3-7 yards to go on 3rd/4th down SEA is 0-38 in handing off

[NJSeahawk]

From field gulls article
http://www.fieldgulls.com/seahawks-...ahawks-playcalling-darrell-bevell-predictable

Yeah, that's not a misprint. In 38 situations (with 3-7 yards to go on 3rd/4th down), Seattle has handed off the ball zero times. Oh-for-thirty-eight. Despite the fact that the running success rate (based on other runs) is equal to the actual passing success rate at 3 yards, and significantly greater at 4, 5 and 6 yards.

Have at article...Interesting, and kinda depressing at how Bevell has become at calling plays.

 

[kearly]

I remember a few years ago when Mike Holmgren would call a 3rd and long run almost every game, and fans crucified him for it.

Anyway, Seattle has kind of shied away from running on 3rd downs in general the last couple seasons, which I think has a lot to do with the coaches confidence in Wilson.

 

[NJSeahawk]

I remember those years..right before he left. That whole makeshift o-line, and Julius Jones running right into them...

But we got the Beast now!

 

[ImTheScientist]

I need to see what other teams do before I can form an opinion.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

I replied in that post. Everyone in the league knows that 3rd-and-not-short will usually be a passing down. Bevell is perhaps too literal with this expectation, but he's not crazy, either.

Also, you can't just say "Well, we can gain yards on 1st and 2nd down, so 3rd down shouldn't be any different". Defenses don't play all the same downs the same way. They usually roll up more on 3rd down because the expectation is a shorter play.

 

[DavidSeven]

I can only imagine how much this place would explode if Bevell called a hand-off on a crucial 3rd-and-7. This information is useless without context.

Here's a nice factoid I pulled from the comments:

San Francisco's 3rd and 3 to 7 stats outside of garbage time: Of 44 attempts on 3rd and 3 to 7: exactly THREE were designed runs, one of which succeeded.

 

[HawkFan72]

I remember a few years ago when Mike Holmgren would call a 3rd and long run almost every game, and fans crucified him for it.

Anyway, Seattle has kind of shied away from running on 3rd downs in general the last couple seasons, which I think has a lot to do with the coaches confidence in Wilson.

yup. It used to be that Seattle ONLY ran in those situations. The fans hated it.

Now they only pass. And I think the chances are better usually when you pass, especially when it is 3rd and 5+.

 

[Laloosh]

I'd be interested to know how many of those 38 downs played, were play-action.

 

[IBleedBlueAndGreen]

I remember a few years ago when Mike Holmgren would call a 3rd and long run almost every game, and fans crucified him for it.

Anyway, Seattle has kind of shied away from running on 3rd downs in general the last couple seasons, which I think has a lot to do with the coaches confidence in Wilson.

Holmgren would continually run draw plays on 3rd and 9-15. This is 3rd and 3-7 we're talking about. Big difference.

 

[dbsn2420]

I'd love to see more passing on 1st and running on 2nd and 3rd downs, but I can't stand when it's 3rd and 3 and we run for -1!

 

[NJSeahawk]

Not play-action info, but some other references

 

[bestfightstory]

Don't forget a called passing play in those situations leaves open the possibility for a RW scramble/run. Let's not leave that out of the decision-making equation. Does the article get into our rate of success? Maybe I should go read it. See ya later.

 

[bestfightstory]

BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

My favorite Part Of This Stupid Article:

"Bevell is too predictable

A week ago against the Cardinals, Seattle faced 2nd and 1 at the Cardinals' 43-yard-line. Bevell called three consecutive running plays and Seattle turned it over on downs."


So now when Bevell sticks to running plays in short yardage situations he is 'too predictable"?

Interesting. This whole thing would be so much easier for you guys if the Bevell haters could all get on the same page with your criticisms. Bevell is unimaginative in this case and too exotic in this other case yet the cases are pretty much interchangeable. Very interesting.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Anybody else miss the times we would go deep along the hash marks on 3rd down in Pete's first year with Hasselbeck throwing it, and Bates calling it?

We had some stunning success with that.

 

[bestfightstory]

I liked Bates. People wanted him gone, too/

 

[RolandDeschain]

I liked Bates. People wanted him gone, too/

Who? (I don't remember either way.)

I know I didn't, though. I remember lamenting to myself that I think he could have done great things with better personnel, however.

 

[chris98251]

Well I would say that sprint draws work well for a bursty back like Michael, not so much a power back like Lynch, Leon Washington would get a few chances when he was here in sprint draws. Personel has a lot to do with it. If Percy Harvin lines up in the backfield on 3rd and longs I could see us doing sprint draws a lot more as well as read options and spread formations.

 

[DavidSeven]

Bates wasn't a ideological fit with Carroll. Some speculation that he drove Gibbs to retirement because they butted heads. We were 31st in rushing in Bates lone year and 28th in offense. (Admittedly, we didn't have very good players that year either.)

 

[plyka]

From field gulls article
http://www.fieldgulls.com/seahawks-...ahawks-playcalling-darrell-bevell-predictable

Yeah, that's not a misprint. In 38 situations (with 3-7 yards to go on 3rd/4th down), Seattle has handed off the ball zero times. Oh-for-thirty-eight. Despite the fact that the running success rate (based on other runs) is equal to the actual passing success rate at 3 yards, and significantly greater at 4, 5 and 6 yards.

Have at article...Interesting, and kinda depressing at how Bevell has become at calling plays.

WOW...that's all I have to say. Rarely if ever am I absolutely BLASTED with a great article I was not expecting. He had a perfectly reasonable argument, backed it up with facts and statistics, along with a great writing style. It is literally the best sports related article I have ever read. It amazes me that there are idiots on KJR and other radio station who do not have 1 ounce of this man's reporting ability. How in the world is this guy writing for Field Gulls while we have nincompoops on the airwaves for our Seattle Seahawks flagship station? If I was Danny, I would quickly start reading this man and get some real ideas on how reporting works.

 

[plyka]

I can only imagine how much this place would explode if Bevell called a hand-off on a crucial 3rd-and-7. This information is useless without context.

Here's a nice factoid I pulled from the comments:

San Francisco's 3rd and 3 to 7 stats outside of garbage time: Of 44 attempts on 3rd and 3 to 7: exactly THREE were designed runs, one of which succeeded.

You're focusing too much on just 1 factoid from his article, granted it was the one outlined by the OP. The point of the article is that Bevell does not have the mental faculties / courage to be a successful playcaller. It's not that we want him to run on 3rd and 7, but when you eliminate surprise from your playcalling, the defense has the ability to focus on the limited scope of plays you will run. If the defense KNOWS that you are going to run, they can stack the box. It's like they know what you will do before you do it, it gives them a massive advantage.

The biggest weapon an offense has is that THEY KNOW what they will do. They know the count (advantage), they know the direction (advantage) they know the style --this allows them to "gang up" on the defense. For instance, a run to the right, they may leave the outside LB and end to their left untouched, take their blockers and pull them to the right. The defense must pay attention to the left side because of the chance that the play will come that way, putting them at a distinct disadvantage to the right as they are outmatched.

When the defense knows what you're going to do before you do it, it eliminates your massive advantage.

Then to make matters worse, when the offensive coordinator does not make any adjustments to an obviously losing strategy, it creates an incompetent offense, as we saw on Monday night.