The Seattle Seahawks misplaced once more to the Los Angeles Rams and are actually beneath .500 for the primary time this season. Along with falling to final place within the division, the Seahawks are 1-3 within the NFC and 0-2 within the NFC West. Barring a large turnaround, their possibilities of making the playoffs are actually most unlikely.
All knowledge used on this article was taken from PFF.
The Good
Ernest Jones IV continues to impress
Even with the protection enjoying very poorly towards the Payments, Jones managed to face out. He had one other good recreation towards the Rams. Jones performed with nice want and was a elementary a part of the nice recreation towards the Rams’ floor assault.
Ernest Jones shortly identifies the play motion, makes use of the ROBOT method to mark TE #86 (Davis Allen) and turns his eyes to the QB. This enables him to establish the fast go to Cooper Kupp and the LB makes the deal with instantly.
Doing the correct factor doesn’t at all times imply issues will go properly. One other play motion and Jones makes use of the proper ROBOT method towards Demarcus Robinson. Nevertheless, the receiver has pure leverage and extra velocity. Julian Love arrives somewhat late and the go is full.
Nice credit score for the play to Leonard Williams, opening the hole right here. Ernest Jones shortly identifies and assaults the backfield stopping Kyren Williams and stopping the TD.
Geno Smith and Ryan Grubb had their good moments
Regardless that the protection dropped off within the second half, we clearly misplaced this recreation resulting from offensive errors. Nevertheless, there have been nonetheless performs that stood out positively.
Grubb has been utilizing this formation and its variations on some fourth down makes an attempt. Extraordinarily heavy formation, with 2 TEs and a pair of RBs. The execution is minimally first rate, and Zach Charbonnet makes a superb block as a lead block. If the double-team of Charles Cross and Laken Tomlinson superior to the second degree, the advance might have been a lot higher.
Grubb calls Mike Leach’s Scissors Idea. The Seahawks are in a 3×1 formation and the #2 and #3 receivers, JSN and Laviska Shenault, respectively, run a put up route and a nook. This in itself creates the house for JSN to obtain, with the protection and nook taking time to regulate. It’s price noting that we nonetheless have Tyler Lockett’s dig route, which might even be free and would inevitably end in a TD. Geno’s throw is totally off-platform.
Free play resulting from a penalty by the Rams’ DL, however the secondary can be misplaced. The nook makes use of a bail tech considering he may have assist excessive, however the security is much away. Tyler Lockett doesn’t have the identical velocity as earlier than, however he simply will get the TD for 30 yards on a well-placed go from Geno.
On this play, the QB and OC do properly. Jake Bobo’s movement and an out route with Geno manipulating the CB by faking the go to Bobo, open the window for JSN, who had a superb launch and will get a vital TD at that second of the sport.
Run Protection again?
Kyren Williams was held underneath 70 yards on 22 carries and 0 TDs. The crew’s high quality leap on this recreation is plain. Let’s hope it continues like this within the upcoming video games.
A gaggle effort to fight the working recreation. Byron Murphy pushes the LG to the backfield, forcing the RB to chop to the skin. Leonard Williams holds his place even towards the double block. In the meantime, Josh Jobe closes the sting to make the deal with and Ernest Jones already had a great pursuit angle.
Jarran Reed is double-teamed however absorbs the block properly, hindering the run to the second degree. As well as, he controls the OL by defending two gaps and makes the deal with, along with Devon Witherspoon who had a superb recreation combating the working recreation on this recreation.
A wonderful play by Leo Williams. He shortly beats the LT, leaving him on the bottom and will get to the RB within the backfield. Byron Murphy is moved firstly of the snap, however recovers and along with Coby Bryant helps Williams with the deal with.
Move Rush
The variety of sacks alone can idiot probably the most inattentive fan. What a crew must do is continually stress the QB. The Seahawks did this with Matt Stafford, making the Rams sign caller uncomfortable within the pocket. Nevertheless, as some extent of consideration, it’s essential to convert these pressures into sacks, which may be the distinction between a win and a loss (not that that was the case right here).
Dealing with stress, the QB accomplished solely 3 passes in 15 makes an attempt, gaining 51 yards and being intercepted as soon as. This completion fee (20%) was the second worst in a recreation for a QB with no less than 10 makes an attempt this season.
The Seahawks ship six gamers after the QB. Along with the DLs, Devon Witherspoon and Tyrel Dodson are despatched on the blitz. Spoon disguises himself till the final second and regardless of being blocked by the RB, the DB takes Stafford out of place. Ernest Jones is studying his eyes and drops protection, however misses the interception. One factor to notice is that this might have been transformed right into a sack if Dodson and Dre Jones hadn’t attacked the identical hole.
Simulated stress that creates a lane for a free rusher. Close to the snap, the LBs go to the road and assault the guard and deal with, who defend the innermost hole, leaving Jones with a transparent path to the QB. Jarran Reed and Boye Mafe drop to the mark, however the go goes for a checkdown on the opposite facet and finally ends up being incomplete with the stress from Jones.
An unconventional formation. Jones and Mafe, who usually line up as EDGEs, keep on the within of the road, with Reed and Williams, DTs, lining up as EDGEs. At all times inventive makes an attempt by Mike Macdonald to create stress. Mafe beats the guard with a swing transfer and forces the unfinished go.
As soon as once more the bundle with Mafe on the within of the road. This confuses the Rams’ good OL, who lets him go freely and forces one other incomplete go. Word that there’s a blitz by the LB and Murphy II would most likely execute a stunt within the hole left by Mafe. Good design.
The Unhealthy
Riq Woolen within the worst recreation of his profession
Final week I criticized Dre’Mont Jones’ efficiency and it might be unfair to not criticize Woolen in the identical manner. This was his worst recreation in his profession, no less than since that recreation towards the 49ers within the playoffs the place he was overwhelmed a number of occasions on in-routes.
The CB has had a stable season, however he’s coming off two video games with poor numbers. 4 TDs conceded, 3 missed tackles, 23 penalties and 1 INT. The interception was improbable, however in the remaining, Woolen mainly missed every part, particularly within the last stretch of the sport, culminating within the last TD.
Nothing too alarming right here, only a step again on the in-route.
One thing that fearful me on this recreation was the issues he had on vertical routes. Being overwhelmed on an in-route or double-move was even acceptable, however beating Woolen deep was a herculean process. For some purpose he was caught out of place and, in my view, dedicated a foul on Puka Nacua, which was not known as. It ended up making up for the poor refereeing that occurred later within the recreation.
This was the Rams’ first TD. Demarcus Robinson makes use of an inside jab step, Woolen is fooled and has no likelihood of getting there, conceding the TD.
Whenever you see a CB who’s so tall and quick, inevitably this man was a receiver and have become a DB resulting from issues with ball expertise. That was the case with Woolen, nonetheless he reveals no intuition and misses this interception that would have given us the victory.
One other gross error and this one actually value the sport. The Seahawks are in Cowl 0, that’s, solely man-marking with no security again. For no obvious purpose, Woolen appears to be like to the backfield and is one step away from reaching Demarcus Robinson.
Sloppy Staff
There are numerous execution errors and the NFL doesn’t forgive this. The crew had suffered a fumble on the snap that Geno virtually didn’t get well. On the following play, a HB Draw was known as to attempt to make the punt extra viable. Charbonnet went the fallacious manner and Geno needed to improvise a run. An enormous communication failure. It’s price mentioning that on the following snap the crew dedicated a delay of recreation on the punt, making issues worse for the crew of specialists.
Geno Smith has suffered from dangerous Connor Williams snaps, however on this play the ball was in his palms and the QB let it slip away.
This was Geno’s worst go of the sport, even worse than the interceptions. Jake Bobo’s route might have been sharper, however Geno took too lengthy to make the go and threw it too far behind the receiver. This was all of the DB wished and he virtually obtained intercepted as soon as once more.
JSN had made a superb acquire on a display screen and right here he would have transformed a primary down. He obtained again on the route to assist Geno, however merely couldn’t catch the ball and it turned the QB’s first interception.
Many individuals will say that the issue was not Geno, however fairly the frenzy that touched his arm through the go. Sure, that’s the place the issue lies, lack of pocket consciousness and right here, on a primary down, he ought to have accepted the sack or thrown the ball away. Horrible choice making.
An RPO to the TE who’s held by the DT, nevertheless it appeared that Geno didn’t look the place he was passing the ball, with the stress coming. Once more, it was a vital second and he might and may have been extra cautious.
The Worst Offensive Line in Seahawks historical past?
I used to be fortunate sufficient to observe the 2005 Seahawks offensive line, top-of-the-line I’ve ever seen within the league. In reality, my largest idol is Walter Jones. Since then, we’ve had numerous dangerous and horrible offensive strains, and at last the 2024 offensive line, which is unquestionably the worst of all. Some folks examine it to the 2017 offensive line, however Duane Brown actually takes this OL to the following degree, and Germain Ifedi continues to be higher than Stone Forsythe and Mike Jerrell (I’m prepared for the criticism).
Geno was sacked seven occasions within the recreation. Everybody on the OL performed terribly. I at all times say that good coordinators do the very best for the gamers they’ve obtainable. For instance, in case you have an OL that may’t block, that you must depend on fast passes, screens, and many others. If the OL can’t create house in the midst of the road within the working recreation, why not use extra lateral runs? Grubb has a number of potential, however he wants to assist himself.
We begin with the very best participant on the road, Charles Cross. He has proven enchancment within the working recreation this season, however take a look at this snap. He’s simply thrown to the bottom by Jared Verse and prevents Ken Walker from advancing.
Right here, in go safety, he does a horrible job. The Seahawks name a play motion (which in itself tends to assist the go professional) however Cross loses it in a short time. Charbonnet fails to dam and Geno is sacked. The element is that Dareke Younger was free as a result of mistake made by the Rams secondary.
Connor Williams must be the second greatest participant on this OL. He gave me hope that we might lastly finish the five-year streak of adjusting facilities 12 months after 12 months, however that’s not prone to occur. Along with dangerous snaps in consecutive weeks, he has been giving in to stress and has not been an element within the working recreation. Within the play above, he takes the snap and misses the contact, being shortly overwhelmed by Braden Fiske, who finally ends up producing the sack.
We come to Anthony Bradford. Disliked by 10 out of 10 Seahawks followers. One of many elements that allowed him to remain on the sector was his work within the working recreation. Nevertheless, in the previous couple of video games, not even this aspect of his recreation has been seen.
A nasty snap by Connor Williams, however that doesn’t influence the play. Bradford is overwhelmed in step one and offers up one other sack. He has 5 this 12 months (no less than these credited to him by PFF), which makes him the worst on this class amongst inside linemen. He’s additionally the second who has given up probably the most pressures with 24 (behind solely Kenyon Inexperienced with 27) and the chief in penalties with 9. Keep in mind that in a number of video games he alternated with Christian Haynes, so he has fewer snaps than some starters.
A communication failure between Bradford and Mike Jerrell, along with a delay in figuring out the stunt. The results of this? One other sack.
The OL has two gaps to guard: the within and the skin. Clearly, he can’t block each on the identical time. Subsequently, it depends upon the OL safety name for him to resolve which one to dam. The element right here is that Bradford managed to be overwhelmed by each on the identical time. In different phrases, whatever the name, he made a number of errors (as at all times).
You’ll be able to query, as I did, the decision. Why not a play-action on any of the Seahawks’ final offensive downs? However right here, the play was utterly poorly executed, no matter whether or not the planning was good or dangerous. The Seahawks known as a formation with 1 FB, 2 TEs and a sixth OL. On this play, the crew managed to overlook ALL the blocks (apart from Laken Tomlinson), which is absurd and falls on Grubb and Scott Huff.
As soon as once more, there have been a number of execution errors. AJ Barner went too low within the block and misplaced shortly. However the largest absurdity right here is that Grubb put Tyler Lockett and JSN to assist block JARED VERSE, who obliterated the OL the complete recreation. The place was Jake Bobo? JSN has been making elementary errors on blocks (not his first project) week after week. Once more, good coordinators put their gamers in good conditions, and the other is true yearly.
Discover the distinction within the Rams’ execution. Appropriate blocks, together with from the WRs.
Last Ideas
The way in which the sport went down definitely leaves followers annoyed. Nevertheless, I attempt to maintain on to the truth that the crew has improved on protection. I don’t know if this efficiency was only a fluke, or if we’ll actually see a extra stable protection any more. The Rams have an especially well-planned and executed offense, and we solely obtained to the tip of the sport with possibilities due to the protection.
Geno’s turnovers—he now leads the league in interceptions—mixed with the horrible offensive line now we have (and can proceed to be this fashion till the tip of the season, on condition that John Schneider didn’t transfer on the commerce deadline) value us the sport. The outcome left us in a nasty state of affairs inside the division and inside the convention. Mathematically, there may be nonetheless an opportunity of reaching the playoffs, particularly as a result of the NFC West is atypical however for that the Seahawks must win all 4 video games now we have left inside the division to begin enthusiastic about playoffs. Nevertheless, with these recurring execution errors, it is going to be an virtually unimaginable mission.
