Brock Huard's Chalk Talk on the last play

[brimsalabim]

Looking at the play over and over it seems to me that maybe Sweezy helped Nowalk when he should have helped Gilliam? And should the play design not have had Jimmy block the DE on his side?

 

[justafan]

Thanks for the link.
After all the xs and Os if you dont block and tackle you are going to get beat.

Right play,right formation,thats a bread and butter play for them.It is always easier to critisize the playcall than to take the time to look at it and figure out why something didnt work.

I could watch a 3 hr show with him breaking down each play.

On the bright side Britt showed elite speed getting to the second level. ukeface:

 

[aawolf]

Looking at the play, the guy who blew it up and made the stop was Aaron Donald. Holy Crap that guy is a monster. He was in the backfield immediately after the snap. If we would have stopped his progress at all, its a first down. There was even a hole off the left guard to get a chunk of yardage, but Donald was in Lynch's face as soon as he got the ball.
If we would have sneaked it, Donald was also there to blow it up.

 

[Ozzy]

In my opinion it was the perfect call IF you were confident your 4 were as good as their 4. It did work earlier in the game but the defense had to honor the other possibilities. My problem with Bevel is that he doesn't factor in personnel when making decisions in crunch time. If I had to decide between my line winning or Graham beating his guy for a very short gain I'm picking Graham all day there.

 

[brimsalabim]

As good as Brock's break down is ...well... It's just chalk. X's vs O's isn't the same as Jimmy's vs Joe's. I mean.. Raise your hand if you thought our 4 would have any chance what so ever of containing their 4 in this situation any way? The Ram's said they new what was coming right? Is so that means they schemed a four on five match up in the box as a win for them. Our offensive line is that bad at this point.

 

[justafan]

In my opinion it was the perfect call IF you were confident your 4 were as good as their 4. It did work earlier in the game but the defense had to honor the other possibilities. My problem with Bevel is that he doesn't factor in personnel when making decisions in crunch time. If I had to decide between my line winning or Graham beating his guy for a very short gain I'm picking Graham all day there.

And people would have second guessed that play call also.It just doesnt matter what is called if someone doesnt do their job it fails and everyone plays the why didnt he do this game.

A couple of years ago it was why does he run run pass EVERYTIME.It wasnt true but the run run pass combo was working well when they did do it.Then it was we dont run enough.It goes on and on until people are saying their 7 year old niece can call the plays before they are run.With proper west coast terminology I am sure.

OC are always and will always be the reason we lose and the easy target.

 

[Ozzy]

I agree but isn't part of Bevel's job to understand what he has and doesn't have in these types of situations? Maybe I'm wrong but the passing game was almost unstoppable as the game went on and Wilson was finding people at will. I think Graham had a higher probability to win his macthup than Britt/Gilliam did against Donald and that DLine.

I was a Bevel defender for a long time and I still think at times he does a great job. His in game decisions though leave a lot to be desired and I think the questions people have are valid. Another thing I've noticed is that no one goes to bat for him on Twitter. I follow a lot of smart football minds, coaches, scouts etc. and no one defends him. That is telling for me. I think we would be better off with a different guy calling the plays. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[TeamoftheCentury]

Well, I take the same approach that I did for the SB loss. Sometime they win. :229031_shrug:

Sometime you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you: The Dude-The Big Lebowski . Even the best get beat from time to time. It was only the first game of the season, and Marshawn's first time he actually played more than 3 snaps in a game this year.

I'm confident they will all improve with more work together.

I can shrug off this week 1 loss. But, it is infinitely and categorically less desirable when the Bear eats you in early February. Not just a "sometime" - that was a BIG time.

 

[justafan]

I agree but isn't part of Bevel's job to understand what he has and doesn't have in these types of situations? Maybe I'm wrong but the passing game was almost unstoppable as the game went on and Wilson was finding people at will. I think Graham had a higher probability to win his macthup than Britt/Gilliam did against Donald and that DLine.

I was a Bevel defender for a long time and I still think at times he does a great job. His in game decisions though leave a lot to be desired and I think the questions people have are valid. Another thing I've noticed is that no one goes to bat for him on Twitter. I follow a lot of smart football minds, coaches, scouts etc. and no one defends him. That is telling for me. I think we would be better off with a different guy calling the plays. Maybe I'm wrong.

There are a lot of things that he could have done.Running Lynch with a bread and butter play that is a good call and it is being ridiculed.
Throwing short has been ridiculed.Going long has been ridiculed.It just doesnt matter what he does or how much we win he will be the reason we lose.
If he gets fired and eventually they all do and people will move on to the next OC and ridicule him.Its just the easy target.
Richard is next in line for this treatment I believe.I hope not but we will see.

 

[classicaaron]

i wasnt a huge fan of the play call but i think the first down was there if lynch doesnt stutter step. i dont want to make it sound like its all lynchs fault but he has done this alot through his career. he often stutter steps when he could just slam into the hole and get the needed yard. im not trying to insult lynch or say hes no good, i think hes the best in the league and obviously its worked for him through his career. heck barry sanders did the same thing. but sometimes he just needs to know the situation, get the one yard, dont attempt to get a 50 yard touchdown.

 

[Ozzy]

I agree but isn't part of Bevel's job to understand what he has and doesn't have in these types of situations? Maybe I'm wrong but the passing game was almost unstoppable as the game went on and Wilson was finding people at will. I think Graham had a higher probability to win his macthup than Britt/Gilliam did against Donald and that DLine.

I was a Bevel defender for a long time and I still think at times he does a great job. His in game decisions though leave a lot to be desired and I think the questions people have are valid. Another thing I've noticed is that no one goes to bat for him on Twitter. I follow a lot of smart football minds, coaches, scouts etc. and no one defends him. That is telling for me. I think we would be better off with a different guy calling the plays. Maybe I'm wrong.

There are a lot of things that he could have done.Running Lynch with a bread and butter play that is a good call and it is being ridiculed.
Throwing short has been ridiculed.Going long has been ridiculed.It just doesnt matter what he does or how much we win he will be the reason we lose.
If he gets fired and eventually they all do and people will move on to the next OC and ridicule him.Its just the easy target.
Richard is next in line for this treatment I believe.I hope not but we will see.

Well even though I didn't really agree with the playcall you're right.

 

[SeahawksFanForever]

Okung, Nowak, and Sweezy all did their jobs here. Bottom line, it was Britt and Gilliam who got smoked.

I am impressed with our Center. He was DL not too long ago and this was his first NFL game against one of the best front 7's in the league. He played a decent game (besides a few bad snaps) and he will only get better.

 

[StoneCold]

Okung, Nowak, and Sweezy all did their jobs here. Bottom line, it was Britt and Gilliam who got smoked.

I am impressed with our Center. He was DL not too long ago and this was his first NFL game against one of the best front 7's in the league. He played a decent game (besides a few bad snaps) and he will only get better.

Everyone keeps saying it's so simple a cave man could have audibled out or known our guys couldn't get it done and called a different play, but that's all bull. Gilliam got beat. This play, Gilliam, a converted tight end in his first real game as an RT, got beat. I'll bet he watches this tape and says, "Next time I'm driving into my man and getting some push." On this play he appears to try to simply stand his man up and maintain his position, but he's way to high and can't get enough leverage to hold his guy. He needs to get lower and be more aggressive. To do that you have to be certain you know what you want to do and can do it. With that confidence he'll be more aggressive. He will learn and get better.

Does no one remember San Diego last year.

PEOPLE IT WAS A 3 POINT LOSS.

Next game please.

 

[jblaze]

There's several issues with some suggestions here.

1. You don't want to run a QB sneak with a small QB under a rookie center against the Rams defensive line. Won't work. The needed a full 3 feet, not 1 foot.
2. Why would you when you have the best RB in the league behind you and he is excellent and reading the zone blocking scheme?
3. This ball was never going anywhere else but to 24 and everyone knew it. The SB outcome has put a lot of pressure on this coaching staff to not ever let that happen again. You live and die by 24 and it's the correct call.

This O Line is green, really green. They are probably better in pass pro already than last years team but light years behind in run blocking and that is our bread and butter. We need to get a lot more tough and sound technically if we're going to compete as now teams will use this as a blueprint even though they won't have the same excellent personnel.

Aaron Donald is Watt-light. That kid is going to be really good. I disagree with Brock in one thing. 4 on 4 in the box is actually a mismatch for us with that line with or without Lynch. That is the perfect opportunity for a fake, a QB keep or short play action pass but I don't blame the coaching staff for putting it in Lynch's hands after what happened in the SB. They almost had to.

It's unfortunate but we won't see another line like that again this year until the last week. I'm sure Gilliam and Nowak learned a lot and will get better from this. We will be ok.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Okung, Nowak, and Sweezy all did their jobs here. Bottom line, it was Britt and Gilliam who got smoked.

Britt's blocking on this is downright embarrassing. If he holds his block, not only does Lynch get a yard, he gets a pretty sizeable gain.

 

[DavidSeven]

Okay, so now we're blaming him for NOT throwing on 4th-and-short. I'm just trying to keep these narratives straight.

The shotgun-run was a play that had every opportunity to be successful. A bootleg with passing options to either Graham or a back would've been a good call too.

There is no magic formula here. There is more than one good play call, and there is more than one way to blow up a good play call. Why expend so much energy on "what ifs" for other play calls that could've just as easily failed.

 

[hawknation2015]

Looking at the play over and over it seems to me that maybe Sweezy helped Nowalk when he should have helped Gilliam? And should the play design not have had Jimmy block the DE on his side?

I believe Sweezy and Nowak were each supposed to block an ILB. Nowak takes out the one on their right, and Sweezy eventually gets the one on their left. I kind of doubt Sweezy is supposed to "help" Nowak on one LB. Nowak gets there so much faster than Sweezy. It could be that Nowak blocked the wrong guy, that he was supposed to hit the guy to his left, or it could be that Sweezy's footwork was deficient, that he should have instead pulled or crossed around Nowak to get the the other LB quicker. Eventually, they do end up blocking two LBs out of the play.

 

[DJrmb]

Okung, Nowak, and Sweezy all did their jobs here. Bottom line, it was Britt and Gilliam who got smoked.

Maybe I'm reading this blocking scheme wrong, I am by no means an O-line guru, but doesn't it seem that Nowak actually blocked the wrong man? It looks like Sweezy gets kind of taken out of the play for the initial push because Nowak takes his assignment rather than picking up the LB on the other side like he should have. Had Nowak went left and taken out the other LB, Sweezy had a clear shot to blow up the right side LB at full speed and we would have had a hat on a hat rather than one LB basically unblocked crashing into the middle.

Now all that said I don't know if it would have even mattered with the DT blowing up Gilliam on the play and coming right into the middle of the running lane before Marshawn would have had a chance to pass him... Ultimately that play falls on Gilliam I think, but maybe also we should have known to double that DT with Gilliam and Sweezy, had Nowak hit the linebacker like he did and giving Lynch a 1on1 against the crashing LB at the hole with a chance to simply fall forward for the 1st down?

 

[hawk45]

I didn't mind the play call on the last play.

The shotgun introduces the chance of a pass, that isn't completely illusory with Graham on the field.

We had been converting short distance runs all day (for once).

We run a lot out of shotgun. While I would like to see more runs out of I, in the second half I remember saying to myself some of our best gains game from zone/read. So even if it is a slower developing run, giving St. Louis something extra to think about isn't a bad idea, especially if you believe we cannot reliably win the one on one battles across the line which is probably a reasonable assumption every play against the Rams.

 

[hawknation2015]

Okung, Nowak, and Sweezy all did their jobs here. Bottom line, it was Britt and Gilliam who got smoked.

Maybe I'm reading this blocking scheme wrong, I am by no means an O-line guru, but doesn't it seem that Nowak actually blocked the wrong man? It looks like Sweezy gets kind of taken out of the play for the initial push because Nowak takes his assignment rather than picking up the LB on the other side like he should have. Had Nowak went left and taken out the other LB, Sweezy had a clear shot to blow up the right side LB at full speed and we would have had a hat on a hat rather than one LB basically unblocked crashing into the middle.

Now all that said I don't know if it would have even mattered with the DT blowing up Gilliam on the play and coming right into the middle of the running lane before Marshawn would have had a chance to pass him... Ultimately that play falls on Gilliam I think, but maybe also we should have known to double that DT with Gilliam and Sweezy, had Nowak hit the linebacker like he did and giving Lynch a 1on1 against the crashing LB at the hole with a chance to simply fall forward for the 1st down?

That could be, as I just mused above (great minds think alike, LOL). Nowak may have been responsible for the LB on their left. It also could be that Sweezy was supposed to pull around Nowak as a lead blocker through the hole, but instead messed up his footwork and took the wrong angle. They do both end up blocking a linebacker; Nowak get to the one of their right much faster than Sweezy and pushes him out of the play; Sweezy follows the other LB to his right and knocks him back.

If the play design had allowed Sweezy to "help" Gilliam, then Marshawn may have had enough time to turn the play up to the outside. It still doesn't account for Britt getting beat, but I think it would have given Marshawn the fraction of a second he needed to read and react.