I could simply say Harvin and be done with it. That would be too simple, and no fun.

First, what do we know about Pete? He hates turnovers. The turnover margin is often the first thing he mentions, win or lose. He hates turnovers like like I hate leftovers. Particularly in the red zone.

Second, when it comes to making offensive changes, Pete has to be forced to change. He has to see it work. Go back to the Chicago game, it took having our backs against the wall, facing a loss with little clock left, to put the offense truly in Russell's hands. Then overtime came, and with no clock to beat, Pete left the game in Russell's hands. And yet, there had been games earlier in the year, Detroit, Miami, and New England, where putting the game in Russell's hands had shown them what they needed to do. It just took a while to sink in. To me, the acquisition of Harvin is proof the lesson was learned.

Lets go back to the reasons Pete loves the power run. Clock. Turnovers. Tired 4th quarter defenses. But primarily turnovers.
How many red zone turnovers did Russell have last year? When it matters, in the Red zone, Russell is money.
How many failures did the power run game have in the playoffs in the red zone and in field goal range? When it mattered, it was the insistence that no matter what the defense did we were going to run that led to turnovers, and contributed to an early trip home.

The answer to the thread title is no. We are not going to be a pass first offense either, though. We are going to be a multiple offense. I still expect some growing pains as Pete cedes some control of the offense to the intuition and decision making of Russell, and power running is still a staple of the Hawks, but being multiple is going to be our identity moving forward. Harvin does so much with quick passes that expecting Russell to complete near 70 percent of his passes is not unreasonable. That negates some of the clock worries of passing more.

All that said, I expect our run game to be far more efficient moving forward. The threat of Harvin should create more space for running, and the development of Turbin should continue. A fresh Lynch for the playoffs would be welcome difference from last year.

The best part? Our offense can be whatever we need it to be. And when you think back to the mood around here before and as the season began last year, it feels like we are way ahead of schedule.

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My take is that the Seahawks are becoming the first offense in the league that is neither a "run-first offense" nor a "pass-first offense" in the strict sense of either phrase. The best term I've heard so far for what we ARE becoming is yours, the "multiple offense".

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I think this is exactly the right point to make. We don't even need to apply a label to this offense anymore. Power run game? Check. Dynamic passing game? Check. Take advantage of TE mismatch? Check. Throw to the FB out of the backfield if defenses don't cover it? Check. Throw the ball downfield opportunistically? Check. Screens? Check. Get the ball to speedy guys w/ YAC ability? Check. Read option? Check. QB who can run for positive yards and avoid getting killed? Check.

Pick your poison, defense. This is one dynamic and versatile offense.

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@SeahawkGreg

YEAH, WE HAVE A DUDE NAMED CHRISTINE...DEAL WITH IT!

You answered your own question right here.

What Harvin gives RW is an unlimited arsenal of options at every snap. We no longer have to rely on Lynch for half of our offense. Wilson can step to the line and do just about anything he wants to.

- Run Lynch
- Play action
- zone read run
- zone read pass
- bubble screens

On and on. With Harvin the other team's defense is going to be crapping their pants with trying to stop Lynch, RW's arm, RW's legs, the zone read and now all the things we can do with Harvin? We averaged 33 pts a game the 2nd half of the season. With Harvin we should be able to average 40.

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If there is no Seahawk football in heaven, then we will never die.

It's easy to forget in all the hubbub that Harvin is a WR/RB and we're going to see him used out of the backfield to spell Lynch and to take advantage of specific matchups. So, in that case, this move fits in perfectly with the plan of controlling the ball on offense and maintaining the 'power' run game.

So, yeah, definitely "We are multiple."

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My single greatest contribution to the board: "42-13" (formerly 24-14)

I prefer a 'multiple threat' offense to one that only does one thing at an elite level and is rather mediocre at the rest.

Pete seems to have built a team that can slog it out, or win a shootout. We can build a lead and pound the rock, or come back from rather deep score deficits.

Yeah, I like it.

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Talent can get you to the playoffs.
It takes character to win when you get there.

I prefer multiples too but my wife just doesn't like it............

with that said - agree 100%

The run will be used to setup the read option, the read option will be to setup the passing play and the passing play will be used to setup the run

Yes we are run first until you prove you can stop the team. I think you bring up an interesting point, however. Is there such a thing as a "Read option" first team? We would fit

There are some multiples she would love if only you were capable.

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I see what you did there and must say..........well done

I hope Papa Pete hits the gas with our offense more this year. This is the NFL, and if you're capable of beating someone by 55 points, you should do it. To hell with the feelings of the other team. I've got fantasy points to accrue, I don't want to see Wilson getting benched at halftime again because we're spanking our opponent so badly.

I can't even imagine being a Defensive coordinator trying to stop this Hawks Offense with Harvin on the field. Just Harvin's presence should create more space for Beastmode and the other weapons. With the type of leadership Wilson showed and his ability to manage sustained drives I'm really looking forward to this offense making opposing defenses look confused!

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Beast Mode 05 Sep 12 - "And then with our defense playing the way that they've been playing, we don't even need an offense."

But can she pick up a zone blitz?

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@SeahawkGreg

YEAH, WE HAVE A DUDE NAMED CHRISTINE...DEAL WITH IT!

I personally think the read option in its current version will be very short lived cause teams are already working on ways to defensive it.

Gimmick stuff like that frequently have cycles and then fade away.

Teams with the personal to run it will find lots of defensive minds working on it as we speak.

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Still missing you everyday pal.

It depends...you can't just scheme to stop it, the more important piece is you need the kind of players on defense that can make it happen. It's not an easy fix. Teams had plenty of time last season to prepare for it and learn it and it was still killing defenses.

I agree that it probably has a shelf life, but the way we use it is wise -- it's an option, not the heart of the offense.

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@SeahawkGreg

YEAH, WE HAVE A DUDE NAMED CHRISTINE...DEAL WITH IT!

Which is why I don't think it will ever be "the" offensive scheme we run. We'll still use it, though IMHO. It can be effective in spot duty, like many other gimmicks that took the colleges by storm but flopped in the NFL. As part of the whole package, I think it will be useful. But yeah, it won't be a 30 times a game thing.

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Talent can get you to the playoffs.
It takes character to win when you get there.

Teams can work all they want on defensing it, but the only way to TRULY defense it is to hit the QB in the mouth on every play regardless of whether he has the ball or not. That's how college teams defense it. That's a problem for two reasons:

1. RW is too smart
2. The NFL doesn't like their QB's getting hit, especially franchise ones. If Wilson gets crushed without the ball, that's a 15 yard penalty and a fine.

btw, the read option is just a wrinkle. It's not going to be 80% of our offense like some college team. It's maybe a 10 plays a game type wrinkle that gives defenses fits and creates preparation problems. So I disagree with you, for certain QB's like RG3, Newton, RW and Kaepernick........it's not going anywhere.

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If there is no Seahawk football in heaven, then we will never die.

Teams are also working on ways to stop the run and EVEN the pass............

The read option does thing to a defense that opens up the rest of the game. I don't think it will EVER go away. You cannot attack like Green Bay did against SF against a read-option team. You simply cannot do it. You can therefore buy time for your other plays simply by having the read-option in there. You don't need to play it much but by having it in there and running handoffs from that formation you always have the option and the defense has to play it accordingly.......

I heard this a lot last year and two things about that

1) 15 yard penalty is a big penalty
2) The fine coming in the mail is paid by the player who is told to hit the guy in the mouth not by the team
3) Just like hockey if I am a defensive guy and I see the opponent crush my qb when he clearly went to the side without the ball I am going to say screw this I don't care if your name is Tom Brady and you stand in the pocket I will run you over. Just like baseball if I am the pitcher and the opposing pitcher throws at my guy I throw at yours / at the pitcher if he is up to bat. Players work these things out.........

Intentionally taking out the qb when you realize he doesn't have the ball any longer will not work as a solution

Taking out the qb when he runs to block downfield..........different matter

This is exactly what I see happening. Seattle will literally be able to game plan for just about any defense with the way this offense is lining up. Between read option, power run game, short quick passing game, deep seams, and outside go routes, we have a player that excels in each of these areas. On top of that, you have a defense that is difficult to score on.

It is funny, because I remember those talks as well. I remember coming back to what Pete Carroll had said about his 4 year plan. It seems to me PC/JS are right on the schedule they laid out for themselves.

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