- Joined
- Sep 16, 2022
- Messages
- 3,070
- Reaction score
- 4,398
Bill Barnwell of ESPN has an interesting tidbit on the 4th down stop by the Seahawks defense with 4:59 to go in the game. The key was that the Seahawks decided to double Kyren Williams, who turned out to be Stafford's primary target on the play. The interesting thing is that McVay claims that what screwed them up was the Seahawks' "busted coverage"--that the Seahawks had two guys on Williams but there was no way they could have meant to double him:
"Last time, McVay blamed himself. This time, after the Rams were stopped on fourth-and-4 from the 6-yard line with 4:59 to go, he had a more curious culprit. I'm not sure I've ever heard a coach blame the other team busting a coverage for stopping their fourth-down play, but that's exactly what McVay did after the game: 'They kinda lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there. I know that can't be part of their design. So it was a fortuitous bust by them'."
Barnwell isn't so sure. He thinks that Macdonald might have seen it coming and chose to double Williams.
"McVay has grown fond of throwing the ball to Williams on third and fourth downs this season on choice routes, where Williams has a lot of open space and the ability to break inside or outside depending on the leverage of the coverage. It's a natural place to go with the football when we consider how much attention teams are putting on Nacua and Davante Adams in key spots. Williams is never getting double-covered in those situations, and if the Rams create space for him with their route distribution, it's almost impossible for the defender to be right.
On this play, Williams released upfield and headed toward the end zone. The end man on the line was safety Julian Love, who looked like he was beat quickly by Williams while trying to drop into coverage, but edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence also dropped off and ran with Williams, taking away the quick throwing lane for Stafford, who had to work elsewhere. The veteran eventually forced a throw to Terrance Ferguson against tight coverage from Devon Witherspoon, with the pass falling incomplete. Fortuitous coverage bust? Or did Mike Macdonald recognize McVay's tendency of creating space for Williams in key spots and double the right guy at the right time?"
www.espn.com
"Last time, McVay blamed himself. This time, after the Rams were stopped on fourth-and-4 from the 6-yard line with 4:59 to go, he had a more curious culprit. I'm not sure I've ever heard a coach blame the other team busting a coverage for stopping their fourth-down play, but that's exactly what McVay did after the game: 'They kinda lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there. I know that can't be part of their design. So it was a fortuitous bust by them'."
Barnwell isn't so sure. He thinks that Macdonald might have seen it coming and chose to double Williams.
"McVay has grown fond of throwing the ball to Williams on third and fourth downs this season on choice routes, where Williams has a lot of open space and the ability to break inside or outside depending on the leverage of the coverage. It's a natural place to go with the football when we consider how much attention teams are putting on Nacua and Davante Adams in key spots. Williams is never getting double-covered in those situations, and if the Rams create space for him with their route distribution, it's almost impossible for the defender to be right.
On this play, Williams released upfield and headed toward the end zone. The end man on the line was safety Julian Love, who looked like he was beat quickly by Williams while trying to drop into coverage, but edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence also dropped off and ran with Williams, taking away the quick throwing lane for Stafford, who had to work elsewhere. The veteran eventually forced a throw to Terrance Ferguson against tight coverage from Devon Witherspoon, with the pass falling incomplete. Fortuitous coverage bust? Or did Mike Macdonald recognize McVay's tendency of creating space for Williams in key spots and double the right guy at the right time?"
How the Patriots, Seahawks won NFL conference title games
The Seahawks and Patriots both won one-score conference title games -- but in very different fashions. What did we learn about the Super Bowl-bound teams?
