Lack of Pass Rush

[Seahawlnut89]

First ever post.

I've liked how this team has looked so far this preseason, but I think the lack of a consistent pass rush, and the d-line depth in general, will eventually show itself to be this team's Achilles heel.

This group of linebackers has shown itself capable of generating good pressure, but I fear veteran QBs will take advantage of the blitz. It will be interesting to see what moves this team makes before Week 1.

 

[Ad Hawk]

Welcome, and good post.

If our pass-rush is even decent, I'd be thrilled this year.

Add in some creative blitzing, and things could be down-right hectic in opponents' backfields.

 

[sutz]

You won't get a lot of argument around here. We've been discussing it a lot.

Tonight, we ran a lot of LB blitzes in different packages. It's definitely a boom or bust strategy, though. If it doesn't get home, there will be huge holes in the zone. Most pro offenses can exploit that. I can't see us doing it that much when the games count for real. They're just trying stuff out for now.

Gonna be tricky, for sure.

 

[Jazzhawk]

First ever post.

I've liked how this team has looked so far this preseason, but I think the lack of a consistent pass rush, and the d-line depth in general, will eventually show itself to be this team's Achilles heel.

This group of linebackers has shown itself capable of generating good pressure, but I fear veteran QBs will take advantage of the blitz. It will be interesting to see what moves this team makes before Week 1.

Ziggy Ansah, LJ Collier.

Be patient.

 

[Chawker]

Welcome to .Net

I think we'll be fine after all our defensive lineman are all back, Ziggy, Collier and Reed along with Woods.

 

[Seahawlnut89]

I'm excited to see Ziggy and Collier as well, but both will be coming off injuries, so I'm still a bit nervous.

 

[LymonHawk]

Welcome Rook! IMHO: this is only pre-season. These games are for warming up the mental/physical game, trying out new plays, polishing up old plays, teaching rookies the system, watching chemistry, etc, etc. I seriously doubt the starters tonight will be the exact same starters on opening night.

Win & loses doesn't really mean anything...blah, blah, blah. I'm more concerned about no serious injuries. To me that's the real danger. YMMV And that's just one guy's opinion.

But welcome to the Zoo, hope you'll enjoy it as much I have over the years. Read the rules. And finally let me say, Go 'Hawks!! :les:

 

[WestcoastSteve]

First ever post.

I've liked how this team has looked so far this preseason, but I think the lack of a consistent pass rush, and the d-line depth in general, will eventually show itself to be this team's Achilles heel.

This group of linebackers has shown itself capable of generating good pressure, but I fear veteran QBs will take advantage of the blitz. It will be interesting to see what moves this team makes before Week 1.

Ziggy Ansah, LJ Collier.

Be patient.

Ansah and Reed will be nice but we don't know if Collier is even a good pass rusher to be honest.

 

[Grahamhawker]

What I really want to know is who they are trying to hide by starting Cassius Marsh?

 

[xray]

What we've seen sending everybody on pass rush will maybe work about once a game in the regular season . Much more than that and any decent QB will kill us .

 

[KitsapGuy]

 

[Jville]

Linebackers are typically more mobile than linemen and introduce more uncertainty than straight forward 4 down linemen pass rushes. Mychal Kendricks was a monster, last Saturday, in what is shaping up to be a rather scary rotation of linebackers. I viewed the 1st half defensive game plan verses the Chargers as a preview of what to expect for the two Arizona Cardinal games.

More diversity for 2019. Different game plans tailored for different opponents.

And why not >>> [urltargetblank]https://www.fieldgulls.com/2019/8/25/20831755/nfl-seahawks-chargers-preseason-bobby-wagner-wright-kendricks-sacks-pass-rush-evaluation[/urltargetblank]

I have little doubt we'll see the line rush take shape as the season unfolds.

 

[olyfan63]

What I really want to know is who they are trying to hide by starting Cassius Marsh?

I believe the ugly truth is that Cassius "Almost" Marsh was the best pass-rusher available to fill that slot at game-time.
At times, Marsh does, surprisingly, seem to generate pressure, though he rarely finishes the deal.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

.
At times, Marsh does, surprisingly, seem to generate pressure, though he rarely finishes the deal.

It says that on his player profile, "the poor man's Bruce Irvin." When you ALMOST want a sack, Cassius is your man.

We obviously have some pass rush issues with Clark's departure, Reed's suspension, Collier's injury and not seeing Ansah yet.........but it's also hard to judge pass rush in the pre-season when everyone's playing vanilla base defenses and not tipping our hand with exotic blitz packages and schemes.

I do think we're going to play a LOT of base defense this year and rely on our superior LB corp to be blitz, be disruptive and handle the lion's share of the responsibility in short to intermediate coverage and gap/fit responsibility.

This should give us enough time for Reed's return and Ansah/Collier to get their legs under them by week 5-6.

 

[vin.couve12]

Our most productive edge rusher right now isn't Marsh, it's Martin, but low and behold I've seen him in coverage more than rushing the passer. It's really weird because when he does get a chance to rush the passer then he gets pressure regularly. I'm not sure what they're doing there unless they're simply trying to see what they have from other players.

Really looking forward to Ansah and Collier returning. I definitely don't want to be sending 1 or 2 blitzers at the rate we have. Those tend to be boom or bust plays.

 

[AgentDib]

We're not going to be generating many sacks in the first six games. However, we may be able to generate just enough pressure on third downs to force throws and give our defensive backs a chance to make some plays. Once Reed comes back it should get a little better, particularly if Collier can grow into that third down 3T role over the course of the season.

I do think there's a good chance that we add help in the next week either from the waiver wire or a trade.

 

[McGruff]

Our most productive edge rusher right now isn't Marsh, it's Martin, but low and behold I've seen him in coverage more than rushing the passer. It's really weird because when he does get a chance to rush the passer then he gets pressure regularly. I'm not sure what they're doing there unless they're simply trying to see what they have from other players.

Really looking forward to Ansah and Collier returning. I definitely don't want to be sending 1 or 2 blitzers at the rate we have. Those tend to be boom or bust plays.

Pete has a frustrating pattern of trying to make pass rushers into complete players, rather than just allowing them to develop their strengths

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Our most productive edge rusher right now isn't Marsh, it's Martin, but low and behold I've seen him in coverage more than rushing the passer. It's really weird because when he does get a chance to rush the passer then he gets pressure regularly. I'm not sure what they're doing there unless they're simply trying to see what they have from other players.

Really looking forward to Ansah and Collier returning. I definitely don't want to be sending 1 or 2 blitzers at the rate we have. Those tend to be boom or bust plays.

Pete has a frustrating pattern of trying to make pass rushers into complete players, rather than just allowing them to develop their strengths

The way Pete plays defense he needs complete players, it's why he loves the Mingo, Marsh, Irvin, Martin, Collier, Bennett style of players that can play all along the line.

That's not a bad thing, it means you can have a very pliable versatile D-line that can play against different offenses and schemes. But you need the players, and you need a lot of them to keep their snaps down......and really that's been our problem for the past 3-4 years. Quality of depth.

 

[Mad Dog]

Our most productive edge rusher right now isn't Marsh, it's Martin, but low and behold I've seen him in coverage more than rushing the passer. It's really weird because when he does get a chance to rush the passer then he gets pressure regularly. I'm not sure what they're doing there unless they're simply trying to see what they have from other players.

Really looking forward to Ansah and Collier returning. I definitely don't want to be sending 1 or 2 blitzers at the rate we have. Those tend to be boom or bust plays.

Pete has a frustrating pattern of trying to make pass rushers into complete players, rather than just allowing them to develop their strengths

Because his defensive philosophy is based on stopping the run, making you a one dimensional passing team, limiting the deep shots and forcing you to dink and dunk to victory. Can't have pass rushers that can be run upon. Everyone including cornerbacks must reliably stop the run.

This is why I'm not so concerned about pass rush since every team is just going to do the same thing they always do against us which is put receivers in zones in front or behind the linebackers and make quick throws into those zones. If they have good OL then they run the zones behind the LBs. If they have weak OL then they run the zones in front of the LBs.

Our big hope is that our offense can explode and force more aggressiveness and risk from the opposing offense. That will play better into the pass rushes hands. But generally the games we play are so tight, opponents are happy with low risk throws and we are happy to oblige them then pull the game out in the 4th quarter.

And it does seem silly to worry about a pass rush when Collier, Ansah and Reed haven't played much or at all. Guys like Marsh, Martin, Green are rotational guys. And its still better than what we had in the Clemons years.

 

[orca]

And it does seem silly to worry about a pass rush when Collier, Ansah and Reed haven't played much or at all. Guys like Marsh, Martin, Green are rotational guys.

But, but, but... Reed is out for the first six games and what if

• 
  - Ansah misses games because of injury,
  - Collier misses games because of injury (and currently we don't know how good he would be, anyway) and
  - ***fingerscrossed*** Kendricks' trial turns out bad for him (and the Seahawks)?

That would be the worst case, obviously, but we'd be really in trouble if so. Martin looks decent, but Green would need to step up big time! And Marsh, well, I have my doubts about him contributing constantly. Maybe he'll surprise me!

With our young DB's we need a very good pass rush and I worry about it, especially for the first six games without Reed. Hopefully our offense scores a ton of points... :34853_tinfoil: