Tical21":2ckwlalc said:
Both. Russell was much better today. Especially with his accuracy. But you'll notice on the strip sack, the other really bad sack late, the 2 yard quick passes where Dissly got hit quickly, were all against 2-deep. The 49ers had success in 2-deep and Russ was noticeably uncomfortable against it, which you can even see in his presnap body language, but the 49ers major in single-high safety, so I knew going in that we were going to get quite a bit of it. And Russ was much more comfortable and feasted. I was wondering whether the niners were going to run a lot more 2-deep than usual because of Russ' troubles against it as of late, or whether they'd stick to their typical gameplan. In the end, they ran a little more 2-deep than usual, but not much.
Interesting. I was watching on a small mobile device so couldn't really pick up what the D was doing, but definitely something to look for, Russell's pre-snap body language. I suppose it's a good thing, that at least he's recognizing what he's seeing enough to be uncomfortable; maybe that discomfort is Russell trying to focus on trying to read what's there and flash through the routes in his mind and where to go with the ball. He's faked it for so long, used his own set of "rules" to sidestep the "official" way of reading the D, that trying a different way has to still be awkward and stressful for him.
So we know the Rams will throw a lot of 2-high at him, and so also will the Cardinals. It seemed to me that the OT game vs. the Cardinals last year is when Russell's struggles with 2-High looks were fully exposed for all the world, OK, the NFL world, to see.
You were too early, before the world was ready to see it. Besides, this limitation doesn't usually fully appear until playoff games, where we face more talented and better-prepared defenses. Also, it took Kurt Warner showing it in Xs and Os videos of Russell's playoff game, to start to accurately understand the issue, at least for me.
Also, there was another helpful breakdown video, from 2019, not showing Russell's "weakness" or "issues", but showing how he and Tyler Lockett "read" each other, and showing how Russell reads the coverage on the receiver, rather than the defense as a whole, and in turn Lockett also reads the coverage, and freelances--er, adjusts his route to the coverage, and Russell knows exactly how Tyler will improvise, and puts the ball with accuracy where he knows Tyler will be, based on their shared scramble drill rules. To me, this showed why the Wilson-to-Lockett combination has been so *incredibly good*. It also showed why Wilson often holds the ball for 5 seconds and more, looking deep downfield, and so often has to run out of the pocket to buy more time.
The flipside however, was the realization that that Russell has been using this "read the coverage on the receiver" as a shortcut, a *crutch* to avoid having to learn and master the detailed rules and reads that are required against 2-Deep safeties types of coverages, and preferring to look first for deep throws while often not even looking at shorter routes that require getting the ball out quickly .
These understandings also explain a lot of other things, from the relationship between Carroll and Wilson, to Waldron dialing up plays that create open receivers that Russell seemingly repeatedly turns his nose up at. It's like Russell is essentially having to learn a foreign language, as a near-beginner. It also shows the need for the Seahawks to have a strong run game to support Russell, and an O-Line that excels in run-blocking, but has to be at least average, not awful, in pass-pro. It explains how Russell, behind a crap O-Line in 2013 with rookies Michael Bowie and Alvin Bailey, but with Lynch as a run threat, and with his peak mobility, and supported by a historic defense, was able to lead the Seahawks to 2 Super Bowls in a row, winning one. It even explains many aspects of "the pick" in SB49, that Russell just had to "trust the play" since he couldn't really read the D the Patriots were lining up in--not 2-Deep, but 2-Many bodies in a small space for Russell to read to know where to go with the ball.
It even possibly explains Richard Sherman's seeming disdain for Russell's skills. Sherman, as an avid student of game film, saw other QBs making reads against the Hawks defense, e.g., Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and knew Russell's skill set in reading defenses was so deficient as to be laughable in comparison to that level of QB skills. (Russell has other amazing superpowers) Sherman had long been annoyed, and probably loudly complained, that Russell wasn't expected/required to learn those reads. Thus, when Russell threw "the pick", Sherman could see it coming and was so disgusted, angered, and blamed Russell for not being able to read the defense and make a better decision with the ball. In Sherman's mind, he knew the D and the run game had carried Russell, erased his mistakes, and Russell and the coaching staff had let down him and the rest of the team through what Sherman viewed as a failure to prepare, and Russell being coddled. Sherman, being a bit of a narcissist, was beside-himself angry that Russell, and the coaching staff, had "thrown away" his, the team's, the defense's, the LOB's, rightful place in history as a defensive dynasty, all because Russell was allowed to be coddled. Hey, it's a theory, not saying it's right, just a theory to entertain.
So, what all this means, is that for the Seahawks to be a playoff threat again with Wilson, is that Russell needs to learn the reads needed to know where to go with the ball quickly, against a variety of defenses. His escapability alone is no longer sufficient. I'm pretty sure Russell knows this and is working his tail off on it.
