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!
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