ringless":36ztpdu6 said:
Has Bevell made a mistake? Sure he has. We all have, including myself back in 94. Bevell has also been part of a team that has gone to back to back Super Bowls.
The Seahawks play a ball control style of football, and Bevell's style goes hand in hand with the Defense. I can't tell you how many games I've watched where it's a close game the first two or three quarters before the Dam breaks open for your Seahawks resulting in a 4th quarter of complete domination.
The Defense is stifling. The offense does a ton of damage in it's wear and tear style. Battering teams with Lynch, Wilsons ability to scramble. It allows your team to control the clock and the temp of the game and it compliments the style of defense well.
Lets look at some stats and then go into detail.
In 2014 Seattle had the 9th most yards on offense, and the 10th most PPG. To go with the #1 Defense.
In 2013 Seattle again had a top 10 scoring offense coming in at #9. To go along with the #1 Defense.
Lets look at a couple of other factors. A lot of the complaints are the uncomplicated route trees and that it's a high school offense. Why is that, and in comparison to whom?
Its no secret that Seattle's offensive line is offensive. There is not a lot invested at the position to say the least. I also believe thats compounded by Wilson who leaves the pocket. It's much easier to form a pocket around someone who drops back into one and can see over the line as opposed to one who leaves the pocket. Its not like the OL have eyes behind their heads. Its really a two part problem. Low investments and an unconventional QB style.
The poor offensive line, and Wilsons play style don't allow complicated route trees to develop. Look no further than the Cardinals offense. Bruce Arians route trees are extremely complicated. They are slow developing plays that rely on a lot of factors which is why some of the QB's have gotten killed at the same time. It's a vertical aggressive offense. One that Seattle can not implement because of lack of OL depth, and if you can be honest with yourselves the WR corp isn't the scariest in the league by any means. (I know you are thinking Lockett for the vertical threat but that is yet to be seen in real games)
Bevell's style allows you to control the game and the ball. Long sustained drives, with punishing results to the opposition. Sure it appears frustrating for 2-3 quarters. But 95% of the time when that 4th quarter rolls around the other team is gassed on defense, and having to go one dimensional on offense.
There will always be frustrating play calls. But you guys act as if he is the worst thing ever. You wont find a fanbase that doesnt share your frustrations even with their great coordinators from time to time. But you can't argue with the results.
But thats just the thought from a basement teams fan
Sometimes offensive coordinators can be hard to judge, especially as a fan on the outside looking in. Often times they are seen as the scapegoats when things aren't going right on the offensive side of the ball. Rationality and objective observation can go out the window in this circumstance. That being said, I do not think this is the case with Darrelle Bevell. While it is true that he is an easy target, many of the gripes we as fans have solid grounding.
I, myself have two criteria that I judge offensive coordinators on. The first, and most important is dynamic decision-making. Can the coordinator adjust to what the defense is trying to throw at him? The second side to dynamic decision-making is situational awareness. It's 4th and one, game on the line, what formations do you go with, what personnel do you decide to trot out onto the field, and last but not least, the physical playcall itself. This is perhaps Bevell's biggest fault. I liken him to a chess player. He spends the entirety of the first half trying to set up the opposing team for big plays. Mid game he strikes, but if his strategy fails, it's back to trying to set up another game breaking play. This results in an offense that stymies, and stutters its way through a game, but occasionally has big burst of plays. His situational awareness is not much better. He prefers trickery, over matchups. That is good on occasion, however Bevell rarely goes with the conventional call. This leads to big matchup problems that are unfavorable for the offense. In this criteria I have set, he fails, and fails big time.
The second set of criteria I have when judging OC's is: how well does the coordinator utilize talent? This in my opinion is Bevell's biggest shortcoming as an offensive coordinator. I see a common thread with offensive players that leave the Seahawks, or are coming from another team, and it is a disturbing one. The skill position players that come here are unusually unproductive, and it isn't just because of Seattle's lack of attempts in the passing game, the same goes for players leaving the offense, they are more productive. I look at Tate for example, Detroit uses pick plays, and quick slants to get Tate into space, he uses his YAC abilities and consistently gets 10-20 yards. It's an easy completion for the QB, and essentially free yards for the offense. In Seattle he was used as a decoy or downfield threat, while largely not utilizing the best parts of his game. Harvin is another example of a wide receiver that was more productive after leaving. The Bills, and Jets moved him around, and used him as a slasher type of player. He would line up in the backfield, get a quick slant pick play, and be used in trips formations that were designed to get him into space, and get him blockers. I saw very little of this going on in Seattle. Lastly, we have Miller. In Oakland Miller was widely regarded as one of the best pass catching TE's in the league. He was a savvy safety blanket for his QBs. Here in Seattle he was used as a glorified right tackle his whole tenure. He was grossly misused as a Seahawk.
I could keep ranting on, but I will end my post right now before I have a stroke that is brought on by rage.
