There is a lot of variables to take into account. The amount of sacks the QBs take under Pete Carroll was staggering to me and for a QB to go publicly asking for better protection was eye opening.
They diverted from the original approach after a single play call destroyed it. The locker room was lost and people left or didnt buy in anymore. Who's fault was that? They still had good to great regular seasons but failed in the post season afterwards.
Asking the present team to have a DVOA like the pre 2016 teams is asking a lot. The make-up is totally different. Right now the team seems to gave a deep backfield but who knows how effective it will be. The defense is suspect at best and will be nowhere near what those pre 2016 defenses were.
I dont know where this overwhelming evidence is coming from that you see.
To Russ bringing up the protection. It's not evidence of how bad it was. It was Russ diverting blame from himself and placing it on the offense. The same offense Russ failed in, Geno excelled. The same offense Russ got sacked 40 plus times in, Geno did as well, AND set franchise records in a few categories, garnered MVP attentio and won CPOTY, while relying on 2 rookies and an outmatched center.
Russ blames the running centric attack as well. Too conservative he said. What was credited in turning the 2021 team around? The running game. 2020? Same.
Did Geno have issues with the running game? No. Other than when it broke. Was he slinging it, bent on accumulating stats? No.
You are taking the arguments of a player who was trying to position himself for his next big payday, knowing he wasnt going to get it from his current team. Why? Because they knew his game. Who didnt know? The Broncos, Eagles and anyone but the DCs and players who faced Russ on a regular basis. To all but them he'd reached HOF status.
So he went about solidifying the positive spin, and casting any doubt in his game to his coaches.
Did Russ suffer some tough years behind the line? Yes. But if it was the abomination you and he claimed, he nor Geno wouldnt have put up all time numbers behind it.
1.Some sacks are due to failure of blocking.
2. Some sacks are due to poor play on the qbs part.
3. And some are due to philosophy.
In Seattle, the proportion of those in category 2 and 3 was likely considerably higher than average given the overall attitude toward TOs and the player who was under center.
So every conversation about line play, in retrospect, needs to start with those three basic ideas. And if you are taking whatever Russ said, you have to take it with the understanding that ANY admission that his game was ANYTHUNG other than HOF worthy was a dollar out of his pocket. If he agreed with Seattle's perspective on his play, that woukd resulted in him swallowing his pride and taking less money.
If he openly said, ' we struggle at times because I STRUGGLE to decipher defense and can't always see my Wr's' , that would be money out of his pocket from whatever team he was going to and diminish his ability to go where he wanted.
You just can't look at these things in isolation.
What you can definitely say, is that the protection was good enough for Geno to out up all franchise type numbers. And, the weaknesses we suffered last year will no doubt be addressed by our tackles having more experience, bringing on two interior lineman (and by all measures, outstanding players) to man Center and Guard.
That's direct evidence. That's cause and effect. That's directly addressing a weakness that isn't muddled over by slow qb play and is helped immensely by being able to see game in and game out how okays are designed, which work and which don't. Which blocking schemes are effective, which lineman played well and which didn't. ALL OF THAT was exceedingly difficult to determine with Russ running his own offense.
That's gone. The players and system we gave in place now are solid, and can grow through adjustments game to game and season to season.
It's obvious.
I wonder why...
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