Seahawks' secondary and holding/PI

[clyde_carbon]

Good article, and I've brought this up before. From the article:

The Seattle Seahawks—the favorites to make the Super Bowl out of the NFC—employ an exasperating defensive game plan: They blitz rarely and drop an army of defenders into pass coverage. And those defenders mug, obstruct and foul opposing receivers on practically every play.

"They look at it and say, 'We may get called for one but not 10,'" said Mike Pereira, a former NFL vice president of officiating who is now a Fox analyst.

"They just seem to not care about the rules," said New York Giants wide receiver Louis Murphy, whose team was routed 23-0 by Seattle this season.

There is a certain brilliance to this approach: Since 2001, nine teams have committed 20 or more of these penalties (including this season's Seahawks). None of them had a losing record, and most of them won big.

So many pass-interference plays meant that many more of them went uncalled, choking the life out of opposing offenses in a pass-dependent league—a big advantage for Seattle's physical brand of defense, led by hulking cornerbacks such as 6-foot-3 star Richard Sherman.

Expect the no-calls to get worse in the playoffs. This season, NFL officials called 12.2 penalties a game, but in last week's wild-card round, they called 7.8. There has been a 41% drop in postseason penalties since the 2008 playoffs, while in the regular season, penalties are up 8.9% in that time.

Pereira said aggressive pass-coverage teams like Seattle "test" referees early in the game with a few potentially obvious pass-interference infractions. "They want to see what kind of tone the officials are going to set," he said, adding that he expects to see a couple of penalties called but also the usual brand of Seahawks grabbing.

The Seattle Seahawks Defense Relies on a Brazen Tactic: Rampant Interference - WSJ.com

If I was Harbaugh what do I do? Well, I would tell my secondary to do the SAME EXACT thing on defense. If they don't call it on them, odds are they won't call it on us, and vice versa.

 

[Robotech]

The comforting thing is that Boldin and Crabtree are pretty good with the hand fighting, too. They got the better of Sherman a few times in the last game.

 

[Podunkparte]

Defenders will do anything they can to win, leaving the judgement up to the officials?!

 

[purguy12]

Like I said if they don't call that shit on seattle they better not call it on us.

 

[sjballer03]

This is why we gotta establish the run game. It might be frustrating at first, but eventually it will pay dividends.

 

[Ltrain]

I'd love to see Sherman get blown up like a bitch again like he did when McDonald blocked him. I hope we can run these guys over and set the tone.

 

[HighTopFade]

I don't think refs flag when the defender looks like they're trying to make a play for the ball.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

This is why Kaep needs to run run run run. I want to see him go off for 200 yards rushing.

 

[yossarian]

This is why Kaep needs to run run run run. I want to see him go off for 200 yards rushing.

That would be great, and run out of bounds, that would lead to a lot of frustration and probably a few penalties for late hits.

 

[MHSL82]

That would be great, and run out of bounds, that would lead to a lot of frustration and probably a few penalties for late hits.

Just don't do it when we're trying to run out the clock. That would lead to a lot of frustration on our part. Not just because of the game situation, but also because it's as has been a problem before. But yes, I would take a healthy quarterback over some burned clock. Just be smart with the game and your body.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Seattle got called for several defensive penalties early in the game in SF, and I think that helped the Niners put together some offense - it also led to Sherman crying about penalties after the game. If those aren't called on Sunday, though, it could be a long game. Boldin was completely enveloped by Sherman in the first game, as he fought with him rather than trying to get open. Hopefully he's learned from that, and Kap is throwing accurately. He'll have to squeeze in some tight passes, most likely.

 

[PaythePiper]

I just want to see straight up tough football by both sides of the ball. Leave everything out there. Brooks flying over the pile type stuff again. Crabtree and Boldin will both be feisty i think. It's gonna be a crazy game. But at the end, please just run the damn ball with Gore and Hunter.....

 

[EKmane]

That would be great, and run out of bounds, that would lead to a lot of frustration and probably a few penalties for late hits.

You stay in bounds if he's running all crazy. That would mean we're winning. Just SLIDE.

 

[EKmane]

Seattle got called for several defensive penalties early in the game in SF, and I think that helped the Niners put together some offense - it also led to Sherman crying about penalties after the game. If those aren't called on Sunday, though, it could be a long game. Boldin was completely enveloped by Sherman in the first game, as he fought with him rather than trying to get open. Hopefully he's learned from that, and Kap is throwing accurately. He'll have to squeeze in some tight passes, most likely.

If they're not call those types of fouls, I hope our guys are instructed to push back. I'll take Boldin and Crabtree in that type of game any day.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

If they're not call those types of fouls, I hope our guys are instructed to push back. I'll take Boldin and Crabtree in that type of game any day.

Boldin didn't do very well with that approach in the first meeting. He just ended up basically fighting Sherman off to the side. If they're not calling the smaller stuff, I just hope our guys force them to hold blatantly by beating them.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Greg Cosell was saying on the radio the other day that he doesn't think the Seahawks hold more than other teams. I was surprised, because I generally respect his opinions and he does watch everything, and I'm pretty sure they do hold more. I think sometimes he has a tendency to try to downplay side stories or questions about referees, so maybe he was just brushing off the question a bit.

 

[SonnyCID]

I've seen lots of teams play Seattle's offense the same way that Seattle plays defense.

The problem is that not every defense has the horses to do it. In the run game, it automatically gets a body on a body on the outside and if your corners cant shed the block, they could get burned on the ground. And in the pass game, you could give up big plays without the range at safety that Seattle has or the ability to get the QB down before the receiver breaks free.

 

[Pattersonca65]

Boldin didn't do very well with that approach in the first meeting. He just ended up basically fighting Sherman off to the side. If they're not calling the smaller stuff, I just hope our guys force them to hold blatantly by beating them.

The Seattle Secondary goaded us into a couple of penalties. Gotta not get caught up in that stuff

 

[Pattersonca65]

I'd love to see Sherman get blown up like a bitch again like he did when McDonald blocked him. I hope we can run these guys over and set the tone.

The wrs should put vaseline all over themselves, then Sheeman will.just slip off when he tries to grab

 

[MHSL82]

The wait is taking forever. Understatement of the year.