Inside the offensive transformation during the bye week

[MontanaHawk05]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/ ... -explosion

Personally, I'm a little skeptical that they came up with all this during the bye week. I think Pete was playing vanilla offense for the first 8 games on purpose in order to hold some pizazz back for the late-season surge, and it bit them on the ass.

Supporting points for that theory:

1) This is not Bevell's first rodeo.

2) Seattle's Sep/Oct playbook was crazy remedial.

3) I did read an article on sportsradiokjr's site somewhere that supported this. It was in the "Patrick Lewis is better" article and now I can't find it.

4) It's just such a different playbook.

But whatever.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

I responded to a similar post by you yesterday and am going to do the same today. I think Pete was stubbornly sticking to a simpler offense emphasizing the run game and big plays despite not having an o-line suited to that approach while leaning on his defense as he had the last couple of seasons. No surprise, it worked and got the Hawks an Owl win. However, his defense let him down in the 4th quarter of several games due at least in part to the offense not being able to eat up clock combined with/because of the o-line struggles made him rethink his approach.

Kudos to Pete for being willing to change his approach. Most people in positions of power and leadership are not nearly that flexible.

 

[Hawks46]

I'm not willing to believe that Pete was sand bagging the NFL because his "Always compete" mantra would be hollow if he was doing stuff intentionally to cost us games.

I honestly think we ran a remedial offense because our OL needed and we basically had a rookie Center with no real college experience at the position.

My only issue is that we didn't go to a quicker, rhythm passing game and change out Centers earlier. Maybe that part was sand bagging a bit but I don't sit in the meeting rooms so I don't really know.

 

[scutterhawk]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/192223/inside-what-led-to-the-seahawks-recent-offensive-explosion

Personally, I'm a little skeptical that they came up with all this during the bye week. I think Pete was playing vanilla offense for the first 8 games on purpose in order to hold some pizazz back for the late-season surge, and it bit them on the ass.

Supporting points for that theory:

1) This is not Bevell's first rodeo.

2) Seattle's Sep/Oct playbook was crazy remedial.

3) I did read an article on sportsradiokjr's site somewhere that supported this. It was in the "Patrick Lewis is better" article and now I can't find it.

4) It's just such a different playbook.

But whatever.

Hmm, so Marshawn's injury, then JG's, and Rawls, played no part in the changeup to Pete Carroll's offensive philosophy?
On Bevell's rodeo ride with the Seahawks, he's always strategized play calls with Marshawn Lynch in all of the games that he planned, per Pete Carroll's wishes.
LOL, here I was thinking that it was Russell Wilson that had been compensating for the drop off in the Seahawks run first mantra.
It's like Chuck Knox use to say " You Play The Hand You Are Dealt"

 

[MontanaHawk05]

I'm not willing to believe that Pete was sand bagging the NFL because his "Always compete" mantra would be hollow if he was doing stuff intentionally to cost us games.

He wouldn't be intentionally losing. It's preseason mentality, taking slight risks in order to ensure a better result later. Call it his "Always Compete" philosophy being overridden by his "It's How You Finish" philosophy. We've been running remedial for a while now, even with Unger and more experienced linemen on the team.

But like you said, I wasn't in the meetings so I don't know for sure either.

Hmm, so Marshawn's injury, then JG's, and Rawls, played no part in the changeup to Pete Carroll's offensive philosophy?

The changeup happened before any of those guys went out. Long before, in Rawls' case.

 

[kearly]

Whatever the truest explanation may be, I think what really matters is that the recent phenomenal success of Wilson and the offense at large seems to be organization-wide, not just predicated by a random Russell Wilson hot streak.

It's not just about players making plays like before, now the offense itself has evolved and taken things to a higher level.

As crazy as it sounds, I get the feeling that this insane level of production might just be the new normal for our offense.

 

[OkieHawk]

As crazy as it sounds, I get the feeling that this insane level of production might just be the new normal for our offense.

It's not that crazy really. Something has definitely clicked on the offensive side and I believe that it will be sustainable. It's about to get really interesting.

 

[scutterhawk]

I'm not willing to believe that Pete was sand bagging the NFL because his "Always compete" mantra would be hollow if he was doing stuff intentionally to cost us games.

He wouldn't be intentionally losing. It's preseason mentality, taking slight risks in order to ensure a better result later. Call it his "Always Compete" philosophy being overridden by his "It's How You Finish" philosophy. We've been running remedial for a while now, even with Unger and more experienced linemen on the team.

But like you said, I wasn't in the meetings so I don't know for sure either.

ote="scutterhawk"]Hmm, so Marshawn's injury, then JG's, and Rawls, played no part in the changeup to Pete Carroll's offensive philosophy?

The changeup happened before any of those guys went out. Long before, in Rawls' case.[/quote]
I think the reason for the whole changeup was because of the very green Offensive Line....Something about Nowak not being adept at making Line Calls, and Wilson having to take on more of a roll because of the anemic Run & Pass blocking, & Wilson bailing on the pocket, because he didn't trust that it wouldn't implode.
The very fact that Wilson has come on so fantastic in the last 7 of 8 games, has something to do with your perception of remedial changeup.
Having that kind of success with a passing game, when your mantra on being a Run First Offense can bend your preconceived notion, and I think that's what happened to Pete.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I think another key is they opened up the playbook. Got away from the predictible play calling of run, run, pass, punt. Got away from the bubble screens and empty sets in "crucial situations". I think someone had a sit down with Bevell and put the fear of God into him, as the play calling has been light years better than the first half, Holmgren on his radio show even mentioned he noticed this.

The line played better once Nowak was removed from the situation. They put too much pressure on a rookie center and stuck with it too long. IMHO they should have been playing Glowinski from the start, and less Nowak, their stubbornness may have cost they a couple of wins.

The complete and total trust of Tyler Lockett as a receiver.

Russ is getting rid of the ball quicker.

 

[Dizzlepdx]

I think it's incorrect to view this change as a result of 'opening up the playbook'. I'm pretty sure if you go back and watch those early games, there were plenty of 300 level plays being run. You just didn't notice cause RW was running for his life. The one route combination that has been new over the last 6-8 games is the two man game for 5-7 yards. You see this all the time: inside receiver runs the arrow route to the outside while the outside receiver runs either a slant or a 5 yard stop to set the pick/rub. It's become a staple of this offense on 3rd down in particular. But that doesn't make this a new offense-the o-line holding up and RW not panicking in the pocket does. Go back and watch the more recent Rams game and you'll see both of those things rear their ugly head again.

 

[Hawks46]

Whatever the truest explanation may be, I think what really matters is that the recent phenomenal success of Wilson and the offense at large seems to be organization-wide, not just predicated by a random Russell Wilson hot streak.

It's not just about players making plays like before, now the offense itself has evolved and taken things to a higher level.

As crazy as it sounds, I get the feeling that this insane level of production might just be the new normal for our offense.

I hope you're right, but it can be so true on so many levels.

You have guys getting confidence.
You have expectations of being better, and producing at a higher level.
You have chemistry between players.
You develop consistency.

We've always had a good run game, and we're not in danger of going all pass happy because Wilson has upped his game. I love how our passing game has evolved, as now we have a truly balanced offense that is that much harder to defend.

I'm almost giddy thinking about what a fresh Lynch looks like in the playoffs, and next year getting a more season Rawls who is still gaining experience getting more reps to go along with Jimmy Graham coming back.

 

[Laloosh]

Whatever the truest explanation may be, I think what really matters is that the recent phenomenal success of Wilson and the offense at large seems to be organization-wide, not just predicated by a random Russell Wilson hot streak.

It's not just about players making plays like before, now the offense itself has evolved and taken things to a higher level.

As crazy as it sounds, I get the feeling that this insane level of production might just be the new normal for our offense.

I predicted 35 points this week by them but I still think that teams with freakishly athletic defensive lines are enough to give them fits. Not every team will have a Donald, Watt, etc. and that is probably why we can expect something like it pretty regularly (imo).

 

[DavidSeven]

I think it's incorrect to view this change as a result of 'opening up the playbook'. I'm pretty sure if you go back and watch those early games, there were plenty of 300 level plays being run. You just didn't notice cause RW was running for his life. The one route combination that has been new over the last 6-8 games is the two man game for 5-7 yards. You see this all the time: inside receiver runs the arrow route to the outside while the outside receiver runs either a slant or a 5 yard stop to set the pick/rub. It's become a staple of this offense on 3rd down in particular. But that doesn't make this a new offense-the o-line holding up and RW not panicking in the pocket does. Go back and watch the more recent Rams game and you'll see both of those things rear their ugly head again.

Great post.

I want to say the turnaround is more a result of a change in emphasis than a change in scheme. It would be interesting to see how much more we're running 3, 4, 5-WR sets now vs. before the bye. It wouldn't surprise me if they were running more that now with the intent of getting the ball out above all else. However, I think what the coaches are saying is essentially true -- most of this is coming out of base concepts that they've been running forever. If there's a major change, I think the OL is now being coached with the thought that we're going to get the ball out fast, so we need to create lanes. And obviously, Russ has been coached to lean on anticipation throws more than ever before and he's seen great results.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

I think it's incorrect to view this change as a result of 'opening up the playbook'. I'm pretty sure if you go back and watch those early games, there were plenty of 300 level plays being run. You just didn't notice cause RW was running for his life.

There really weren't. RW was running for his life because the plays being called favored neither him nor his line. When you run 5 receivers into simultaneous curl routes on 3rd and 7 and expect Wilson to read the most open guy, you're going to see exactly what we saw - Wilson having no idea what to do and getting sacked while he hesitated. Or perhaps you consider play-action on 4th down and long to be a "300 level" play, or Jimmy Graham being kept in to block on crucial 3rd downs. I don't know.