Did Cable simplify the blocking scheme?

The line performed really well against imho, a Top 5 defensive line.

Watching the previous games I thought that they were being asked to do too much because they would hit a defensive lineman, pass him off to no one, then head for the 2nd level. Meanwhile the Dlineman they let go hammers Russell. Saw this over and over again.

So I'm listening to Clayton on the 710 podcast and he basically says the same thing. I've typed it as close to verbatim as I can.

"It just shows that maybe there is hope for this line, it seems that Russell was taking more snaps behind center, to try to make it easier for the line to block instead of having him in shotgun.

Spacing was better, seemed like more of a simpler offensive line blocking. It wasn't power blocking, it was still zone blocking, but it didn't seem to have too many excesses, and it seemed to coordinate better.

The fact that you can take an undrafted rookie against a very good defensive line..."

Thoughts?

Here's the link to the podcast:

John Clayton assesses the Seahawks' overtime loss to the undefeated Bengals on Sunday and talks about if there's more to be discouraged than encouraged by.

http://mynorthwest.com/category/pod_pla ... nd%20Moore

Still watching but Britt seemed to have been better. I do wonder if they're masking some of the issues w/ Gilliam in the run game by going to more "I" and 2TE because he's always getting pushed into the backfield.

all i know is that they blocked better for the first 3 quarters and actually looked like a decent o line

2Cool4School":1i1ctbbk said:

all i know is that they blocked better for the first 3 quarters and actually looked like a decent o line

Click to expand...

They didn't block horribly in the last quarter and OT either seeing as the Bengals had 8 men in the box on every 1st and 2nd down. All of our 3rd downs were relatively manageable, but we ran unimaginative, canned pass plays on every occasion.

sam1313":3f3o43ev said:

2Cool4School":3f3o43ev said:

all i know is that they blocked better for the first 3 quarters and actually looked like a decent o line

Click to expand...

They didn't block horribly in the last quarter and OT either seeing as the Bengals had 8 men in the box on every 1st and 2nd down. All of our 3rd downs were relatively manageable, but we ran unimaginative, canned pass plays on every occasion.

Click to expand...

True......the playcalling is what really caused failed 3rd downs. .....................bevell

ivotuk":1934js0v said:

"...It just shows that maybe there is hope for this line, it seems that Russell was taking more snaps behind center, to try to make it easier for the line to block instead of having him in shotgun.

Click to expand...

I heard this part to and wondered: why is it easier to pass block with the QB under center rather than in the shotgun?

HawkGA":1o3polsb said:

ivotuk" "[i said:

It just shows that maybe there is hope for this line, it seems that Russell was taking more snaps behind center, to try to make it easier for the line to block instead of having him in shotgun.

Click to expand...

I heard this part to and wondered: why is it easier to pass block with the QB under center rather than in the shotgun?

Click to expand...

Eyes are always on the denfense. One of the reasons Walsh and Holmgren hated the shotgun.

Really hampered by the holding call on Okung and illegal block by Gilliam in the fourth and overtime. Those two 10-yard penalties threw a monkey wrench into what we were trying to do.

seahawkfreak":33u9fkxr said:

HawkGA":33u9fkxr said:

ivotuk" "[i said:

It just shows that maybe there is hope for this line, it seems that Russell was taking more snaps behind center, to try to make it easier for the line to block instead of having him in shotgun.

Click to expand...

I heard this part to and wondered: why is it easier to pass block with the QB under center rather than in the shotgun?

Click to expand...

Eyes are always on the denfense. One of the reasons Walsh and Holmgren hated the shotgun.

Click to expand...

Thank you for my response and pardon my naivete, but where are the eyes when in shotgun?

HawkGA":16rsauho said:

Thank you for my response and pardon my naivete, but where are the eyes when in shotgun?

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Watching the path of the snap into his hands... head and eyes remain focused on the flight of the ball.

When under center, eyes are watching the defense's every step.

onanygivensunday":5nbhf8b6 said:

HawkGA":5nbhf8b6 said:

Thank you for my response and pardon my naivete, but where are the eyes when in shotgun?

Click to expand...

Watching the path of the snap into his hands... head and eyes remain focused on the flight of the ball.

When under center, eyes are watching the defense's every step.

Click to expand...

Defensive alignments are also different and there is more area for the O-line to have to protect when in shotgun. Most teams play their defense to try to contain Russell. When Russell is in the shotgun, teams come crashing up the middle while the ends basically mush rush to keep Russell in the pocket. When Russell is under center, the middle of the defensive line doesn't want to flush him out, so they tend to wait just a tick longer to see where the ball is going and if it is run or pass, effectively slowing the rush down.

Why it took 5 games to change things up is a mystery, but just like every year under Bevell, the offense goes through the first month of the season playing like crap before making changes. What the defense can do in a 12 minute span at halftime takes the offense a month.