Couple notes. Mostly The Athletic posted top 10 offseason FA signing grades mid year. SD of course top $ and went from a C to A. But re: Diggs, the high catch % but main is the security blanket for Maye. So while much higher AV to Kupp, for Pats it’s been worth it. And from appearances he’s not unlike Kupp in that he’s helping the youngsters. Re: Adams “Adams has also been a monster in the red zone. He leads the NFL in red zone touchdowns with eight,”. Re: 13 personnel, Jones but at same time, healthy Nick vs those big TEs. Hawks don’t need to adjust much like other teams because of his size. Spoon, Ty and Coby run defense reads just as critical as getting Jones back. But as we’ve seen all year with Spoon, can he cover Adams in RZ? Good stuff. Thanks for grabbing a Rams version of you SJ.
Yeah i like the Oline Committee, of course I do with how much i go on about the Oline! It's very laid back (a little too much at times) but just sit and listen to guys who know their shit. Especially because they know PFF is bullshit!
I'll pick on an early moment in the video where they laugh at Bradford eating the turf. Yeah it's kinda funny, but a perfect summation of what i keep saying about Anthony. He's a front foot player, so in this clip like all his plays he's searching for that extra jump off the line. Except that opens a weakness in balance, where a quick swim will open you past him with ease. It was an issue last year, it's an issue this year. But you don't fix that, because that aggression is what makes him usable. I hope in time the coaches can just get his feet moving quicker, so that step is more balanced and less reliant on good contact to sustain the block. He's close to being a good NFL guard, in a scheme that suits him pretty well. He ain't Zabel but he's coming along and benefiting from faith by KK.
Love a good video dump Ken! My YT algorithm is a mess so i appreciate links to more good Hawks content every time.
I assume that 'front foot' style of his is to compensate for being relatively slow off the snap? He doesn't need to do it to generate power, as he has loads of that and doesn't need to get a lean on to move people. His feet are slow, and he doesn't shuffle them quickly to allow him to maintain balance and adjust quickly when he gets out of whack. That's one thing Zabel can do because he DOES move his feet really well. You see quite a few reps where he initially looks like he's losing, but then adjusts and holds off his defender. If AB starts to lose his rep, it's usually over. He doesn't recover well.
I think you're right about the faith and trust factor making a difference with AB. As Macdonald often says......'you're allowed to get better'.
I don't see it as compensating, I think he's just an aggressive style of guard. His reaction times are good, he's just too eager to hit someone.
That's why his bad plays look so bad. He whiffs because he goes for the big connection too soon. The balance is once he does connect he's almost never beaten.
Him and Zabel are a perfect case study. The archetypal All-Pro future, and the archetypal Decent Starter. You can see the difference between the two. Let's see how Anthony grows, and we'll have a call to make on a second contract soon.
If EJ can play this week, I think it might be wise to use 3 LBer sets because Knight and Thomas have been playing at an elite level. I'd hate to leave one of them on the sideline. And LBers could handle some of those TE's. I was advocating 4 TE sets a few years ago. Didn't get many likes, either, LOL.
Issue being takes Nick off the field. But agreed. On other end, the number of options for Coach Mac has increased. In such a case, keep Nick, take Mafe off, move Big Cat out, rush run blitz Thomas and/or Knight. Intriguing. The speed we can get after Stafford could be critical.
Definitely not opposed to what you said. I love the potential alignment changes. I hope they’ve been practicing for this offense all week. May he bring what he did a couple years ago at Baltimore. :-). Go Hawks.
Another way to help SSJ. At the top of the post, there is a "Share" button. Click on it and send the post to whatever social media you use. We can maybe get a few more readers to the newsletter/post/channel and some might subscribe.
My favorite part of the video was when the one non-ex-NFL-lineman guy sarcastically asked, "what do you think his PFF grade was on this play?" To which the former NFL players responded, "who gives a shit" and "fuck PFF."
I think some of our injuries piling up in the secondary are normal. By nature it seems the smaller lighter players that play in the defensive secondary tend to be players that are asked to take on larger opposing players and subsequently suffer injuries sometimes.
I feel way more confident playing the rams this year. We look like we could beat em good, so I'm hoping that's what we do, but sometimes we look like a cat playing with the mouse before the mouse just runs up our arm and into our mouth instead of being the cat that pounces on its prey. So we shall see how we play, but I think we control our destiny. FTR, and Begaw!
Our secret weapon -> Cooper Kupp, I hope. I know LA is doing things different this year but I hope that Kupp can give the team insights into some of the things LA might do. I remember he had some comments about what LA did to Sam in the playoffs last year. Hopefully he is spilling lots of similar beans to the coaches this week.
I don't know what other people think but it seems to me that so far there has been more stuff/analysis/pod casts about this game then other Seahawk game and maybe any other NFL game this year. And, of course, good stuff from KenJoe (or is it JoeKen?) as always.
We could do a poll for a nick, KenJoe of JoeKen? Which one is more Jedi/Yoda-ish?
I was invited to a potluck Sunday but I'm going to pass. I might miss part of the game. If this was the Titans game I would go but I can't miss any of this game.
It's very difficult to predict what to expect from this game. Both teams seem built to win in the same ways, so it'll just come down to who can do it better without making mistakes. I think it will be a low scoring affair.
This AM I was also watching MatchQuarters. Probably the best channel / substack in terms of what it would be like to have weekly sessions with a real coach.
I also really like Michael MacKelvie. More general NFL content and analytics content but he's a Seahawks fan so a lot of the trends he looks into relate to what we're doing at the time - e.g. he just had a video on how passing is better than running, so why run (inspired by Seahawks current predicament)
“Seattle has not seen the level of run that the Rams employ with multiple tight ends, so they had no reason to adjust their personnel. Just because other teams were not successful against the Seahawks does not mean the Rams cannot be successful.”
I figure there are a couple of ways this could go. The Rams might run out of this formation successfully enough that the Hawks have to go heavy. Or the Seahawks are successful in stuffing the run from nickel like they have been all season long. And this is where I think it will go.
Our D gets to practice against an offense that heavily uses 12 and 13 personnel ( with Ouzts as the third TE/FB).
Being the optimist I am, I expect the Rams to be a bit shell-shocked by the Hawks D. And I don’t think yet another large halftime lead is out of reach.
My glass isn’t just half-full dammit. It positively OVERFLOWING!
This has a really good breakdown of the Rams 13 personnel. Disclaimer, they do not provide an answer on how to stop it.
What has been mentioned here a lot is how our 2ndary matches up. But what actually may be cruising/interesting, is how much better we match up against 13 because our 4 man rush eats up so much space. And this will free our LBs up to pursue the run.
I agree as well. Our big nickel versus their 13 personnel. You need the personnel in big nickel to match up, but I think with Murphy and Williams inside, Chenna and D-Law on the outside, and our iLB's running and hitting, we're one of the few teams that can. Add in that Emmanwori will be on the field, and Witherspoon is the best run support CB in the league, I think we will be fine. A few runs might leak out, but hopefully very few.
McVay will have a plan B and plan C so it will be cat and mouse all game. Should be fun.
They have to get to the QB. Watching the Rams destroy the 49ers, Stafford had years of time, and when he didn't, he read blitzes perfectly. Seattle's been burned on screens a bunch, including against the Cards. They'll have to be disciplined and not over-pursue. Stafford is a master at seeing that. Seattle's big wins have disguised some sloppy over-pursuit. It'll be interesting if Seattle can get coverage sacks. Stafford's smart; he doesn't take chances. He's fine dirting the ball.
On offense, you want to see some innovation. Darnold is more mobile than Stafford, so it'd be good to see them call a few designed runs. And Darnold has to not force it. He had a weird pick off a helmet, but he also threw into too tight a window this past week. Now, that's delicate, but this game will hinge on turnovers. Seattle's had such big leads lately that hasn't mattered. But you don't want to lose a game like they did vs the 49ers. Seattle was more talented already in that opener, but the 49ers won on turnovers. On Seattle Sports today they were talking about the Ram's edges being somewhat soft, and even though it took until they were down by 21, the 49ers were able to exploit that.
I'm expecting it's either ultra tight, or the Rams win comfortably. Stafford has the edge. But the Eagles beat the Rams with better special teams and they were able to stuff the run. Seattle has to do both, and that could be Seattle's secret sauce.
The Seahawks, under MacDonald play very physical defense. You don’t know from week to week who’s in, or out. Where or when the blitz’s are coming from. This is the beauty of his system. Very hard to plan for by design. The Rams will have their hands full Sunday. I believe Seattle has the best/effective and hard to plan for defense in the entire league, not to mention great personnel, both coaches and players. The older, wiser learned players, are sharing with the younger ones and it beautiful to watch! GO HAWKS!
Another outstanding article from SSJ. I cannot wait to see the chess match from McVay and MM!
How will we attack their 13 personnel sets? After reading the article, I will be watching E-man and hopefully EJ to see how they are stacking up.
The Rams play a lot of dime. How is KK going to address that? Really looking forward to this game!
Thanks for the media links! I cannot believe not one has come across my feed and will be watching (and subscribing) to them over the next couple of days. Thank you.
*a running play
Nick Emmanwori may be the difference tomorrow. He’s that guy that can line up against 12 and 13.
And Mafe and Hall are also able to flex between a running or TE coverage against 13:
Higbee 249 and 4.71
Parkinson 252 and 4.77
Ferguson 243 and 4.63
Mafe 261 and 4.53
Hall 253 and 4.55
Both of them are bigger, stronger and faster than those TE’s
Haven’t watched but Patrick Surtain, a pretty good DB, posted JSN notes etc.
Couple notes. Mostly The Athletic posted top 10 offseason FA signing grades mid year. SD of course top $ and went from a C to A. But re: Diggs, the high catch % but main is the security blanket for Maye. So while much higher AV to Kupp, for Pats it’s been worth it. And from appearances he’s not unlike Kupp in that he’s helping the youngsters. Re: Adams “Adams has also been a monster in the red zone. He leads the NFL in red zone touchdowns with eight,”. Re: 13 personnel, Jones but at same time, healthy Nick vs those big TEs. Hawks don’t need to adjust much like other teams because of his size. Spoon, Ty and Coby run defense reads just as critical as getting Jones back. But as we’ve seen all year with Spoon, can he cover Adams in RZ? Good stuff. Thanks for grabbing a Rams version of you SJ.
Yeah i like the Oline Committee, of course I do with how much i go on about the Oline! It's very laid back (a little too much at times) but just sit and listen to guys who know their shit. Especially because they know PFF is bullshit!
I'll pick on an early moment in the video where they laugh at Bradford eating the turf. Yeah it's kinda funny, but a perfect summation of what i keep saying about Anthony. He's a front foot player, so in this clip like all his plays he's searching for that extra jump off the line. Except that opens a weakness in balance, where a quick swim will open you past him with ease. It was an issue last year, it's an issue this year. But you don't fix that, because that aggression is what makes him usable. I hope in time the coaches can just get his feet moving quicker, so that step is more balanced and less reliant on good contact to sustain the block. He's close to being a good NFL guard, in a scheme that suits him pretty well. He ain't Zabel but he's coming along and benefiting from faith by KK.
Love a good video dump Ken! My YT algorithm is a mess so i appreciate links to more good Hawks content every time.
I assume that 'front foot' style of his is to compensate for being relatively slow off the snap? He doesn't need to do it to generate power, as he has loads of that and doesn't need to get a lean on to move people. His feet are slow, and he doesn't shuffle them quickly to allow him to maintain balance and adjust quickly when he gets out of whack. That's one thing Zabel can do because he DOES move his feet really well. You see quite a few reps where he initially looks like he's losing, but then adjusts and holds off his defender. If AB starts to lose his rep, it's usually over. He doesn't recover well.
I think you're right about the faith and trust factor making a difference with AB. As Macdonald often says......'you're allowed to get better'.
I don't see it as compensating, I think he's just an aggressive style of guard. His reaction times are good, he's just too eager to hit someone.
That's why his bad plays look so bad. He whiffs because he goes for the big connection too soon. The balance is once he does connect he's almost never beaten.
Him and Zabel are a perfect case study. The archetypal All-Pro future, and the archetypal Decent Starter. You can see the difference between the two. Let's see how Anthony grows, and we'll have a call to make on a second contract soon.
If EJ can play this week, I think it might be wise to use 3 LBer sets because Knight and Thomas have been playing at an elite level. I'd hate to leave one of them on the sideline. And LBers could handle some of those TE's. I was advocating 4 TE sets a few years ago. Didn't get many likes, either, LOL.
Issue being takes Nick off the field. But agreed. On other end, the number of options for Coach Mac has increased. In such a case, keep Nick, take Mafe off, move Big Cat out, rush run blitz Thomas and/or Knight. Intriguing. The speed we can get after Stafford could be critical.
Yes, we need to keep Emmanwari on the field as well. Maybe try rotating to keep the LBers fresh.
Definitely not opposed to what you said. I love the potential alignment changes. I hope they’ve been practicing for this offense all week. May he bring what he did a couple years ago at Baltimore. :-). Go Hawks.
FTR's!!!
Always and forever!
Does this opponent seem to inspire more profanity?
Oh, I always thought the acronym meant "flog the Rams."
😀
For me it does. Your mileage may vary.
Consider me a model T, then...
FTR!
Another way to help SSJ. At the top of the post, there is a "Share" button. Click on it and send the post to whatever social media you use. We can maybe get a few more readers to the newsletter/post/channel and some might subscribe.
That is all.
I really enjoyed watching the O-Line Committee's video last night. I was going to mention it, but you beat me to it. :)
My favorite part of the video was when the one non-ex-NFL-lineman guy sarcastically asked, "what do you think his PFF grade was on this play?" To which the former NFL players responded, "who gives a shit" and "fuck PFF."
I think some of our injuries piling up in the secondary are normal. By nature it seems the smaller lighter players that play in the defensive secondary tend to be players that are asked to take on larger opposing players and subsequently suffer injuries sometimes.
I feel way more confident playing the rams this year. We look like we could beat em good, so I'm hoping that's what we do, but sometimes we look like a cat playing with the mouse before the mouse just runs up our arm and into our mouth instead of being the cat that pounces on its prey. So we shall see how we play, but I think we control our destiny. FTR, and Begaw!
Our secret weapon -> Cooper Kupp, I hope. I know LA is doing things different this year but I hope that Kupp can give the team insights into some of the things LA might do. I remember he had some comments about what LA did to Sam in the playoffs last year. Hopefully he is spilling lots of similar beans to the coaches this week.
I don't know what other people think but it seems to me that so far there has been more stuff/analysis/pod casts about this game then other Seahawk game and maybe any other NFL game this year. And, of course, good stuff from KenJoe (or is it JoeKen?) as always.
We could do a poll for a nick, KenJoe of JoeKen? Which one is more Jedi/Yoda-ish?
I was invited to a potluck Sunday but I'm going to pass. I might miss part of the game. If this was the Titans game I would go but I can't miss any of this game.
It's very difficult to predict what to expect from this game. Both teams seem built to win in the same ways, so it'll just come down to who can do it better without making mistakes. I think it will be a low scoring affair.
This AM I was also watching MatchQuarters. Probably the best channel / substack in terms of what it would be like to have weekly sessions with a real coach.
Really appreciate the recs, my algorithm looks nothing like this (yet). And when I search, all I get is Brock & Saulk, and Hawkblooger 👎.
I also really like Michael MacKelvie. More general NFL content and analytics content but he's a Seahawks fan so a lot of the trends he looks into relate to what we're doing at the time - e.g. he just had a video on how passing is better than running, so why run (inspired by Seahawks current predicament)
When I read:
“Seattle has not seen the level of run that the Rams employ with multiple tight ends, so they had no reason to adjust their personnel. Just because other teams were not successful against the Seahawks does not mean the Rams cannot be successful.”
I figure there are a couple of ways this could go. The Rams might run out of this formation successfully enough that the Hawks have to go heavy. Or the Seahawks are successful in stuffing the run from nickel like they have been all season long. And this is where I think it will go.
Our D gets to practice against an offense that heavily uses 12 and 13 personnel ( with Ouzts as the third TE/FB).
Being the optimist I am, I expect the Rams to be a bit shell-shocked by the Hawks D. And I don’t think yet another large halftime lead is out of reach.
My glass isn’t just half-full dammit. It positively OVERFLOWING!
This has a really good breakdown of the Rams 13 personnel. Disclaimer, they do not provide an answer on how to stop it.
What has been mentioned here a lot is how our 2ndary matches up. But what actually may be cruising/interesting, is how much better we match up against 13 because our 4 man rush eats up so much space. And this will free our LBs up to pursue the run.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ross-tucker-football-podcast-daily-nfl-podcast/id638447093?i=1000736740082
I agree as well. Our big nickel versus their 13 personnel. You need the personnel in big nickel to match up, but I think with Murphy and Williams inside, Chenna and D-Law on the outside, and our iLB's running and hitting, we're one of the few teams that can. Add in that Emmanwori will be on the field, and Witherspoon is the best run support CB in the league, I think we will be fine. A few runs might leak out, but hopefully very few.
McVay will have a plan B and plan C so it will be cat and mouse all game. Should be fun.
They have to get to the QB. Watching the Rams destroy the 49ers, Stafford had years of time, and when he didn't, he read blitzes perfectly. Seattle's been burned on screens a bunch, including against the Cards. They'll have to be disciplined and not over-pursue. Stafford is a master at seeing that. Seattle's big wins have disguised some sloppy over-pursuit. It'll be interesting if Seattle can get coverage sacks. Stafford's smart; he doesn't take chances. He's fine dirting the ball.
On offense, you want to see some innovation. Darnold is more mobile than Stafford, so it'd be good to see them call a few designed runs. And Darnold has to not force it. He had a weird pick off a helmet, but he also threw into too tight a window this past week. Now, that's delicate, but this game will hinge on turnovers. Seattle's had such big leads lately that hasn't mattered. But you don't want to lose a game like they did vs the 49ers. Seattle was more talented already in that opener, but the 49ers won on turnovers. On Seattle Sports today they were talking about the Ram's edges being somewhat soft, and even though it took until they were down by 21, the 49ers were able to exploit that.
I'm expecting it's either ultra tight, or the Rams win comfortably. Stafford has the edge. But the Eagles beat the Rams with better special teams and they were able to stuff the run. Seattle has to do both, and that could be Seattle's secret sauce.
Rams also have a new kicker. Did extra points last week ok but has not kicked an NFL field goal yet.
New long snapper also.
I tend to agree!
The Seahawks, under MacDonald play very physical defense. You don’t know from week to week who’s in, or out. Where or when the blitz’s are coming from. This is the beauty of his system. Very hard to plan for by design. The Rams will have their hands full Sunday. I believe Seattle has the best/effective and hard to plan for defense in the entire league, not to mention great personnel, both coaches and players. The older, wiser learned players, are sharing with the younger ones and it beautiful to watch! GO HAWKS!
Very physical! Begaw!
Another outstanding article from SSJ. I cannot wait to see the chess match from McVay and MM!
How will we attack their 13 personnel sets? After reading the article, I will be watching E-man and hopefully EJ to see how they are stacking up.
The Rams play a lot of dime. How is KK going to address that? Really looking forward to this game!
Thanks for the media links! I cannot believe not one has come across my feed and will be watching (and subscribing) to them over the next couple of days. Thank you.
Thanks Don!