Seahawks All-22 Film Breakdown: The good and bad from Seattle’s vital win vs. 49ers

The Seahawks kept their playoff hopes alive with a narrow but desperately needed win over the 49ers. Here are the good and bad moments from the game, through the All-22 lens.

The Seattle Seahawks got their first win in the division. Many analysts attributed the victory to mistakes and absences by the San Francisco 49ers, but in this sequence of so many losses by the Seahawks to the Santa Clara team, weren’t there also mistakes and absences for Seattle?

The victory was crucial for Seattle’s future this season. Let’s look at the best and worst things that happened in this game.

All data used in this article was taken from PFF.

The Bad

Charles Cross concerning game

At the beginning of the season, I wrote an article about how important this year was for Charles Cross. He was a young NFL prospect, but he is now in his third season. He had a fantastic game against the Broncos in Week 1, one of the best by a Seahawks OL in recent times.

However, as the weeks went by, his level dropped significantly and he was one of the worst players on the unit in the last two games. This puts the negotiations for the fifth-year option in doubt. He was the player who gave up the most pressures (4), 1 sack, 1 hit and 2 hurries, against the 49ers. He also didn’t do much in the running game.

This was the TD play and it might go unnoticed, but Cross misses the block and forces the puller to get to the defender and prevent him from reaching the backfield.

One of Cross’s biggest problems in his early years was his problem against power moves. This play is embarrassing for someone at the NFL level. He loses his balance and is thrown to the ground.

Another snap that ends with Cross on the ground. It takes him a while to realize that the stunt is happening and he is caught off base, losing his balance again.

He gives way to the inside move and when he tries to compensate he is pushed into the QB’s lap. Geno manages to escape and improvise.

A basic alignment error. He starts the snap at a disadvantage and arrives late to block, messing up the timing of Geno Smith’s throw.

This play would have been a big gain for DK Metcalf deep, but Cross quickly gives in to the pressure and Geno has to leave the pocket. Then Cross recovers and throws the defender to the ground.

Despite the improvement, the defense still needs to improve

It is undeniable that the defense has performed better in the last two games. But, it is clearly still a work in progress and still needs adjustments.

On this play, there is a huge communication failure. The Seahawks buy the run and no one follows Jauan Jennings who is free for the TD.

A problem that the Seahawks had at the beginning of the year and now returned was the ability to keep the QBs inside the pocket. The team failed to keep Brock Purdy, who is not the most athletic QB in the world, inside the pocket, giving him the exit, even with the pressure from Boye Mafe. The play ends with a bad error by Ty Okada being fooled by a pump fake after the line of scrimmage.

Derick Hall is unable to follow Purdy’s boot action and if he had not slipped, he would have had good yardage.

On the next play, the Seahawks have the same problem. Mike Macdonald calls a blitz on the left side and drops both DTs. Derick Hall can’t seal the edge again (even though he appears to have been held) and Jarran Reed doesn’t seem to need a herculean effort to get to Purdy before the TD.

Offensive Line still a problem

The OL has been a problem (and looks like it will continue to be) all season. Geno Smith was pressured 13 times, including 4 sacks and 1 hit.

Charles Cross has been a problem, as listed above, but not the only culprit. This has cost Seattle dearly. Tyler Lockett is 1v1 against the safety and it would have been free to pass for a TD on the corner route. However, as you can see here, he didn’t get a chance to make the pass.

This is because there is a confusion in the protection scheme. Zach Charbonnet has his eyes fixed on the stunt that is happening on the left side of the line. Laken Tomlinson arrives late and Charb is expected to help until the last moment. This takes the RB out of position to help Abe Lucas with Nick Bosa and the sack happens.

The Good

The defense still impressed

As I said in the introduction to the article, you might want to dismiss the defense and say that this was just a result of the 49ers’ injuries. Obviously, this helped, but the defense has fixed some important flaws and is improving.

The Seahawks called the same blitz that resulted in Brock Purdy’s rushing TD; Spoon’s blitz and the DTs dropping into coverage. This forced Purdy to throw the ball to the hot read, Jauan Jennings, before the first down mark. Coby Bryant did what almost no other Seahawks defender did that night and prevented Jennings from getting a first down.

The Seahawks were in prevent defense. They used Boye Mafe dropping into the mark. He made a good read and deflected the pass. Note that he had helped with a sack two plays earlier and had a batted pass on the previous play.

The Seahawks have been trying to build an imposing DL for a long time. It seems that they are on the right track. Dre Jones gets the sack, but all the players here deserve to be highlighted. Boye Mafe imposes a long-arm on Trent Williams, Leonard Williams throws an OL to the ground, Byron Murphy forklifts his opponent and Dre Jones uses a rip move to get to Purdy.

This was the approach that Mike Macdonald used in Baltimore, a team effort. Tyrice Knight comes in on the blitz and favors the numbers for the Seahawks. Derick Hall makes the TE in motion miss the block and forces the RB to move horizontally. Ernest Jones boxes the RB and together with Hall and Knight makes the tackle.

Leonard Williams controls his OL, maintaining the possibility of defending both gaps. Roy Robertson-Harris seals the edge and forces the cutback to Ernest Jones, who escapes Trent Williams with excellence in the open space and makes the tackle.

Boye Mafe controls his block and keeps a free hand, forcing CMC to keep moving horizontally. This gives Coby Bryant and Devon Witherspoon time to arrive and make the tackle.

First time starters stand out

It wasn’t Abe Lucas and Olu Oluwatimi’s first starts, but it was their first for 2024. Both were in difficult conditions. Lucas had been recovering from a knee injury for a long time and Oluwatimi became a starter in the middle of the week after the unexpected announcement of Connor Williams’ retirement.

The Seahawks struggled in the first matchup, with Nick Bosa lining up against Stone Forsythe. Things were more complicated for the EDGE with Lucas’ arrival. The RT waits patiently, positions his punch well and throws the defender to the ground.

Oluwatimi has excellent footwork that allows him to stay in front of the DT. He uses leverage to maintain the anchor and not allow pressure. In fact, according to ESPN Research, he did not lose any of his matchups.

In this play, the RT and the C execute the reach block masterfully. They show athletic ability and strength. Oluwatimi throws his opponent to the ground and Lucas takes the DT for a long walk.

Ryan Grubb’s Ups and Downs

Grubb continues to fluctuate from game to game. Some calls are very good and creative and others are very questionable, and this game was no different.

As explained in the rookie analysis article, AJ Barner lost the block on the play and made Zach Charbonnet’s life even more difficult. However, what I question is that in a game in which Charbonnet was completely unproductive, he received the ball that could’ve decided not only the game, but the rest of Seattle’s season.

As I warned in the preview, the screens were important in the game. The Seahawks isolate DK on one side of the formation and have four players running routes on the other. In fact, Pharaoh Brown and Tyler Lockett have their routes only to create space. JSN has the left side of the attack as something of a thing, where there are fewer defenders. Note that the OLs don’t make any fantastic blocks, but JSN’s ability to find space and yards puts us on the verge of a TD.

Excellent concept by Grubb. Lockett runs an inside route to create separation and AJ Barner’s route is designed to create a shield for JSN to receive without problems. The WR still manages to add good yards in the process.

This T-Formation has become Grubb’s trademark on fourth downs. For one detail, the play doesn’t fail. Zach Charbonnet misses the block on De’Vondre Campbell and if it weren’t for Walker’s speed and Laken Tomlinson’s good pull, we wouldn’t have converted.

Geno Smith saves himself at the end of the game

I think Geno’s start to the game was not good. He seemed very still inside the pocket and this ended up favoring the pressure. As the game went on, he started to move more and this had an effect.

Geno moves well to escape the pressure, but he plays the snap and not the play. He doesn’t throw the ball away and tries to force a pass and is intercepted, helping him lead the league in this criteria.

Here we have a QB doing the simple thing well. The pressure comes from the left side and Geno quickly processes it with the hot route to JSN. No need to invent anything. This was one of only two blitzes by the 49ers defense all game.

For me, this was his best pass of the game. Anthony Bradford quickly gives in to the pressure (as usual) and Geno has to move. He tries to find JSN and has a small window to escape the excellent LB Fred Warner.

In this play, Geno navigates between his progressions. First at the top of the screen, then he passes to Barner, where he manipulates LB De’Vondre Campbell with his eyes and creates space for JSN to catch.

Cross quickly gives in to pressure and forces Geno out of the pocket. He starts to show good synergy with JSN, which helps the QB improvise and makes a great catch.

In addition to making a great pass under pressure, Geno shows great arm strength. Going backwards and without a stable base, he sends a laser to JSN.

Finally, his TD that decided the game. The 49ers were in a version of Quarters coverage. DeVondre Campbell should pass Charbonnet to Fred Warner. Even if Geno made the pass to him, it would be inside the field and would waste the clock, the main thing would be to defend the end zone. This hesitation is enough to take him out of the play and Geno decides the game.

Final Thoughts

It was a crucial victory, and the Seahawks can now control their destiny. However, that doesn’t make the road any easier. The next three weeks can only be about winning. Arizona will be a very tough challenge.

Night, Night, baby!