Keys to the Game: That they don't talk about.

[Shock2k]

In year's past, we would have that happen to us quite often as well. Teams would turn quick dump passes into 8-10 yard gains and move down the field. This defense though seems to understand that they all have their part to play and they stay in their lanes and they are always where they are supposed to be. I've noticed a dramatic decrease in yards after the catch from teams playing against us compared to what they do to other teams. I think this is a win for our defense.

So are you saying the need to "stay in their lanes"... boss? :thirishdrinkers:

It's a good point. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't think the Seahawks won't be prepared.

Yards after the catch against is a stat I need to go find.

 

[Omaha]

I've thought about this too, I wonder if we can just send a LB to hit Moreno at the line of scrimmage as if he is a blocker or somehow obstruct his route leaking out. It's completely legal to knock guys down behind the line of scrimmage as they are designated blockers so I expect some nasty hits if they are attempting to leak under the press.

Welker and Moreno seem to be the "safety valves" for Manning, if they can take the outside WR away and only deal with J. Thomas in zones, we could use M. Smith and Irvin or Wright to cover these jerks underneath.

I would think sending an LB up the field would disrupt your zone coverage and being an RB, and hitting would be less effective against KM unlike a small WR like welker. Also if that LB misses, it could result in a big play as you now have one less tackler back there - I dont see PC taking that gamble when the entire defense is predicated on preventing the big play.

As to safety valves, its depends on the situation and it could be any of the 5 but usually JT or Moreno.

 

[kidhawk]

In year's past, we would have that happen to us quite often as well. Teams would turn quick dump passes into 8-10 yard gains and move down the field. This defense though seems to understand that they all have their part to play and they stay in their lanes and they are always where they are supposed to be. I've noticed a dramatic decrease in yards after the catch from teams playing against us compared to what they do to other teams. I think this is a win for our defense.

So are you saying the need to "stay in their lanes"... boss? :thirishdrinkers:

It's a good point. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't think the Seahawks won't be prepared.

Yards after the catch against is a stat I need to go find.

Yes Boss :thirishdrinkers:


I don't know where to find it, but just from watching the games, I'd have to say that our defense probably has one of the top few lowest YAC allowed this season. Between Earl, Kam, Wagner, Bryant, Bennett, etc. These guys are just on top of guys in the short passing game.

 

[Shock2k]

Got it:
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats ... owed/2013/

We are best in the league at YAC allowed. #1. This makes me feel A LOT better about this.

 

[12th_Bob]

Basically, I'm saying, take a play from Baltimore, not every down of course but when they run the bunches and send someone across the formation underneath, knock him down. A Kam isn't going to miss that opportunity.

Pretty much what happened to Ward a couple years ago when he had lost his speed, Pitt would line up 2x2 on each side of the line of scrimmage and run Ward across underneath, they just started knocking him down, it worked beautifully.

The big factor Seattle needs to win when Denver is one offense however is getting pressure up the middle. Denver is great at both OG but they could disrupt with some well executed stunts against the C/OG doubles, I expect Quinn to have an excellent plan disrupting the middle as we faced a great interior in New Orleans and were able to get Brees off the spot many times. If it weren't for Brees excellent mobility in the pocket he would of ended up sacked about 4 more times.

Peyton will probably throw away in those situations but an incomplete is a win for the defense.

 

[pmedic920]

You guys are awesome at this stuff, I'm not. What I do know is this. Seems to me most are saying PM is just to good to be stopped. I feel that as long as our "D" bring their A game. They are to good to be beat. It's been said for ages that " DEFENSE wins championships"
I've always said that " if your defense is good enough, it only takes a safety (2pts) to win a game.
GoHawks.

 

[Milehighhawk]

Sproles was a much bigger threat out of the backfield catching balls than Moreno so I think it is a safe comparison. Sproles caught 71 (!) balls at an average clip of 8.5 yds/catch in the regular season. In the two games against the Seahawks he did the following:

Divisional: 5 Rec/32 yds/6.4 average
Week 13: 7 Rec/32 yds/4.6 average

Note that in both games he exceeded his catches per game average of around 4.4. Yet both performances were well below his season averages in yards and average. This means that his lower output wasn't due to fewer targets but because the Hawks were on him as soon as he received the ball.

Not really worried about Moreno torching us catching the ball.

my 2 cents..

 

[kearly]

I picked up Moreno on waiver wires very early in the season and rode that horse to a pair of points championships in my two leagues. I've watched a lot of Denver offense this year and while I respect Moreno and think he's an excellent well rounded player, as a runner he's very average and most of his value comes from excellent execution. He's a good pass blocker and he's good at catching the ball in stride and taking what defenses give him in the passing game. Which is usually a lot because most defenses already have their hands totally full with Thomas-Decker-Welker-Thomas.

I think he'll see a lot of touches in this game, but I'd be pretty surprised if he rips off any 25 yard receptions like he always seems to do every game against average defenses. Seattle is going to be playing a short field, almost like a red zone defense, to counter Denver's obvious game plan to attack short. Combine that with Seattle's incredible team speed on defense and it's not a recipe for a big day from Moreno.

I think their best weapon on offense will probably be Welker. I'm not sure if we have the quickness to defend him consistently on short timing routes. Welker was hard to stop in 2012 when he faced Seattle (Patriots), and he was hard to stop in the 2013 preseason game too.

 

[Sarlacc83]

This is why I'm glad we have KJ Wright. He's got a nose for running backs leaking out from behind the line.

 

[Hawks46]

It's not about how good the LB's are. It's about how situational aware they are. Which these guys are. They are well studied. But when you get pulled off because they overload a side and start running go's... what I was seeing was about 15 to 20 yards of space for Knowshon to run in. Think that one unplanned Russell pass to Beast, where he through it across his body. Just wide open spaces.

This is how Manning is burring good secondary's. And I'm expecting to see it this game.

Our linebackers are fast, but the scheme gets them out of position. Just interesting. Like I said, I'm curious how that turns out.

Most team need to play safeties as "help" for the corners and that requires linebackers to move to a stacked side. I think you will see our linebackers not being controlled by that because Seattle can leave both CB's on an island and Kam can cover also. If Seattle reads it right then Manning will get is 5 yd dump off, but there will not be yards after catch that the Broncos usually see.

This. I've seen Julius Thomas, their TE, making most of his catches against zone coverage. He also beats LBers one on one, but we can man up a LB or Kam on him and eliminate him. The deal is that there are teams that take away Decker and D. Thomas and then Welker and J. Thomas beat them. The theory is that there are just too many weapons to cover at once, and once teams get beat they go into a Cover 2 shell to protect the seams and deep stuff, and then Manning goes to the run game or throws screens.

The one thing that really bothers me, and the Hawks might have to switch it up, is that (I think) Schlereth was on the radio and he said Manning will just put D. Thomas, Decker and Welker on one side and let Sherman have either J. Thomas or their #4 Wideout. It makes sense, we're talking about Sherman just eliminating his side of the field, yet it makes no sense for Denver to just trot out their top wideout to get erased by Sherm. So, they stack up and let D. Thomas and Welker match up against Thurmond and Lane.

Anyone here think Thurmond erases D. Thomas or Lane is a good matchup on Welker ? Personally, I think they can cover those guys, but they won't blanket them and there will definately be opportunities.

Conversely, if Seattle can match up well against Denver's spread and erase 3 to 4 options, then put a LB on Moreno (KJ and Irvin are both great against backs out their side), Manning won't have anywhere to go. if we're holding them for 2-3 seconds, our pass rush WILL get there. On top of that, if we can erase all his weapons, we can also send Wagner on a delay.

There are so many things Denver can do, it really does worry me. I see them in the 17-24 point range, meaning our offense better not crap the bed or we're in for it. We have to play a balanced game to beat them, but if we play a good game on both sides of the ball, it's going to fall apart for them I think.

Then again, NE held Denver pretty damned well until Talib went out, then things fell apart for them. They also abandoned the run way too early; if they had pounded the ball with Blount and found a way to scheme Pot Roast out of it....Denver's defense is very light outside of Knighton and teams like San Diego have really worn them down.

 

[Largent80]

I think SF was a lot harder to defend than Denver is, and we did that 2 out of 3 times.

Conversely, Our offense matches up really well vs. their defense.

 

[ivotuk]

Kicking game. Down inside the twenty.
No blocked kicks
Coverage
Know the range Hauschka is comfortable with Sunday

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

...........
I think their best weapon on offense will probably be Welker. I'm not sure if we have the quickness to defend him consistently on short timing routes. Welker was hard to stop in 2012 when he faced Seattle (Patriots), and he was hard to stop in the 2013 preseason game too.

Agree with this kearly. Even though Kam will put the wood to him a couple of times over the middle, he is resilient and tough.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

........if we're holding them for 2-3 seconds, our pass rush WILL get there. On top of that, if we can erase all his weapons, we can also send Wagner on a delay.....

If the Hawks do this they win the game going away. The golden boy does NOT deal with pressure well at all. Cover for just those 3 seconds LOB, it's all your team needs.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

...........
I think their best weapon on offense will probably be Welker. I'm not sure if we have the quickness to defend him consistently on short timing routes. Welker was hard to stop in 2012 when he faced Seattle (Patriots), and he was hard to stop in the 2013 preseason game too.

Agree with this kearly. Even though Kam will put the wood to him a couple of times over the middle, he is resilient and tough.

The key to Welker is to prevent the yards after catch, that's when he's dangerous.

The dude catches 12 balls a game, but 11 of them are within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage off of quick outs and crosses. Jam him at the line, then make sure he goes down immediately with much force. He should be limping by midway through the 3rd qtr.

 

[mikeak]

OP - great post

I did actually listen to this argument on ESPN. I believe it was Mark Schleret 1-2 days ago that pointed out Moreno's stats catching the ball.

They also discussed today how prior to the playoffs Denver was averaging about 7 plays per scoring drive and they took 3 minutes. In the playoffs they are going about 12 plays and 6 minutes. So going through Moreno both on the ground and shorter passing plays that may or may not develop is definately what they have been doing

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

...........
I think their best weapon on offense will probably be Welker. I'm not sure if we have the quickness to defend him consistently on short timing routes. Welker was hard to stop in 2012 when he faced Seattle (Patriots), and he was hard to stop in the 2013 preseason game too.

Agree with this kearly. Even though Kam will put the wood to him a couple of times over the middle, he is resilient and tough.

The key to Welker is to prevent the yards after catch, that's when he's dangerous.

The dude catches 12 balls a game, but 11 of them are within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage off of quick outs and crosses. Jam him at the line, then make sure he goes down immediately with much force. He should be limping by midway through the 3rd qtr.

Concur 100% Sarge.

 

[hawkfan68]

Wasn't it Kam Chancellor that blew up Welker last year when NE Patriots rolled into town? Hopefully they can get to him early and get one or two hits on him (legal and fair hits). Malcolm Smith might be the wildcard here. Smith is fast enough to cover Welker. I like the Seahawks LBs chances of getting to Welker if he's thrown the ball. Speed and sure tackling is the key. He can have all the 1-5 yards catches as long as he doesn't get many YAC.

 

[Penman96]

donkeys - let's see.

I don't think they will have much success throwing long, or running it. They will probably have more success with short passes. So to score a TD they need to get into the red zone first. I think they will get 4 zed zone visits, of which they get a TD on one, FG's on two others, and they will lose the ball on one red zone visit, going 4 and out, or fumbling. They could also get another FG from longer range.

Those short passes (especially over the middle) will come at a cost, donkey receivers will get hit and hit hard, and given there will be so many opportunities, I'm guessing that one donkey gets knocked out of the game. Add in a turnover or two as well.

I can see donkeys getting 16 points, or if they manage to convert a second TD in the red zone. 20 points. I don't think they get more unless they recover a Seattle turnover. Given in the playoffs they have been scoring 24 - 26 at home against mediocre defences, an estimate of 16 - 20 points away from home against the number 1 defense is a solid prediction.