johnnyfever
Well-known member
Do we have issues? Absolutely. I'm all in to cut loose knj now, but we have been very lucky to have a top nfl Gen manager and coach for a good run. Our main problem on both sides of the ball are 5-15 yard passes. I'm a big russ fan, but he misses a ton of receivers open in this range. This yardage is critical to keep drives going and to force opposing linebackers to back off LOS and cover this area. That opens up the run, which then in turn opens up the long ball.
On defense, we are not disciplined in this area of the field. If you are going to run this zone scheme, our guys have to get better at being ahead of the zone to zone handoff of coverage. If you watch, our midfield defense plants in their zone and only follows coverage after the receiver passes them, leaving us consistently 3 steps behind.
Is Pete partially to blame here? Of course, but if we had a good DC, these issues would be the main focus. Judging from KNJ's press conferences, he seems to put the onus on the players. After 5 games, when we still see the exact same coverage mistakes, it tells me Kenny doesn't have the ability to set up practice schemes to teach jumping routes vs following them.
In any sport, for the maximum improvement, you focus on the weakest points of your game. Sometimes this is individual drills, sometimes team based scenarios. When I see very little to no change from week to week, I put this on lack of position coaches coming up with scenario drills.
Couple examples-
Russ-at practice, limit him to no throws past 15 yards. This forces the offense, including Waldron, to develop repetition in this area when the defense knows what's coming. It also gives the defense tons of snaps to practice zone coverage handoffs, and to be quicker on recognizing offensive players entering and exiting their zones. It forces russ to have to see the middle and make appropriate throws to keep the ball out of harms way.
Defense- develop a drill with no ball. Have offensive players run rub routes, slants, hooks, screens etc. Only work on passing off and accepting players into the defensive zones to be ahead of the receiver, not always behind. As we begin to recognize players coming into zones better, it vastly opens up interception possibilities as most of the time the QB will lead the receiver. If coverage recognizes offensive players coming into the zones, they can jump the route and either break it up or intercept it from the lead side. Basically what Diggs did in the first interception of the season. If we just plant in zone and only follow, it is really easy for opposing offenses to take advantage of the soft spots in that zone.
Pete has by far been the most consistent coach the seahawks have seen in their entire tenure. We have a QB that will most likely be a first ballot HOFer. We have enough talent on both sides of the ball to make it happen. If we fire Pete, we would be firing one of the most consistently winning head coaches in nfl history. Seems like a knee jerk reaction to me. I'm guessing the worst case scenario this season will be 10-7. With the salary cap, it is extremely hard to have a consistently winning team. No top draft picks, players salaries once done with rookie contracts limit free agency top level pickups. Pete and John have done better than almost every other team except the patriots on managing this with late round and undrafted guys. We can't just go out and buy offensive lines, shutdown corners, pass rushers etc. Money just isn't there. I love the posts that completely forget there is a salary cap.
Another thing we do poorly is maximizing player strengths. We tend to force players into our scheme vs altering our scheme to fit our talent. Jamal is a baller, but they have him in a scheme that minimizes what he does best. Bring the corner backs up to the LOS to disrupt the receivers In the first 5 yards. This throws the timing off. Bring Jamal in from the edge to rush. Let Diggs pickup the long routes if a CB makes a mistake when jamming the receiver off the line. We are not disrupting the timing at all of opposing offenses. We are being reactionary vs forcing them into what we want to do. I would line up Jamal on whatever side they stack receivers. This allows him to do a quick jam knocking the receiver off the intended route, then he can pick inside or out of the edge setter on the opposing OL. The main thing here though is knocking off their timing. It will also force opposing offenses turn burn a position, like a TE, to help with the edge rush. The legion of boom was great at this, but for some reason we have gotten away from being aggressive here and instead play off the receivers 10 yards at the snap.
Anyway, my biggest frustration is not seeing improvement in midfield zone handoffs and jamming receivers at the LOS. We are getting slayed in this area. This 10 day stretch would be a perfect time to focus on this.
On defense, we are not disciplined in this area of the field. If you are going to run this zone scheme, our guys have to get better at being ahead of the zone to zone handoff of coverage. If you watch, our midfield defense plants in their zone and only follows coverage after the receiver passes them, leaving us consistently 3 steps behind.
Is Pete partially to blame here? Of course, but if we had a good DC, these issues would be the main focus. Judging from KNJ's press conferences, he seems to put the onus on the players. After 5 games, when we still see the exact same coverage mistakes, it tells me Kenny doesn't have the ability to set up practice schemes to teach jumping routes vs following them.
In any sport, for the maximum improvement, you focus on the weakest points of your game. Sometimes this is individual drills, sometimes team based scenarios. When I see very little to no change from week to week, I put this on lack of position coaches coming up with scenario drills.
Couple examples-
Russ-at practice, limit him to no throws past 15 yards. This forces the offense, including Waldron, to develop repetition in this area when the defense knows what's coming. It also gives the defense tons of snaps to practice zone coverage handoffs, and to be quicker on recognizing offensive players entering and exiting their zones. It forces russ to have to see the middle and make appropriate throws to keep the ball out of harms way.
Defense- develop a drill with no ball. Have offensive players run rub routes, slants, hooks, screens etc. Only work on passing off and accepting players into the defensive zones to be ahead of the receiver, not always behind. As we begin to recognize players coming into zones better, it vastly opens up interception possibilities as most of the time the QB will lead the receiver. If coverage recognizes offensive players coming into the zones, they can jump the route and either break it up or intercept it from the lead side. Basically what Diggs did in the first interception of the season. If we just plant in zone and only follow, it is really easy for opposing offenses to take advantage of the soft spots in that zone.
Pete has by far been the most consistent coach the seahawks have seen in their entire tenure. We have a QB that will most likely be a first ballot HOFer. We have enough talent on both sides of the ball to make it happen. If we fire Pete, we would be firing one of the most consistently winning head coaches in nfl history. Seems like a knee jerk reaction to me. I'm guessing the worst case scenario this season will be 10-7. With the salary cap, it is extremely hard to have a consistently winning team. No top draft picks, players salaries once done with rookie contracts limit free agency top level pickups. Pete and John have done better than almost every other team except the patriots on managing this with late round and undrafted guys. We can't just go out and buy offensive lines, shutdown corners, pass rushers etc. Money just isn't there. I love the posts that completely forget there is a salary cap.
Another thing we do poorly is maximizing player strengths. We tend to force players into our scheme vs altering our scheme to fit our talent. Jamal is a baller, but they have him in a scheme that minimizes what he does best. Bring the corner backs up to the LOS to disrupt the receivers In the first 5 yards. This throws the timing off. Bring Jamal in from the edge to rush. Let Diggs pickup the long routes if a CB makes a mistake when jamming the receiver off the line. We are not disrupting the timing at all of opposing offenses. We are being reactionary vs forcing them into what we want to do. I would line up Jamal on whatever side they stack receivers. This allows him to do a quick jam knocking the receiver off the intended route, then he can pick inside or out of the edge setter on the opposing OL. The main thing here though is knocking off their timing. It will also force opposing offenses turn burn a position, like a TE, to help with the edge rush. The legion of boom was great at this, but for some reason we have gotten away from being aggressive here and instead play off the receivers 10 yards at the snap.
Anyway, my biggest frustration is not seeing improvement in midfield zone handoffs and jamming receivers at the LOS. We are getting slayed in this area. This 10 day stretch would be a perfect time to focus on this.
