

1-10-SEA 43(2:38) (Shotgun) 3-R.Wilson right end 9 yards. Designed run.

With three receivers and shotgun formation, the Patriots have two deep safeties and are one-on-one on the outside. As Lynch runs left, New England leaves one defender dedicated to Wilson as the quarterback executes a planned run to his right. Wilson is able to juke the bigger man for a gain of nine. The Pats finally position a defender where we will run the play – and we still burn ‘em.

3-1-NE 48(1:59) (Shotgun) 24-M.Lynch left tackle for 2 yards.

With four receivers in shotgun formation, we run a zone left, the Pats get a jump on our left side, and they get push on Carpenter and Giacomini. Lynch knows he only needs one yard as he bashes into Giagomini for two yards and a critical first down. This time, we turned the tables - the Pats were afraid of the pass and we ran. They got a quick, first step and we still beat them for the first down.

1-10-NE 46(1:27) 3-R.Wilson pass deep middle to 18-S.Rice for 46 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Play action against a base defense. Even with a fast get-off against the left side of our line, we have no problem in pass protection.  Rice surprises them by going over the top, beating their deepest man. Touchdown. An extra point gives us the lead and the win.

…

Throughout the game, the New England D dedicated linebackers to guard against the power of Lynch and the breakaway ability of Wilson. Time and time again, we ended up with a four man rush and with one-on-one matchups at the edges and on deep go-routes. Wilson and Bevell must have been licking their chops time and time again as we zigged when they kept expecting us to zag. For many of our biggest plays, New England dedicated defenders to covering nothing but pixies and sprites.  

We should still give credit to Wilson as he threw some beautiful passes – and we should give credit to our receivers as they consistently made great, tough catches. This win doesn't happen without pulling the trigger, accurate throws, and solid grabs.

That execution was especially impressive on the last drive. With the clock running down, we no longer had a scheme advantage. They knew we needed passes to stop the clock and make yards. In the final drive, it was no longer about how we matched up. And it wasn’t about the Pat’s defense. It was all about our offense making plays.

But for the first three drives, we scored not because of strong runs in this game, but because of strong runs in the previous five contests. On this Sunday in October, we didn’t beat the Patriots with Beast Mode. We beat them with Ghost Mode.

Hey, New England… BOO!!!

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Robert Turbin's Breakout 3rd Quarter

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There were a number of bright spots in Sunday's disappointing loss to the Rams, including Carpenter's return to the active roster, a total of 179 yards in the run game, and Lynch taking over the top rushing spot in the league with 423 yards. But what really got my attention was the 3rd quarter performance by rookie and 4th round pick, Robert Turbin.

In case you don't know who Robert Turbin is, he's the one with the biceps...

Let's look at the numbers: In the 3rd quarter, Turbin got 44 yards on five touches for 8.8 yards per carry. This wasn't a matter of one giant run and four duds. Of his five runs, three were for first downs. His shortest run was for two yards and that followed his 9 yard run to gain a first down. Oh yeah, his second shortest runs were for nine yards. Overalls, they were for 9, 2, 9, 9, and 13 yards.

This was the first time Turbin got a sustained set of carries in a real NFL game and he made the best of his opportunity. Clearly, he's not just a preseason flash. In St. Louis, Turbin also collected a couple of passes for 13 yards, contributing a total of 58 yards in eight plays.

Here are Turbin's 3rd quarter run plays:

[10:01] 1st and 10 on the SEA 34. '22' personnel.
There are 2 TEs, but McCoy sets up wide left. The line play is zone left as Turbin makes a nice cut back inside Carpenter at left guard. Turbin tries to avoid a man and is then carried forward another three yards by Unger only to get smashed by Giacomini and his man. 9 yards with a tough ending.

[9:25] 2nd and 1 on the SEA 43. '22' personnel.
Even with '22' personnel, Rams show pass D. (2nd and 1 rocks!) The Rams then load up our right side just before we run zone to that side. Turbin cuts back left as we create a textbook crease. Turbin then cuts back inside and makes the safety miss. Unfortunately, Unger didn't make his 2nd level block stick, otherwise the Seahulk is in free space. Still, we got 2 yards and the first down.

[8:47] 1st and 10 on the SEA 45. '11' personnel. Shotgun.
Inside zone right as the Rams D plays the pass. McCoy slashes back as Giacomini and Unger open a huge hole and McQuistan goes forward. Turbin smashes the safety at eight yards, gets another three and earns 11 yards and the first down.

[:41] 1st and 10 on the STL 40. '21' personnel.
Zone left as the Rams D plays the run. Turbin cuts back hard, breaks a tackle at the line, another at five yards and is finally taken down after a gain of 9 yards.

[:06] 2nd and 1 on the STL 31. '22' personnel.
Zone left as Rams play run again. Turbin sneaks through a sliver of a hole into open space. Seahulk powers between two tacklers for 13 yards and the first down.

On the first play, Turbin becomes a super-Hulk with Unger carrying him. #22 showed his toughness by staying in the game after getting smashed. In the second play, Turbin made a great read for a sharp cut into the line followed by a second cut away from the defender. Had Unger not let his linebacker keep his arms extended, it would have been yet another long run. On runs three and four, Turbin makes like Beast Mode, Jr., breaking tackles and smashing forward solo. On his fifth, and signature, run, Turbin hits the hole quickly, gets narrow like Justin Forsett, and bursts into space. He ends the run by splitting his tacklers, maximizing the gain.

While Turbin doesn't have the wide-legged stability and the mad ferocity of Beast Mode, he's equally willing to do the one cut and downhill running style that Cable's zone blocking scheme demands. Like Lynch, he's willing to pound forward to take one yard and leave three bruises. (Okay, Lynch would get two or three yards and leave five bruises.) But there are a few differences: Turbin's cuts are quicker and tighter. For a guy with that much upper body mass, those quick moves are impressive. He's also got a faster top gear than Lynch, so once Turbin gets into open space, he's got more potential to beat the opposition downfield.

The surprising thing to me, however, is Turbin's ability to get small at the point of attack. He's like a puffer fish who takes in water to show off his guns, but who can spit it out to get skinny through a closing hole. I've seen this a couple of times now in the regular season, and it's like a David Copperfield illusion. One moment you think he's slamming into a mass of linemen and split second later, he's popping out the other side at speed. This simply isn't in Marshawn's toolkit and Turbin will likely surprise a few teams with that skill down the road.

Marshawn improved his receiving game this week with four catches for 37 yards. This was nice to see as Lynch hasn't been a strong outlet receiver since joining the team. Turbin, by contrast, has shown great hands since he arrived, catching both passes that came his way. It was great to see both backs make those screen and outlet catches smoothly without a drop.

The days of a half-injured Shaun Alexander, Mo Morris, and Julius Jones running behind an undisciplined line are behind us. Not only do we have a line that can run block, we now have two backs who can perform in a well-defined system and who can both run and catch.

Mostly, it was great to see Turbin get an opportunity to show us his stuff. Given that we want Lynch to be strong all season long (and then some) and given that some teams will let down their guard when they see that #24 has left the field, I hope that Turbin's opportunities keep on coming.

"I have an Army!"
"We have a Hulk."

SEA HAWK RUN!
RUN HAWK RUN!
GO HAWKS!

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Week 3 ORA - Lynch, The Silent Hero

Sea Hawk Run! Obsessive Run Analysis for Week 3...

With all the talk about Tate's catch and replacement refs, it's been hard to get people to notice eight sacks in a half, let alone a running game that delivered consistent, positive results but no explosive plays. But it was that running game - and the time it bought our defense - that helped put us in a position to win. Lynch's running didn't cause any earthquakes this week, but it was an heroic effort regardless.

For most of the game, we could gain four yards or more on the ground reliably; however, all struggles face adversity. Our entire team hit bottom in the 3rd quarter and Lynch didn't get the touches or the yards to salvage it as we were undone by penalties and a big sack. In the 4th quarter, the running game regained it's footing only to fall flat after two successive - and questionable - holding calls. But even with the line in disarray, Lynch was able to beast for a conversion on 4th down too keep the team alive. After one last blown up run play, it was all in Wilson's - and finally Tate's - hands.

So how tough was Lynch? Consider that of his 25 carries, the NFL lists two tacklers on 18 of those runs. That's 72% of his touches. This shows how much Green Bay focused on Lynch and also explains our lack of explosive plays. But even as a marked man, Lynch was never tackled for a loss and gained four or more yards on 14 plays. Unfortunately, penalties made 3rd down long and pass conversions rare. Marshawn's first run from Green Bay territory came with 6:42 remaining in the 4th quarter. Still, Lynch's runs and Ryan's punts were critical for our defensive advantage over the Packers.

Overall, our runners had 127 yards on 29 carries for 4.4 ypc. Lynch averaged 3.9 ypc on 25 touches, just two yards short of the magic 100. Washington had a near-meaningless run of 11 yards on 3rd and 37. Wilson had 18 yards on three carries.

Here are the running plays...

*** Q1 *** 30 yards on 6 carries for 6 ypc. Five of the six carries were for four yards or more. Our one shorty was for two yards. One first down.

[15:00] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 20. Inside zone left with McQuistan going forward. Rather than a straight stretch, the line sets a deliberate hole outside left tackle and Robinson leads Lynch for four yards.

[14:25] 2nd and 6 at the Seattle 24. 3TE set with Moore alone on the right. Zone right with Giacomini going forward to take two defenders out of the play and Lynch running inside the right end for 4.

[8:58] 2nd and 1 at the Seattle 36. Zone right with Rice tight on the left. Robinson leads Lynch on a cut back. Rice couldn't maintain his block, but Robinson take him as well as an LB.  Lynch makes an awesome cut right, away from Moffit's LB, for 8 yards and the 1st down.

[7:45] 1st and 15 at the Seattle 39. Zone right as Moffitt and Giacomini open a big hole. Robinson leads Lynch for 6 as Gicomini's man is able to shed the back side for the tackle.

[6:58] 2nd and 10 at the 50. Inside zone right as Lynch follows Robinson inside Moffitt for 6 yards.

[1:31] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 36. Zone right with McQuistan pulling right to lead in place of a FB. Lynch follows, but GB overloaded our strong side. Two yards. Credit the D.


*** Q2 *** 48 yards on 11 carries for 4.4 ypc. Seven gains of four or more yards. No losses. Three first downs.

[13:14] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 17. Zone left as Giacomini cuts Raji and Sweezy cuts a MLB on the back side. Lynch cuts right. Unger's man gets Lynch on the back side as Unger, McQuistan, Giacomini, and Sweezy all push the pile to help Lynch get five tough yards.

[12:36] 2nd and 5 at the Seattle 22. Zone left as Giacomini is hit simultaneously by Raji and a MLB and is unable to cut Raji. Robinson cleans up the MLB, but Raji is able to stop Lynch on a cut back for no gain.

[9:23] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 27. Play action. Wilson checks his reads, doesn't see anything open, his clock goes off, and he runs out of bounds to his left for 12 yards and the 1st. Okung called for a ticky-tack holding penalty as Matthews wins an Oscar.

[8:42] 1st and 15 at the Seattle 22. Zone right with Okung lined up between Moffitt and Giacomini. Unger goes forward as Lynch cuts back inside Moffitt where he grunts for 8 tough yards.

[8:05] 2nd and 7 at the Seattle 30. Zone right with Robinson and Lynch following Giacomini. Moffitt gets turned and Miller gets long-armed as Lynch is swarmed and limited to 3 yards.

[7:23] 3rd and 4 at the Seattle 33. Sweezy is beat on a spin move. Wilson rolls right but nobody is open on that side. Wilson continues to the right sideline for 7 yards and the first down.

[6:54] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 40. Packers load our heavy right side but we run zone left. An MLB shoots through our left side as Lynch cuts back for four yards. We get an additional 15 yards on an unnecessary roughness call.

[2:17] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 1. GB sends a free LB, but Robinson is able to react and pick him up. Okung lets his defender bounce and get Lynch at the one yard line. Unger, Moffitt, and Okung help push Lynch to an improbable gain of 4.

[2:00] 2nd and 6 at the Seattle 5. Seahawks show pass but run zone left. Moffitt gets turned, holding Lynch to no gain.

[1:19] 3rd and 6 at the Seattle 5. Zone right. The D plays soft. McQuistan makes a brutal cut block that springs Lynch for a gain of 9 and a 1st down.

[1:05] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 14. Straight ahead as Robinson leads Lynch inside RT. Lynch is carried forward a couple of yards by Giacomini's forward momentum. A beautiful job of owning a guy as he goes for the back-side tackle.

[:32] 2nd and 4 at the Seattle 20. Zone left with Giacomini lined up to the left of Okung. Lynch goes for a rare run outside of LT. Charlie Martin doesn't go for his block, so Lynch is limited to 2 yards. With 32 seconds at our own 20 yard line, it's no big deal.


*** Q3 *** Last week the 3rd quarter was our big winner. This week, we stunk in the 3rd. 18 yards on just 4 carries for 4.5 ypc, but the only good run was 11 yards on 3rd and 37. No first downs as the offense really struggled. How bad did we struggle? Our only other offensive plays were two penalties and a sack. It was four runs and no passes bad. Amazingly, GB only earned six points in the quarter.

[8:01] 1st and 15 at the Seattle 37. Zone left, but McQuistan fails on his cut block and Moffitt gets turned. The two DTs collapse on Lynch for a short 2 yard gain.

[6:38] 3rd and 37 at the Seattle 15. The D plays soft. Zone left. Okung's man gets a hand on Washington, but Leon is able to break free for 11 near-meaningless yards.

[1:08] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 17. Zone left with McCoy coming across to clean up the back side. Lynch wants to go outside but hesitates and cuts back for a brutal three yard gain.

[ :27] 2nd and 7 at the Seattle 20. Zone left with little stretch as Lynch is bottled for a gain of 2.


*** Q4 *** 31 yards on 8 carries for 3.9 ypc. We were doing great until 6:42. We got two questionable holding calls in a row and then the blocking completely fell apart. Before the penalties, we had no carry less than five yards. After the penalties, we gained 1, -1, 3, and 0 yards. Clearly, our line became confused after those calls. Three first downs in the quarter.

[8:36] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 35. Charlie Martin is initially disguised as a TE but then lines up right. Zone left with an excellent push up the middle. Okung is turned, but Lynch gets by and explodes for 6 yards. Lynch was angry that he didn't bust through the 2nd level and stay on his feet.

[8:10] 2nd and 4 at the Seattle 41. Zone left as Lynch cuts it back inside for a hard-fought five yards and a first down.

[7:29] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 46. Matthews beats his blocks. Wilson rolls right, but sees nobody open. He then cuts back to the middle of the field, sliding for 12 yards and the first down.

[6:42] 1st and 10 at the Green Bay 42. Packers stack the box. Straight ahead with Giacomini and Miller both releasing. Robinson and Lynch cut right. Okung is beat and lets Matthews go. Obo fails to make his block and Lynch is caught from the back side for no gain. Bad blocking all around. And a bad call as Okung is penalized for holding.

[6:28] 1st and 20 at the Seattle 48. Zone right as Robinson picks up the LB inside Moffit and Lynch goes inside Giacomini. Giacomini is bounced, but Lynch beats the defender to spring for five yards. Holding is called on Obomanu, who is away from the play. A questionable call at best

[5:46] 2nd and 2 at the Green Bay 17. Likely miscommunication as the blocking all flows to the middle and the right side man is unblocked and barely picked up by Robinson. Gain of 1, but short of the first down.

[5:00] 3rd and 1 at the Green Bay 16. Similar flow to the middle from a 3 TE set with Wilson keeping the ball on an option after faking a fullback draw. Did they really draw it up this way? Loss of 1 with Wilson smashed.

[4:21] 4th and 2 at the Green Bay 17. Zone left with Moffitt and Giacomini miscommunicating. Lynch carries Raji on his back and is smashed by three guys as he, Unger, and Miller push for three yards and the first down on a great second effort. Fantastic power by Lynch on a critical down.

[3:02] 2nd and 6 at the Green Bay 10. Zone left, but Okung loses his footing and is pushed back in Robinson's way. Robinson knocks Okung off the blocker who tackles Lynch for no gain.


*** Overall blocking *** In the first half and the start of the 4th quarter, our line was a well-oiled machine. In the 3rd quarter our line teetered, but penalties, a big sack, and the Packer's success with the run were the bigger problems. After two questionable penalties in the middle of Q4, our blocking really fell apart. Our offense had too many penalties and too many were real. Fortunately, this can all be fixed. Hopefully, when Carpenter returns, he'll play penalty-free ball.

*** Play calling *** We showed a varied mix of formations with 14 of our runs using only one TE. Like we did against the Cowboys, we targeted the middle of the line, rather than the ends. If I were at a Carroll or Bevell press conference, however, I would ask about the play calls at the end of the game. Did they abandon the zone or were there communication issues? Was the option run really called like that? (In other words, "What the hell happened to the running game at the end?") Without inside info, I have no idea if the calls, communication, or execution was the culprit.

*** Runners *** This was all about Lynch. Turbin didn't get a touch. Washington's only touch came on 3rd and 37. Wilson had no planned runs, unless that option at the end was planned. The coaches believe that Wilson should have stayed in pass mode longer, but we can't complain as he got first downs on his two runs in space. The spotlight really belongs on Lynch. He got yards that weren't there. He kept punishing the opposition even as he was swarmed. He converted on 4th down as he dug deep for an awesome second effort surge.

Down the road, nobody will be talking about this particular running game. Heck, people barely spoke of it from the moment the clock showed :00. But true Seahawks fans should be taking their caps off to Lynch this week. The guy signed a big contract this off-season and if anything, he's tougher - and quieter - than ever.

SEA HAWK RUN!
RUN HAWK RUN!
GO HAWKS!

Week 2 ORA - The Beauty of the Gut Punch

Sea Hawk Run! Obsessive Run Analysis for Week 2...

In boxing, some jab, some bob and weave, some go for the knockout punch, and others relentlessly punch the gut to wear the opponent down. The Seahawks running game took it to the Cowboys' gut and got the TKO with nearly eight minutes left in the game. For any fan of the running game, this was a thing of beauty.

Compared to last week, we were nearly (but not totally) mistake free. Unger was particularly good, getting pushed back badly just once when the LB was already in full stride before the snap. Giacomini played one of his cleanest games. Omiyale really stepped up. Nobody had a bad day.

One thing felt different about this game: while we were still mostly running zone, our backs were targeting more towards the middle of the Dallas line, rather than to the tackle or end. I assume that we were avoiding Dallas' speed on the edge and that we were bringing maximum force to their interior.

Overall, our runners (including Russell Wilson's plays) had 182 yards on 41 carries for 4.4 ypc. Lynch averaged 4.7 ypc on 26 touches with 100 of his 122 yards earned in the second half. Turbin got 15 yards on five carries (3 ypc) and Washington both got 11 yards on four carries (2.8 ypc). Robinson ran twice on short yardage, delivering first downs up the gut both times. Wilson had 28 yards on four carries, including a sneak for a first down.

Overall, we ran heavy with two or more tight ends on 25 of the 41 run plays. '22' (two RBs and two TEs) was our favorite grouping, occurring on 15 plays.

Here are the running plays...

*** Q1 *** 12 yards on 5 carries for 2.4 ypc. Special teams were amazing in the first quarter, so our offense didn't get the ball with many yards ahead of them. Four solid runs and one stinker.

[14:53] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 29. Zone right with Unger going forward and Robinson leading outside RG. Lynch cuts back to follow Unger and is met by a sprinting safety for four yards.

[14:13] 2nd and 6 at the Dallas 25. Zone left. This is a mirror of the previous play, except Robinson cuts between the guards. McQuistan doesn't get a lot of movement and it gets crowded in the middle. Lynch for 3. This was '21' personnel (2 RBs, one TE.)

[13:16] 1st and 8 at the Dallas 8. Zone left. Aside from going to '20' personnel, this is nearly identical to the previous play. Lynch for 3.

[12:34] 2nd and 5 at the Dallas 5. Power with McQuistan pulling outside RT. Lynch follows for a solid 2 yards to the 3 yard line. We end up settling for a field goal.

[6:15] 2nd and 10 at the Dallas 46. Zone left with McCoy slashing back. Unfortunately, McCoy misses his man and Lynch had cut right but has to cut back again - right into traffic. Omiyale lost his man (and played great thereafter.) No gain.


*** Q2 *** 21 yards on 8 carries for 2.6 ypc. Four gains of four or more yards. Two for losses. One first down.

[11:17] 3rd and 7 at the Seattle 29. The D line stunts around the outside and Wilson runs right. Lynch is open for a checkdown, but Wilson keeps it with room behind the LOS. Lynch tries to get open again, rather than blocking and Wilson is forced out of bounds short of the 1st. Either Wilson should have checked down to Lynch or Lynch should have blocked. Over time, they will get on the same page.

[9:02] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 41. Zone right with Robinson leading outside. Lynch cuts back. McQuistan makes a good cut block, but the NT recovers quickly. Lynch for 2. Lynch probably should have taken it outside, but the Hawks were targeting the middle.

[8:28] 2nd and 8 at the Seattle 43. Zone right with Unger releasing. McQuistan can't get to the NT quickly enough and Unger is nearly tripped. The NT forces Lynch outside. Giacomini releases from a combo block to make a fantastic block on a linebacker. Lynch for 7. 1st down.

[7:51] 3rd and 1 at the 50. With one yard for the 1st, it's a tight zone left with Robinson hauling the rock for 4 yards. Great reaction by the line and a great job by Robinson to get past a spearing LB.

[4:12] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 12. Zone left with a fake end around. A LB anticipates the snap and drives Unger back to bottle up Lynch for a loss of two. Credit the D rather than blame Unger.

[:36] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 9. Nice stretch on a zone left with Robinson to the outside. Lynch makes a good read to cut to the middle for 3.

[:31] 2nd and 7 at the Seattle 12. Inside zone right with a fake end around by Rice. This time there's no LB anticipating the snap. Miller and McCoy take care of the right side as Lynch finds the hole for 5.

[:25] 3rd and 2 at the Seattle 17. Demarcus Ware anticipates the snap by a split second without going offside. Zone left with McCoy slashing back to get Ware. Lynch made a bad read, cutting back to the right. McCoy isn't quick enough to block Ware and Lynch is swallowed for a loss of a long 2.


*** Q3 *** Now the fun begins: 82 yards on 9 carries for 9.1 ypc. Three first downs. The shortest run was for two yards and the longest were for 36 and 16.

[15:00] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 20. Zone right. Miller loses his man to the inside, but Lunch is able to get past him. Lynch makes a bold cut to the outside, blows by #40 to turn the corner and gains 16. Tom Cable won't like the lateral move at the line, but the result was sweet. This play was 100% Lynch.

[14:10] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 36. Zone left with a fake end around. McCoy misses his block on the front side and Giacomini misses his cut block on the back side. Lynch splits the defenders for a gain of a short 3.

[9:43] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 10. Zone left with good movement. The D plays it well. Lynch for 2.

[8:34] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 22. Pass play. Wilson had Lynch and Rice open. RW left a closing but sturdy pocket and could have stepped up. Wilson rolls out left. Again Lynch releases rather than blocking. Wilson slides for 8. Good gain, but lost opportunity. Wilson's worst "run rather than pass" decision so far.

[7:51] 2nd and 2 at the Seattle 30. Zone right with Robinson and Turbin running counter. The line drives Dallas backwards. Turbin gets a gain of 6 and a 1st down.

[7:13] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 36. Three TEs. Zone left. Turbin squeezes through a tight hole for 3.

[6:37] 2nd and 7 at the Seattle 39. Zone right as Dallas sends a blitz from the left side. Giacomini makes a great block as Robinson stops the LB in his tracks in the middle. Moffitt had been combo-ing with Giacomini and was able to push off to the side to team with Robinson to open a big hole. Lynch cuts inside RT to find open space. Gain of 36. 1st down. Dallas gambled wrong while Seattle played strong. I hear that Moffitt will start next week. This play might might have earned him the spot.

[Brock Huard outlines this "E Green Left" play in Chalk Talk. ]

[5:48] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 25. Zone right with Washington poweing into the middle for 3.

[:32] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 12. Lynch takes it up the gut for 5.


*** Q4 *** 67 yards on 19 carries for 3.5 ypc. Dallas knew we were going to pound the rock, yet we still ran for five first downs and a TD. When Dallas started burning their timeouts with 6:58 left in the game, it was like Roberto Durán saying "no más" to Sugar Ray Leonard.

[14:17] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 24. Zone left as Lynch cuts it back for 3.

[13:18] 2nd and 12 at the Seattle 22. Play action.  Wilson doesn't like his options and scrambles to his left for the 1st down. Coach Cable likes WRs who can block. Coach Cable now loves Golden Tate.

[12:49] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 49. Zone right with McQuistan setting the seam and Omiyale and Moore opening the back side wide open. Lynch for 6.

[12:09] 2nd and 4 at the Dallas 43. Zone right with Lynch stretching and turning the corner for 7.

[11:25] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 36. Zone right with little movement as Turbin slithers through for 5.

[9:55] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 17. Zone right with Robinson smashing Ware on the play side. Ware bounces the block to limit Lynch to a yard.

[9:14] 2nd and 9 at the Dallas 16. Zone left with Robinson leading inside LT. Lynch for 5.

[8:01] 1st and 3 at the Dallas 3. '11' personnel indicates "pass". Moffitt pulls outside the left end to lead Lynch to the end zone. Great block by Baldwin kept the hole clean. And another feather in Moffitt's cap.

[7:04] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 34. Straight power as Lynch is hit by two defenders at the LOS. Gain of 1.

[6:58] 2nd and 9 at the Seattle 35. Zone right as Robinson and Lynch take it outside. The pursuit is too fast, so Lynch cuts it forward for 3.

[6:14] 2nd and 5 at the Seattle 47. Hawks show pass then power forward. Lynch gets 4 behind the left guard.

[5:29] 3rd and 1 at the Dallas 49. With a yard to go, Robinson runs a fullback draw up the gut for two yards and a first down.

[4:43] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 47. Zone right with Robinson on Ware. Lynch gets by for three.

[4:02] 2nd and 7 at the Dallas 44. Zone left against a stacked box. Lynch gets a couple yards.

[3:08] 4th and 1 at the Dallas 38. QB draw as the whole line powers past the 1st down marker.

[2:27] 1st and 10 at the Dallas 36. Zone right. Turbin cuts back into traffic for 2 yards.

[2:00] 2nd and 8 at the Dallas 34. We run a power play from a weak '11' formation. Dallas isn't fooled. Turbin loses a yard.

[1:19] 3rd and 9 at the Dallas 35. Another '11' grouping as Leon tries to cut back on a zone left play. He blows by some slow defenders for 5.

[:43] 4th and 4 at the Dallas 30. On 4th down, we go '11' and zone left. Omiyale loses his man and Washington is stopped from behind for no gain.



 
*** Overall blocking *** Our line played about as well as I've ever seen them. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't far from it. Omiyale deserves special mention for his nearly error free day at left tackle.

*** Play calling *** Brilliant. Taking it to the middle of the Dallas line rather that challenging Ware and company on the edge was exactly right. The personnel groupings varied nicely. We ran some fake end arounds that might not have fooled them but might have made the D think twice. Especially wonderful is when we ran the other way against their Cover 0 blitz for 36 yards.

*** Runners *** Excellent. No fumbles. Good reads. Made guys miss. Lots of tough carries that made Dallas feel the pain. (A great block by Turbin on a Rice catch to boot!)

Our second half was exceptional but the slow first half shows that we still need improvement. Special teams gave us an early ten points that let us stay with the running game. The only way we can repeat this recipe is to get ahead early or stay close. When forced to come from behind, we lose our advantage. I hope we can keep this momentum into the first quarter on Monday night.

SEA HAWK RUN!
RUN HAWK RUN!
GO HAWKS!

Were Wilson's Runs a Bad Thing?

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A number of people have been unhappy that Wilson left the pocket as much as he did against the Cards - until the end of the game when many fans wanted him to roll out. (I get the feeling that had he hit one of those late game passes, people would be praising his pocket presence.)

But what about those runs? What were the results? Were they really all that bad or did they help us get down the field.

Keep in mind that just because a guy looks open down the field doesn't guarantee a big play if the QB pulls the trigger. The receiver might finish the route differently than the QB expects, the pass might be off target, or the receiver might drop the ball or end up out of bounds. So if the QB runs for an actual four yards and a first down, put it in the bank with a smile. We would rather have him make the big pass play, but a first down run is way better than a possible drop and a punt.

So, let's look at the plays...

[Q1 9:47] 1st and 10 at the Arizona 31. Zone left with clean blocks as Wilson keeps the ball on a naked bootleg and gains 4 yards before going out of bounds.

This looked intentional to me. Wilson had full vision of the field and didn't see a target he liked. A four yard gain on first down isn't bad. Credit the Arizona D for their discipline. If the players get sucked into a run, the QB can potentially get a whole lot more out of this play. This is straight out of the Alex Gibbs playbook when the defense starts to overplay the run. It was planned and Wilson played it safe.

[ Q1 7:54] 3rd and 6 at the Arizona 13. Wilson takes off on a designed run from shotgun. The line faked pass protection. Four yards to the left sideline.

This looked totally planned to me. Wilson didn't run from pressure. He ran the moment he caught the snap. Unfortunately, he was two yards short of the first down. Then again, we got a bit more breathing room from deep in our own end of the field. We can't blame Wilson though as this looks like this was the play as called. (Though it's possible that Wilson saw something in the D that made him choose this on his own.)

[ Q2 13:22] 2nd and 20 at the Seattle 30. It looks like Sweezy goes zone right rather than pass protection leaving Dockett unblocked. Wilson barely escapes and gets one yard.

Sweezy blocked the wrong guy. Dockett was unblocked and got his hands on Wilson seven yards deep. Wilson's scramble gave us a one yard gain. Sweezy owes Wilson a nice dinner.

[Q3 13:14] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 14. Nice zone left. A free LB blitzes past Lynch, who gets 9 yards before the fumble. Wilson recovers after going back one yard and doesn't attempt to advance the ball. (In the stats, Lynch gets 8 yards on a carry and Wilson gets no yards on a carry. Go figure.)

Wilson hurt his stats by getting a carry with no gain, but his quick action saved a turnover. Lynch owes Wilson dinner too.

[Q3 11:54] 3rd and 1 at the Seattle 23. Bootleg. Wilson is rushed from the edge, but by the time Lynch turns to look for the ball, he's covered. Wilson keeps it and rushes to the edge for a hard two yards and a first down.

On this one, Lynch could have blocked or released. He gave a micro-block, which didn't delay the defender but upset Lynch's balance. By the time Lynch turned, there were two defenders nearly on top of him. Lynch was short of the first down marker and now Wilson had a defensive back in his face. Wilson's scramble gave us the first down. This wasn't how it was drawn up, but Lynch played it poorly and Wilson's improvisation gave us a first down.

[Q3 7:05] 2nd and 6 at the Arizona 30. Pass protection with lots of time for Wilson, until Sweezy is beat on a spin move. Wilson gains a yard by taking it to the sideline where he biffs a ref.

Wilson had lots of time and stood in there, but didn't pull the trigger. After Sweezy got beat, Wilson could run or throw it away. Maybe Wilson could have zipped it into a tight window earlier in the play, but I'm thinking that Pete will be happy that he played it safe on 2nd down. I think it would have been better to have thrown it away. It's one less yard but it's also less risk to the QB.

[Q3 6:01] 3rd and 10 at the Arizona 34. The Arizona D rotates clockwise, overloading our right side. The OL fails to adjust. Gay has a clean shot at Wilson who is able to turn it up the middle for a gain of five.

The protection totally failed here. That Wilson was able to gain five yards was impressive. Fault the protection, not Wilson.

[Q4 1:51] 3rd and 2 at the Arizona 34. Wilson has time, sees nothing open, and runs for two yards and a critical first down.

This was a huge first down. Maybe Wilson missed an open read. Maybe Wilson played it too safe with the pass. But the result was a scramble for a huge first down.

So there it is. Wilson had 8 runs for 20 yards for a 2.5 ypc average. One "run" was a recovered fumble for no gain. Two runs resulted in first downs. Two looked like planned runs (4 yards on 1st and 10 and 4 yards on 3rd and 6.) Two were scrambles under duress that avoided sacks and gave us positive yards. One play gave Wilson time and he probably should have thrown it away.

While we can wish that all these plays were touchdown throws, overall, the results of Wilson's runs were positive. They kept drives alive, avoided sacks, and moved the sticks forward. Only one "planned" run resulted in a punt.

It's hard to fault Wilson for running when he did and though he didn't gain a lot of yards with his legs, the results were consistently in the positive direction.

Obsessive Run Game Analysis - Week 1

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Sea Hawk Run! Obsessive Run Game Analysis - Seattle @ Arizona; 09-Sep-2012

Here's my first run analysis of the year, and my first on the Sea Hawk Run! blog. (I've been doing this since 2007 at NW Sports Talk.)

Our running game wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that good either. We have a lot of opportunity for improvement. But give credit where it's due: The Cardinals defense didn't exactly make things easy.

Overall, our runners (including Russell Wilson's plays) had 115 yards on 32 carries for 3.6 ypc. Lynch averaged 4.0 ypc on 21 touches, which is near his minimum target. Turbin and Washington both got five yards on two carries. (And don't forget Leon's awesome returns!)

The goal of the Zone Blocking Scheme (ZBS) is to suffer no losses in the running game. We accomplished that. We had no losses and a single run for no gain. Everything else moved the sticks forward. One thing we have to clean up is penalties. Four yards per carry doesn't add up to much when you get too many plays of negative five to fifteen yards from breaking the rules.

We had a few new twists. We often had a tight end playing fullback. I don't know if the staff was taking it easy on Robinson or if this was designed to confuse the defense. We also ran a lot out of '20' personnel. (That's two runners and no tight ends.) The third new twist was what I'll call a "split zone". Normally in the ZBS, the line pushes everybody right or left. The defense has to go with the flow to maintain gap integrity.  However, in this game, we had a few plays where the zone split between guard and center. If the defenders flow in two different directions, it parts the Red Sea. It gives lots of room for the fullback to lead up the gut.

Here are the running plays...

*** Q1 - 30 yards on 8 carries for 3.8 ypc. We started out slow and then gained momentum. We generated one first down.

[14:53] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 23. Zone left. Giacomini let #90 (Dockett) through. Yeah, Dockett wasn't just a force against the pass, he was a tackling machine against the run. Lynch should have followed Robinson but made the wrong read. Gain of 2.

[13:31] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 34. Zone left. I'm pretty sure Okung messed up as he looked like the odd man out, taking the man to his right. Lynch was met in the backfield and tried to cut back. Gain of 1.

[12:45] 1st and 10 at the Arizona 37. Zone right. Turbin tries to cut back, but Okung had two defenders and failed to block either. Gain of 1. Two bad plays for #76 in a row, but he cleaned it up after that.

[12:06] 2nd and 9 at the Arizona 36. Zone right. Lynch makes a good read and continues to the front side. Gain of 4.

[9:47] 1st and 10 at the Arizona 31. Zone left with clean blocks as Wilson keeps the ball on a naked bootleg and gains 4 yards before going out of bounds.

[9:17] 2nd and 6 at the Arizona 27. Zone left. Okung releases to the 2nd level as McQuistan seals the front side. Lynch gets a good initial hole and batters for 10 yards and a first down.

[8:30] 2nd and 10 at the Arizona 17. Zone left with Miller slashing back against the grain from the H-back spot. Sweezy let his man through, but Turbin was still able to gain four yards.

[7:54] 3rd and 6 at the Arizona 13. Wilson takes off on a designed run from shotgun. The line faked pass protection. Four yards to the left sideline.


*** Q2 - 29 yards on 9 carries for 3.2 ypc. The line played below par in this quarter with seven carries of less than four yards. One first down on an 8 yard run.

[15:00] 2nd and 10 at the Seattle 17. Inside zone left. Not much stretch. Robinson helps Baldwin and Lynch busts through. Nice block by McQuistan and a good read by Lynch for 6 yards.

[13:22] 2nd and 20 at the Seattle 30. It looks like Sweezy goes zone right rather than pass protection leaving Dockett unblocked. Wilson barely escapes and gets one yard.

[12:13] 3rd and 24 at the Seattle 26. Inside zone left, but McQuistan struggles on the front end of his combo block with Unger. Washington for 3.

[5:58] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 20. Zone right, but there's not enough flow. A MLB is waiting for Lynch, who made a good read. 3 yards.

[5:23] 2nd and 7 at the Seattle 23. Zone left. Robinson leads inside left tackle. Lynch made the wrong read. He should have followed his fullback. Lynch cuts back into traffic. Sweezy had made it quickly to the second level, but he's pushed to the ground as the defender adjusts to Lynch's cut. 2 yards where there could have been much more with the right read.

[3:28] 2nd and 6 at the Seattle 35. This is the first "split zone" play that I've seen from Cable. Sweezy and Giacomini zone right as the rest of the line zone's left, parting the seas. Robinson leads Lynch straight ahead. Gain of 8 and a first down.

[2:51] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 43. Inside zone left. No stretch, so nobody can release to the 2nd level. Lynch, meet unblocked linebacker. Gain of 2.

[2:12] 2nd and 9 at the Seattle 45. McCoy is at fullback. Zone right with Lynch cutting back. Unfortunately, Edwards is lined up too wide to be able to come back in and finish the seam. Had that block been made, it would have been huge. Gain of 2.

[:45] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 14. Zone left with the FB and Leon Washington running counter. Unfortunately Sweezy and Giacomini get confused, both release, and their down lineman is effectively unblocked. Make that block and Leon would have been in open space. Gain of 2.


*** Q3 - 35 yards on 9 carries for 3.9 ypc. The line was better coordinated in this quarter. Two first downs and five runs of four or more yards.

[13:14] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 14. Nice zone left. A free LB blitzes past Lynch, who gets 9 yards before the fumble. Wilson recovers after going back one yard and doesn't attempt to advance the ball. (In the stats, Lynch gets 8 yards on a carry and Wilson gets no yards on a carry. Go figure.)

[12:34] 2nd and 2 at the Seattle 22. Zone left. Unger is unable to "club" the defender's armpit to protect the back side and he loses the nose tackle. Lynch fights for a short yard.

[11:54] 3rd and 1 at the Seattle 23. Bootleg. Wilson is rushed from the edge, but by the time Lynch turns to look for the ball, he's covered. Wilson keeps it and rushes to the edge for a hard two yards and a first down.

[9:17] 2nd and 4 at the Arizona 18. Miller is in the fullback position. Split zone with Miller leading Lynch up the gut for seven yards and a first down.

[7:42] 1st and 10 at the Arizona 34. Miller at FB again. Zone right. McQuistan loses his man to a swim move. Miller to the rescue as Lynch fights for four yards.

[7:05] 2nd and 6 at the Arizona 30. Pass protection with lots of time for Wilson, until Sweezy is beat on a spin move. Wilson gains a yard by taking it to the sideline where he biffs a ref.

[6:01] 3rd and 10 at the Arizona 34. The Arizona D rotates clockwise, overloading our right side. The OL fails to adjust. Gay has a clean shot at Wilson who is able to turn it up the middle for a gain of five.

[3:32] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 31. Zone left with the backside man unblocked. The front side defender has his helmet to the outside, so Lynch cuts back. Nothing there, but Lynch is able to fight for 3 yards.

[2:48] 2nd and 7 at the Seattle 34. A power run play with Sweezy and McCoy pulling left. Lynch breaks through, but there is an MLB waiting for him. Gain of 4.


*** Q4 - 21 yards on 6 carries for 3.5 ypc. The line might have started to fatigue as they delivered some really sloppy play. We had a long run on 3rd and long, one first down on a scramble, and the famous two yard run before our 4th timeout.

[14:20] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 43. Zone left. Miller and Robinson aren't able to plow the front side. Giacomini is beat on the back side. There is a scrum in the middle. Lynch for no gain.

[10:58] 1st and 10 at the Arizona 16. The D is loaded for bear. The line is swamped. One ugly yard.

[10:11] 3rd and 26 at the Arizona 32. Zone left. Giacomini is beat but Miller cleans it up from the fullback spot. Okung and McQuistan open a big hole. Lynch cuts it back for his biggest gain of the day. But 11 yards don't count for much on 3rd and 26. Gotta stop those penalties!

[4:26] 1st and 10 at the Seattle 31. Unger and Sweezy are confused and both let the nose tackle through. Lynch breaks the tackle and turns a four yard loss into a four yard gain.

[1:51] 3rd and 2 at the Arizona 34. Wilson has time, sees nothing open, and runs for two yards and a critical first down.

[:38] 1st and 6 at the Arizona 6. It looks like we tried the split zone again. Miller cleans up a free man on the edge from the fullback spot. Sweezy releases from the combo block on Dockett, but Giacomini can't handle him solo. #90 brings down Lynch on a two yard gain.

*** Overall blocking - Our line's boneheaded mistakes weren't limited to pass protection. We messed up some running plays too. Oh well. It's just Week 1. That said, our blocking was coordinated more often than not. Hey, we still look way better than we did from '07 to '09. That said, missed assignments and false starts made things way tougher than they needed to be. Our guys got beat here and there, but we won a number of battles too. It will improve.

*** Play calling - The split zone looked new to me. Cable put our TEs in the fullback spot way more often than he usually does. Robinson was still playing late in the game, so this looked intentional rather than injury driven. Maybe he's grooming the TEs as backup FBs. We rarely had a TE on the line, so we had few calls with a TE slashing back against the grain. Overall, the play calls were still all based around the standard, Alex Gibbs zone blocking system.

*** Runners - There was one Lynch fumble (not counting the screen) recovered very quickly by Wilson. Lynch mostly made good reads, but he missed at least a couple as well. Even with a new contract in hand, Lynch runs like a wild beast. Turbin and Washington didn't get enough carries to get into much of a rhythm.

The good news is that even with our mistakes while facing a great defense, Lynch was able to put up four yards per carry and was never tackled for a loss. I expect a lot of these bugs to be ironed out this week before Dallas comes to town. I wish Moffitt had more practice time. We can only hope that he brings some improvement. But frankly, we have more work to do on pass protection than on run blocking this week.

It was in Dallas where our running game emerged in 2011. I expect that we will have more than enough confidence to run strong against them at home in Seattle.

Sea Hawk Run!
Run Hawk Run!
GO HAWKS!

Sweezy: The Quick vs. the Strong

To the surprise of many - including me - J. R. Sweezy will be the Seahawks' starter in Week 1 at Arizona. For those who don't know the story, the Seahawks selected Sweezy in the seventh round of the draft as an offensive guard, despite him playing defensive tackle at NC State. The Seattle scouts identified him, Cable liked what he saw, and we drafted a guy whom most everybody expected to play on the practice squad. It's amazing that Sweezy made the 53-man roster and a near miracle that he's landed a starting role.

So, how did Sweezy do it? One word: quickness. The kid is physically quick. More importantly, he's a quick learner. Not only does he understand what he's told, but he's able to translate what he hears into physical action. Quickly.

Let's look at the combine numbers for Sweezy and Moffitt:

* Both are just over 6' 4" tall. Sweezy is 20 lbs lighter at 298, but has a frame that can handle more weight.
* Sweezy is a half second faster in the 40 yard dash at 5.01 seconds.
* Sweezy jumps 5-1/2 inches higher at 36" and jumps a foot further at 9'5".
* Sweezy wins the shuttle (4.41 vs. 4.53) and the 3-cone (7.40 vs 7.79).  
* Moffitt is stronger. He wins the 225 Lb. bench press with 23 reps vs 18.

It's likely that Coach Carlisle can help Sweezy put on some weight and gain strength - probably quickly. It's less likely that the coaching staff can train Moffitt to be faster and jump further. In a power run scheme, you want size and strength. In Seattle's zone blocking scheme, you want quickness and leverage. Advantage Sweezy.

Speaking of leverage, Sweezy's stance is exceptionally low. Coach Cable has to love that. Sweezy raises up a bit on his first step and I expect that Cable is working on that. Giacomini starts higher than Sweezy but is a bit lower at the point of contact. Sweezy's quickness shows in his ability to get off the ball, step to the side, and drive his man laterally. That's the key to the zone blocking scheme - to force the defenders to move laterally.

But none of this would matter if Sweezy wasn't able to learn quickly and put his knowledge into action. Regarding his new guard, Tom Cable recently said, "there are no bad habits." This tells me that he sees Sweezy as clay that can be molded in Cable's image. If Cable can coach up a DT into an effective guard in a matter of a short few months, this is an amazing accomplishment. But I think this is more than a resumé builder. Sweezy's quick adaptability means that Cable can test his concepts on the field and refine them without the results being colored by any previous habits at all.

I expect that Sweezy will be durable as well. Take a look at his elbows. They're huge! Those big joints show that he can add bulk and withstand tough battles. You want to see Cable's prototype guard? J. R. Sweezy is the guy.

Sweezy still has a lot of room for improvement. When he pulls, he does it too tight, risking injury to his teammates' ankles and not giving himself the angle he needs to turn his momentum downhill. (It looks quick though.) He's not yet skilled at sticking his blocks in the 2nd level. He allows defenders to extend their arms and bounce blocks. And sometimes he gets shrugged to the side by stronger defenders. Well, that was in Preseason Week 3. He's had two and a half weeks to improve his technique, which is apparently like a season or two in Cable-years.

I think Carpenter taught Cable a lesson. He's big and played well in college, but if you listen to Carp speak, "quick" isn't the first word that comes to mind. He can get beat by quick defensive ends. He apparently wasn't able to learn right-side footwork well. Carp has his habits and they haven't been easy to break. Maybe he's got the physical skills to be a Pro Bowl lineman, but he's not going to become that player overnight.

So, rather than go after an experienced (or habituated) lineman with a higher draft pick, Cable took a page from Carroll's defensive playbook and drafted an underrated late-rounder who has unique physical traits, is hungry, smart, and able to learn quickly.

In retrospect, maybe Sweezy's quick rise shouldn't be a surprise to us at all.

Why Five RBs? Ask Lynch's Agent

I was more than a little surprised that the Seahawks kept five running backs (Lynch, Robinson, Turbin, Washington & Lumpkin) on the 53-man roster. If anything, I was hoping that we'd keep four tight ends, rather than just three. I was even more surprised when we cut Kellen Winslow, dropping us to just two TEs. (The team later announced that they signed TE Evan Moore.)

So, was Lumpkin that awesome against the Raiders? In PS Week 4, Lumpkin ran for 71 yards on 20 carries for an average of 3.5 yards per carry with a 14-yarder as his longest play and no touchdowns. Not bad, but not great, considering that he was running against 2nd and 3rd stringers. Then again, he wasn't behind 1st team blockers either.

I was a little concerned that Lumpkin was gassed after 20 runs and Kearse took over in the backfield, but looking back, Lumpkin played fullback when Taua was carrying the ball, so he had well over 20 snaps in the game.

Overall, Lumpin looked so-so. He had some nice cuts and didn't shy from contact. He generally went downhill - though he should have broken it to the outside on one play. Late in the game, he started stomping snakes, rather than doing the one-cut-and-go of a true zone runner. He lost the ball once after being down by contact. Frankly, I can't tell you what his special talent is. He's not a big bruiser. His cuts were probably his best asset, but weren't amazing. I didn't get the feeling that he had a speedster's velocity. Unfortunately, the blocks ahead of him weren't textbook, so it was hard to evaluate his vision and decision making. Yes, he can step in and carry the ball, but I'm not impressed. By contrast, Turbin truly impresses me.

So, why carry five RBs - especially when the 5th back didn't exactly light it up? My guess? Leverage. I can imagine this conversation between the front office and Lynch's agent.

Front Office (FO): "We need to talk about Marshawn's contract."
Lynch's Agent (LA): "You mean we should celebrate it. It's great that we got that done so early."
FO: "Too early. That was before the DUI."
LA: "Don't worry. That won't slow him down."
FO: "But he might miss some games."
LA: "Not this year. His lawyer tells me it won't go to court this season."
FO: "Part of the contract is for his image. That's tainted now."
LA: "Tainted? He's still Beast Mode. Toughest guy on the team."
FO: "Tough guys don't miss games because of back spasms."
LA: "Don't worry. That was just preseason. He won't miss any real games."
FO: "Last year's Cleveland game was real."
LA: "C'mon. This whole thing is a bluff. Pay the man."
FO: "Ask Kellen Winslow if we bluff."

If Vai Taua hadn't suffered an injury late in Thursday's game, maybe he'd be on the roster and the front office would be having a conversation with Robinson's agent. Lumpkin played a bit of fullback against Oakland, so maybe that conversation is going on anyway. But Robinson made his first Pro Bowl and doesn't have a DUI or back spasms. Maybe Leon Washington's agent got a phone call too, but the team didn't show anybody else who could return the ball, aside from Tate, and Tate is now injured. Of our returning running backs, Marshawn has the least leverage.

There are only two reasons I can think of for keeping five running backs right now. It's either for leverage with Lynch's contract, or it's because we need depth as Lynch's back spasms might be worse than anybody is letting on.

Moffitt is Baaack!

I took a quick look at the tape tonight, focusing on Moffitt. #74 came into the game at right guard with the second unit and moved a step left to play center at the end of the 3rd quarter. He rocked both positions.

In his early play, Moffitt was a bit slow to the second level and the timing and positions weren't exactly right for him to make the blocks. After that, he focused on the first level and dominated. Yeah, it was against the Raider's 2nd unit, but still, our starting right guard from last year looked as strong as ever. As the game progressed, Moffitt started getting better contact in the 2nd level and was able to apply some cut blocks. It was just a quick film study, but what I saw looked good.

Moffitt looked good at center too. What? You didn't notice that he was playing the position. Yes. Exactly. Moffit was able to get clean snaps, was quick in his transition into the block, and was able to keep a clear enough head to move to the second level after some nice combo blocks.

All in all, he looked better than Sweezy, once he got going. Moffitt was able to grade some road and looked more purposeful when going after linebackers. The main difference is once he makes contact in the 2nd level, he's able to sustain it.

I applaud Cable for leaving Sweezy in with the 1st team. He was playing with familiar teammates and he gets the support of Unger and Giacomini to get him in the right position and into the right plays. Moffitt played a lot with the 2nd unit this pre-season, at least when he was developing his skills as a center, so having him play with those guys was also familiar.

But come Week 1, I'd put Moffitt in as the starter. He looked strong as ever and quickly knocked off any rust. This was just a tune up though. He wasn't playing against a 1st unit defense with a real game on the line.

Sweezy makes a great story, learned the basics of the position amazingly quickly, and has a great natural ability, but he doesn't have the experience and skills of Moffitt. What he does offer is immediate depth and a very high ceiling. Again, Schneider strikes gold at the long end of the draft.

If Moffitt wants to keep the job next year, he can't stand still. But as of the end of August, 2012, Moffitt is our best player at right guard. He's my pick to be our 2012 starter.

PSW4: Watch List Summary

In my last three posts, I outlined the running backs, offensive linemen, and tight ends to watch in tonight's final preseason game. Here a summary, ordered by jersey number...

#20 - Lumpkin, RB. Can he get picked up by another team?
#40 - Taua, RB. Practice squader?
#43 - Helfet, TE. Does Helfet's receiving get him a spot, or...
#45 - McGrath, TE. Does McGrath's blocking get him on the 53?
#62 - O'Dowd, C. Does O'Dowd show promise for the practice squad?
#63 - Johnson, G. Rishaw could make the 53, but an outside chance.
#65 - Omiyale, T/G. Playing both tackle and guard gives veteran Omiyale an edge.
#66 - Fanaika, G. Unless Paul really shines, this could be a last hurrah.
#78 - Barbre, T. We can use another tackle, but can he beat Omiyale?
#85 - McCoy, TE. Likely holds a spot on the team, but can he hold onto the ball?

Keep an eye out for these jersey numbers. Good play on passing downs and on special teams could help them become depth for the all-important running game.

PSW4: Tight Ends to Watch

Last year, we started the season with only three tight ends. That might partially be due to losing Carlson in the preseason. It struck me as odd at the time, given that we had just lost a playoff game in Chicago after losing two tight ends. We ended up throwing every two tight end play out of the playbook for the rest of that ill-fated game. (Then again, we still had a chance to win deep into the 2nd half.)

This year, we have two locks: Master blocker Zach Miller and master catcher Kellen Winslow. I'd like to see two more TEs on the 53-man roster due to the number of '02', '12', and '22' formations that we like to run. With Winslow's knees hurting (he limits his practices throughout the year), it's even more important to keep two additional TEs on the roster.

The three candidates are Anthony McCoy, Cooper Helfet, and Sean McGrath. My guess is that McCoy is already penciled in. He's known to be a good blocker, but he's had a number of drops in crucial situations. Had he made those catches, TJack would likely have posted better numbers. Then again, TJack's lack of touch and McCoy's cold hands might have been a bad combination. Wilson seems to throw a more catchable ball, and McCoy's preseason numbers look pretty good. But in the running game, on 4th and goal on the one foot line, give me Miller and McCoy as the TEs.

That leaves two guys and one spot: Cooper Helfet and Sean McGrath are battling it out. Both are rookies. I expect one to make the team and one to make the practice squad. Helfet made a nice catch in Week 1 and PC was stoked for him. In Week 3 McGrath made some nice, running blocks. McGrath looked like he might be able to play backup fullback in a pinch. If McGrath can catch, Tom Cable might give him the edge - especially if he can play special teams.

So... the things to watch are McCoy's hands and every move that Helfet and McGrath make. Between the rookies, the more reliable and flexible player likely makes the team. Given that they let Cameron Morrah walk, the staff must feel pretty good about these bubble players.

PSW4: Offensive Linemen to Watch

Coaching staffs have more flexibility when building their offensive line than with any other position group. Some players can line up at either tackle or guard. Some play guard and center. Some play left and right. And, if you're lucky, the same five guys start in the same five positions for every game and every down. The question is, how much insurance do you want to buy?

In 2011, we started the season with 10 linemen on the roster. We started two rookies on the right side (Moffitt & Carpenter), a second year LT (Okung), a young center who had missed a year (Unger), and a veteran free agent at the end of his career with a nagging injury (Gallery). And we did this after a severely shortened off season. For backups, we had a swing man who hadn't started in a few years (McQuistan) and some guys fresh off the practice squad (Giacomini, Jeanpierre).

This year couldn't be more different. Our young guys now have established success on the field. Yes, we lost one older vet (Gallery), but we got a surprise hit in the 7th round (Sweezy). We also now know what Tom Cable can do with enough time - and this off season, we got the whole calendar.

So, how will this shake out? It's possible that we will go a bit leaner on the offensive line than last year. We simply shouldn't need to buy as big an insurance policy as we needed last year. We might go with just nine. If we are comfortable living dangerously, that nine man squad could include Carpenter as we probably don't need all the backups available to play on Week 1.

So, who are the locks?

At tackle, we have Okung, and Giacomini. McQuistan is listed as a tackle, but he's filling in at left guard right now. And then there's James Carpenter, who might start the season on the PUP list - the team hasn't decided that yet. That leaves us a bit thin at the position, so Allen Barbre (T) and Frank Omiyale (T/G) might be fighting for a spot. Of course, McQuistan could slide over to tackle with someone else taking the guard spot if needed.

At center, Unger is the starter. Jeanpierre is listed as center/guard. Moffitt worked out extensively at center with the 2nd unit this year, so he can take the position too. This position looks to be set. Kris O'Dowd is listed as a center and he could be headed for the practice squad.

At guard, things get more crowded. Sweezy and McQuistan have been starting, but they might make way for Moffitt sooner and Carpenter later. C/G Jeanpierre played well in the 2nd half of last year, though he's not all that quick to the 2nd level. That leaves 4th year Paul Fanaika and rookie Rishaw Johnson hoping for a backup spot.

Putting all this together, we will keep Okung, Giacomini, McQuistan, Unger, Moffitt, Sweezy, and Jeanpierre for sure. Carpenter might be on the PUP list at first, but Carroll says he'll definitely play this year. That's eight men. There's at least one spot open and maybe two.

As I see it, we need another backup tackle. 6th year Barbre and 8th year Omiyale are fighting for that spot. If they pick Barbre, they will likely keep an additional guard as well. If they keep Omiyale, he can fill in at both the tackle and guard spots, so that might complete the roster.

Regarding center and guard, O'Dowd and Johnson can both go to the practice squad, so they stay alive even if they don't make the 53-man cut. As I see it, Fanaika is fighting for his football life.

So... the guys to watch are Barbre, Omiyale, and Fanaika. Our final offensive line unit depends on how those guys perform. O'Dowd and Johnson just need to show enough potential to make the 8-man practice squad. Then again, if Johnson shines, he could make a case for the fifty-three.

All that said, whether Carpenter goes on PUP and whether we keep nine or ten men will either use up a spot or make one available. If the OL frees up a spot, my guess is that it will allow us to keep an additional tight end. Personally, that's my preference.

PSW4: Running Backs to Watch

As the Raiders come to town, 2nd and 3rd unit players will be fighting to earn roster spots - including players who factor into the running game. First, let's look at running backs.

Marshawn Lynch is still nursing a sore back, but Beast Mode doesn't tend to play preseason games anyway. He's locked into the #1 role and will almost certain play in the season opener.

Robert Turbin has proven himself as a good fit and a hard worker. He's a lock as Lynch's understudy. Carroll recently said that pass protection is the main issue for young backs, so if Turbin gets some downs, it will mostly be to give him more practice in the passing game.

Leon Washington played tough and took some shots last week. While Tate took one return to the house, he dropped one as well. Leon's experience and sure hands on special teams has him solidly on the 53-man list.

Michael Robinson has had a toe injury that held him out a bit this off season, but there's no question that this Pro Bowler will start on Week 1. In 2010, Robinson ran as the play was written, ran through the line, and would make a good block in the 2nd level. In 2011, Robinson made live reads that were in-sych with Lynch and Cable, would lend a shoulder at the line, and would make a great block in the 2nd level. That year-over-year improvement makes Robinison a lock.

Last year, we kept four RBs. The writing is on the wall for the remaining two on the roster.

Vai Taua is unlikely to make the 53-man group, however, he has the ability to play both RB and FB as well as special teams. He'll probably end up on the practice squad, though if Carpenter is put on the PuP list, he's a longshot to take that temporary spot.

Kregg Lumpkin was insurance for us in the preseason. As I see it, he's fighting for a spot on another team or as a guy who might come back later in the year in the case of injury.

The main things to watch for are Turbin's pass protection and to see if Vai Taua can make an outside case to stick on the 53. Lumpkin will be interesting to watch just in case we see him again later in the year - with us or against us.

PSW3: JR Sweezy

So... How about this Sweezy kid?

A defensive tackle converted to offensive guard. A 7th round pick out of NC State. (Yes. Russell Wilson's NC State.) Typically this kind of player is a project. A practice squad guy. Jameson Konz II. Yet, he's been our starting right guard.

A starter? That's not how the script is written! Yet, here he is.

I see why Cable likes him. He gets really, really low in his stance, he's quick off the snap, and he can be very powerful. On his first two running plays in preseason Week 3, he marched one defender across the field, and then powered forward for Robinson's first down. 

His next three plays weren't so good, getting bounced off a block on one, shrugged off in the 2nd level on the next, and pulling only to be stopped dead at the line on the last. 

His next four plays were nice: 1) he had a great combo block with Unger and was held so he couldn't get to the 2nd level, 2) he went zone left but there was an unblocked LB to his right. Sweezy came back to get a hand on the LB for a micro delay that helped Turbin, 3) he got to the 2nd level to destroy a LB, and 4) he turned and dominated a DL - though Turbin didn't read that wide open hole. 

The next two plays were poor. 1) He pulled too tight behind the center, which could risk injury on the line, and 2) he got shrugged and Leon hit an anvil. 

After that, Sweezy showed straight ahead power and graded the road. Next, he was shrugged by the NT but came back to get a hand on him for another micro delay. Gotta be quick to do that.

In two of his last three plays, he tried cut blocks on engaged men, which would be called as penalties by experienced refs. But on one of the three plays, Sweezy got to the 2nd level and stayed engaged. That's a pro skill!

Overall, it was a mix of natural talent, strength, and quickness with some raw rookie mistakes. If it were my call, Moffitt keeps his starting role (once the elbow is healthy) as JR continues to learn the position. As I recall, Moffitt makes fewer mistakes, though I don't know that he has as much natural talent as Sweezy. 

The real fallout is that we have a talented young guy (Sweezy) who can do the zone thing and provide depth, rather than a w-i-d-e, older player (Lutui) who wasn't as well suited to the zone blocking scheme but who would have done well in pass protection. As usual on a Carroll team, the young guy wins.

BTW, take a look at Sweezy's elbows. They're huge. When you see joints this big, you know that he can pack on more muscle over time. It's also an indication that he's durable. When you seen him between Giacomini and Unger, Sweezy wins the big elbow competition.

 

With Scruggs on the DL and Sweezy on the OL, this year's 7th round picks are rockin' it!