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!
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