The Seahawks still seemed to be sluggish after the Christmas break. In the end, what matters is that the win, even if ugly, kept the team alive for the playoffs. Only barely.
The Chicago Bears had conceded 102 points in the three weeks leading up to Thursday Night Football. The Seattle Seahawks were only able to score 6. However, the win kept the Seahawks in the playoff hunt, gave the team their first primetime win of the season, and secured a winning record in Mike Macdonald’s first season.
The 6-3 is an embarrassing score. Interestingly, the Seahawks have been involved in another 6-3. In 2011 against the Browns, we lost by the same score. We were led by Charlie Whitehurst who didn’t pass 100 yards in that game.
More film review! All data used in this article was taken from PFF.
The Bad
The offensive line is the biggest weakness of this team
Geno Smith had two sacks that PFF did not attribute to the offensive line. However, the performance of the OL was and has been one of the main reasons for Seattle’s unproductive offense.
Of the nine pressures the OL had, five were hits on the QB. In other words, the pressure really got to No. 7 effectively.
In this play, Abe Lucas uses the half-man technique, but he can’t sustain the block. The sack happens and in my opinion, it would be the OL’s responsibility, even with Geno holding the ball too much.
There is no explanation for Abe Lucas to have stopped/given up on the play here. The sack happened, and again it should be the OL’s fault.
The OL’s problems are not limited to pass protection. The running game is also greatly affected by the unit’s lack of quality.
In this snap, it is impressive how everyone on the OL makes mistakes. Charles Cross takes an armover, Sataoa Laumea and Olu Oluwatimi can’t sustain their blocks, and Abe Lucas and Laken Tomlinson can’t get to the second level.
This was a good improvement for the running game. However, it could have been much more productive. Olu Oluwatimi can’t execute the reach block and the player he lets pass forces Zach Charbonnet to change his path.
Ryan Grubb and his final moments as OC
Ryan Grubb wasn’t the only one responsible for the offense’s failure. The OL and Geno Smith were also responsible. The OC had some good calls on the first drives, but was unable to adjust as the game went on.
The Seahawks rushed for 87 yards in the first half. Especially on the first drives, they were dominating the ground game, but the Bears adjusted and Grubb had no answer. The team rushed for only 35 yards in the second half.
It was a good balance of 25 runs and 23 passes, but of those passes, only seven were play action. Of the 23, 17 were passes behind the line of scrimmage (73 yards) or between 0-10 yards (35 yards). Two were between 10 and 19 yards (29 yards) and two more for more than 20 yards (only one completed for 23 yards).
After a very well-called first drive, the Seahawks find themselves on 3rd and 3. Grubb inexplicably calls an empty formation, even though he is dominating the ground game. In other words, there is no threat of running, no additional blocker and no chance of play action. Add to that the fact that no route is more vertical, no clearout, no route to open space for another.
The play ends with a terrible pass from Geno, who was staring at Tyler Lockett and allowed the LBs to anticipate the play. Note the poor work of Laken Tomlinson who gave in to pressure/hit.
I don’t want to seem opportunistic by commenting on the failure of a play after it happened. However, what are the chances of success of a screen for your slowest tight end of the group? The fumble he suffered afterwards is less shocking than the call.
Grubb still had some plays that we can highlight positively.
This play was in the two-minute drill. Grubb calls vertical routes on this 3rd and 3. Noah Fant stays in the block long enough to slip past the defense. The vertical routes open up space for Fant to get 12 yards.
The gain was short at just five yards. However, it is promising to get DK Metcalf out in the open field to be a YAC threat.
Geno Smith’s inconsistency
Geno has not been helped by his OC or his OL many times during the season. Against the Bears, Geno made important mistakes that cost the team points.
Abe Lucas quickly gave in to pressure and forced Geno forward in the pocket. This was still a second down, since the route concept was terrible, Geno should have quickly activated the checkdown in search of a more possible third down. He traps the ball and is sacked.
This snap can go unnoticed and draw attention to the missed pass at the end. However, Geno loses DK Metcalf open and, perhaps, that is what made him hesitate. Meanwhile, JSN navigates between zones to give the QB an option who ends up passing off target.
Going to his positive points…
Geno is an athlete underestimated, including by himself. He could gain more yards with his legs.
The pressure comes quickly because no one on the OL is prepared for the blitz. Geno can escape and throw against the body movement. The pass goes to DK in the middle of three defenders. If the pass were left hanging for longer it could lead to an interception.
The Good
2023 First Round
The two 2023 picks really stood out in the game, one on each side of the ball.
Devon Witherspoon was a pillar of the defense and seemed to be everywhere on the field. The Bears use the cross-field route behind the receivers on the other side. Spoon identifies the play and easily escapes the blocks to make the tackle.
Spoon is on the other side of the play. But, as soon as he identifies the screen, he speeds off to make the immediate tackle. Incredible.
The former Illinois star is a little undersized for the position, but you don’t see that in this play. He quickly beats the receiver’s block and makes the tackle for loss of yards.
He identified the screen and got there very quickly. His processing, reaction, and instincts are incredible.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba unfortunately couldn’t keep up the 70-yard receiving streak. Still, he was one of the few bright spots in the air attack.
On this play, he runs what appears to be a whip route, protected by Noah Fant’s route. JSN finds the space between the zones and gains more yards in the process.
Finds the space between the zones again. But the best part of the play is how he comes back and attacks the ball. This can be the difference between a reception and an interception in this area of the field.
Ken Walker backups
Ken Walker is an important loss for the team. However, Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh have been solid in the difficult task of replacing him.
On this play, Kenny McIntosh identifies the gap opened by the OL and attacks aggressively, making an excellent gain.
Zach Charbonnet was not only effective with his work running the ball. He has evolved a lot as a pass protector. Here he diagnoses the blitzer and has good technique to give Geno Smith time to pass the ball.
This play exemplifies much more what Charb did at UCLA. Quick cuts and incredible contact balance, unlike the indecision that was common in him at the beginning of his career.
Under pressure
The Seahawks defense had a season-high 37 combined pressures against Chicago. Their best was 29 in Week 1 against fellow rookie Bo Nix. Mike Macdonald’s defense is capable of putting pressure on QBs who hold the ball too much, which is more common among more experienced signal-callers.
Caleb Williams did not complete a single pass beyond six air yards until the final drive of regulation in the Bears’ loss to the Seahawks on TNF. The Seahawks blitzed Caleb Williams 13 times. The result was 3/9, 38 yards, 1 INT, 4 sacks.
Leonard Williams generated six pressures and two sacks on 33 pass rush snaps against the Bears. Most notably, five of those pressures and one sack came against a double-team (he received a 54.5% double-block rate).
This is one of Macdonald’s favorite blitzes to call. It’s basically a Cover 0, with both DTs dropping to take away the short pass opportunity. The rest of the team goes after the QB. The Bears don’t have enough players to block, and CW throws a high pass up the middle, which is usually a way to beat the C0. However, Riq Woolen is in good position and gets the interception.
Final Thoughts
The victory was a mixed bag of feelings. It gave us hope because it kept the dream of a postseason alive. However, the way the offense was unproductive raises many questions about where this team can go.
Playing like this, would we be able to beat the Rams on the road?
And, if with a massive combination of results we manage to make it to the playoffs, would we be competitive enough?
We’ll find out soon!