All 22 Review: Seahawks Getting Deceptive on Toss Sweeps
The Seahawks are getting deceptive with their toss run designs, troubling NFL run defenses in the process. It’s a relief that the Seahawks are getting creative in the run game. After all, Brian Schottenheimer’s attack has a pass rate of just 50 percent in the first half on early downs according to Sports Info Solutions. Coach Pete Carroll wants to have a dominant ground game, believing in it as a way to dominate the time of possession but also as a method to "set up" the deep shot.
The run philosophy is reflected in the offensive line’s makeup too, as the team finished 2019 with the 28th-‘best’ Pass Block Win Rate per ESPN. The pass protection issues up front are the best argument for running the football more often, even if the current run-pass balance is still skewed too far to the more inefficient play type. Perhaps in spite of this, the Seahawks offense finished fourth in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric.
Seattle’s run scheme still majors in zone-blocked concepts, but their toss runs are one of their most exciting man-blocked schemes. Per SIS: Under center, the Seahawks are 24 percent man-blocked, 76 percent zone-blocked; in the shotgun, Seattle is 32 percent man-blocked, 68 percent zone-blocked.
A toss run is a higher risk-reward play than running up the middle, with the toss going way back towards the backfield and the ball carrier. Plus one defender is often left unblocked, with the hope being the back can outrun him to the edge.
Muddying the reads of the defensive front therefore makes a ton of sense. Giving the run blockers more time and better angles to get outside and block their assigned man is obviously highly beneficial towards the toss run’s chances of success.
NFL linebackers and defenders assigned with a run fit are constantly reading their keys to determine first whether the play is a run or a pass, and then second where the ball is actually going. A common coaching technique is called “triangle keys," where, after determining play type, the linebacker reads three elements:
- The offensive line - the tackle and guard closest to him
- The running back
- The ball
A guard pull or a fullback lead block often has to be taken on by the linebackers, either to spill the ball to help outside or to box the ball to help inside. The offensive blocking movement is also a strong indicator of where the ball is likely to be going, with the running back following the block.
This is what the Seahawks’ recent deception exploits.
Take Week 12 on the road to their wildcard foe, the Philadelphia Eagles. First, Seattle shifted their sixth offensive linemen, George Fant, across the formation. The impact of this was the Eagles shifting from an under front into an over front, while not even being aligned or set properly at the second level as Russell Wilson snapped the football.
Post-snap, Seattle pulled left guard Mike Iupati as though he was blocking a trap run. From left to right at the second level, all looked towards the pulling action, stepping towards it ready to play the trap play. Kamu Grugier-Hill, Rodney McLoed, and Nigel Bradham were all caught inside of where they would have wanted to be to defend the toss play to Rashaad Penny the other way. This enabled Duane Brown at left tackle to seal Bradham inside.
Meanwhile, on the defensive line, play side defensive end Derek Barnett was influenced by the footwork of Russell Wilson, getting sucked inside. Penny was able to beat him to the edge also and picked up 26 yards on the play.
Week 15 on the road in Carolina saw the Panthers suffer at the hands of a different shift. Instead of moving their faux tight end in sixth offensive lineman George Fant pre-snap, Seattle instead re-aligned Jacob Hollister from out wide to a fullback position. This immediately alerted All-Pro middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, who adjusted his alignment a few steps inside.
Hollister plowed forwards, as though blocking an isolation run that would hit through the A-Gap. This saw Shaq Thompson fit outside, looking to turn back this style of inside run. Hollister’s eventual block was taking out backside edge defender Wes Horton. This enabled right tackle Germain Ifedi to ignore the defensive end and climb unabated to the second level, where he could seal the backdoor pursuit.
Seattle tossed the ball to the other side of Hollister’s blocking action, with center Joey Hunt able to quickly climb to Kuechly and seal him, his distance shortened by Kuechly’s inside adjustment caused by Hollister’s pre-snap shift.
Jaron Brown executed a decent crack-back block on play side defensive end Efe Obada, freeing Chris Carson the room to the edge and also letting left tackle Duane Brown pull as the lead-blocker-in-chief. If only Malik Turner could have maintained his block longer, this would have been a touchdown run. As it was, Carson picked up a solid six yards with Kuechly making a great play from a near-impossible angle.
Last week, in the NFC West title game, Seattle also faked their trap run to spring the toss free. The pull from Iupati fooled both the inside linebackers. Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw were tricked into playing the inside run to their left, pausing and adjusting their feet to fire downhill in that direction.
Instead, Wilson was tossing wide to the other side to speedy back Travis Homer. Nick Bosa’s aggression and hunger for the football was also exploited, with the defensive end looking to scrape to the inside run. As a result, he was out-leveraged and beat to the outside by the ball-carrier.
Fant, leaving Bosa unblocked from left tackle, sealed Greenlaw inside. The running lane was established, with the receiver blocking grading solid. Homer was able to get 8 yards on the 1st and 10 carry.
Below is an example of the Seahawks running their conventional under center power against the 49ers.
Here is Seattle running their under center trap against San Francisco.
The two clips show the attempted run game layering.
Tossing, or pitching, the football from the shotgun also featured against the 49ers, albeit on just one play. It was effective though. The hard-charging, blistering, ferocious play-style of Bosa was used against him, with the defensive end left unblocked and then fooled by the footwork of Wilson and Homer in the backfield.
Meanwhile, Fant at left tackle was able to take a sideways step, in-sync with the backfield action, and then climb up to the play side linebacker Greenlaw. This was almost like a lateral shovel option, albeit the degree of the “option” is highly questionable. In summary: a nice two-minute drill run to attack aggressive pass rush for seven yards and a first down.
Looking at the current personnel in Seattle’s backfield, this style of run thankfully suits the skill set of Homer. Moreover, the sixth round rookie is fresh off a 10-carry, 62-yard rushing effort. The fast-emerging talent thrives in open space, where his quickness can shine and less emphasis is placed on patience or reading inside blocks - similar to the boost Rashaad Penny’s hyper glide got on these runs. On toss runs, Homer’s frenetic nature does not need taming.
At wide receiver, DK Metcalf is one heck of a run blocker, almost tight end-esque. Brown’s ability to pull outside from the left tackle spot was unparalleled; his quickness and aiming points are sorely missed. Meanwhile, at left guard, Iupati—the trap blocker and puller for Seattle—is going to be a game day decision against Philadelphia.
Still, the Seahawks still will have Hollister and fullback Nick Bellore to fake the isolation block, wipe out the backside edge and free the offensive tackle on their side to climb-and-seal. Maximizing the reps Joey Hunt gets to fully utilize his quickness, as opposed to his lack of size getting mismatched inside, is big. Furthermore, running away from a depleted o-line feels like a good idea in general. Finally, it’s safe to assume that Schottenheimer will find new ways to slow defenses with his run game deception. Tosses are already one part of that.
