Fixing the pass rush...

[McGruff]

Our run defense is 6th ranked in yards per game. 1st in yards per carry.

Hard to imagine being concerned about run defense.

 

[hoxrox]

Our run defense is 6th ranked in yards per game. 1st in yards per carry.

Hard to imagine being concerned about run defense.

Season wide team stats are all relative. I'm mainly talking about first down Run D, vs last year. If anyone can parse that, it would be interesting to see.

But this season, just look at the last 2 games, the Cowboys had 162 at 4.4 average. Rams had 102 at 3.8 average rushing.

That's not good.

Season wide stats were skewed by Washington and Denver - those teams pretty much abandoned the run.

 

[12thManNorth]

This stat in Espn.com's power rankings say it all about our pass rush this year :

"The Seahawks pressured opposing quarterbacks on an NFL-high 33 percent of dropbacks in 2013. They rank last at 17 percent in 2014."

 

[Anonymous]

Disguise the Blitz. Delay the Blitz. Everytime we have blitzed this year we have shown our hand and got lost in the o-lineman scrum.

Okay, based on this thought, how much are our stunts needing to be refreshed?

Those are learned from film just like routes are.

 

[Ozzy]

We have to get a consistent push on the inside. Teams are sliding out on Bennett and Avril. Someone in the middle needs to win a battle so teams stop doing that. Mcdonald was a huge loss for us. Much more of a loss than I thought it would be. It's tough to get pressure off the edge if the middle/inside doesn't help out. Hopefully they can figure it out and soon.

Secondly I think this has already been said but guys are playing much more than they were last year. We need to get healthy so we can get a solid rotation going.

 

[hawkfan68]

Whatever happened to this guy -

http://www.nfl.com/player/michaelbrooks/2541612/profile

I thought he did a nice job in preseason at 3-tech DT. Surprised they haven't brought him back if he's still unsigned.

 

[hoxrox]

Yeah I don't why they didn't resign McDonald.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Yeah I don't why they didn't resign McDonald.

Guess they didn't think he was worth 3.5 million, and maybe they were right because his stats really aren't that much better right now than Kevin Williams, who we're only paying 1M.

But that's the difference, last year we had ALL these guys rotating like beasts. Now we have half the D-line talent and we're filing in with guys who couldn't even crack the game day rosters.

 

[McGruff]

Yeah I don't why they didn't resign McDonald.

Guess they didn't think he was worth 3.5 million, and maybe they were right because his stats really aren't that much better right now than Kevin Williams, who we're only paying 1M.

But that's the difference, last year we had ALL these guys rotating like beasts. Now we have half the D-line talent and we're filing in with guys who couldn't even crack the game day rosters.

Bingo. Especially lately. Losing Hill and Marsh really hurts. We run 7 deep on the line pretty equally, and when you lose the 6th and 7th guys in a 7 man rotation its not much different than losing starters.

 

[cdallan]

What happened to last year's idea of using Bruce Irvin as a spinner? I quite like the idea of a nickel look with 3 down linemen (maybe Avril and Schofield wide and Bennett in the middle) with Irvin moving about. After seeing him in coverage last year, there could be the added benefit of being able to drop him and zone and have one of the other players near the LOS (preferably Wagner or Lane when they are fit) rush - we would still be rushing only 4 but would have more chance to disrupt the protection.

 

[pehawk]

Word, forgot about that spinner rumor. I agree with the analysis, cdallan, for sure.

 

[Scottemojo]

Why Avril and Bennett are not getting home I do not know, but Irvin? Put him on a finesse blocker and he is money, Put him on a physical guy and he turtles.

McDonald had a huge impact last year. Clemons was great once he got his legs under him. We did not replace talent with talent.

 

[kearly]

Just wanted to say these kinds of threads are my favorite. Interesting convo going on here.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Quinn does. Pressure is one of those things that can be manufactured to an extent. This is a very good stretch of QBs coming up to get pressure on.

It also seems hard to accept that our LBs could be the fastest in the league AND suck at blitzing (Bobby Wagner is actually a pretty good blitzer, which I think might make his absence hurt as much as anything else).

 

[pehawk]

Just wanted to say these kinds of threads are my favorite. Interesting convo going on here.

Kearly, please don't feed the clown. But yes, 68, cdallan, and Scotte brought it in this thread.

I personally would wager, if forced to, we will see KPL get some run and Irvin in the spinner role. But, I'm not sure how that translates to facing a QB playing well, in Cam, and how Simon and Maxwell we'll feel.

 

[jammerhawk]

Pressure from the ends in my opinion.. I feel like our energy needs to be more spread out on the line. It seemed like everyone was crowded yesterday.

Just my opinion, I may be wrong...

Yup, that's why Marsh is missed. He brought energy, for sure.

On a team where rotation is a huge deal at all levels, you can't just count the starting 11 when it comes to injuries. We were missing . . .

Starting CB
Starting NB
Starting MLB
Two backup DL that play significant snaps
And have our probowl SS plauing at maybe 75%?


Now consider that some of those guys plays ST's as well . . . ugh.

Thankfully we are slowly getting some of these guys back.

 

[jammerhawk]

Pressure from the ends in my opinion.. I feel like our energy needs to be more spread out on the line. It seemed like everyone was crowded yesterday.

Just my opinion, I may be wrong...

Aside from Mebane the rest of the interior DL is invisible so far. Need to find some pressure from the inside. We miss McDonald.

 

[HawkDabz]

I think the new emphasis on the DB Holding is hurting the Hawks more then we realize. Not by the fact of them getting penalized but by them, but it does not seem to me that they are playing as much press defense. If you really look at the stats the QB'S we have faced have really had good success getting the ball out in under 3 seconds, not giving our pass rush much time to get to them. Im more curious how much press coverage we are playing against these teams. You would think more press would take away alot more of the quick hitters.

 

[SalishHawkFan]

The best way to fix the pass rush without adding a body in a trade.

Is take our best pass rushers off the field as starters.

Bennett and Avril.

My ideal starting line should be:

LEO: Schofield
3T: Williams
NT: Mebane
5T: McDaniel

Then in Nickel bring in:

Irvin
Hill (if available)
Bennett
Avril

Then as the game goes on and opponents are in passing mode keep Bennett and Avril on the field more in Base D.

But I think that is what we are missing from last year.

Our Defensive Scheme wore out the opponents O-Line and our Nickel D would flourish.

This year our D-Line is getting worn out by O-Lines and Bennett and Avril aren't finishing off plays like last year because they aren't as fresh late in the games.

So the easiest solution is just go back to a D-Line that will kick the opponents offensive lines ass throughout the first half and get a Nickel rotation that can come in fresh and make big energy plays.

Bennett's already paid so I think he'll to everything he can to help the team.

Avril is the one that needs to make the sacrifice since he's in his contract year but the fact that he has 0 sacks in 6 games, could convince him to being bench and going back to the formula of last years D-ine that was more productive for him.

Well said.

 

[SalishHawkFan]

I think the new emphasis on the DB Holding is hurting the Hawks more then we realize. Not by the fact of them getting penalized but by them, but it does not seem to me that they are playing as much press defense. If you really look at the stats the QB'S we have faced have really had good success getting the ball out in under 3 seconds, not giving our pass rush much time to get to them. Im more curious how much press coverage we are playing against these teams. You would think more press would take away alot more of the quick hitters.

I think you're hitting the other issue here besides what Pan brought up. Hawkblogger brought up the same issue: Defenses across the board are giving up more passing yards while sacks and pressure are all down. Last year only two defenses gave up passer ratings greater than 99. This year there are 8, including the Seahawks who had the lowest last season. The reason? The new rules. Teams can't play as aggressively with press coverage. Our team was specificaly built to thrive under press coverage. So we're hurt the worst. At the same time, we've had a plague of injuries to the secondary. Once we get Lane and Maxwell back, then we'll see if the new rules have totally gutted Pete's defensive philosophy or if they can lock down WR's long enough for the 4 man rush to get home.

 

[hoxrox]

This stat in Espn.com's power rankings say it all about our pass rush this year :

"The Seahawks pressured opposing quarterbacks on an NFL-high 33 percent of dropbacks in 2013. They rank last at 17 percent in 2014."

While this is very telling, it would still be interesting to see what the the average down and distances are this year vs last year.

When teams are dumping it off real quick or running it on 3rd and short, pass rush won't do much.