The Seahawks are on the verge of a super bowl run but that won't happen unless they improve their pass defense. Pete Carroll is a great coach and I know the unit will get better. They are very solid against the run but have struggled on the back end.
Here are the qb stats of the last several games:
Josh Allen 31/38 for 415 yards and 3 tds
Kyler Murray 34/48 360 yards and. 3 tds , 1 int
Mullens/Garapallo 29/41 322 yards. 2 tds 1 int
Cousins 27/39 249 yards. 2 td 1 int
Fitzpatrick. 29/45 315 yards 2 int
Prescott 37/57 472 yards 3 td , 2int
Newton 30/47. 397 yards 1 td 1 int
Key stats:
#1 they lead the league in opponents completions per game 31. The 2nd closest team is 27, the Titans.
#2 Opponent Completion percentage is 69%
#3 They are letting up 11 yards per completion
Some of the issues as I saw them against the 49ers with 1 Cardinals clip:
1. First, the Seahawks like to stay in their base personnel with only 4 dbs vs 11 and 12 personnel on early downs. Also, bigger problem- they play a lot of bear and teams passing against Bear front.bills 10/10 for 119 ,0 runs on 1st 10 plays vs bear front.
LAST GAME, THE BILLS WERE 14/16 FOR 199 YARDS , 2 RUSHES FOR 14(1 WAS A SCRAMBLE) AND 1 SACK.
2. They play an abundance of cover 3, that can hurt you at times in the passing game with the wheel routes and deep sideline outs.
3. They are having difficulty rushing the passer with 4 man rushes, unless they bring pressure they aren’t getting home with 4. Teams are having time and clean pockets.
4. They are giving up chunk plays, +20 yard big plays.
5.They have poor situational awareness, (see the 4th and 1 below) and have had some bad mental breakdowns
6. They have difficulty matching up on the outside with personnel. man coverage is an issue. Dunbar has been struggling. He looks really hobbled right now and has been playing hurt.
Here are some examples of what we discussed above:
#1 First they are in 3-4 bear look, cover 3 vs condensed set. Which means the olb, has to run with any wheel routes.
The Cardinals run a boot wheel route off the Jet and the olb #50 should be running with the wheel.
This should be a 25 yard gain.
1st play of the game.
They overreact to the run game
12 personnel
play action at the sam and cover 3 with a deep out route vs the 49ers. 13 yard gain.
The SS the curl flat defender gets fooled on the play action and cant get to the deep out in cover 3
The other issue is limited pass rush
Here is a 3rd and 9 situation. Seahawks go dime
The Seahawks get no rush. The slot wr runs by the db, gains separation after the db doesn't get hands on him and #2 runs an easy 10 yard route
Garapolo has a clean pocket and they complete the 10 yard gain against 2man.
2 and 15 They bring 6 and run 2 under 3 deep
They leave kittle in the flat because there are only 2 underneath defenders
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| 14 yard gain |
4th and 1 , why so soft coverage , up 30-7, They stop them the games over.
Situational awareness. Looks like man, but is very soft with a 5 man pressure.
3 plays later they score, 30-14
2nd and 1 30-14
The 49ers up by 16 disguise pressure and bail to a cover 2.
Situational awareness, the best threat left in the game is Aiyuk, possibly double him, why mess around showing who cares if they get 5 yards.
Again, no rush when they send 4, really clean pocket and Mullens makes them pay 33 yard gain.
Mental Breakdowns 2 plays later Its 3rd and 9. They run a 5 man pressure. There wasn't a change of strength so what s the problem. gotta be man but it sure as heck doesn't look that way.
What's the coverage????
they get a simple 3x1 motion to 2x2 and they get really confused. This is a basic 5 man pressure. is it zone or man.
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| 20 yard gain The very next play 1st and 10 at the 16 The Seahawks send 5 go cover 3 and the te sits down and its an easy pass and catch for the td   |
Here is the film that goes with what was discussed in the 2 clips above:
After going up 37-20 , the 49ers score while the Seahawks are in soft zone coverage.
Its alarming how they get little pressure with 4 as the last drive, Mullens was 6/9 for 81 yards with 2 hurry.
They made it 37-27 and that was the last drive for the 49ers.
vs. The Bills
Bills first drive.
Bills run 3 plays and they score, easy passes 3 for 45 yards.
Bills run cover 3 on all 3 snaps. 1st is a 4 man pressure, the next 2 are cover 3. No disguise
The 1st play-easy presnap read, cover 3, no disguise. assuming if its cover 1 they inside guys can adjust their routes.
The 2nd play is tough because its 2nd and 4 and they play bear cover 3, the problem is the curl flat defender has to run with the out and up in cover 3.
That leaves Diggs on the drag open. Again easy presnap cover 3 read.Play action freezes the linebackers and they throw it to Diggs for 14 crossing.
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| Diggs gets open on the cross flat defender runs with wheel |
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| Lb isn't. running with Diggs across |
The 3rd play is just bad defense. The cb has deep 1/3 and he plays the 5 yard spot/snag concept route.
Tha'ts just bad. Cant jump routes.
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| 10 yard gain easy catch and throw |
Vs The Bills as the game goes on, they decide to go more man, on one drive they play man free every snap.
Lets look at a 5 play drive in which they went man free every play.
It was a 5 play 75 yard drive, Bills were 5/5, pass rush was non existent. He was throwing deep sideline routes on the first and 3rd play with no-one near him.
Coverages on the 4th drive
1st play 5 man pressure, man free Bills run sideline curl routes for 21 yards
2nd play 4 man man free Bills run mesh for 21 yards
3rd play 5 man man free. comeback to the curl route sideline for 21. yards
4th play 5 man man free run mesh for 11
5th play 6 man play action off the jet 4 yard td pass slant.
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| They hit the crosser for 10 yard gain |
5th play 5 man man free (hurry, no sack) td
Here is the video from the drive:
This was three of the Bills first four drives in the game .
Later in the game its 27-17 2 minutes to go in the 3rd. The Seahawks played a decent 3rd quarter defensively until this point.
The 1st play of the series is a screen. The last 3 opening plays of the drive the Seahawks brought pressure on 1st down.
The Bills adjust and run a screen on first down.
good play call against the anticipated pressure. They get a nice 20 yard gain
After a few competitions this is the play that bothers me the most. You are showing pressure, why is the corner 14 yards off the ball.
Its 3rd and 16 I get it but if your bringing pressure, a quick throw is a possibility, This was probably the nail in the coffin for the game.
They run the alley screen agains the bills cover 0 (look at wr communication) and you can tell that Allen checks to the play. He reads the coverage. 33 yard gain and 2 plays later, they score a td.
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| Allen reads cover 0 checks the play |
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| Alley screen corner way off isn't it cover 0 17 yard cushion? |
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| 33 yard gain That play set up the td that put them up 34-20 and really was the breaking point. Week 10 VS The Rams 3rd and 1 The Hawks go to their bear front, the Rams check to a pass and hit the hitch for 11 yards. Bills threw against this look last week as the hawks struggle with pass defense when in bear. CB needs to understand he has help over the top with the safety so he can play it tougher    |
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| Rams in an Eagle look weak |
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| LG reaches the nose and rg reaches the DT |
The LB has no threat except #1. You have to get in the passing lane and really work under #1 your only threat right now.
