I am still optimistic about the Seahawks having a top 10 D by the end of the season. The one thing about the Seahawks secondary that is elite is speed, even at LB. The problem in the last three games is not being in the right position to make a play or taking the wrong angle to make a tackle.
LB play has been the single worst feature of the D and it has led to too many explosive running plays in particular. It will help when the DT rotation gets set with Murphy back, but the LBs need to be sharper about how they play and that is likely correctable.
Against the Falcons though I am not sure we will see a lot of improvement.
Condotta's article this morning quoted Macdonald as follows:
“The variance is too high,’’ Macdonald said. “A lot of great plays on tape. However, when we’re not doing it the way we need to do it the ball’s getting out. Those are the things we need to eliminate.”
We here in the peanut gallery might struggle to understand the importance of (statistical) "variance" vice the importance of "average" (arithmetic mean), but at least the HC seems to get it.
One thing I see on the Hawks D the past 3 games is that the defenders aren’t all flying to the ball like they did in weeks 1-3. Ball carriers and receivers were swarmed in the first 3 games. Now, not so much.
I don’t know why…maybe thinking too much and not just reacting. Maybe just because they’re out of position.
Great observation. It seems that offenses are spreading our defenders out lately, so the swarm is too far away to have any effect. One bad angle or one slipped tackle is then costly.
Nice video by the Legion of 12s. I'm really liking all of his content that you've shared with us. He does a good job of explaining MM's comment about variance and how execution mistakes are a bigger issue than schematic problems. For a video about how bad the defense has been, it's actually a bit uplifting.
If you look at the snap counts, they are only really using 4 guys on the D-Line: Jones, Reed, Williams, and Hankins. Murphy going out exposes their lack of depth, or confidence in it: Adams played zero, Morris only 9 plays. (and Knight has gone to zero for two straight games after Baker's return.) They have got to be gassed, which means declining pressures.
This also gets back to Schneider. This is the 2nd year they have kept O-Line 'prospects' on the roster. Last year it was Raiqwon O'Neal, this year it is Laumea and Jerrell. O'Neal never played and was cut before this season, a total waste of a roster spot last year. This year they've already brought back Jason Peters to the practice squad, so Laumea and Jerrell don't seem likely to play either. Will they be fixes to the O-Line next year after getting no reps for a year? Wouldn't a couple of young DT's be more useful?
Meanwhile, we have to trade for a relatively expensive DT body to make up for poor drafting and roster construction.
I am still optimistic about the Seahawks having a top 10 D by the end of the season. The one thing about the Seahawks secondary that is elite is speed, even at LB. The problem in the last three games is not being in the right position to make a play or taking the wrong angle to make a tackle.
LB play has been the single worst feature of the D and it has led to too many explosive running plays in particular. It will help when the DT rotation gets set with Murphy back, but the LBs need to be sharper about how they play and that is likely correctable.
Against the Falcons though I am not sure we will see a lot of improvement.
Condotta's article this morning quoted Macdonald as follows:
“The variance is too high,’’ Macdonald said. “A lot of great plays on tape. However, when we’re not doing it the way we need to do it the ball’s getting out. Those are the things we need to eliminate.”
We here in the peanut gallery might struggle to understand the importance of (statistical) "variance" vice the importance of "average" (arithmetic mean), but at least the HC seems to get it.
One thing I see on the Hawks D the past 3 games is that the defenders aren’t all flying to the ball like they did in weeks 1-3. Ball carriers and receivers were swarmed in the first 3 games. Now, not so much.
I don’t know why…maybe thinking too much and not just reacting. Maybe just because they’re out of position.
Great observation. It seems that offenses are spreading our defenders out lately, so the swarm is too far away to have any effect. One bad angle or one slipped tackle is then costly.
My brain hurts. I need to go build something.
Nice video by the Legion of 12s. I'm really liking all of his content that you've shared with us. He does a good job of explaining MM's comment about variance and how execution mistakes are a bigger issue than schematic problems. For a video about how bad the defense has been, it's actually a bit uplifting.
If you look at the snap counts, they are only really using 4 guys on the D-Line: Jones, Reed, Williams, and Hankins. Murphy going out exposes their lack of depth, or confidence in it: Adams played zero, Morris only 9 plays. (and Knight has gone to zero for two straight games after Baker's return.) They have got to be gassed, which means declining pressures.
This also gets back to Schneider. This is the 2nd year they have kept O-Line 'prospects' on the roster. Last year it was Raiqwon O'Neal, this year it is Laumea and Jerrell. O'Neal never played and was cut before this season, a total waste of a roster spot last year. This year they've already brought back Jason Peters to the practice squad, so Laumea and Jerrell don't seem likely to play either. Will they be fixes to the O-Line next year after getting no reps for a year? Wouldn't a couple of young DT's be more useful?
Meanwhile, we have to trade for a relatively expensive DT body to make up for poor drafting and roster construction.
Hmm, yeah. And this year, the team is keeping 3 centers. If Connor Williams has a future beyond 2024, why keep two centers behind him?