The Seahawks are 2-0 on the season after the win in Foxborough.
It was a close win for the Seattle Seahawks, just as we anticipated in the preview. There is a lot of room for improvement, but now is the time to fix those problems with a 2-0 win.
Let’s take a look at what went well and badly in the Seahawks’ 23-20 overtime win over the New England Patriots.
All data used in this article was taken from PFF.
The Bad
Missed tackles and opportunities
Watching the game, you might think that what I’m about to say is a lie, but it’s not. The Seahawks had fewer missed tackles against the New England Patriots (7) than in the game against the Denver Broncos (11).
The reason for the impression that we were worse in this regard in the last game is simple. Making an analogy, Mike Macdonald’s defense “hunts” in a group. That is, the players position/move themselves in such a way that even if a tackle is missed, a nearby teammate will be there to help. In Pete Carroll’s defense, which was more similar to what we did against the Patriots, it’s a solitary hunt. The players have more freedom and chance to make a great play, but if a mistake is made, a high price will be paid.
The defense has been getting to the QB, but has trouble taking him down
We are among the best in the league when it comes to pressuring the QB. We have 50 pressures in Weeks 1 and 2 with 29 and 21, respectively. Only 10% (5) of the pressures were converted into sacks. This could be the difference between a loss and a victory. We need to improve this performance.
Boye Mafe is so explosive that he can quickly reach the RB before the OL pulls can reach him. I was celebrating on my couch the tackle for loss of yards when Antonio Gibson broke tackles, and only didn’t run for the TD because Devon Witherspoon made the tackle masterfully from a beautiful angle.
Mike Macdonald calls a blitz that he used to use during his time in Baltimore the Double Cat Blitz. There’s nothing too fancy about it, the “C” in cat refers to the player who will blitz, in this case, the Cornerback. The “Double” when both CBs will blitz, something that is not so common. The problem is that in addition to losing the chance for the sack, the Patriots managed to convert the first down.
The pass rush arrived but was unable to bring down the QB (a problem that will be discussed in the next topic). This time, at least the pass was incomplete. But Spoon committed one of his two fouls in the game and this one in particular was completely unnecessary since the receiver would not have been able to get to the ball. Detail, it was about to be a third down…
Boye Mafe has an excellent double-swipe move and dives for what would have been a sack at the 1, but he misses the tackle. Byron Murphy also had a chance to get to the QB and also missed.
Jacoby Brissett is 6’4 and 235 lbs, and,yes, he is a big guy. However, the team needs to find ways to bring down stronger QBs. Here the rush wasn’t very big, but it took four players to finally get him to the ground.
Drops
The injured RB1 and an offensive line that has struggled a lot in pass protection could result in a total failure on offense. Thanks to the good work of Geno Smith, we came out on top against the Pats (we will talk more about this later), but he still faced another obstacle: drops.
There were five at important moments in the game. Two by DK Metcalf, one by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and two by Noah Fant. The first two achieved excellent numbers, so at the end of the day they “make up” for the mistakes, Fant, however, has not yet managed to find his place in the offense.
The offensive line is still a problem
Since the Russell Wilson era, the OL has been an issue. We’ve had some good units, but for the most part there was always something that needed tweaking. It’s 2024 and that hasn’t changed yet. The Seahawks rank 31st in pass block win rate (38%) and 31st in run block win rate (65%).
Charles Cross has made a good leap in quality, but the rest of the unit is a concern. Connor Williams is still adapting to the scheme and getting back into the swing of things. On the right side, George Fant, who was already a replacement for Abe Lucas, ended up getting injured and leaving us with the third option, Stone Forsythe. Finally, Anthony Bradford and Laken Tomlinson don’t seem to have the slightest condition to be starters in the league.
I’ve been saying for a long time that Tomlinson’s signing isn’t as good as it’s been evaluated. To justify our hopes for him, we have to go back to the 49ers days, which are almost three years ago.
The Good
Ryan Grubb is opening the book (at least in the passing game)
Grubb made some really good adjustments against the Denver Broncos in Week 1, with creativity in the running game. Against the Patriots, we didn’t see that creativity and adjustments in the running game, but the same can’t be said for the passing game.
Something that was sorely missing from Shane Waldron’s game plan was creating situations to gain yards after the catch. Grubb has already shown signs that he will take advantage of this ability that the WR has. This play is basically a screen. In a 3×1 alignment, DK runs a drag route and the receivers on the other side run short routes with the sole intention of positioning themselves to block and create space for DK to advance. Excellent design!
3×1 formation with outside receivers Noah Fant and Tyler Lockett running routes into the field, with the intention of creating space for Jaxon Smith-Njigba who, from the slot, runs a flat route. Lockett achieves the objective of the rub concept—the objective of a rub concept is for one receiver to set a pick, like in basketball, on a man-covering defender, allowing the other receiver the space to break free—even though I think it wouldn’t be crazy for him to be called for OPI. With the ball in his hands, JSN shows another of his qualities, producing with the ball in his hands. He quickly starts reading the field and finds the space to gain the maximum yards after the reception.
Again a 3×1 formation, after JSN is moved in motion. The focus of the play is on Noah Fant and JSN. The TE’s slant route is solely intended to create space for the receiver. The sophomore needs to read the defender’s positioning. If he continues the drop, as he did on the play, he makes the cut in the large space created. If the CB had come towards JSN he would have followed the route towards the backfield.
Cover 1 blitz, the Patriots fill the line of scrimmage with players and, with Charbonnet’s movement, Geno has the information he needs. The RB escapes through the OL and has space to make a good advance in overtime.
Geno Smith at his best
I confess that I’m not the biggest Geno Smith fan. However, I’m not crazy enough to deny the fact that he carried the team on his back, even in the midst of so many problems (OL, Ken Walker injury, drops), Geno made some of the best throws of his career in this game.
The Seahawks call a sprint to the right side of the offense, something they did earlier in the game and it worked. However, no one is free and Geno has to improvise. Almost as soon as the QB decides to go to the other side, Lockett realizes the need to help Geno and makes the cut and then the clutch reception, basically gaining the first down.
This play is fantastic. Jaxon Smith-Njigba creates space for himself, threatens a post route and forces the CB to open his hips. From there he completes the comeback route and makes a fantastic catch. Looking at what Geno did, it is even more fantastic. Even with the pressure on him, the QB shows fantastic synchronization by starting the pass process before JSN even makes the cut.
Mixed Bag:
Busted Coverage but nice pass rush
On this play, the Patriots missed a certain TD. The Patriots called a Y Leak, a concept that incorporates a tight end flowing across the line of scrimmage acting like they are blocking, but then leaking backside down the field for the pass. However, because the pass rush arrived quickly, Brissett struggled and the pass took a while to arrive. It was still a big play, but if the pass rush hadn’t been effective, it would have been a TD, for sure.
Bonus: The most important plays of the game
I believe that Brissett was targeting Hunter Henry (TE, #85) on this pass, but the signal caller didn’t have time to renew his downs thanks to the work of Derick Hall. The second-year player seems destined to have a surge in production in 2024. He left the field with a suspected concussion, but came back and made this crucial play.
The Patriots use a formation with two men in the backfield, one of them a WR. But, unsurprisingly, they handoff to Rhamondre Stevenson to get the remaining yards in overtime. I could be wrong, but since it was a short-yardage situation for a new down, I think Stevenson should not have made the cutback, but instead, followed through the B gap. He makes the cut and gives Jarran Reed time to help Tyrel Dodson force the punt.
Final Thoughts
As I anticipated in the preview, the game would be tight, and it was. The offense faced two tough defenses and managed to find, in fits and starts, options to win. The defense showed improvements and changes, but it’s always good to remember that we faced two limited offenses. The Broncos were limited to six points against the Steelers and the Patriots’ main strength was the running game, and we were “defeated” in that type of play.