Brian Schottenheimer was revealing the play Monday, mainly due to the fact that it was among Seattles best– and Russell Wilsons best– on a wonderful opening Sunday for a reenergized offense.
It featured 1:43 left in the first quarter. The call was a zone-read run.
At the breeze, Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun took two difficult steps toward Wilson. On the call, Wilsons job is to check out the edge gamer. Wilson hands off if he stays with the quarterback. If the edge guy goes with the back, Wilson keeps the ball and runs to the space the defender vacated. Problem was, Oluokuns play was to cloud Wilsons read and, with a flash to ID that, the ninth-year quarterback saw it.
He pulled the ball from Chris Carsons belly, Olukon went with Carson and Wilson scuttled into an opening you could drive semi through, cleared out by the quarterbacks vision for the play. Twenty-eight backyards later, Seattle remained in the red zone.
Frequently, we think of the cerebral parts of a quarterbacks task simply including the death video game. This run play– one that set up a 19-yard screen pass for a touchdown on the next breeze, providing Seattle a 14-3 lead that left Atlanta going after the rest of the afternoon– required Wilson to believe and respond much faster, be harder and act with more discipline than almost any pass play would.
That was one point Schottenheimer desired to make while going over the play again on Monday. The other one was, well, a little less serious.
” We provided him a tough time– he went running and 94 caught him from the behind!” Schottenheimer stated, on his escape to practice on Wednesday. “So we were offering him s– t about that. Some big D-lineman captured him from the behind! It was like a 28-yard run. … One of the very best plays we had.”
Sure enough, the tape shows that too. Atlanta DT Deadrin Senat, all 305 pounds of him, rumbled all the method down the field with Wilson, and tugged the 31-year-old down from behind at the 19-yard line. And Schottenheimer, in his third year with Wilson, has a convenience level with his quarterback now where he can provide him crap for it in a conference.
The larger point here, though, stays. On a day when numerous in Seattle were getting what theyve long been requesting– to see an offense more focused on what Wilson can do as a passer– the principle remained the same.
Seattles ideal on offense is to be able to pull whatever lever it needs to. It so took place that on Sunday, pulling the Wilson-the-gunslinger lever led to 322 backyards and four goals through the air.
Excellent to know thats there for them.
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Were ready to get you all set for Week 2. Inside this weeks GamePlan, youll find …
– Power rankings!
– A take a look at quarterback hurrying numbers.
– A dive into running back pay.
However were beginning with Wilson, the Seahawks and where they go from here, after beating Atlanta down, and with the Patriots on the horizon on Sunday night.
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Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
So you understand, Schottenheimers heard it too. He even has your preferred Twitter catch phrase down. Hes conscious. People want a more Wilson-centric offense.
” You can imagine, I get asked that a lot,” he stated, chuckling. “Literally, thats what everybody talks about out here in Seattle– the entire let Russ cook thing. … The bottom line is this, there are some things we went into this year saying, O.K., appearance, as we play, what offers us the best chance to win?
” When we were generated, we were brought in to do what? Repair the run video game. Thats why I was brought here– lets repair the running video game. Well, then youre here and you see, O.K., we did that. We led the league in rushing. Then the next year, were a little bit more balanced.”
The numbers, to Schottenheimers point, have a look at. Seattle led the league in entering 2018 and moved into the top 10 in overall offense last year with a more balanced attack– they were fourth in hurrying, 14th in passing, and sixth overall.
Whats next, the Seahawks third-year OC hopes, is unlocking among the NFLs best players.
Which means not simply letting him toss it more. It suggests letting loose all of Wilson on the league, something, they hope, just began to occur on Sunday. In the quarterback survey we ran recently, Wilson was simply as overwhelming a pick for 2nd location as Patrick Mahomes was for initially– Wilson appeared on 48 of 53 tallies ranking who those surveyed anticipated to be the top five QBs at the end of the year, which was 22 more than any other quarterback not named Mahomes.
Whats more, the coach Wilsons facing Sunday, Bill Belichick, said on Thursday early morning, “I think, in a manner, hes undervalued by media and fans. I dont understand, I do not see anyone better than this gamer.” Thats a sentiment that, for his part, Schottenheimer completely agrees with.
” We get what an excellent gamer Russ is,” he stated. “But the bottom line is every game is gon na be different based on the challenger were playing.
” We realize that Russell Wilson is one of the top two, 3, four gamers in the NFL. We realize that, and we anticipate him to play that method no matter what were asking him to do, whether its tossing the ball or handing the ball off.”
To be sure, it was more of the former versus Atlanta. On the Seahawks very first 5 first downs of the game, Schottenheimer called a play-action pass, a run play, a screen, a dropback pass and a play-action pass– making for a 4-to-1 pass-to-run ratio. In the end, Seattle called 38 pass plays to 20 runs, and Wilson linked on 31 of his 35 tosses for the aforementioned 322 backyards and four ratings.
He also led the team in hurrying, with 28 of his 29 lawns in the area beginning that a person run.
In 2018, Wilson only reached 35 efforts twice– both losses. He got there 6 times last year, and the Seahawks were simply 2-4 in those video games.
And part of that is building the sort of rapport that it took for Schottenheimer to offer Wilson a hard time because conference on Monday. The reality is, the much better these guys know each other, the more they see the game through the same eyes, the more theyre able to do on the field together.
” Were actually tight,” Schottenheimer stated. “We have a terrific relationship. That doesnt imply we constantly see eye-to-eye on everything. The cool thing now is going into Year 3, weve been able to interact and talk things out, and were both most likely much better listeners now than weve ever been with each other. I listen to him more than maybe I did Year 1; he listens to me perhaps more than he did in 2015 with some things.
” So the relationship is amazing, and I do think that certainly assists. That is genuine. At any time an organizer and a quarterback have been together for a considerable time period and youve been through various things and youve discovered each other. And s– t, we played one playoff game in 18, and then two in 2015, youre talking about 35 games of genuine football, now 36. I suggest, we understand each other better. We check out each other differently.”
That appeared in the convenience level that Schottenheimer, and the Seahawks, had in going to Wilson to construct an early lead, and really leaning on him throughout– since thats how Seattle saw the match. And there were likewise smaller minutes where the connection in between coach and quarterback exposed itself.
One play, an important breeze near completion of the 3rd quarter, showed that. It was first-and-goal from the 7, and as soon as the chains were set, because of that background they have with one another, both Schottenheimer and Wilson knew what the call would be– a toss out of a 3-by-1 set, with tight end Greg Olsen the lone receiver to Wilsons right. Wilson likes the play and Schottenheimer allocated it for the red zone, so going to it was academic.
” When we got down into that area and we saw the area and the hash and the down-and-distance, he prepared for that play was coming,” Schottenheimer said. “And when you look at it, we didnt get the appearance we desired.”
The wrinkle: Safety Keanu Neal didnt cheat over to Carson, flaring out of the backfield, as Seattle thought he would and, as a result, Neal ended up discreetly interrupting Olsens route. Due to the fact that of that, Wilson basically had to be perfect, with full knowledge of where the ball required to be even as Neal was in Olsens way, a scenario that likewise offered corner A.J. Terrell time to close and shorten the window he was throwing into.
” His feet needed to be right, he had to be on perfect timing, he needed to make the ideal toss, and put it on Gregs body to secure him,” Schottenheimer said. “And then you view the execution of it, I mean, that ball actually sticks in Gregs facemask practically. It was like Boom if you ask Greg! And the ball was on him. Luckily, hes got terrific ball abilities. Thats a cool one.”
And its an example at one time of whats occurring here– Wilsons talent meeting with his relationship with his play-caller, conference with his knowledge of the video game being better than its ever been previously. He knew the call was coming, he understood the difficulty the defense was tossing at him, he understood what he had to do as an outcome of that, and then he had the skill to get the ball right where it required to be.
Which is why, truly, this is more Wilsons offense than its ever been previously.
As Schottenheimer states now, “Theres nothing we dont enable him to do– repairing, changing, points, all that stuff.”
That Olsen toss made the rating 28-12, and the Seahawks lead stayed in double digits for all 20 minutes left on the clock after that– and theres no question Wilson was whatever Seattle needed him to be to arrive.
Possibly the Seahawks need him to be something else today. But knowing that he can be what he remained in Week 1? Thats a quite good indication now of who hes become as a quarterback, regardless of how anyone else believes it should look.
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Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
POWER RANKINGS
1) Kansas City Chiefs (1-0): Opening Night looked pretty simple for the Chiefs. Due to the fact that the Texans are bad, and thats not. Its due to the fact that Kansas City, as it stands today, is really, actually great.
Did Sunday provide you any indicator that John Harbaughs team is all set to fall off in the least from where they were in going 14-2 last year? (Also, watch Lamar Jackson in the last minute of the very first half.
3) New Orleans Saints (1-0): Drew Brees threw for 160 lawns, the passing video game was out of sorts in basic, and the Saints still mustve won that one over a great Tampa team by 3 scores. Which is because, in my viewpoint, the Saints have the most gifted, well balanced lineup in the NFL.
4) Seattle Seahawks (1-0): You need to believe Pete Carrolls defense is going to enhance as brand-new pieces in the secondary come together, and Wilson was otherworldly in Week 1. So theyre good now, and will get much better.
5) New England Patriots (1-0): When you have 20 years of history like Bill Belichick does, and you look that effective in Week 1, and like you have a reputable follower to the Throne of Brady … youre making my leading 5.
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THE BIG QUESTION.
Can quarterbacks sustain this rate?
Remarkable truth for you: Wilson was one of 5 quarterbacks to lead his team in rushing on Sunday, all 5 of whom won their games. And Wilson is probably the least striking example of whats happening here, because he had just 3 brings for 29 backyards. Here are the other four …
– Josh Allen, Buffalo: 14 carries, 57 backyards, TD.
– Kyler Murray, Arizona: 13 carries, 91 lawns, TD.
– Lamar Jackson, Baltimore: 7 carries, 48 backyards.
– Cam Newton, New England: 15 brings, 75 backyards, 2 TDs.
And on top of that, 4 of the five had passer ratings that exceeded 100. Murray was the one exception there, and he got it together late and tossed it well down the stretch.
Obviously, it was enjoyable to view. However all of us know the history here, too. In the NFL, its very challenging for a quarterback to keep up that sort of pace.
And so it was that when I asked Sean McDermott, after his Bills beat the Jets 27-17, and Allen carried the ball 14 times, if he was fretted about it. He thought for a second, then stated, “I d like to get the points up which number down. How about that?”.
It sounds good, however, McDermott acknowledged, its hard carry out in the heat of fight, when your quarterback has a capability to make a difference with his legs, and when hes sometimes contributing to the damage being done to him by removing with the ball on his own, regardless of the play call. As a result, striking the ideal balance is much easier stated than done.
And thats since whatever takes place Sunday, whether its taking too many hits or not doing enough artistically to win the video game, comes with a rate on Monday.
” When youre running the ball a lot, youre inevitably gon na take hits,” ex-NFL QB Matt Cassel stated on my podcast today, after bringing the aforementioned stat to my attention. “And you try to secure yourself. But when you take hits, and particularly between the tackles, we saw that a lot with Cam today, its tough to believe thatll be sustainable. Fifteen carries is a lot.
” Its something where you get outdoors on a zone-read, you pull the ball, and you dive down and you protect yourself. [ Newton] took a lot of hits. Theres that dilemma, I saw it with Marcus [Mariota in Tennessee] You want to benefit from the ability. And it offers you a terrific advantage to be able to run the ball and do the things he can do. At the same time, I saw the toll it was taking on his body.
” His A/c joint got separated. All the things you expose yourself to as a runner at the quarterback position– when you end up being a runner, its open season and those guys are attempting to hit you.
Ultimately, all of that added to Mariotas exit from Tennessee.
And validates a concern that we might well be asking all year.
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Chuck Cook -USA TODAY Sports.
WHAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT.
What all those running backs are really earning money.
Amidst the everlasting social media backbiting on pay at the position, Im unsure numerous individuals put in the time to go into what all these guys will truly be making the next couple of years– instead rolling with “this team is screwed” quote tweets reacting to the preliminary wave of numbers on deals for Ezekiel Elliott, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook. What are those guys truly making?
To figure that out, I went into the deals, and focused on the first 3 years of every one for 2 factors. Beyond three years, all the guarantees are gone and you have de facto team choices– that truly simply serve as ceilings on what the players can make (if they arent worth the number, they get cut). Second, history at position reveals you these guys need to get their cash as fast as possible (Todd Gurley was cut less than 21 months after signing his deal).
Then, here is the first-, second- and third-year total money for each of the abovementioned six, plus Chargers RB Austin Ekeler, because L.A. took a various approach at the position and let its starter (Melvin Gordon) walk to sign his backup at a much cheaper rate.
Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas: $19.81 million, $29.41 million, $41.81 million.
Austin Ekeler, L.A. Chargers: $9.51 million, $13.76 million, $18.76 million.
Christian McCaffrey, Carolina: $22.33 million, $30.57 million, $39.17 million.
Derrick Henry, Tennessee: $15.01 million, $25.51 million, $37.51 million.
Joe Mixon, Cincinnati: $11.33 million, $20.03 million, $28.73 million.
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans: $15.83 million, $17.83 million, $29.33 million.
Dalvin Cook, Minnesota: $16.34 million, $18.44 million, $27.34 million.
The apparent– the deals for Elliott and McCaffrey are more separated from the pack than even the raw, total numbers would show. And deservedly so. Elliott won two rushing titles in the three years before scoring his deal, while Christian McCaffrey led the NFL in skirmish yards in 2019 and was 3rd because classification in 18.
Assisting their cause was their status as top-10 choices, which provided them bigger back-end numbers on their rookie offers, and more cash already in the bank, which meant more leverage in agreement negotiations. Henry actually got fairly near to those guys too, as an outcome of getting to completion of his contract and getting to work out off a franchise tag.
That stated, if you take a look at the next 3 guys on the list– Mixon, Kamara and Cook– all of them are under $10 million per year for the next three years, as far as cash-in-hand. To me, thats a deal, for the gamers they are. Over that same time period, Amari Cooper will make $60 million in Dallas, Cory Littleton will get $36 million in Vegas and Austin Hooper will make $32.5 million in Cleveland.
Yes, those guys were totally free agents. However they likewise arent almost the very best at their positions. The previously mentioned six guys are close to that, and, once again, earning less.
Now, could their teams have let things play out, tagged them in 2021, and then let them walk after five years? On paper, yes. That would imply having a significantly mad gamer in your locker space and sending out the message to the rest of the guys in there that anybody can be leveraged by the bean counters, regardless of performance. And its difficult to live that method, especially when, once again, there might be a relative deal out there for you.
In the end, I think thats what these teams got, since of their determination to do an offer after three years. And if every one of these guys is still productive over the next three years, I believe the Mixon, Kamara and Cook offers will all look like wins for their teams.
Its also a win for the players. No, these guys arent making money like Julio Jones or Laremy Tunsil. However at that position, you have actually to get paid while you can, and they did, undoubtedly, earn money.
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THE FINAL WORD.
The fight for Ohio is tonight, and you have to think theres a little additional pressure on Baker Mayfield to recover off a rough opener– especially after looking at how resilient and comfy Joe Burrow seemed to be last week. Getting outdueled by another No. 1 general choice, 2 years behind you, and just two video games into his career, would be a difficult appearance.
Issue was, Oluokuns play was to cloud Wilsons read and, with a split second to ID that, the ninth-year quarterback saw it.
And Schottenheimer, in his 3rd year with Wilson, has a convenience level with his quarterback now where he can provide him crap for it in a meeting.
In the quarterback survey we ran last week, Wilson was simply as frustrating a pick for 2nd place as Patrick Mahomes was for first– Wilson appeared on 48 of 53 ballots ranking who those surveyed expected to be the top 5 QBs at the end of the year, which was 22 more than any other quarterback not named Mahomes.
It was first-and-goal from the 7, and as soon as the chains were set, since of that background they have with one another, both Schottenheimer and Wilson knew what the call would be– a throw out of a 3-by-1 set, with tight end Greg Olsen the only receiver to Wilsons. Wilson likes the play and Schottenheimer earmarked it for the red zone, so going to it was scholastic.
