Gameplan Series: How to Attack the Seahawks Defense

A lot of people told me they enjoyed my first installment: "Gameplan Series: How to Stop the Dallas Offense."  Members of BleedingGreenNation requested I write more analytical pieces, so I figured this week -- against the Legion of Boom -- would be a great choice for my second installment.

A Dynasty
The Seahawks have been the best defense in the NFL over the past five years.  This season they currently allow 17.6 points per game, ranking 2nd overall -- they rank only behind the Minnesota Vikings (utilizing Zimmer's Double-A gap pressure), who gave the Eagles offense troubles.  

Here is their Nickel (4 DL, 2 LB, 5 DB) personnel, courtesy of Pro Football Focus:

When I examined what made Seattle's defense effective over the last five years, I had three key observations that I believe separates them from the rest of the NFL -- which has been evidenced by their consistency. Typically, the NFL is an "adapt or die" league.  These observations are factors I believe contribute to why they can run a Cover-3 shell over and over again and not get shredded. 

Attacking the Cover-3
Dolphins SBNation blog the Phinsider discussed how teams typically attack Cover-3:

Cover 3 does have one key weakness. While the entire deep area of the field is pretty well covered by three defensive backs, and the shallow middle of the field is defended well with the strong safety dropping into support, both "flanks" of the defense (shallow areas near each sideline) are left vulnerable early in each play. 

Those outside areas near the line of scrimmage are defended either by a linebacker or defensive back who normally begins the play positioned near the middle of the field and has to move to the outside as the boundary cornerbacks run downfield. Quick, short throws to the outside that take advantage of the boundary cornerbacks dropping into deep zones are used to defeat cover-3. Those are high percentage throws, and those drop-backs by the cornerbacks open up the potential for good yards after the catch.

The Patriots SBNation site published a Super Bowl preview article detailing the Seattle defense, diagraming their Cover-3 from the aforementioned Nickel 4-2-5 formation.  An important distinction is that they frequently switch between having 3 linebackers on the field or adding a nickel corner, or even safety Kelcie McCray who led the Hawks with 23 combined tackles in the Saints' and Bills' games.  

Note: In the NFL, the defense is always allowed to make the last substitution to matchup with the offense (they can't snap it while they are making subs).  To clarify, I will post the snap count data revealing how they run the Cover-3 from multiple personnel packages.  In this diagram, #28 was subbed in Nickel packages (aka 5 DBs on the field).

So They're Vulnerable? 

So you may be asking, 

"Why can't teams flood the flat zones every play against the Seahawks?" 

The answer is two-fold:

1) Outside DBs play "press-match" coverage 
2) Earl Thomas

1)  Their main modification is that both outside corners run a"press-match" coverage that mirrors the receivers route trees for roughly 12 yards. This happens right after the snap, before dropping back far downfield into their assigned zones. By jamming the wide receivers, the cornerbacks can prevent the quarterback from attempting a short throw to the outside as well as disrupt the timing on any downfield throws. 

The danger of most Cover-3 press schemes is that the DBs could fail to drop back far enough downfield to prevent deep passes from being completed. 

2) Allow me to introduce you to All-Pro safety Earl Thomas -- the catalyst and glue of the Legion of Boom and the Seahawks Cover-3 defense. 

Essentially, his job is to "bail out" any Seahawk cornerback who fails to jam his wide receiver effectively and allows the receiver to outrun him downfield. When this happens, the Seahawks' press cover-3 morphs into a quasi-cover-1 scheme.  His range in coverage, ability to diagnose the offensive threats, and ability to lay the wood are not unlike Brian Urlacher's skillset that allowed the Tampa-2 defense to thrive in Chicago.  

Who They Got?

PFF shows the snap breakdown:

McCray played a ton in Chancellor's absence, but he still sees snaps (albeit only 1 tackle last week). Going forward Earl and Kam will dominate the majority of snaps, with Earl playing centerfield and Kam playing rover. 

As you see, #20 Jeremy Lane appeared in almost two-thirds of the snaps as the starters. It's evident that Seattle likes to run Nickel (5 DBs) and Dime (6 DBs) packages. 

For the majority of snaps, the Seahawks have at least five DBs on the field with just two linebackers as pictured above.  They rotate in Coyle, Morgan, and Pierre-Louis in running situations. 

How They've Changed
Football analysts at Cover 32 stated how the Seahawks scheme has mutated this year: "The ascension of DBs coach Kris Richard to defensive coordinator in 2015 came with a few tweaks to the system. Richard disguises his packages as well as Gus Bradley or Dan Quinn did and he showed flashes of brilliance every now and then. His gutsy cornerback blitz late against St. Louis Week 1 was the first of several such moments.

One area that some fans soured on was Richard’s heavy reliance on cover 3 in first and ten and third and long situations. Cover 3 is normally one of the most effective way to prevent a deep completion. Carroll has always trusted his defensive backs to react quick enough to the zone’s weak points (flats, seams) and usually it has worked out."

Relevant as well: A distinction that is not exclusive to the Seahawks scheme is the difference between Sky and Cloud Coverage in a Cover-3. In cloud coverage, one cornerback and two safeties handle the deep part of the field. Sky coverage is different in that two cornerbacks take their deep thirds with one safety in the middle. Teams will employ variation in their coverage shells to throw off the cornerbacks reads of specific areas of the field.
How I Would Attack

This picture below is a play I created to attack the LOB: Carson Wentz in the 'Gun,' with Sproles to his right. Bryce Treggs and Jordan Matthews are stacked on the right. This stack alleviates some pressure from press coverage and creates more space if they play Cover-1 Man (which they call a fair amount).  The line slide protects to the right with Wentz rolling out and Sproles is on an HB block/flat delay route. Treggs looks for instant release on the outside to force the 'press-match' Jeremy Lane to pass him off to Sherman deep. Matthews runs a vertical route that bends to the inside after 12 yards.

The slide protection gives ample time the Ertz option route to be wide-open. He is supposed to pass in front of both linebackers face and clear Bobby Wagner's outside shoulder (right hash). Ertz is then supposed to read Earl Thomas -- if he turns his hips then Ertz keeps running diagonally towards the sideline and is hit in stride. If Thomas doesn't turn, Ertz is supposed to turn into a comeback route. 

Wentz is then supposed to choose between throwing the deep skinny post to Matthews or finding Ertz in the void behind Wagner. Bryce Treggs, armed with tremendous speed, occupies Richard Sherman deep.

Alternatives

1)  Four Verticals: It is simply difficult for three people to cover four.

2) Levels: Already a Doug Pederson staple -- good against man and zone (essential against Seahawks -- considering how often they run Cover-1 Man Blitz packages, especially in 3rd-and-longs.) It has endless variations, but the concept is you have receivers at varying depths down the field.  In recent years, coaches have advanced in aerial spacing concepts. There is now an emphasis on the simultaneous horizontal and vertical stretch of the defense. Football analyst Ted Bartlett explains,"The subtle key to executing this against zone is for the quarterback to play with eye discipline, and to help get the receivers open by forcing zone drift by the defenders." 

3) Man-Beaters: Rub routes are the fundamental elements of a man-beater.  Bartlett goes on to explain that: "Ordinarily, you'd run a man beater (AKA rub play) against man coverage, but with the way the Seahawks play zone, especially on the outside, it has some application. What you want is a lot of physical engagement between the X wideout and the right corner, such that the slot receiver can start his route with a hard inside step and then bust it outside, running around the entanglement of bodies. There's no way the nickel-back can run with him, and eventually, it will force a Cover 3 defense to play further off.If you play your zone with man principles, I'll run man beaters at it, and force you to play your zone like a damn zone." 

4) Double Smash: A simple play run from 2x2 Shotgun set -- both slot receivers run deep corner (flag) routes, the outside receivers run 12-yard comebacks. The idea is to suck the press-match outside corners underneath and hit them with the deep sideline route -- preferably to Matthews.  

So I hope you guys enjoyed the second edition in my "Gameplan Series."  You can check out the 1st edition about stopping the Dallas offense by clicking THIS.