Dissecting the final play (TD Greg Olsen)

[Logicallylethal]

According to Hugh Millen and many other experts the final touchdown to Olsen played out the way it did because of a miscommunication between Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas.

It has been confirmed that the coaches called for Cover 2. Sherman heard Cover 2 and positioned himself that way, but Earl and Kam either missed the signals or read it wrong and played Cover 3.

For those unfamiliar with Cover 3 and Cover 2 this is what it looks like

Seahawks Cover 3 Defense


The Seahawk's bread and butter these past few years have been the Cover 3. This defense allows Sherman, Earl and in the past Maxwell/Browner to cover everything deep and down the seams. Kam and our Linebackers will have all the intermediate and stuff in the flats covered giving up only short stuff underneath where the speed of our linebackers will rally and swarm for a big hit or to knock the ball down. Cover 3 is also excellent against the run because it allows Kam to play in the box.

Cover 2 Defense


Cover 2 is a defense famously played by the Tampa Bay Bucs during their dominant years with Gruden. The two CBs on the outside press the outside receivers then stay out in the flats. The linebackers cover the middle and the two safeties cover deep.

This is a defense the Seahawks rarely play because it leaves the middle of the field vulnerable and it takes away from Kam playing the run.

So why are the Seahawks playing Cover 2 in such a crucial moment? Why aren't they going with their bread and butter?

The simple answer is Cary Williams.

In Cover 3 both CBs are given the role of covering the outside receivers and carrying them deep. The Seahawks have gone away from their bread and butter defense because Cary Williams continues to get beat time and time again. So as a resort they play Cover 2, which puts less of a responsibility on the outside CBs (because they only cover the flats) and allows the Seahawks to hide Cary Williams.


What happened on that last play is Sherman was playing Cover 2 and Earl was playing Cover 3. Sherman was covering the flats thinking Earl had the deep coverage and Earl was covering the middle thinking Sherman had the outside deep coverage. As a result, Greg Olsen ran the seams wide open without anyone near him. Jon Ryan could have made that throw yesterday he was that open.

Breaking this down I see two obvious problems

1) Miscommunication
- Did Bobby Wagner being out affect the communication that much in this game?
- Or was Earl and Sherman just simply not on the same page?
- Which begs the question...how can two All Pro players who have played with one another for years now have such a hiccup in communication in such a crucial moment?

2) Cary Williams
- My conclusion that the Seahawks are playing less Cover 3 to hide Cary Williams is simply just an opinion of mine and an opinion echoed by the guys on the radio...none confirmed by anyone on the Seahawks...but man it sure does make a lot of sense when you think about it

So what do we do moving forward? Is Cary Williams that bad that we have to completely abandon our bread and butter Cover 3 to play a defense? Or is it more of a problem with teams figuring out how to expose the weak spots in our zones? Can Cary Williams fix his technique and become reliable again like he was before these past two games?

What do you guys think? Let's get some opinions.

 

[Logicallylethal]

One other play that hurt us on that final drive was the play after the big Bruce Irvin sack

I believe that was the one time we played Cover 3 on that drive and the Panthers targeted Kevin Pierre Louis and it paid off big time

Panthers had Greg Olsen and Funchess split out. Kam and Pierre Louis was lined up to cover them in their zone. Kam's responsibility was the flats and Pierre Louis's responsibility was to carry the receiver into the intermediate area.

Olsen ran a route to the outside and rather than stay put in his zone, Pierre Louis jumps on Olsen's route (like the Panthers thought he would) and it allowed Funchess to go right behind him for a huge 16 yard pass.

It was 2nd and 19 with the clock ticking down!

You allow whatever underneath stuff there is and rally to make the tackle. It would have likely been 3rd and 15 or at most 3rd and 10 with the clock ticking down and the Clink going wild. Instead it was a 3rd and 3 and the Panthers convert to Cotchery with Shead on him.

 

[jakedog56]

Nice posts LL.

It is interesting to see an explanation to why the D is struggling.

The D-coordinator has to step it up. I wonder if the situation improves when Lane and Burley are able to return or if we have to continue to rely on Williams as the long-term answer.

 

[Cloud]

I thought about this a lot today and the answer to me is very simple. All signs points to CARY WILLIAMS. Outside of one game vs Detroit, he has been god awful this year and it's to a point now where the coaches don't trust him anymore. From my understanding, KJ Wright had the correct call in... Richard Sherman also received the correct call, which happen to be Cover 2. To me, they're worried about Williams enough to a point now that they're not playing the game to their advantage.

We will need an explanation out of this.

 

[blstoker]

You all fail to see that this started at least in the SuperBowl last year...

The Super Bowl was a different situation in which the team lost by a different means. Not all lost leads are done the same way.

 

[Cloud]

You all fail to see that this started at least in the SuperBowl last year...

And you fail to see that as I said in a separate thread this goes as far back as 2012, except then they made enough plays to actually win the games when they blow a lead. Don't pretend like you know this team.

 

[chf]

I have it on good authority (the NE fanbase told me so ad nauseum) that the reason, the ONLY reason that we lost in the Superbowl was the godlike ability of one Tom Brady.

It's really astounding that we didn't lose by 50.

 

[Banned 10x]

You all fail to see that this started at least in the SuperBowl last year...

are you comparing Brady with the likes of Nick Foles, Andy Dalton and Cam Newton?

 

[WizardHawk]

Actually Millen also said he can't say how much of their shift to cover 2 for most of that game was Williams, and how much of it was the substantial step down in underneath coverage with Wagner out. With KJ shifted over he's now covering a different part of the C3 zone where some techniques are at least slightly different and of course his backup isn't as good as he is either so you lose two LB's for the price of one.

You also go to C2 when your LB's can't stop the hook routes and other similar quick hit routes underneath. It is quite likely they didn't do C3 much in that game because of the combination of both the LB and Williams issues.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

One other play that hurt us on that final drive was the play after the big Bruce Irvin sack

I believe that was the one time we played Cover 3 on that drive and the Panthers targeted Kevin Pierre Louis and it paid off big time

Panthers had Greg Olsen and Funchess split out. Kam and Pierre Louis was lined up to cover them in their zone. Kam's responsibility was the flats and Pierre Louis's responsibility was to carry the receiver into the intermediate area.

Olsen ran a route to the outside and rather than stay put in his zone, Pierre Louis jumps on Olsen's route (like the Panthers thought he would) and it allowed Funchess to go right behind him for a huge 16 yard pass.

It was 2nd and 19 with the clock ticking down!

You allow whatever underneath stuff there is and rally to make the tackle. It would have likely been 3rd and 15 or at most 3rd and 10 with the clock ticking down and the Clink going wild. Instead it was a 3rd and 3 and the Panthers convert to Cotchery with Shead on him.

That was a big play ... effin ticked me off... Even when it was 2nd and 19 I didn't feel secure the way this D is playing... It's bad ..

 

[Logicallylethal]

Another play was brought up this morning by Hugh Millen

It was at 3 mins or so after the big completion to Jimmy Graham. 1st and 10 Russell does a play action and then Marshawn gets called for a holding. From what we saw on TV it looked like pressure and an unfortunate holding call

But...

Hugh explains that it was a huge missed opportunity by Russell Wilson. Off the play action it was supposed to be a 5 or 7 step drop (I forget which one he says) but Russell actually steps back too far. Marshawn initially held the block exactly how he was designed to hold it. But when Russell stepped back too far he literally ran right into the pressure causing him to spin out and ultimately Marshawn holding the defender.

The reason why this was such a big missed opportunity was because off the play action Tyler Lockett was running wide open without anyone within 25 yards of him. Hugh says that if Russell had just dropped back like he was supposed to and hit Lockett then its a 60 + yard TD and the Clink would be erupting celebrating a game sealing nail in the coffin touchdown.