Worst play call with the game on the line

Graham is lined up in-line, of course, which meant it would be less likely for him to get open or for Wilson to see him over the middle.


There was good protection on the play. However, Wilson essentially panics, because no one is is open, and tries to scramble forward, which results in a sack. Seahawks are forced to punt, AGAIN, for the 3rd time in the 4th Quarter.

To me, this is an anticipation throw more than anything else. You can't wait for the guy to get open here. You throw to where you expect the target to be and hope he can make a play on the ball. You get this ball to Graham's outside shoulder, and he's the only one who can make a play on it -- I don't care how well covered he is. He is ostensibly open by NFL standards.

That said, Cincy's spy blew up this play by astutely jumping into Wilson's throwing lane and obscuring his view.

DavidSeven":2u0itax1 said:

To me, this is an anticipation throw more than anything else. You can't wait for the guy to get open here. You throw to where you expect the target to be and hope he can make a play on the ball. You get this ball to Graham's outside shoulder, and he's the only one who can make a play on it -- I don't care how well covered he is. He is ostensibly open by NFL standards.

That said, Cincy's spy blew up this play by astutely jumping into Wilson's throwing lane and obscuring his view.

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Exactly, this assumes Wilson is actually able to see Graham over those linemen in the middle of the field. If they had used Graham at Split End, as people have been demanding for months, then he would have been immediately open on the outside, giving Wilson a clearer angle to Graham.

Precisely. The quicker the pass the more important to throw to sideline TALL receivers. This maximizes receiver visibility to Russ.

Deploying two or three tall receivers wide doubles or triples this effect.

hawknation2015":2x0lk004 said:

DavidSeven":2x0lk004 said:

To me, this is an anticipation throw more than anything else. You can't wait for the guy to get open here. You throw to where you expect the target to be and hope he can make a play on the ball. You get this ball to Graham's outside shoulder, and he's the only one who can make a play on it -- I don't care how well covered he is. He is ostensibly open by NFL standards.

That said, Cincy's spy blew up this play by astutely jumping into Wilson's throwing lane and obscuring his view.

Click to expand...

Exactly, this assumes Wilson is actually able to see Graham over those linemen in the middle of the field. If they had used Graham at Split End, as people have been demanding for months, then he would have been immediately open on the outside, giving Wilson a clearer angle to Graham.

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Or Wilson could have rolled out to his right and hit Graham. Both work.

I'm all for more designed bootlegs/waggles.

Eh, he's just as likely to have his view obstructed in that scenario as well. In fact, I wonder if this is part of how defenses game-plan for Wilson. Have the spy track his eyes and get in front of all his passing lanes.

Dalton had no problem targeting Eifert coming out of inline pass scenarios. In fact, that crucial completion to Eifert to the Seattle 20 is exactly how this play should've worked. Eifert wasn't open at any point during that play. He threw it to where he expected Eifert to be, and Eifert made a play.

What this shows is how predictable we are on offense. The Bengal DB's were LITERALLY running our WR's routes.

Also Graham is a horrible route runner. He has zero crispness and drive into his breaks............he pretty much just wanders out into coverage, and rarely busts his ass coming back to Russell if the play is breaking down.

Why didn't he let it rip when Jimmy got to the 28? Outside shoulder open and he had a step on the defender. It was there.

CodeWarrior":1r6acslu said:

hawknation2015":1r6acslu said:

DavidSeven":1r6acslu said:

To me, this is an anticipation throw more than anything else. You can't wait for the guy to get open here. You throw to where you expect the target to be and hope he can make a play on the ball. You get this ball to Graham's outside shoulder, and he's the only one who can make a play on it -- I don't care how well covered he is. He is ostensibly open by NFL standards.

That said, Cincy's spy blew up this play by astutely jumping into Wilson's throwing lane and obscuring his view.

Click to expand...

Exactly, this assumes Wilson is actually able to see Graham over those linemen in the middle of the field. If they had used Graham at Split End, as people have been demanding for months, then he would have been immediately open on the outside, giving Wilson a clearer angle to Graham.

Click to expand...

Or Wilson could have rolled out to his right and hit Graham. Both work.

I'm all for more designed bootlegs/waggles.

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I think DavidSeven is off the mark, but I agree with you on utilizing more rollouts, bootlegs, etc. Wilson just seems to make better decisions on the move. I would also like to see more snaps from under center.

I'm tired of the route argument.

Again, watch the catch Eifert makes with 1:25 to go in regulation.

Every route is covered. Dalton gets the ball out and gives only his receiver a chance to make a play. He does. They win.

DavidSeven":3dm28hzf said:

I'm tired of the route argument.

Again, watch the catch Eifert makes with 1:25 to go in regulation.

Every route is covered. Dalton gets the ball out and gives only his receiver a chance to make a play. He does. They win.

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I've said 20 times over the past month that Russell is far too safe and tentative. For as much credit as he gets for making plays with his legs downfield, he also has to get some of the blame for not trusting his receivers to make plays when we need them to..............like your example with Dalton.

Sgt. Largent":2li953vj said:

DavidSeven":2li953vj said:

I'm tired of the route argument.

Again, watch the catch Eifert makes with 1:25 to go in regulation.

Every route is covered. Dalton gets the ball out and gives only his receiver a chance to make a play. He does. They win.

Click to expand...

I've said 20 times over the past month that Russell is far too safe and tentative. For as much credit as he gets for making plays with his legs downfield, he also has to get some of the blame for not trusting his receivers to make plays when we need them to..............like your example with Dalton.

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Wilson tried to force the ball to Graham over the middle in the 3rd Quarter; the result was an INT, probably because he could not see the double coverage.

In contrast, this is what the Wilson-Graham connection can look like when they get Graham outside quickly:

Throw up the GIF of the Eifert play, and give me one reason why Russell shouldn't be able to do the exact same thing on the play you posted above.

Sgt. Largent":2wjgp3jg said:

What this shows is how predictable we are on offense. The Bengal DB's were LITERALLY running our WR's routes.

Also Graham is a horrible route runner. He has zero crispness and drive into his breaks............he pretty much just wanders out into coverage, and rarely busts his ass coming back to Russell if the play is breaking down.

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This. That was a crap route on that play by Jimmy.

Sgt. Largent":2sver53c said:

DavidSeven":2sver53c said:

I'm tired of the route argument.

Again, watch the catch Eifert makes with 1:25 to go in regulation.

Every route is covered. Dalton gets the ball out and gives only his receiver a chance to make a play. He does. They win.

Click to expand...

I've said 20 times over the past month that Russell is far too safe and tentative. For as much credit as he gets for making plays with his legs downfield, he also has to get some of the blame for not trusting his receivers to make plays when we need them to..............like your example with Dalton.

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Agreed, but maybe that's just the type of QB he is? If so, forcing him to throw in to coverage he isn't comfortable with may not provide the returns we're hoping for, even if that's what en vogue in today's NFL. Favre was a gunslinger. Maybe Russell is on the other side of that spectrum.

hawknation2015":pieangw8 said:

In contrast, this is what the Wilson-Graham connection can look like when they get Graham outside quickly:]

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Correction, when GRAHAM gets outside quickly.

Look at the two gifs again and tell me what the difference is? Cause I see in gif #1 Graham doesn't hit his break quickly like in the 2nd one..........thus no separation, and thus no throw from Russell.

But to answer your question? Sorry, when it's overtime and the game's on the line? I'm OK with Russell forcing the ball somewhere allowing his receivers to make a play, and not just safely taking a sack hoping his defense holds.

DavidSeven":2ocpir7u said:

Throw up the GIF of the Eifert play, and give me one reason why Russell shouldn't be able to do the exact same thing on the play you posted above.

Click to expand...

That was an insane catch and throw into double coverage. But absolutely, I wish we could see more throws like this from Wilson, more patience from Wilson when the line does give him enough time, and more plays like this called by Bevell.

Sgt. Largent":3fmpcuak said:

hawknation2015":3fmpcuak said:

In contrast, this is what the Wilson-Graham connection can look like when they get Graham outside quickly:]

Click to expand...

Correction, when GRAHAM gets outside quickly.

Look at the two gifs again and tell me what the difference is? Cause I see in gif #1 Graham doesn't hit his break quickly like in the 2nd one..........thus no separation, and thus no throw from Russell.

But to answer your question? Sorry, when it's overtime and the game's on the line? I'm OK with Russell forcing the ball somewhere allowing his receivers to make a play, and not just safely taking a sack hoping his defense holds.

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Yeah, Graham does not explode off the line nearly as quickly when he lined up with his hand in the dirt. He looks physically awkward in doing so, IMO.

Just another reason to use him outside more at Split End.

DavidSeven":254zs1fu said:

Eh, he's just as likely to have his view obstructed in that scenario as well. In fact, I wonder if this is part of how defenses game-plan for Wilson. Have the spy track his eyes and get in front of all his passing lanes

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I think you’re on to something – I also believe that teams are assigning a spy to watch Wilson’s eyes and get in front of his passing lanes. If you watch some of the plays from http://www.seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=115719, you’ll notice that on more than half of the plays, there is a spy trying to do exactly what you said. I’d be interested to see if other teams have done this tactic this year. Either way, it’s extremely disconcerting that our offense hasn’t put up more than 17 points, especially when your QB is the second highest paid QB in the league. ukeface:

What bugs me about this play is that every single receiver is running a 5 yard route. I notice that a lot of these failed plays have 1 thing in common, every receiver is making their break at the same exact time.