Breakdown on the 7 sacks, and more.

[Anthony!]

I posted an article were they broke down all the sacks form last year and only 1 was attributes to Wilson out of 44.

The breakdown was as follows

20 blown blocks (oline) 46%
14 good coverage (defense/WR/Play calling) 32%
8 rusher uncovered (scheme or assignment blown) 18%
1 other pressure 2%
1 QB fault 2%

Forgive me if I skimmed over it, but can you post the link again? I'd be very interested to read that article.

Now some here will say well its Wilson job to change the protection and all of that. However we do not know that for sure.

That's a convenient line. I could say the same thing about your 46% figure.

My 46% if from the expert analysis and simple math not much to dispute there unless you chose to put no truth in the expert analysis. I mean a blown block means someone on the oline messed up, hence blown block not bad assignment or scheme which is were 8th other sacks came form.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/seahawks/ ... crambling/

 

[ivotuk]

Thanks for the time you put in, it is much appreciated. But I respectfully disagree with your premise. Russell made his fair share of mistakes, but I don't think that's all on him. He took a pounding and and that takes it's toll.

You say Russell should have thrown the ball, to who? How do we know that they were open when his progression came to them? A picture from above does not tell the story of what's visible on the ground. Russell was looking at 6'7" Calais Campbell most of the time and half the time he was looking at a free runner. The free runners are not on Russell.

Russell was sacked 7 times and hit a lot more. That means he was swarmed alot because he's too elusive and too fast to be caught by just one person that many times. On many occasions, he had nowhere to go.

In the pictures I don't see down, distance and period. Those are important in Pete Carroll's offense as to when the decision to throw is made. Pete Carroll stresses constantly "It's all about the ball!" So early in games, Russell is going to be extremely conservative. He's not going to let the ball go unless the receiver clearly has separation.

Last year after the Rams game and a talking to by Pete, Russell said he learned "to surrender" when the play wasn't there. During the Rams game he tried too hard to avoid the rushers and ended up fumbling.

Quarterbacks miss receivers all the time. Even HOF Peyton Manning missed a wide open Demaryus Thomas for a TD in the Superbowl and instead made an ill-advised throw to his left. My guess is he was shell-shocked by then.

Russell struggled, but much like late last year, he took a beating and did not turn the ball over. It's all about the ball. And give the Cardinals credit, they are one of the best defenses out there, year in and year out. They come in at #3 for points allowed at 17.7 ppg. We scored 19.

It's really hard to tell what the causes of the 7 sacks were, imho it was the dismal offensive line. The "Oles" were painfully obvious, catching both Russell and Marshawn with nowhere to go. 39 yards on 15 attempts! This is Marshawn Lynch were talking about! That's 2.6 ypc!

Lynch's dismal game is the reason I see this as on Oline problem, because it can't be bad for Marshawn, but good for Russell. But to be fair, the Oline is a shambles, with only 2 experienced players on it. The other 3 were basically rookies, if not in years, in experience level.

Thanks again for the break down though, I know that stuff takes time and I know plenty of people will agree with your assessment. I just happen to see it from a different viewpoint.

But that's what makes this forum so fun, the varied opinions and the discussions that they produce.

 

[Hawks46]

Your post made my day, Scotte.

Do you think the errors you attribute to Russell can be corrected somewhat over the rest of the remainder of the season?

Are they more common lately, and maybe caused by him being a bit shell-shocked? It seems like those sorts of failures occurred less towards the end of last season.

The errors Russ has that lead to sacks are the same errors he has had for his entire career. Russ holds the ball. Good and bad things come from it. He is the coolest sumbish this side of Captain Kirk when it's all going to shit, even if the shit is his fault, which is why he doesn't often panic and chuck it up to covered guys. He struggles with blitzes, but that isn't new either. When you hold the ball longer than the rest of the QBs in the NFL you will struggle with blitzes. You will also give time to your average group of WRs to get open. I think of it as the cost of business in Seattle.

Russ has stopped pressing the last couple of weeks. The only real hard hit he took in that game was the fake to a screen play, he got banged good on that one. He definitely isn't shell shocked. Our receivers simply are not winning one on one jumps, so if he tucks and runs from a lack of faith it is well founded on his part.

I don't recall the end of last season that way. We lost two late in the year, and looked really bad in week 16, a bit rough in week 17, Russ struggled a lot in that windy game vs the Saints, and the game vs the NIners was plenty up and down, began with fumble, couldn't put the game away with multiple chances in the 4th. But the big plays were there, the scrambles to extend plays were there, the things Russ does best even though they sometimes go wrong were there.

I want to add one thing. Russ rips hearts out of teams with his running. It isn't like the cheap 1st downs that Rodgers gets when he runs the occasional 3rd down run right to the sticks. Russ can break a 40 yarder at any time, and the teams we play all know it. Look at the body language of these guys when it happens, they start looking at each other to see who effed up, it embarasses teams. Those yards never count when they tally MVP votes, but to me every one of his rushing yards could be counted as 3 passing yards and it would be an accurate view of how other teams fear what he does with his legs. A bunch of pictures may exonerate his linemen of whiffing on some sacks, but his measure is so much more holistic than most QBs. When he hands the ball off to Lynch on RO but still runs out his play fake, there is almost always a player who ignored Lynch to follow Russell. How many other QBs can say that? He commands attention without the ball. How do you measure that?

Great observation. It's funny, but similar to what you said about him running...it does rip the heart out of a defense. QBs shouldn't be able to do that with their legs. And Russ is so smart with how he does it. I've heard countless analysts criticize Cam Newton and Kaepernick about running too much and taking too many hits. I hear the same analysts praise Wilson for his running, and no one really gets on his case about the hits he takes because he's just that savvy about it.

Conversely, I think it's amusing in that people kinda ride Russ's case a bit about not throwing for a ton of yards. A 40 yard run is just as good as a 40 yard pass. Yet that isn't always taken into account for Wilson. Evidently, you're still supposed to only do it with your arm as a QB.

 

[Scottemojo]

A lot of very true and good stuff

I used the 7 sacks as an example, but yeah, the line blew plays that did not result in sacks, but did result in hits. Russ ran read options he should not have and got hit for it too. The hardest hit he took was on the screen play with the ill advised fake, he got mooshed by 3 guys, that hit is on Russ.

It doesn't change the fact that 6 won't usually block 7, 5 won't block 6, 3 seconds to throw is a good amount, and hot routes run where the blitzes come from are a vital and time tested strategy that we under use.

So, here is every hit on Russ.
2nd and 9, 12:50 QTR1.
Cards show 7 man potential blitz. Send 5 from left side, Okung and Bailey block 2 of the 3 from their side. The safety blitzer hits Russ. but the pass to Moeaki gains 17. 2 can't block 3.

15:00 2nd QTR 1st and goal, 8. First sack. Good pocket on 4 man rush, call it a coverage sack, but it isn't until Russ ties to escape laterally that his lineman loses leverage.

13:31 2nd quarter 3rd and goal, 5. Seattle line up spread empty, 5 offensive linemen. Cards rush 6. Safety is unblocked. Russ tries to escape, gets sacked by Buchanon. No possible way to blame this hit on the line.

11:20, 2nd qtr, 1st and 10, AZ 29. Empty set, 3 WR go routes. 4 man rush, Sweezy doesn't hold his block long enough, Russ gets planted after throwing deep to Kearse.

11:13 2nd qtr 2nd and 10. another sack, good pocket, call it a coverage sack again.
8:06 2nd qtr, 2nd an 11, read option keeper, Russ pushed OB at 9. I guess that officially counts as a hit on a 40 yard run.

6:56 2nd qtr. 2nd and 12 Russ gets crushed on the ill fated screen with the play fake to the right. Maybe Bailey screwed up, but most likely this is just a terrible call. Staring to notice we only call screens behind on down and distance.
6:14 2nd qtr 3rd and 19. Another good pocket, Another play with 4 long routes, Lynch chips and is late releasing as a safety valve, Russ rabbits and gets smooshed. Coverage sack.
14:54 3rd qtr 1st and 10, read option keeper, Russ gains 4 but takes a pretty good shot from the 2nd tackler in.
13:33 3rd qtr 3rd and 4, AZ shows 6 man blitz sends 4, drops the two threatening to blitz safeties right into the path of both hot routes, russ takes off and gets sacked. Britt allows free release from OLB, but it looks to be by design to me, I could be wrong.

11:04 1st and 10 AZ 24. Offensive line looks confused by look from AZ, Britt and Sweezy both whiff, Russ escapes, gains 4, tackled from behind by a safety.
10:33 2nd and 6, Russ keeps a RO, loses 2 and gets hit by Mathieu.
9:15 3rd and 13. 4 man rush, the LDE runs an inside stunt after the DT crashes down on Okung. Bailey ends up blocking the DT into Okung while the LDE runs untouched at Russ, Russ gets rid of the ball for a gain of 5, but gets hit hard.
3:44 1st and 10, 48. Russ being Russ. AZ threatens to send 6, RDE drops into coverge and AZ blitzes 5 from the left, giving the 4 rushers on 3 blockers. On this play, Russ runs the play action, sees the free rusher, pirouettes out of trouble and gets the ball to Lynch. He gets touched, but not really hit.
3:14 1st and 10 AZ 33. Russ keeps RO, gets smashed, loss of 4. It's pretty clear by now that AZ is scraping players to cover Russ on read option.

1:56 3rd qtr, 3rd and 11, AZ34 . Russ scrambles for 15, it was a good pocket, but a stunt by AZ opened a huge lane Russ could not resist. He fakes a flip to the TE then takes off, gets tackled on the sideline after getting the first down.

12:29 4th qtr, 2nd and 5. Az is late getting D set up, russ sees it, audibles to a RO look in the pistol, takes off for an easy 8 yards. Counts as a tackle, but he slides and is never actually hit by Mathieu.
11:50 1st and 10 SEA 31. AZ blitzes 6 vs play action, Wilson escapes, has no one to throw to on the left side, and gets tackled for a loss of 1. Outside the pocket, he could have gotten rid of it, but was trying to make a play. Not a hit he had to take.

9:24 3rd and 9 Sea 45. The play after the flea flicker, AZ blitzes 8. They send the house. Russ rolls right, has no receiver, and even though outside the pocket doesn't get rid of it til the last second, takes a really big hit.
4:46, 1st and 10, Sea 46. Read option, Russ gives to Lynch, gets a bump from the safety assigned to him. Not a big hit at all, but it counts later when they tally the hits the QB takes.
4:05, 2nd and 6, 50. Empty set, a great pocket, Russ has 7 seconds before being touched, still no recievers are open, he takes off gains 10, slides and is touched down by a DB.

1:21 3rd and 5 AZ 10. Sea runs a naked boot, AZ blitzes the corner, Russ gets a little love tap from the DB.

The stat I heard was Russ took 23 hits, I could only find 21, and 3 of those are definitely on the line, 2 I can't tell exactly but it looks like the free release of the rusher is part of the play design or blitz adjustment, and the other 16 run the gamut of good blitz calls that had more rushers than blockers, coverage sacks where the pocket held up at lest 3 seconds, read option calls, scrambles down field that ended in hits, and non hits that are officially counted as hits.

I hope that was informative.

 

[BASF]

There has been a lot of speculation about why so many sacks.

I hope this is helpful

The first sack.


A look at a good pocket after about 3 seconds. It's time to throw or scramble. Russ scrambles and runs right into a sack. I do not know how you lay this one on a lineman. Time enough to make a pass, good pocket.

Wilson is waiting for the out at the corner to gain separation to throw this ball. However, if I am him by this time I am already looking at the running lane developing to the pylon at the goal line to his left. Definitely should not have eaten a sack here. I would chalk this up to the receiver not beating his man.
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The third sack. Cards blitz 5 vs empty again.
The pocket looked like this:


That ball has to get out of Russell's hands now. It doesn't. sack. Not a bad pocket at all, especially vs a blitz.
Here is Russell's view:

That ball has to be gone, Russ.

Correct me if I am wrong on this, as I don't have the All 22 to check, but isn't this route combination we usually run with the designed roll out to the right? If it is, where is the roll out? I agree that the ball has to be out by now, but if you look, Pierce has not done what he needs to do for the passing lane to be open at the point it should have been thrown. Pierce needs to turn his man towards Sweezy to make that passing lane larger and keep 92 from batting it down from crossing Wilson's mind.
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The 5th sack.
The photo will show another good pocket, but not a lot of open looks. The Seahawk bottom right will have a slim window in just a second when he runs his out to the sideline, but you can see in the picture the DB is looking at Russ, and Russ is looking at him.


So Russ rabbits, right into a sack. Russ could have thrown this one away.

Which way did Wilson rabbit towards? Once again the Cards are in what looks to be a three deep zone and the running lane to the left will yield a nice chunk of yardage. Down and distance on this one would be helpful on this determination.
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The 6th sack.
Presnap, another potential 6 man blitz.


A second later, it is a 4 man rush, any hots are covered


Britt down blocks, and his guy gets an easy chase of Wilson.

A masterful look by the Cards. the 2 safeties threatening blitz take away the hot routes, one of which has a passing lane created by the downblock of Britt. I know Britt looks bad on this one, but I really think the release of the rusher was part of the blocking scheme for that blitz look. Helfet goes to run a hot right in the middle and there is a safety right in his way.

Looking at the pictures, I wonder if Britt believed that Lynch was responsible for the rusher he was releasing. The second picture does not show where Lynch is. Did he go out to the flat where Wilson could have hit him for a gain?

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Sack 7
This play is a first down max protect attempt at a homerun throw. Only two route runners, play action. Cards counter with a 6 man run blitz. The pocket is solid.

Look at all the real estate to the QB's left


But Russ slowplays this one, even though no receiver ever actually runs a route to that left side. Eventually he ends up sacked for a loss of one.

This is completely Bevell out thinking himself with poor design. It looks like Baldwin is running the double move faking a post in and going to the sidelines twenty yards down field (never looks back as he would have had a nice twelve yard gain on the post if he had been looking. It looks like Kearse is running a deep in at the seventeen yard distance. Those two deep routes are being predicated on the OLB being contained by what looks to be Luke Willson, who is not a good blocker. Poor play design, unless you are telling Wilson to tuck and run to the left as you pointed out all that area that has been vacated by the route combination. Speaking of route combination, you can see the result clearly on this one: two receivers practically in the same area with three defenders around them. This has been my biggest critique of Bevell.

There has been a lot of blaming the offensive line for those sacks. From what I can see, we had schematic issues and Russ held the ball a bit too long for the majority of the sacks. To Russell's credit, and I think the pictures show this, there were not a ton of open looks, that secondary was damn good. I thought a change in playcalling in the mid third QTR also helped, our first TD came on a drive with a lot more quick passes.
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One more picture to show just how bad some of our playcalling can be.
This was a 3rd and 9 from our 45 in the 4th QTR. The play just after the flea flicker.
Trips set, and the Cards respond by sending 8. Talk about a ballsy defensive call, the risk is huge. 3 receivers, 3 DBs. The cards bring the majority of the pressure from the left side, Russ is flushed right, opposite of the trips set, and has to throw the ball away, while taking a needless shot.

That picture astounds me. A huge wave of pressure, but all three receivers have their back to Russ as they are headed out on routes. No safety valves anywhere.

On this last one, it look like the TE is starting to slip through the line to provide the safety valve only to be grabbed from behind by the DE. I believe that this was the play that we ripped the Saints a new one with with Miller running the route in the playoffs last season.

Thank you for posting this Scotte. It was a great post and very informative.

 

[seahawkfreak]

Great post thank you. Only thing I disagree with you about is your not suppose let someone come in free even on a screen. Your suppose to at least give an attempt to disguise the play. I remember the play and I don't even think bailey even touched the guy. Many times on screens if the defender is not slowed even just a little he can blow up the qb ( which is what happened) or a smart defensive lineman will recognize the lack of effort and destroy the rb.

I could be wrong but that's what I was taught when I played.

 

[Spin Doctor]

This thread echoes the sentiment I've had for a very long time, Wilson makes our line look far worse than it really is. He does not know how to read blitzes very well, nor does he really audible out of obvious mismatches. Part of a QB's job is to put himself and his teammates in a position to succeed in any given play. I don't see that with Wilson.

Scotty I think it was said it perfectly -- Wilson is a home run player with a strike-out problem. The way he manages the pocket really hurts his consistency, though it could lead to some big plays. I prefer consistent, methodical approach that can be relied upon in every drive. That is why I don't particularly care for Wilson's style, and don't rate him as highly as others.

Despite the fact that he's only in his third year and has already won a Super Bowl without a #1 receiver, above-average offensive line, or creative OC?

While I agree with your analysis, I disagree with the prognosis. I see nothing but upside with Wilson.

He also had a top 5 defense of all time, and look at what Golden Tate is doing this year, Doug Baldwin and Miller are no slouches either. Wilson surely played a big part in getting to the Superbowl, but we surely wouldn't have even had a chance without that defense.

Anyways I'm done here, I've said my part in these two threads so now I'll back off.

 

[Anthony!]

Great post thank you. Only thing I disagree with you about is your not suppose let someone come in free even on a screen. Your suppose to at least give an attempt to disguise the play. I remember the play and I don't even think bailey even touched the guy. Many times on screens if the defender is not slowed even just a little he can blow up the qb ( which is what happened) or a smart defensive lineman will recognize the lack of effort and destroy the rb.

I could be wrong but that's what I was taught when I played.

That is correct.