Moments after finishing off a riveting 37-31 win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was quick to praise the efforts of backup tackles Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan.
Stepping into a difficult situation replacing injured starters Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, Forsythe and Curhan exceeded all expectations, playing a key role in shutting down a talented Detroit pass rush that only hit quarterback Geno Smith once all afternoon. Between the two of them, they surrendered just seven pressures in four quarters as well as overtime, providing ample time for Smith to orchestrate the offense and distribute the ball to his bevy of receivers and tight ends.
But while the third-year tackles deserved all of the compliments they received from Carroll, Smith, and others after the victory, their performance wouldn't have been possible without an outstanding game plan designed and implemented by offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and the coaching staff.
“I was really fired up about that, they minimized their strengths. We thought that their rush might be a problem for our guys on the edge," Carroll told reporters on Monday. "The multiplicity, the small changes, the tactics of our protection was designed beautifully for this game. You saw us move the football all around with the quarterback and the actions and stuff. I just thought they took advantage of the stuff that made it a game that we could really be highly productive."
Kept clean most of the game, Smith torched the Lions with 328 passing yards while completing nearly 80 percent of his passes. Unloading the football quickly and using his legs when he needed to, his underrated playmaking ability from the pocket and mobility coupled with great scheme adjustments took pressure off of Curhan and Forsythe, allowing them to play their best games respectively.
"Our guys were really confident throughout, they were confident that they were going to do it out on the field again and whatever they had to do, whatever was called on them. I think that’s the process of what comes through the week and the guys understand the gameplan of what’s asked of them. I think the communication showed really in our favor, Shane [Waldron] and the fellas did a really good job setting it up.”
How did Waldron and Smith help bolster pass protection as the Seahawks produced 30 points and nearly 400 yards in a hostile road environment? Looking back at the film, tight end usage, play design, and pocket maneuverability all contributed to the team's excellent effort protecting the quarterback and letting the offense play to its potential:
Tight End Support
When Cross and Lucas exited early in the second half of a 30-13 season-opening loss to the Rams, Waldron inexplicably didn't pivot towards using multi-tight end formations to help his backup tackles. In fact, on their first nine offensive plays of the second half, they used 12 or 13 personnel a grand total of one snap, leaving Forsythe and Curhan on an island and Smith consequently under frequent siege.
But with a full week to game plan under the presumption neither Cross nor Lucas would be available against the Lions, Waldron took a few pages out of the Seahawks' successful playbook from a year ago when they used three tight end sets at the third-highest rate in the NFL (10.8 percent). Running nearly 20 percent of their 67 snaps with 13 personnel on the field, he made a concerted effort to scheme support for the tackles when necessary, particularly early in the game.
On Seattle's opening drive, for example, Waldron dialed up a shotgun look with Ken Walker III and Dissly flanking Smith in the backfield. Off the snap, Dissly lowered his left shoulder and delivered a powerful chip block on standout rusher Aidan Hutchinson before going out into the flats, knocking him back inside as Curhan stayed in front of the defender when he tried to spin off his block. With a clean pocket, Smith fired a dart to DK Metcalf along the left sideline for a first down.
Only a few plays earlier, Waldron kept Parkinson in as an H-back nubbed to the line of scrimmage and the fourth-year tight end wound up picking up a slot cornerback blitz, allowing Smith enough time to unload a quick pass to Walker on a "stab" route, which functions like a curl route for running backs. The back did the rest after the catch, spinning outside to evade an oncoming tackler and bolting to the sideline for an 11-yard gain and another first down.
As the game progressed, as emphasized by Carroll after the game and on Monday, Waldron seemed to become more confident in Curhan and Forsythe holding their own on one-on-one blocks. But he continued to sprinkle in multi-tight end formations to provide support when needed, including in the red zone.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Seahawks trailing 21-17 and marching inside the Lions' five-yard line, Smith broke the huddle with a singleback ace pair formation featuring Fant and Dissly hooked to the line on the right side. While Fant went out to run a route, Dissly stayed in to help Curhan block on a play action pass play, giving time for Tyler Lockett to come open on a crosser in the end zone as Smith lofted a perfect strike to him for a three-yard touchdown to take the lead.
Quick Strike Passing Game/Moving The Pocket
Understanding that Smith likely wouldn't have a ton of time to scan the field on long-developing pass plays with multiple deep routes behind a line missing both starting tackles, Waldron schemed in numerous under center plays with three step drops with short hot reads to ensure the football got out quickly. The quarterback did his part, making decisive decisions to mitigate the oncoming rush.
Curhan only gave up four pressures in Sunday's game, but even when he did get beat by Hutchinson, Smith always had his head on a swivel ready to unload the ball from the pocket. Midway through the third quarter, Smith took a snap under center from a singleback ace formation and took a three-step drop with Hutchinson coming screaming through the B-gap past Curhan. Instead of panicking, however, he threw a bullet off his back foot at the end of his drop to Metcalf on a quick comeback route for a five-yard gain.
One week after only calling six play action pass plays against the Rams, Waldron nearly tripled that total against the Lions, mixing in straight drop backs with bootleg action to move his quarterback out of the pocket.
Standing out among several examples where Waldron moved the pocket by design, the Seahawks ran a naked bootleg play pass out of an under center singleback ace formation early in the second quarter. Rolling out to his left, Smith instantly had nickel cornerback Brian Branch bearing down on him on a blitz, preventing him from squaring his feet. Executing a difficult throw with a defender in his face, he stopped on a dime and completed what almost equated to a pop pass, hooking up with Lockett outside the numbers for an 11-yard gain and a first down.
Play Design
Aside from being more diligent using multi-tight end sets and play action more frequently, Waldron went into mad scientist mode against the Lions. Between mixing in similar pre-snap motions out of different formations and moving players around to utilize personnel in a myriad of ways, he kept Detroit's defenders on their heels most of the afternoon and consequently slowed down the pass rush.
On Seattle's second possession, Waldron dialed up a play action pass with rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba leaking across the formation after the snap. Keeping Noah Fant in to block on the right side next to Curhan, Smith-Njigba's route briefly caused a blitzing Branch to hesitate and running back Zach Charbonnet stone-walled him in pass protection, allowing Smith to dump it off to Smith-Njigba in the flats for an easy five-yard gain.
This might not seem like a big deal in the scheme of things, but Waldron used that play to set up a similar call later in the game on a shotgun set. With right guard Damien Lewis pulling to sell the jet sweep and Smith-Njigba running pre-snap motion, the blocker picked up Hutchinson off the edge and Smith again dumped it off to rookie wideout for a six-yard gain that eventually set up a Jason Myers field goal.
Creatively finding ways to get Dissly, Fant, and Parkinson involved, Waldron didn't just deploy a vanilla approach mixing in two and three-tight end sets. He moved all three players all over the formation, including deploying a funky pistol formation to set up Walker's second rushing touchdown early in the second half.
With Walker behind him, Smith had Dissly and Parkinson each flanking him to his right in a rarely seen variation of a three-back set out of pistol. Putting rookie linebacker Jack Campbell in a position of conflict in coverage, Waldron called a "sail" concept with the intention of flooding zones with multiple out-breaking routes at different levels. Dissly went into the flat, while Parkinson ran an eight-yard corner route and Lockett ran a deep corner route to the end zone.
Leaving Campbell in the dust, Parkinson came wide open in part due to Lockett chasing off the safety and Dissly occupying the corner in the flats, and Smith connected with him for a 20-yard gain. On the next play, Walker bounced a run outside for a three-yard touchdown to knot the score at 14 apiece.
Employing a "less is more" approach in the passing game while prioritizing protection, Waldron also called several pass plays out of 13 personnel with three or fewer receivers running routes. On their longest play of the day in the second quarter, Smith ran a play fake to Walker out of a singleback ace pair formation with Dissly and Parkinson both staying in to block on the right side.
While Seattle didn't run a single route to the right side of the field, Lockett ran off a corner with a vertical route and Fant quickly gained separation on outside linebacker James Houston on a slot fade. With max protection and a clean pocket in front of him, Smith lofted a 31-yard completion to the athletic tight end to move the team into field goal range. Unfortunately, Myers couldn't cash in a few plays later and they failed to score on the drive.
Running 13 personnel for the majority of their game-winning drive in overtime, the Seahawks went back to a similar max protection concept to kick start the possession after winning the coin toss. Dissly and Parkinson again stayed in to protect as inline blockers on the right side, while Metcalf ran a 17-yard out route and Fant ran a 15-yard sit route into a wide open hole in coverage. With a clean pocket again, Smith hit the tight end for a 17-yard gain and a first down.
Geno's Pocket Awareness/Maneuverability
Along with Waldron doing a masterful job mixing up formations, motions, and pass protection tactics, Smith deserves credit for sound pocket navigation and avoiding pressure on his own accord.
Moments before hooking up with Lockett for the duo's first touchdown of the game, Smith quickly bounced back from a terrible intentional grounding penalty by calling his own name as a runner. After Hutchinson powered his way through Curhan to drive the tackle into the quarterback's lap, he tucked the ball and took advantage of a ton of green in front of him with the Lions vacating the left side in man coverage, turning the scramble into a 15-yard gain on 2nd and 20.
Earlier in the game, Smith demonstrated impressive pocket movement while keeping his eyes up scanning the field. Washing Hutchinson up field after initially being beaten off the snap on a speed rush, Curhan kept his hands on the rusher to prevent him from bending around the corner, allowing the quarterback time to step up and roll out to his right. Extending the play with his legs, Smith threw a bullet on the run to Smith-Njigba on a crosser, turning the potential sack into a 16-yard gain.
But in terms of being an escape artist, the previous play paled in comparison to Smith's sack evasion in the third quarter. With the Lions sending two defensive backs on slot blitzes, even with the Seahawks keeping Parkinson into block, the quarterback immediately had to deal with two unblocked corners squeezing down on him after play faking to Walker. Looking as if he has played a few rounds of Dance, Dance Revolution in the past, he somehow sidestepped both blitzers and hit Metcalf in the middle of the field for a 15-yard gain while throwing off platform under duress.
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