I re-watched most of the Seattle game pass plays (so you didn’t have to)

This is my analysis of plays where CJ faced pressure from the TV copy (my all 22 is cooked for whatever reason). Didn't include any screens or designed free rushers. I don't know how to include clips or my own little doodle mockups of these so i apologize for that. If i didn't include the route/concept its because it didnt matter or the camera didn't show enough of it. Also bear in mind that hardly any of these are from the endzone and I'm not in their pass pro meetings so this is just my best guess as to what the errors were and what solutions they actually have 🙂

2nd Q 13:25 2nd and 10

This was a 5 man protection from gun right doubles wing with a scan and go out of the backfield for the back. Line slides to the will, Seattle only sends the 4 at the line, T E stunt is initially picked up but doesn't hold. CJ climbs and throws to Nico but dropped on the switch release in. Slot to nico's side has a clearout go. Backside TE nub has a flat, backside WR has a hitch.

2nd Q 13:19 3rd and 10

Same formation. This time with Berrios as the field side player on a little sit route with a clear by X out of the slot and Nico on the short slant from the boundary. Seattle shows a single mug 6 man front but only 4 end up rushing. Result: CJ misses Nico not seeing the boundary safety dropping.

2nd Q 10:30 2nd and 10

This one was quite interesting. Two receivers and the tight end on to the boundary (left) declaring a short side pass strength. Another 5 man protection with free releases for the back and TE. X on the boundary side running a must outside release go paired with a flat by Berrios and a deep in by Nico on the field side. Now, I think the formation actually ruined things here. Seattle comes out in dime. What i think happens here, is because our pass strength is to the boundary, we should've re-ID'd the protection to a tarry/ right slide to the weak side player which would've been Drake Thomas. Instead, we keep the default protection (that or they called "base" for a 4 man rush) and we kept the slide to the Nickel or Nwosu (not sure what their rules are in defining LB/Nickel types as WLB). What Seattle does here is take advantage of that. As the ball is snapped, the slide left actually opens a huge hole in the backside B gap that Ernest Jones sees and delayed blitzes from. Because its a 5 man protection, the back has a free release so no protection responsiblity. If they re-configured the protection to a lide to the Sam/new will, they would've easily picked this up. Result of the play: fumble/incompletion brought back by penalty.

2nd 00:14s 1st and 10

Another shotgun pass. Noel X and Schultz on the field side, Nico to boundary. Another single mug 6 man front from Seattle. Schultz has a chip and go, handsoff to Ersery fine. They drop one (Erest Jones playside LB), so OL has 5 one on ones. Juice takes the tackle but so does Andrews (and andrews gets shocked back), Ingram takes Drake Thomas on the LB pressure, Tytus takes on Nsowu and Dare is left to insert to pick up Demarcus Lawrence. Dare oversteps and slips, DLaw gets free access to CJ, CJ climbs and hits Noel. Result: completion.

3rd 14:16 2nd and 6

Under the center singleback 21 personnel. Higgins to boundary, Nico to field. Higgins in long motion from field to boundary. Pre-snap both Riq and their Nickel/Safety Emmanwori are lined up on Nico's side. Riq Woolen creeps in to the C++ gap and blitzes. Chubb scans and picks up. Post-snap boundary DB also blitzes. Harrison Bryant gets blown up on his chip and release. Schultz free release go. Higgins on a clearing go. So we have 6, call it 7 with the bryant chip in the pass pro unit. Seattle sends 5 (Bryant's guy actually has a flat responsiblity). This should be made to order for us. BUT Bryant takes so long on his block and release that Ersery is waiting to see if his man is blitzing so he can take him as he is the more dangerous between him and the corner blitz. Bryant's error leads to Ersery not blocking anyone, DB gets home, Stroud has to climb up and misfires. Result: interception.

3rd 9:55 1st and 10

This one came back for defensive holding but I HAD to include it cuz this one is an absolute stinker. This is as vanilla a look and rush as you can get. Seattle in big nickel cover 2 look with Nwosu in C++ outside of Schultz. Texans in gun doubles wing to the boundary. Texans ID it properly. Ingram is uncovered and they slide left leaving Tytus alone with a 1 on 1 on Nwosu and Juice ready to pick up Jones if he comes. Seattle rushes 4 and we get a nice double team on the inside. The problem? Ersery gets beat inside (where his help is) and can't recover because the DT from the double turns him. Result: incomplete, flag on Seattle.

3rd 00:48 1st and 10

Designed boot to hit backside flat. Tytus gets walked back on the frontside, Bryant whiffs the insert block on the backside. CJ has nowhere to go. Result: incomplete.

3rd 00:38 3rd and 10

Another brutal but really interesting one. Seattle lines up with nickel personnel in a 6 man front. Pseudo-overloady with all LBs at the line and a CB over Nico and a safety to his side. Pre-snap it appears they are sending 6 and bracketing Nico. Post-snap it shifts to a cover 2 with the Nickel (Emmanwori) rolling back and the safety to his side rotating to the other side. The safety that WAS on Nico's side comes down from the heavens on a safety blitz. We have a 6 , potentially 7 man pass pro unit with Dare and potentially Schultz in to block. There's a couple of ways to handle the pre-snap look. One is to just leave RE (over Ersery) unblocked and throw hot. Two is to predict the safety blitz, man it up and throw hot where he was (this gets blown up because Nico gets bodied on his release). Three is to run the play as called and hope you call their bluff. What happens is interesting. Nwosu over Ersery, and Jones over Andrews both drop into coverage. Seattle sends those 4 remaining rushers at the line plus the boundary safety into the B gap. So its 6 for us on 5 for them even if we don't see the safety rolling down to blitz in the 4 seconds before the playclock runs out. Ingram, probably thinking they're going to play it straight up man to man or sliding to the weak side and letting CJ have a hot to Nico, doubles the tackle leaving the B gap open for two players to fit. Dare takes the LB Ingram should've blocked, and the safety comes in clean and gets a sack. Result: sack.

4th 9:56 1st and 10

Technique error. ID'd properly. Seattle even front cover 2 look pre snap. Texans in gun Hb left with Schultz lined up off the line in the slot right. 5 man pass pro (woody has a check and release). Pass strength is to the left (field side). CJ makes a route adjustment pre-snap (unsure what that is). Texans ID it perfectly. Line minus Ersery slides right, creating a double team opportunity for the line. Seattle runs what looks like a T-T stunt (idk their personnel), Ingram hands off the double to Andrews and goes to help Tytus. At This point, Tytus gets beat inside before Ingram can get there and the pressure gets to CJ. Result: throw away and penalty on Ingram for blindside block.

4th 9:10 3rd and 15

Another shotgun pass. Seattle in base to post-snap shallow tampa 2/robber look. Seattle has 4 men at the line, Texans have 5 + Woody in the pass pro unit. Pre-snap doesn't look like they're sending a 5th (it's 3rd and 15), so Woody could have a free release or chip into release. Line calls a slide to the right since the Sam isn't over the TE in the slot so he COULD come. Post-snap Seattle only sends 4, SAM does not come, leaving Ingram to block no one (but that's the call). Seattle runs another T-T stunt, Andrews and Juice don't pass it off cleanly. Result: throw away and QB hit.

4th 9:03 4th and 15

This one is kinda fuzzy post snap. Pre-snap its the usual stuff. Texans in gun with back offset. Passing strength to the left (field) with Schultz detached from the line. Seattle in a 4 man front with Leonard WIlliams and DeMarcus Lawrence lined up inside next to eachother, secondary in nickel personnel. Imo without seeing the endzone view and knowing the team's priorities, it's hard to know if this is a bad ID or not. But I DO know its bad execution. So to me it looks like they call a slide to the SAM because he's closer to the LOS and the other LBs are playing with more depth (keep in mind down and distance). This is fine, they only send 4, should be no problem. Wait for it ANOTHER T-T stunt with Lawrence and Williams. Instead of staying level and passing it, Andrews tries to take Williams all the way through the block (LOL) Lawrence does a great job fighting Ingram's hands and getting himself free and off balance, Juice is able to give him a nice hit and negated his rush. However, Williams beats Andrews to the spot, Woody's chip was actually so good that it didn't let Tytus get hands on their edge and beat Tytus on the inside. CJ is forced to flush out and throw downfield to Marks on a prayer. Result: incomplete and turnover on downs.

It was at this point I got frustrated and didn't wanna watch anymore because it was the same thing over and over again.

My takeaways/TLDR

-More than anything, which is crazy because i wasn't even looking for this, it was just so BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that i noticed it. We are, almost without a doubt passing out of the gun and running under center. Like, I for sure missed some plays because of the TV copy but i think there was only 3 or 4 times where I saw us throw the ball from under center whether that was a screen or quick dump. It's just unbelievably predictable and inadmissible for a professional offense and coordinator.

-Second, and also very obviously, the route pairings and distributions absolutely SUCK. On my iPad I diagrammed most plays and it’s just so nonsensical. Almost every single play the slot has a flat or a go and nothing in between. Almost every play, the TE if he's inline as a nub has a chip and go or a free release. The few motions we have are formation re-alignments and not true motions so they don't actually do anything.

-Receivers are not looking quick enough or realizing they're hot quick enough. IMO this is NOT the system to be running for two rookie wide receivers and a 3rd year QB.

-For the most part, the ID is correct, or at minimum manageable (in my opinion of course). There's just not enough talent there and too many mental errors. Andrews is weak and slow. Ingram had by far his worst game of the year. Tytus got beat more than I'm used to seeing. Ersery had a couple mistakes with oversetting and not keeping active feet but overall not horrible for him. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is a great unit and they did a couple of really cool things, but protection-wise for the most part, we had answers and just absolutely botched it.

-CJ missed some throws, his feet were jittery because pressure was getting there when they had everything ID'd properly, idk how anyone can perform like that.