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Analysis: Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf Cook Cover 1 Robber

Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett love it when teams play Cover 1 Robber against them. Matty F. Brown breaks down a pair of plays where the 49ers ran the look, only to be burned by the Seahawks' star receiving duo.
Matty F. Brown|
Analysis: Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf Cook Cover 1 Robber
Analysis: Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf Cook Cover 1 Robber

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Seattle SeahawksSan Francisco 49ers

The Seahawks' offense experienced a bounceback performance in terms of points scored versus the 49ers, putting 23 on the board as a unit. Key to that was quarterback Russell Wilson hitting the throws that, when the offense is firing on all cylinders, he typically completes. 

Of course, in the weeks following his finger surgery, Wilson had missed openings uncharacteristically. While his performance versus the 49ers did feature some overthrows on deep bombs, Wilson's had no issues getting the ball to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to beat one-on-one coverage. Indeed, per Next Gen Stats, Wilson's CPOE was positive for the first time since his injury.

Wilson has shown a concerted effort to find his intermediate throw over the middle if the deep shot is not there in recent weeks, and that also continued versus San Francisco. What also helped the offense was that Wilson's primary quick game strike was often open, allowing the quarterback to hit a fast rhythm. 

The 49ers' defensive scheme did ease the difficulty of Seattle's offensive renaissance too, as Griffin Sturgeon and I spoke about in the latest Seattle Overload. San Francisco choosing to play largely middle field closed defense was understandable. It’s a large part of how the team operates and the NFL as a whole favors the defensive structure for sound reason. Simply, it is less of a pain trying to fit the run. However, more puzzling was San Francisco’s passing down usage of single high coverage. 

The Seahawks' offense still suffered bust periods in the game. This is evidenced by their disappointing third down figures, where they converted just five of 15 of those situations after highlighting the scenario as an area of focus. 

Yet, two of Seattle’s boom elements arrived in third down situations where the 49ers played middle field closed, man-to-man defense. Lockett and Metcalf proved they were still major mismatches in these scenarios, and Wilson was able to showcase his elite sideline shots versus isolated coverage. 

The 3rd and 14 shot to Metcalf arrived after the frustrating timeout-to-prevent-delay-of-game followed by delay-of-game penalty sequence. That the 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans decided to stick with the Cover 1 Robber call in the long situation is unusual.

Seattle, by aligning in the condensed trips formation, revealed the contours of the defense to be man-based. Meanwhile, San Francisco understandably wanted its low safety rotating to the hash mark away from this three receiver set, setting him up in a better position to play crossing routes. This left a one-on-one matchup for the isolated Metcalf with extra room away from the high, middle of field safety.

Metcalf manipulated the leverage of his one-on-one match-up beautifully. Observing that cornerback Deommodore Lenoir had pitched his tent to Metcalf’s cut split with outside leverage, the receiver closed space to essentially create space. 

Like a downhill slalom skier, Metcalf used two half steps to drop his weight to the outside, re-setting the line of scrimmage, maximizing the room to the inside and seeing him get a clean release off the line.

From there, Metcalf was able to run past Lenoir and position his body in between the defender and the football, subtly slowing his pace to box out. 

The distance from the field and trips side to the boundary vertical of Metcalf was too great for the deep safety, Jaquiski Tartt, to make a play on the ball. Metcalf hauled in the pass for 33 yards and a new set of downs, putting the Seahawks in excellent position from which Adrian Peterson would score.

Metcalf continues to take the required steps as a route technician to be a dominant weapon. 

Lockett’s third down snag was a simple unfair release from the veteran receiver. Once more, the 49ers played Cover 1 Robber with the weak safety rotating down and the high safety having to run from the field.

Seattle knew it faced man coverage because Metcalf’s pre-snap shift was followed across the field. Afterwards, San Francisco’s shape to the trips bunch acted as further confirmation.

Lockett, from his cut split, faced inside leverage press coverage from cornerback Josh Norman. Like Metcalf, Lockett closed the space to create space. He half-stepped twice backwards and inside, further tightening Norman to create more room to the sideline. Lockett then skinnied his surface and swiped with his hands past the cornerback. 

Lockett got directly behind Norman and was somewhat able to stack the defender. Wilson delivered the ball so quickly from that point, with perfect placement away from Norman and in the bucket for his receiver. Lockett tracked the ball expertly and extended his hands late to prevent Norman from recovering—a beautiful touchdown. 

Wilson will always excel in these kinds of opportunities—well, when he is healthy as a thrower. The 49ers game acted as a reassurance that Wilson can still play quarterback and that the weird misses from past games were a finger issue.

The Seahawks passer also benefits from two excellent receiving weapons who have finessed the art of winning the isolated shot plays that Wilson so loves. 

Moving forward, Seattle’s offense will hope to remove the bust periods from its play. The Texans heavy usage of cover 2 defense is a nice test for Wilson and company’s effectiveness versus non-isolated coverage.

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Matty F. Brown
MATTY F. BROWN

Based and born in the UK, Matty has coached football for over 5 years, including stints as a scout, defensive coordinator, and Wide Receiver/DB Coach. Asides from an Xs and Os obsession, he enjoys: other sports; eating out; plus following Newcastle United. He graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2018 with a BA in Modern History.

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