The All-22: How to beat the Seahawks (si.com link)

http://nfl.si.com/2014/01/07/seattle-seahawks-nfl-playoffs-2014/?eref=sihp

Nice read on some x's and o's. I always like articles like this because they break down components of the game that I am still trying to learn.

"The reality is there have been enough five- and six-seeds taking home the Lombardi Trophy in the last decade to make it more than interesting for everyone involved. And with that in mind, here are five ways to take care of a Seahawks team that has been unbeatable at times — and all too vulnerable at others..."

i agree with first comment, time to bring back the read option.
I feel like they've abandoned it.

Nice article but you do know only Arizona, Carolina and San Francisco have the defense to even attempt this plan? And Carolina doesn't have Arizona's or even San Francisco's secondary? All this without factoring in Harvin? Good luck making Arizona's "template" work.

What HawkGirl said. Arizona did have the best mix of quality in the front seven and the back four to cause these problems. SF and Carolina lack the same Secondary to force Wilson to hold for so long on passing downs, even if they are better in the front seven. Fortunately, the Hawks will only need to face one of those teams :mrgreen: and they have handled both before.

It was a good article but it does manipulate stats to prove their point. The glaring example to me is Mike James, when they say that he got 158 yards agaisnt the Hawks and his next single game high was 45 yards. That sentence is totally misleading. Well they make it sound like the guy was mediocre for 15 games and tore up the Hawks D. Well James took over the starting job in Tampa either 1 or 2 weeks before the Hawks game when Doug Martin got hurt. And the game after the Hawks game, he broke his ankle and was out tor the year.
And if they are cofusing on how Lynch's numbers have dropped in the last few weeks, yet they use examples from early October on how to beat our secondary. The Niners 163 yards is a little misleading cause the 53 yarder by Frank Gore helped those numbers. Also, no way is Brees going to put up the running yards Kaepernick is.

Sure the Hawks can be beat, but not scared based on the blue printt they laid out.

One thing about the read option and play action in general. Does it seem to others that after the fake, when Wilson turns around there is a linebacker waiting for him? I first noticed this in the Giants game. Are teams using one linebacker to totally ignore Lynch no matter what and stick with Wilson? If so, we need Lynch to have success inside to get that linebacker to cheat.

If we know this stuff then we can plan for it right?

brimsalabim":31jfjrng said:

If we know this stuff then we can plan for it right?

Click to expand...

Yep. And as Pete said, they recognized the problem from the Bucs game (and Rams game the week before) and corrected it. Part of the problem with the Cards in the last game was how many chances they got to run the ball based on all the three and outs by the O

Point 5. the complex route design. The Saints ran a very similar flood play to the right side of the field, the long pass to Graham that Irvin broke up (I think it was Irvin that the Colts went after in his graphic, and Sherman's mistake was made covering for Irvin). Difference was, Maxwell stayed assignment sound on the deep route, whereas Sherman bit on the moddle route of that flood design and let Hilton get deep.

Also, and this is where Farrar is way off, the only Saints TD featured simple routes and quick passing. It was waiting for a complex route to unfold that led to the Saints turnover that Bennett ran in for a score. In the dome, his theory would hold water. In Seattle, with crowd noise giving our D-line a better get off, it would be suicidal to make that idea any more than an occasional wrinkle.

I hope everyone uses this plan, should work very good for us. Funny how these guy cherry pick this and that from all these games and think that's the plan. Problem is that no team has the personnel to do all of this. They can do some of it but not all of it.

They all think that Arizona found the magic potion but it took probably Wilson and his receivers to have one of their worst games and an awesome catch by Floyd to get it done.

When you throw percy harvin in the mix this theory is gonna turn to flames.

The Saints don't have the LBers to pull off a spy, especially when they're going to need help covering in the secondary. If Harvin plays, I honestly don't know what they do. Probably stop the run and hope to god Wilson has an off day.

I disagree with some of the other posters. SF does have the DB's to man us up, especially if they're allowed to play physical. Tate, Baldwin and Kearse seem to have problems with SF's secondary. We get a few shots on broken plays but Wilson seems to struggle vs. the Niners and I think it's about his WR's. Harvin obviously changes this. He tore them up the last time he played them, and he had a worse QB throwing to him.

I agree with a lot of what Doug is saying, especially when it comes to our interior OL. This worries me, and it's starting to look Ruskellian a bit. You need quality players on the line, and no you can't get them from a mix of 5th and 6th round guys. We need to get the best Guard available as early in the draft as it becomes feasible. Sweezy and Carpenter aren't getting it done. McQuistan really isn't any better. Unless Bowie or Bailey progresses a good bit next year, I'm really unhappy with our interior OL.

I agree with Scotte. Teams have used bunch formations and complex routes against us all year. It's rare Sherman gets beat, and Maxwell is every bit as assignment correct as Thurmond (maybe better) and has better ball skills. Brees won't get time to let complex routes unfold too far downfield.