The importance of Unger

"He's an expert at recognizing looks and calls and directing what's going on there so it just stands to reason that we maximize more so with him there."

In fact, you could argue that Seattle might be riding a 10-game win streak were it not for Unger's injury.

Unger left the game in Kansas City with the ankle injury midway through the fourth quarter, the Seahawks facing a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line. A touchdown would have given Seattle the lead.

The next three plays gained a total of 2 yards and Seattle turned the ball over on downs after a fourth-down incompletion to Doug Baldwin. Seattle had two more possessions after that but gained a total of one first down on the next two drives, losing 24-20.

http://mynorthwest.com/292/2684020/ONei ... the-middle

Nice post...totally agree.
Here's one to make you smile!

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5224/max-unger
Seahawks C Max Unger (high-ankle sprain) is expected to be ready for Saturday's Divisional Round game against the Panthers.
Unger has been sidelined since Week 12, and made just two appearances since Week 5. He's one of the league's better centers when healthy, so it's a nice boost for the defending champions.

When you combine getting Unger back with the absence of Star, Panther LB's are in for a long day.

I heard another pleasing stat this morning. The games Unger's started this year, our rushing yards double.........in fact most of the games he's started we've rushed for over 200 yards.

Largent80":3tt18dkl said:

"He's an expert at recognizing looks and calls and directing what's going on there so it just stands to reason that we maximize more so with him there."

In fact, you could argue that Seattle might be riding a 10-game win streak were it not for Unger's injury.

Unger left the game in Kansas City with the ankle injury midway through the fourth quarter, the Seahawks facing a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line. A touchdown would have given Seattle the lead.

The next three plays gained a total of 2 yards and Seattle turned the ball over on downs after a fourth-down incompletion to Doug Baldwin. Seattle had two more possessions after that but gained a total of one first down on the next two drives, losing 24-20.

http://mynorthwest.com/292/2684020/ONei ... the-middle

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Pete said in his press conference on Tuesday that getting Unger back is huge. He said that although the other guys filled in and did a solid job, the stats show that we are a better offense with Unger at Center. According to your linked article, we rush an average of 50 yards per game more with Unger out there than the other centers. 50 yards of rushing is a HUGE statistical advantage.

I completely agree. But I will say, I was very pleased with how Jeanpierre filled in from a pass protection standpoint. I think he's definitely someone we need to keep with Unger's injury history, and can do so fairly cheap.

ManBunts":2gkqlctq said:

I completely agree. But I will say, I was very pleased with how Jeanpierre filled in from a pass protection standpoint. I think he's definitely someone we need to keep with Unger's injury history, and can do so fairly cheap.

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Patrick Lewis is showing great promise as well.

Having Unger back is huge for the line. He is an elite Center when healthy and you can't underestimate his play calling for the O-line that seems to be missing with the backups. I really like Lewis and LJP as backups and I think Lewis has some nice upside for the future, but right now at this point having Unger back is HUGE. Now I'm going to cross my fingers and hope he can stay healthy for this run.

http://questionabletostart.com/injury-impact-carolina-at-seattle/

Because of Unger’s injuries, I thought it might be interesting to see how Seattle has played with and without him this season. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Seattle averages more yards per carry when Unger is in the lineup. Have a look:

Attempts Yards Avg YPC
Rushing with Unger 205 1223 6
Rushing without Unger 320 1539 4.8

Now go ahead and argue the significance of that 1.2 yards per carry all you like. I’m fine if you want to dismiss it entirely. Seattle had some bad games on the ground with Unger, and some good games without him, so this is not an iron-clad case. But I do think there’s something there.

Not only is he key to the rushing game, but I think the numbers bear out his importance to the QB as well. Think about the first stretch of games he missed this year: DAL, @STL, @CAR, OAK. Besides the second half of the Rams game, Russell had a really, really rough time during this stretch -- arguably the worst of his career. Now that he's built up some rapport with Lewis and LJP, it looks like we have the potential to be somewhat productive with the backups. However, you just can't replace the experience that Russell and Unger have together.

I'm quite confident that we beat KC if Unger doesn't get hurt in the 4th quarter. And who knows what would have happened in the Dallas and St. Louis games if we had him?

I remember the immediate difference when he came back from his first injury. The run game went from rock-solid to absolutely unstoppable.

DavidSeven":39sqcn43 said:

Not only is he key to the rushing game, but I think the numbers bear out his importance to the QB as well. Think about the first stretch of games he missed this year: DAL, @STL, @CAR, OAK. Besides the second half of the Rams game, Russell had a really, really rough time during this stretch -- arguably the worst of his career. Now that he's built up some rapport with Lewis and LJP, it looks like we have the potential to be somewhat productive with the backups. However, you just can't replace the experience that Russell and Unger have together.

I'm quite confident that we beat KC if Unger doesn't get hurt in the 4th quarter. And who knows what would have happened in the Dallas and St. Louis games if we had him?

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Rewatching Rain City Redemption vol 3 part 2 last night and it has a snippet from Brock Huard talking about how Russell meets with Unger every week to go over line calls. He used it as an example of Russell going beyond expectations in his meticulous attention to detail as a QB.

Unger's return is a big, big deal.

Trenchbroom":3mzbii6y said:

DavidSeven":3mzbii6y said:

Not only is he key to the rushing game, but I think the numbers bear out his importance to the QB as well. Think about the first stretch of games he missed this year: DAL, @STL, @CAR, OAK. Besides the second half of the Rams game, Russell had a really, really rough time during this stretch -- arguably the worst of his career. Now that he's built up some rapport with Lewis and LJP, it looks like we have the potential to be somewhat productive with the backups. However, you just can't replace the experience that Russell and Unger have together.

I'm quite confident that we beat KC if Unger doesn't get hurt in the 4th quarter. And who knows what would have happened in the Dallas and St. Louis games if we had him?

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Rewatching Rain City Redemption vol 3 part 2 last night and it has a snippet from Brock Huard talking about how Russell meets with Unger every week to go over line calls. He used it as an example of Russell going beyond expectations in his meticulous attention to detail as a QB.

Unger's return is a big, big deal.

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The line calls were my first thought. I mean, I love what LJP and Lewis did when they filled in admirably for Unger, but who was making the line calls again?

Unger's return is going to be just as valuable for his understanding of defenses as he is for any physical element.

Totally agree about Unger's importance to pre-snap strategy. The problem, as we all know, is his inability to stay healthy. His physique is just so doughy, lacking any muscle-tone definition. Looking to Unger's right on the OL is a stark contrast. Where Unger is mostly gut, Sweezy and Britt are lean and powerful-looking, by NFL linemen standards at least, and they are - if nothing else - the models of playtime consistency. For a team like the Seahawks so progressive on player development and optimization, it's a little jarring to see a player like Unger seemingly so lacking in conditioning, and it's probably a big reason why he is so fragile.

That's of little consequence right now though. What is important is he stay healthy for three more games this season. But next year I wonder if it might be a draft priority to acquire and start developing a center as tactically brilliant as Unger but better conditioned and able to stay healthy. As admirably as LJP and Phillips have filled in, we can agree they are not the tacticians Unger is, and it looks like we are at a consensus of how important that tactical skill is to our style of offense. So next draft I think it's time to invest capital in Unger's field-general replacement.

He got a high ankle sprain. That doesn't mean he is fragile.

High ankle sprain is only Unger's latest injury. When healthy, he reminds me very much of Robbie Tobeck...gonna get overpowered occasionally but his football IQ makes up for that in other ways. The difference is that Unger can't stay healthy. I know that isn't really the player's fault all the time, but there you go. I also don't think Max is mean enough.

Criticisms aside, he's a damn fine center at a reasonable price. I love what our backups game us, especially LJP's versatility, but he definitely helps us out. I just constantly worry about him.

Listening to Clayton on Danny Dave and Moore and Danny O'Neill came up with these numbers:

Max - No Max:

Max: 203 rushing YPG - No Max: 153 rushing YPG

Max: 5.9 YPC - No Max: 4.9 YPC rushing

Max: 2.3 sacks - No Max: 2.9 sacks

bigDhawk":1vjdyrcw said:

...The problem, as we all know, is his inability to stay healthy. His physique is just so doughy, lacking any muscle-tone definition. Looking to Unger's right on the OL is a stark contrast. Where Unger is mostly gut, Sweezy and Britt are lean and powerful-looking, by NFL linemen standards at least, and they are - if nothing else - the models of playtime consistency. For a team like the Seahawks so progressive on player development and optimization, it's a little jarring to see a player like Unger seemingly so lacking in conditioning, and it's probably a big reason why he is so fragile.

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You know, you're onto something here. People talked last year about how that WR dude we ditched... what's his name? Oh yeah, Golden Tate, just had an unimpressive, doughy physique, and people on .NET who saw him in the offseason said he didn't LOOK like an NFL football player, and must be out of shape. Glad we ditched him, let Detroit pick up his sorry, flabby ass. He'll probably just suck for them, with that physique.

ivotuk":10y8p2ze said:

Listening to Clayton on Danny Dave and Moore and Danny O'Neill came up with these numbers:

Max - No Max:

Max: 203 rushing YPG - No Max: 153 rushing YPG

Max: 5.9 YPC - No Max: 4.9 YPC rushing

Max: 2.3 sacks - No Max: 2.9 sacks

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5.9 YPC is absolutely insane in the NFL, just amazing. If we can run like that in the postseason no one is beating us.