Why don't we adjust for blitzes?

I've had problems with the way we handle blitzes for years, and it is just starting to get to the point where all I can do is laugh. If you watch a college game, and even some high school games, let alone every other NFL team, they do things differently than we do. During the cadence, if a defensive player comes flying up to the line of scrimmage unmasking an obvious blitz, the offense pauses what they're doing. They possibly audible, slide protection, move a back, something. They at least acknowledge it. We just continue like nothing is happening, and allow the defense to proceed with their planned blitz. Even if we have a run going at that same hole, we won't check out. They can have three rushers on a side where we only have two blockers, and we have three blockers to their two rushers on the other side, and we do nothing. I don't get it.

Does Bevell not care? Does Russell not care? Does Pete not care? Have we not prepared for blitzes?

Are we unsure if it is a blitz or fake blitz so we've just decided we're going to treat them all like fake blitzes and deal with the reprocussions later?

I would pay real, cold, hard, American currency to know the answer to this question. It goes back a while to, @ StL in 2013, if I remember correctly, was when I noticed it being an issue.

Sometimes it feels as if Bevell was traumatized by a blitz as a child and hasn't gotten over it. Consequently he curls up in a ball at the very mention. There's a towel boy who is responsible for how the offense handles the blitz.

Wasnt there a stat last year that against the blitz Russell had like some kinda terrific QB rating?

I remember playing the Saints and Ryan kept blitzing us and Russell just made them look stupid.

We have handled the blitz just fine in the past. I think maybe our oline this year is just so poor that picking up a 4 man rush, let alone a blitz is a pipe dream.

I know Bevell's been unanimously voted the worst person to ever wear Seahawks blue in the history of everything ever, but I have a very hard time believing that stuff like this is all or even mostly his fault.

Tech Worlds":2xwoi3pb said:

I remember playing the Saints and Ryan kept blitzing us and Russell just made them look stupid.

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This is like the one game that sticks out as the one where we were able to consistently beat the blitz.

Tech Worlds":jwhiyq8d said:

Wasnt there a stat last year that against the blitz Russell had like some kinda terrific QB rating?

I remember playing the Saints and Ryan kept blitzing us and Russell just made them look stupid.

We have handled the blitz just fine in the past. I think maybe our oline this year is just so poor that picking up a 4 man rush, let alone a blitz is a pipe dream.

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I think in 2013 and 2014 Wilson was very good against the blitz. This year, he's terrible against it. Honestly, I think it has something to do with Wilson making the line calls and handling the protection, something he's never done before.

There was a couple blitzes in the Panthers game where they blitzed and all the WRs just ran the same route. No one went hot, and no one broke off their route or anything. Wilson was buried by the time anyone even looked around. I don't get it either, because I don't know how we're supposed to handle that. Is Wilson supposed to audible ? Are the WRs supposed to recognize the blitz and go hot ? Do we even have a designated hot WR ?

Or, this could just be part of Pete's unending attempts at super sportsmanship. You know, kinda like us not scoring very much to not hurt the other team's feelings. We let them blitz to show we care, and to foster positive feelings of accomplishment in the opponent's defense.

It's the "poor getting poorer" effect. A team with issues at pass pro, QB, and/or WR will get blitzed aggressively, magnifying the issues. Seattle has issues at all three. If not for Wilson's legs, we're an 8-8 team all these years and Wilson is a pulp by now.

MontanaHawk05":3gwchxa3 said:

It's the "poor getting poorer" effect. A team with issues at pass pro, QB, and/or WR will get blitzed aggressively, magnifying the issues. Seattle has issues at all three. If not for Wilson's legs, we're an 8-8 team all these years and Wilson is a pulp by now.

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Agree, and in three to four years those legs will be a half step slower. Pete and John have invested in weapons for Russ (Harvin, Graham), but they have to do a better job drafting the guys up front that protect him.

A generous interpretation is that this is a trial by fire arranged by Bevell to get RW to learn!

:stirthepot:

mrt144":2hynfkqo said:

A generous interpretation is that this is a trial by fire arranged by Bevell to get RW to learn!

:stirthepot:

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I'm tired or that was funny. Not sure which but I laughed. :th2thumbs:

I rarely get down on Russ but I definitely get irritated about this and it's because if I can see it, he should definitely see it. I prefer to blame the WRs though, they were mostly undrafted so I just assume they're stupid and run the wrong route. :stirthepot:

Russ has never, even when he's put up good numbers, even somewhat consistently attacked blitzes. When you blitz a veteran quarterback, they see where it is coming from, know where the opening will be, and attack it. You flat out can't blitz the really good ones. My guess is that Russell's high passer rating and good numbers in the past come from him doing his Tarkenton thing which leads to big plays. I guess that is one way to do it. Maybe part of it is to let teams think we don't care about their blitzing so they'll keep doing it. Who knows?

I'm kind of with Zeb on this in that I can't for the life of me believe that Bevell isn't teaching best practices. He's a NFL offensive coordinator. There's no way he got an kept his job if he doesn't understand basic principles. I think this either has to be on Pete or Russell. There is no way that Bevell says "just roll with it. If we guess wrong and they get a free blitzer, we'll just deal with it." No way.

I also can't for the life of me believe this is on Russ. It can't be, right? There's no way he enjoys getting sacked by free blitzers and doesn't think about sliding his protection. Right?

When I see stuff like this, I think of Holmgren. This would have happened one time before it was addressed and fixed soon after.

Our O Line might be so bad in pass pro that trying to make adjustments is beyond them at this point.

I'd guess that part of it is that Russ thinks he can beat a free rusher most of the time, so he'd rather keep his options downfield for the scramble drill while also giving himself some green to run in. That's what makes the most sense. And you know what? He does often make that first guy miss (though that doesn't always result in a positive play). Maybe it even helps him to know exactly where it's coming from -- so he leaves it open.

When defenses bring the house on a cover-0 blitz, I feel we use more conventional wisdom because Russ's playmaking isn't as big a factor. We're pretty good about getting in max protect and making teams pay in those situations. Almost always a huge play for us.

That said, it's a boom-or-bust thing and hardly conducive to the type of rhythm offense we'd see with Holmgren. Not sure this is really what's happening, but putting that explanation out there.

I also think he just misses it sometimes and that he can help the protection more even when he doesn't. Pete's said as much this year and last.

Zebulon Dak":3f88l6f3 said:

I know Bevell's been unanimously voted the worst person to ever wear Seahawks blue in the history of everything ever, but I have a very hard time believing that stuff like this is all or even mostly his fault.

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I hate the way Bevell does things but we have been to the last 2 Super Bowls. I really do want him fired but I have a hard time figuring out why when we have reached that level the last 2 years.

Zebulon Dak":2wvjn0my said:

Tech Worlds":2wvjn0my said:

I remember playing the Saints and Ryan kept blitzing us and Russell just made them look stupid.

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This is like the one game that sticks out as the one where we were able to consistently beat the blitz.

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Or the Arizona game where we put up 600+ yards.

We're generally pretty good against the blitz because there's always uncovered receivers and Wilson is good at finding them.

Where we struggle is where our O-Line makes a 4 man rush LOOK like a blitz because they fail to stop them. Then there are 7 players covering at most 5 receivers and Wilson has a much harder time due to his (possibly gameplanned) reluctance to throw 50/50 balls

Wilson is not an elite pocket passer especially against the blitz. That's a cold hard fact if anyone disagrees with that then they need to wake up and stop being a homer.

Crizilla":pwfp6s1o said:

Wilson is not an elite pocket passer especially against the blitz. That's a cold hard fact if anyone disagrees with that then they need to wake up and stop being a homer.

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Well it's settled then.

Crizilla":13pb0zjy said:

Wilson is not an elite pocket passer especially against the blitz. That's a cold hard fact if anyone disagrees with that then they need to wake up and stop being a homer.

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LOL

Crizilla":2yaobfq7 said:

Wilson is not an elite pocket passer especially against the blitz. That's a cold hard fact if anyone disagrees with that then they need to wake up and stop being a homer.

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Apparently this conversation was going too well.