Initial thoughts after re-watching the game (week 2)

[Laloosh]

- The game plan seemed to be centered around the run but that went to shit pretty quickly and we didn't seem to have any answers.

- Started the game with 13 personnel. Not sure if Bevell actually thought we could go big and have any success or if he was banking on 1 or 2 explosives with the 1:1 that it gave Lockett on the outside. We did get one very early in the game but it may have been the ONLY successful play that we ran with that look.

- Some 20 personnel putting Tukuafu on the field rather than Graham or Willson. Again, not sure if we were actually expecting to see success on the ground or if we were trying to dictate matchups on the outside. Varied levels of success, none of them being great.




Edit: Willson is actually on the field in this one, just lined up wide.

- If Lockett's not returning kicks and punts, our return game absolutely blows.

- Two or three batted balls in the first half for Russ.

- When Graham was targeted, we had some success (unless one of our tackles was trying to get our QB killed on that particular play).

- Sowell... Ole! This guy struggled mightily. I really hope he improves because he couldn't win outside even when he was getting away w/ false starts.

- Russ needs to remember that athletic DTs and DEs can catch him when he's not running balls out. Ended the half with a strip sack because of this. (I am aware that the ankle is an issue but we saw it in the preseason as well.)

- Michael looked good and had some success running outside and off-tackle. At one point we had Britt and Webb pulling with Gilliam blocking down and it wasn't a complete failure.

- Poor Rawls... stuff after stuff.

- Pretty successful out of empty when the down and distance didn't dictate how long routes had to develop.

- We got hosed on some OPI calls.

- Every time we're facing 3rd and 5+, teams just sit on the 5-7 yard hitch routes and high fives ensue as they trot off of the field on 4th down.

I didn't make it through the entire game but there are so many things going wrong, it's difficult to know what's worse; Bevell's overall approach, the offensive line being pushed two yards into the backfield consistently or the drive killer that is Alex Collins chopping his feet at the LOS.

I know, hindsight is 20/20 but I can honestly say that I'd never have chosen to go big against that front with this offensive line.

 

[skater18000]

- The game plan seemed to be centered around the run but that went to shit pretty quickly and we didn't seem to have any answers.

- Started the game with 13 personnel. Not sure if Bevell actually thought we could go big and have any success or if he was banking on 1 or 2 explosives with the 1:1 that it gave Lockett on the outside. We did get one very early in the game but it may have been the ONLY successful play that we ran with that look.

- Fair amount of 20 personnel putting Tukuafu on the field rather than Graham or Willson. Again, not sure if we were actually expecting to see success on the ground or if we were trying to dictate matchups on the outside. Varied levels of success, none of them being great.



- If Lockett's not returning kicks and punts, our return game absolutely blows.

- Two or three batted balls in the first half for Russ.

- When Graham was targeted, we had some success (unless one of our tackles was trying to get our QB killed on that particular play).

- Sowell... Ole! This guy struggled mightily. I really hope he improves because he couldn't win outside even when he was getting away w/ false starts.

- Russ needs to remember that athletic DTs and DEs can catch him when he's not running balls out. Ended the half with a strip sack because of this. (I am aware that the ankle is an issue but we saw it in the preseason as well.)

- Michael looked good and had some success running outside and off-tackle. At one point we had Britt and Webb pulling with Gilliam blocking down and it wasn't a complete failure.

- Poor Rawls... stuff after stuff.

- Pretty successful out of empty when the down and distance didn't dictate how long routes had to develop.

- We got hosed on some OPI calls.

- Every time we're facing 3rd and 5+, teams just sit on the 5-7 yard hitch routes and high fives ensue as they trot off of the field on 4th down.

I didn't make it through the entire game but there are so many things going wrong, it's difficult to know what's worse; Bevell's overall approach, the offensive line being pushed two yards into the backfield consistently or the drive killer that is Alex Collins chopping his feet at the LOS.

I know, hindsight is 20/20 but I can honestly say that I'd never have chosen to go big against that front with this offensive line.

You sir are correct!

 

[Krieg's list]

More gifs! You are the man, Laloosh :2thumbs:

First 13 personnel gif: 8 blockers against a 9 man box, and 2 of those blockers are Luke Willson (uh-oh) and Jimmy Graham (yikes)... recipe for a TFL. Jimmy was particularly useless on this one.

Second 13 personnel gif: A poster who attended the game mentioned that Willson was wide open for a TD on this play. But after seeing the gif, I think the safety just made a spectacular play to prevent a TD. It looks like the play design is to try to get the safety to commit to Willson (who is running free) and then hit Lockett (who absolutely BBQ'd the CB) for a TD. But somehow the safety stays close enough to Lockett's side to make a play. Tough to tell exactly without the all-22, but I'm guessing the safety would've gotten to Willson for a similar gain had the play gone that way instead.

- Every time we're facing 3rd and 5+, teams just sit on the 5-7 yard hitch routes and high fives ensue as they trot off of the field on 4th down.

As our receiver checks his ribs for fractures.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Not sure I can rewatch the game again, but the entire premise of Bevell's playcalling has always been dictated by "play-action", where you have to start to commit to stopping running game and it opens up easier throws. When Seattle and Bevell have to throw, it's not pretty.

I think we were hurt by not having Lockett for most of the 2nd half....he played the final series but the ones before that, we were capped at 3WR's with Graham, vs having the ability to go 4 WR.....with McEvoy inactive (another mistake), we didn't have any "jump-ball" capability to draw a Pass Interference penalty or get something down the field.

No Rawls, No Prosise, No Vannett, No Ifedi and essentially no Lockett for most of the 2nd half and all of those players have an impact on what we want to do......Brandon Williams, Jamarcus Webb, Alex Collins are the 3 pieces that don't give Seattle anything positive on offense if we are behind on the score board.....they can't help in Pass protection, can't get out and catch a screen pass or make a player miss.

This is a roster that is built for a rainy night or late afternoon in mid to late November at home or at New England, Green Bay or elsewhere.

Positives were the same as early last year....instead of Cary Williams, teams entire game plan is to throw at whomever Shead is covering and he doesn't get his hands on WR's at the line and doesn't have the speed to run with them, if he misses on bump and run. As much as I want to look at the offense, Shead holds the key to the entire team, even more than the offensive line which will improve. I'm not sure Shead is going to get better, but he has to or Lane needs to be the #2 CB and we need to trade for another slot CB or find the next Marcus Burley before the trade deadline.

 

[Ramfan128]

- The game plan seemed to be centered around the run but that went to shit pretty quickly and we didn't seem to have any answers.

- Started the game with 13 personnel. Not sure if Bevell actually thought we could go big and have any success or if he was banking on 1 or 2 explosives with the 1:1 that it gave Lockett on the outside. We did get one very early in the game but it may have been the ONLY successful play that we ran with that look.

- Some 20 personnel putting Tukuafu on the field rather than Graham or Willson. Again, not sure if we were actually expecting to see success on the ground or if we were trying to dictate matchups on the outside. Varied levels of success, none of them being great.




Edit: Willson is actually on the field in this one, just lined up wide.

- If Lockett's not returning kicks and punts, our return game absolutely blows.

- Two or three batted balls in the first half for Russ.

- When Graham was targeted, we had some success (unless one of our tackles was trying to get our QB killed on that particular play).

- Sowell... Ole! This guy struggled mightily. I really hope he improves because he couldn't win outside even when he was getting away w/ false starts.

- Russ needs to remember that athletic DTs and DEs can catch him when he's not running balls out. Ended the half with a strip sack because of this. (I am aware that the ankle is an issue but we saw it in the preseason as well.)

- Michael looked good and had some success running outside and off-tackle. At one point we had Britt and Webb pulling with Gilliam blocking down and it wasn't a complete failure.

- Poor Rawls... stuff after stuff.

- Pretty successful out of empty when the down and distance didn't dictate how long routes had to develop.

- We got hosed on some OPI calls.

- Every time we're facing 3rd and 5+, teams just sit on the 5-7 yard hitch routes and high fives ensue as they trot off of the field on 4th down.

I didn't make it through the entire game but there are so many things going wrong, it's difficult to know what's worse; Bevell's overall approach, the offensive line being pushed two yards into the backfield consistently or the drive killer that is Alex Collins chopping his feet at the LOS.

I know, hindsight is 20/20 but I can honestly say that I'd never have chosen to go big against that front with this offensive line.

Two of the OPI calls were questionable.

But - Sherman somehow got away with a blatant hold on 3rd and goal that could have allowed the Rams to score a TD (not a certainty by any means, but would have been first and goal on the 3 yard line).

Also, it's incredibly hard to believe that Seattle's OL didn't commit a single holding penalty when the Rams DL played so well.

The refs give and take...Just replace the two bogus OPI calls with holding calls and maybe it's a bit easier to swallow. The Rams were called twice for offensive holding, so it would make sense to even that out given that holding is committed on almost every play.

 

[Ozzy]

- The game plan seemed to be centered around the run but that went to shit pretty quickly and we didn't seem to have any answers.

- Started the game with 13 personnel. Not sure if Bevell actually thought we could go big and have any success or if he was banking on 1 or 2 explosives with the 1:1 that it gave Lockett on the outside. We did get one very early in the game but it may have been the ONLY successful play that we ran with that look.

- Some 20 personnel putting Tukuafu on the field rather than Graham or Willson. Again, not sure if we were actually expecting to see success on the ground or if we were trying to dictate matchups on the outside. Varied levels of success, none of them being great.




Edit: Willson is actually on the field in this one, just lined up wide.

- If Lockett's not returning kicks and punts, our return game absolutely blows.

- Two or three batted balls in the first half for Russ.

- When Graham was targeted, we had some success (unless one of our tackles was trying to get our QB killed on that particular play).

- Sowell... Ole! This guy struggled mightily. I really hope he improves because he couldn't win outside even when he was getting away w/ false starts.

- Russ needs to remember that athletic DTs and DEs can catch him when he's not running balls out. Ended the half with a strip sack because of this. (I am aware that the ankle is an issue but we saw it in the preseason as well.)

- Michael looked good and had some success running outside and off-tackle. At one point we had Britt and Webb pulling with Gilliam blocking down and it wasn't a complete failure.

- Poor Rawls... stuff after stuff.

- Pretty successful out of empty when the down and distance didn't dictate how long routes had to develop.

- We got hosed on some OPI calls.

- Every time we're facing 3rd and 5+, teams just sit on the 5-7 yard hitch routes and high fives ensue as they trot off of the field on 4th down.

I didn't make it through the entire game but there are so many things going wrong, it's difficult to know what's worse; Bevell's overall approach, the offensive line being pushed two yards into the backfield consistently or the drive killer that is Alex Collins chopping his feet at the LOS.

I know, hindsight is 20/20 but I can honestly say that I'd never have chosen to go big against that front with this offensive line.

Great post buddy.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

To me it's business as usual for this offense..............under Pete they've always looked like hot cat diarrhea in a skillet for 3-4 weeks until the O-line gets their crap together and Pete and Bevell figure out what they want the identity to be.

Brock made a good point this morning, if people were expecting 15-1 or 14-2 out of this team in a very nasty NFC, they're sadly mistaken.

Just too many good teams, and more importantly good teams with fast physical front 7's for us to run away like we did in 2013 taking advantage of a bad division and weak NFC. Ain't happening this year.

 

[Laloosh]

^^ Doesn't mean we can't help ourselves by not banging our head against a wall, or in this case, a physically gifted DL.

 

[HawkGA]

In the play where Russ slides, was that the personal foul play? Definitely should have been. The defender tucks his head and spears him.

 

[Tical21]

Look at our running formations and count. They dropped that extra safety right down. We were outnumbered with our base personnel all game long.

When we went to passing sets, they stayed with a single high safety and doubled Baldwin. Graham, Lockett and Kearse need to win against man coverage.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Look at our running formations and count. They dropped that extra safety right down. We were outnumbered with our base personnel all game long.

When we went to passing sets, they stayed with a single high safety and doubled Baldwin. Graham, Lockett and Kearse need to win against man coverage.

Yep, like I said in fender's thread with Russell unable to escape and make plays with his legs it was obvious from the first series the Rams were just gonna stuff 8-9 guys in the box to stop the run and make our WR's beat them.

Which Russell and Lockett did make a couple plays downfield in the first half. But after Lockett got hurt it was over.

Kearse had a terrible game, when our other WR's get doubled or are hurt he just never seems to step up like we need him too. I don't care if he makes 2-3 huge plays a year, that's NOT a good #2 receiver.

 

[Ozzy]

Baldwin/Lockett consistently wins against man coverage and a healthy Graham doesn too. Not sure how he did yesterday in that regard but he caught everything thrown to him. I know this board loves Kearse and if you say anything negative you're a hater but like Brock said on the radio today he just isn't good enough to beat man coverage. Richardson is so I'm hoping we see more snaps for him moving forward.

 

[Laloosh]

Look at our running formations and count. They dropped that extra safety right down. We were outnumbered with our base personnel all game long.

When we went to passing sets, they stayed with a single high safety and doubled Baldwin. Graham, Lockett and Kearse need to win against man coverage.

We only ran the ball like 19 times which is why I was thinking we went with this approach. Draw more defenders into the box and try to get those one on one's.

Not sure if Russ could plant and throw normally, which may be why we saw the underthrows.

 

[BBQHawk]

Stating the obvious. Graham is just hot garbage as a blocker. I guess it gives us the ability to go 6 wide in our "turn-style" formation.

 

[MORGULON]

Not sure I can rewatch the game again, but the entire premise of Bevell's playcalling has always been dictated by "play-action", where you have to start to commit to stopping running game and it opens up easier throws. When Seattle and Bevell have to throw, it's not pretty.

I think we were hurt by not having Lockett for most of the 2nd half....he played the final series but the ones before that, we were capped at 3WR's with Graham, vs having the ability to go 4 WR.....with McEvoy inactive (another mistake), we didn't have any "jump-ball" capability to draw a Pass Interference penalty or get something down the field.

No Rawls, No Prosise, No Vannett, No Ifedi and essentially no Lockett for most of the 2nd half and all of those players have an impact on what we want to do......Brandon Williams, Jamarcus Webb, Alex Collins are the 3 pieces that don't give Seattle anything positive on offense if we are behind on the score board.....they can't help in Pass protection, can't get out and catch a screen pass or make a player miss.

This is a roster that is built for a rainy night or late afternoon in mid to late November at home or at New England, Green Bay or elsewhere.

Positives were the same as early last year....instead of Cary Williams, teams entire game plan is to throw at whomever Shead is covering and he doesn't get his hands on WR's at the line and doesn't have the speed to run with them, if he misses on bump and run. As much as I want to look at the offense, Shead holds the key to the entire team, even more than the offensive line which will improve. I'm not sure Shead is going to get better, but he has to or Lane needs to be the #2 CB and we need to trade for another slot CB or find the next Marcus Burley before the trade deadline.

As shitty as you think the defense did, they went on the road and were able to hold LA to 9 points. I personally don't hold this loss on them.

I blame the offense. 100 %

 

[HawkGA]

Stating the obvious. Graham is just hot garbage as a blocker. I guess it gives us the ability to go 6 wide in our "turn-style" formation.

6 wide? Wouldn't we be missing a QB in that scenario?

 

[Ozzy]

They'll never expect it.

 

[OkieHawk]

They'll never expect it.

Nobody would.

 

[mrt144]

Stating the obvious. Graham is just hot garbage as a blocker. I guess it gives us the ability to go 6 wide in our "turn-style" formation.

And yet he is tasked with that more times than he should be. How can Bevell be the only person who hasn't recognized this talent gap? Why does he keep trying to make a blocker out of Graham? At what point do you say, "this guy, despite his position designation, just doesn't play that position like Zach Miller"

I would love to see what a fresh set of eyes does for the offense. Sometimes a cognitive bias can hold back a team.

 

[johnnyfever]

This is the kind of creativity that could put us over the top. Get rid of the QB and go 6 wide. Make the basket and go up 15 love, just make sure to keep your eyes on the flagstick. Seems pretty simple.