Here is what I saw from yesterday’s game:
Defensive Plan
We were clearly not ready to stop the run yesterday from the get go. Our defensive line was shooting the wrong gaps. For some reason, Kam Chancellor was not on the field the first series when Jonathan Stewart broke. Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright were also not coming off of their blocks well. Whatever our game plan was, it wasn’t working. At halftime, something changed. We were no longer waiting for Earl Thomas to save us and make the tackle. Our defensive line became more disciplined. Rubin was making tackles. Bobby and KJ were in better positions and became more explosive breaking through blocks.
Under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, we saw more zone. And we also experienced heartbreak vs. Atlanta in the divisional round (in a similar game). Under defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, we saw more man. In 2013, we had one of the best defenses of all time. Yesterday, we played a lot of zone and it never worked. Especially in the first half. Guys were wide open. In the 2nd half, we did more man. Cam had nowhere to go with the ball. Except when we went back to zone. Watching us play zone defense repeatedly was one of the most frustrating things to watch yesterday! When the Panthers lined up in the bunch formation on about 3rd and 5 in the 2nd quarter and we are playing 7 yards off the ball (I screamed out loud: get up to the line of scrimmage!), all they had to do was throw it short and their receiver ran for the first down. Next season, I hope to see Kris Richards learn from this and go with more man. I know we do not have Byron Maxwell and Brandon Browner anymore, but we still have Lane and Shead who can hold their own.
Offensive Plan
Why did we think that we could just come out and run the ball against Carolina’s defense? Is our offensive line that amazing that we thought this would work? During our winning streak, was it our passing game that shined or our running game? It was our passing game! But for some reason, we didn’t decide to go into our passing mode until it was 31-0. Once we got into the hurry up offense with Fred Jackson on the field (3rd down back), they couldn’t stop us.
Pete Carroll
I love Pete Carroll. I hope he stays for many years in the future. He is a great leader. He commands the respect from the players. He has a great competitive philosophy. However, he has never been a great game manager. When we were down 31-0 in the 2nd quarter and it was 4th and 5, you have to be thinking to yourself: we need five possessions to score 31 points and take this thing into overtime if we want to have a chance. And, we will likely only have another 6 or 7 possessions in the 2nd half. You have to take the field goal in that situation and match what they have scored. Instead, Pete got horomonal (as we have seen before) and we did not convert on 4th down. Our defense then forced a three and out and we got the ball back with 1:11 with no timeouts. All of a sudden, Pete loses his enthusiasm and confidence. The first play, we run the ball with Lynch and this burned the clock. What!? Did he really just run the ball on a 2 minute drill with no timeouts? What happened to the coach that just went for it on 4th and 5? Since our offense began to come together, we still kicked a 55 yard field goal. Unfortunately, that is where Hauschka struggles. We went into halftime down 31-0 when it could have been 31-6 or 31-3. Think about this: on our final possession when we settled for a field goal to make it 31-24, we likely would have went for it to try and tie the game or take the lead had we converted one or both 1st half field goals. Sadly, we did not give ourselves enough possessions to come back and tie.
If you watch some of the great coaches of our day such as Bill Bellichick, you will not see him spending a lot of time yelling at the refs. However, this is what Pete does for most of the game. Most of the time, he is either getting pumped up about something positive on the field or he is yelling at the refs. Yesterday, the refs got tired of it and almost gave him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Those refs called a great game and we got beat on the field. Hopefully, we can see Pete do more coaching and game managing and less working on the refs.
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson is an amazing quarterback and I’m so thankful that he is on our roster. We saw his brilliance yesterday as he threw for 3 touchdowns and led a great comeback. But, we also saw some of the Russell Wilson that sadly characterized him at the beginning of the season. Where was he mentally the first quarter and a half? Definitely, our blocking was not great, but you could tell that a switch was turned on towards the end of the 2nd quarter. He became quicker in his decision making. But, it was simply too late.
On that bomb to Baldwin he overthrew in the 3rd quarter, we lost 2:35 off the clock until we scored again. That was the game. He overthrew Kearse as well.
When he took the sack on 2nd down and it became 3rd and 24, we burned a timeout. On that play, Russell’s first read was Doug Baldwin. He was covered. The Panthers were in the right coverage. Russell’s second look was Marshawn Lynch. He looked right at him. But he didn’t throw the ball. I think Russell got into running mode. He scrambled to his left. Marshawn took his route to Russell’s left as well. Russell looked right at him again but didn’t throw it. Why didn’t he throw the ball? I have no idea. But, it is those kind of plays that can really hurt this offense. Guys are open. But, Wilson wants to scramble. Teams are learning to how to get to him. He took the sack.
Conclusion
Some people say: “The better team won yesterday.” That is simply not true. Sure, they are better in the trenches. But our receivers dominated their secondary and our secondary had a great day against their receivers. The bottom line is: we need better game planning. Hopefully, next season, we will see more man to man defense, and will be prepared on offense from the first quarter to do what the defense is not expecting you to do. And next year, I believe Russell will continue to get better. And, we could use a few more offensive lineman.
Defensive Plan
We were clearly not ready to stop the run yesterday from the get go. Our defensive line was shooting the wrong gaps. For some reason, Kam Chancellor was not on the field the first series when Jonathan Stewart broke. Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright were also not coming off of their blocks well. Whatever our game plan was, it wasn’t working. At halftime, something changed. We were no longer waiting for Earl Thomas to save us and make the tackle. Our defensive line became more disciplined. Rubin was making tackles. Bobby and KJ were in better positions and became more explosive breaking through blocks.
Under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, we saw more zone. And we also experienced heartbreak vs. Atlanta in the divisional round (in a similar game). Under defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, we saw more man. In 2013, we had one of the best defenses of all time. Yesterday, we played a lot of zone and it never worked. Especially in the first half. Guys were wide open. In the 2nd half, we did more man. Cam had nowhere to go with the ball. Except when we went back to zone. Watching us play zone defense repeatedly was one of the most frustrating things to watch yesterday! When the Panthers lined up in the bunch formation on about 3rd and 5 in the 2nd quarter and we are playing 7 yards off the ball (I screamed out loud: get up to the line of scrimmage!), all they had to do was throw it short and their receiver ran for the first down. Next season, I hope to see Kris Richards learn from this and go with more man. I know we do not have Byron Maxwell and Brandon Browner anymore, but we still have Lane and Shead who can hold their own.
Offensive Plan
Why did we think that we could just come out and run the ball against Carolina’s defense? Is our offensive line that amazing that we thought this would work? During our winning streak, was it our passing game that shined or our running game? It was our passing game! But for some reason, we didn’t decide to go into our passing mode until it was 31-0. Once we got into the hurry up offense with Fred Jackson on the field (3rd down back), they couldn’t stop us.
Pete Carroll
I love Pete Carroll. I hope he stays for many years in the future. He is a great leader. He commands the respect from the players. He has a great competitive philosophy. However, he has never been a great game manager. When we were down 31-0 in the 2nd quarter and it was 4th and 5, you have to be thinking to yourself: we need five possessions to score 31 points and take this thing into overtime if we want to have a chance. And, we will likely only have another 6 or 7 possessions in the 2nd half. You have to take the field goal in that situation and match what they have scored. Instead, Pete got horomonal (as we have seen before) and we did not convert on 4th down. Our defense then forced a three and out and we got the ball back with 1:11 with no timeouts. All of a sudden, Pete loses his enthusiasm and confidence. The first play, we run the ball with Lynch and this burned the clock. What!? Did he really just run the ball on a 2 minute drill with no timeouts? What happened to the coach that just went for it on 4th and 5? Since our offense began to come together, we still kicked a 55 yard field goal. Unfortunately, that is where Hauschka struggles. We went into halftime down 31-0 when it could have been 31-6 or 31-3. Think about this: on our final possession when we settled for a field goal to make it 31-24, we likely would have went for it to try and tie the game or take the lead had we converted one or both 1st half field goals. Sadly, we did not give ourselves enough possessions to come back and tie.
If you watch some of the great coaches of our day such as Bill Bellichick, you will not see him spending a lot of time yelling at the refs. However, this is what Pete does for most of the game. Most of the time, he is either getting pumped up about something positive on the field or he is yelling at the refs. Yesterday, the refs got tired of it and almost gave him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Those refs called a great game and we got beat on the field. Hopefully, we can see Pete do more coaching and game managing and less working on the refs.
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson is an amazing quarterback and I’m so thankful that he is on our roster. We saw his brilliance yesterday as he threw for 3 touchdowns and led a great comeback. But, we also saw some of the Russell Wilson that sadly characterized him at the beginning of the season. Where was he mentally the first quarter and a half? Definitely, our blocking was not great, but you could tell that a switch was turned on towards the end of the 2nd quarter. He became quicker in his decision making. But, it was simply too late.
On that bomb to Baldwin he overthrew in the 3rd quarter, we lost 2:35 off the clock until we scored again. That was the game. He overthrew Kearse as well.
When he took the sack on 2nd down and it became 3rd and 24, we burned a timeout. On that play, Russell’s first read was Doug Baldwin. He was covered. The Panthers were in the right coverage. Russell’s second look was Marshawn Lynch. He looked right at him. But he didn’t throw the ball. I think Russell got into running mode. He scrambled to his left. Marshawn took his route to Russell’s left as well. Russell looked right at him again but didn’t throw it. Why didn’t he throw the ball? I have no idea. But, it is those kind of plays that can really hurt this offense. Guys are open. But, Wilson wants to scramble. Teams are learning to how to get to him. He took the sack.
Conclusion
Some people say: “The better team won yesterday.” That is simply not true. Sure, they are better in the trenches. But our receivers dominated their secondary and our secondary had a great day against their receivers. The bottom line is: we need better game planning. Hopefully, next season, we will see more man to man defense, and will be prepared on offense from the first quarter to do what the defense is not expecting you to do. And next year, I believe Russell will continue to get better. And, we could use a few more offensive lineman.
