SI article: 'How Russell Wilson Tore Apart the Steelers'

[Recon_Hawk]

On Sunday, the Seahawks spread out and moved the ball at will in beating the Steelers. It was a look at the ideal way to attack Pittsburgh’s zone blitz. And, after losing another star to injury, it might have been a preview of how the Seahawks will operate down the playoff stretch.

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/11/30/russ ... fl-week-12

Pretty good read by Andy Benoit on the X's and O's against the Steelers and why it had so much success. Basically, Seattle copied the Raiders' game plan a few weeks ago to spread the offense which in turn spreads Pittsburgh's zone defense making it harder for them to disguise their blitzes and easier for Wilson and the offensive line to recognize where the pressure was coming from.

Also pointed out the install of two receiver route combinations designed to exploit the soft part of the Steelers' zone D by attacking a single defender. Watching the game live I think most of us could see that on display.

Lastly, he believes Seattle should continue using more spread concepts to take advantage of Russell's scrambling ability and also because spreading the offense out gives Wilson reads that are defined pre-snap based on how the defense is set up which should make things easier for Wilson and help him get the ball out quicker.

 

[Scottemojo]

great article, I think it points out how Seattle changed playcalling to target a weakness (yeay, and finally) while making it easier for Wilson to read the D.

I also think lost on many Hawk fans lamenting the decline of the D is that these both are single high safety teams we saw, who practice vs single high safety teams all week.

The interesting thing about spread concepts is that while they do tend to make a defense look bad, they also make playing defense more about making splash plays than just keeping the offense in front of you and punishing them. Which may be why Pete was not as offended by the pass yards as many fans were.

Give up 350 passing to Teddy B, and Pete's attitude will be very different.

the writer did a great job of pointing out how Seattle treated Graham like another cog in the machine instead of creating looks for him. Those criticisms of our offense have been so very valid. Yet also mean that moving on from Graham is easier.

 

[Barthawk]

We give up 250-300 to Teddy B then Kris Richard needs to prepare for a move back to the DB room.

 

[Ozzy]

Great point on the single high safety and the familiarity to it. I'm not as worried about the defense as most seem to be. Lane/Shead will continue to get better, Sherman is completely back and once Thomas/Kam get their communication figured out we will be much better. It's fixable.

The offensive line still has a way to go and I think more of the recent success is Wilson just getting rid of the ball much faster. The line has been more consistent as well. They still have a few complete breakdown type plays but not as many.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

the writer did a great job of pointing out how Seattle treated Graham like another cog in the machine instead of creating looks for him. Those criticisms of our offense have been so very valid. Yet also mean that moving on from Graham is easier.

Yep. It's been a fair criticism, but unfortunately we're forced to see the reasoning behind never putting too much of the offense on one player.

It really is too bad Jimmy got hurt, because I thought we were starting to see more isolation plays for him as the season went on. Pete's said the goal was to design an offense where the 'next guy' can step in and everybody is just a cog, but a player like Jimmy is always gonna challenge that philosophy.