Defining the Seahawks' Defense: An Introduction

[dead_poet]

Insightful if you've got the time to read:

"Our defense is a 4-3 scheme with 3-4 personnel. It's just utilizing the special talents of our guys."--Pete Carroll

http://www.fieldgulls.com/football-brea ... troduction

[The Breeze]

Wow! That was a really good article, DP. Thanks for posting it.

I know there are a lot of funky feelings here toward the Seachickens lately for obvious reasons, but I have been really impressed with the team they are building.

Carroll is really an astute teacher and I think it places him in a special category when it comes to NFL coaches. I suppose Belicheat is another guy who is clearly innovative compared to the rest of the league.

With so much emphasis put on football IQ, wonderlic and character for drafting players, it's interesting that NFL schemes have changed very little in decades. Granted offenses seem to be more dynamic based on the talents at the skill positions.....but line scheme on both sides of the ball, from my birdseye opinion, has been consistent. The biggest change is usually a team switching from 3-4 to 4-3 or vice-versa. How smart does a guy have to be to learn or teach/coach a system that has been used for 20-30 years? It shines a light on the parity phenomenon and why victories often depend on a couple of plays here or there, injuries and some luck over the course of a game.

By hybridizing the front seven of his defensive scheme Carroll takes more advantage of his players intelligences and unique skills while creating an attacking advantage for them every week. I imagine it puts the players in a more focused mindframe because they are participating in something original that is proving very successful ....like they own it.

It'll be equally as interesting to read the forthcoming piece on their secondary. Also to see how quickly the teams in their division can adapt and beat that defense at it's own game.

I'm envious of that defense.....but the Vikings seem to be moving in a similar direction as far as drafting guys with skills that will allow for schematic flexibilty, rather than being chained to a system that suprises nobody.

We'll see.....

[Mothman]

Hmm, that was a good read but I'm not convinced that defense is as new or original as that writer makes it sound. I confess, I'm also suspicious of any article that credits the 46 defense to Mike Ditka instead of Buddy Ryan. Ditka was the head coach of that Bears team but it's widely known that the 46 was Ryan's innovation and it takes absolutely minimal research to confirm that.

I may be wrong but I could swear the Vikings were running some pretty similar schemes to those described in the article when Pat Williams was on the roster. They slipped into some 3-4 alignments and they definitely had Pat and Kevin Williams playing with two-gap responsibilities at times. Perhaps the major difference is in how Carroll is aligning his defenders. Whatever the differences and regardless of how original or innovative it is, what Carroll is doing in Seattle is effective.

[Eli]

More than anything, it has to be a nightmare for QBs and anyone blocking. Which is also where the advantage lies in the 3-4, as you don't know who's coming and who's dropping into coverage on any given play. Blockers have to adapt in a split second to these dynamic formations and QBs have to figure out the coverage as the play develops. By contrast, with the Vikings' vanilla Tampa-2 the only dynamic is blitzing and the occasional DE who falls into coverage when his initial charge is stymied.

[Mothman]

More than anything, it has to be a nightmare for QBs and anyone blocking. Which is also where the advantage lies in the 3-4, as you don't know who's coming and who's dropping into coverage on any given play. Blockers have to adapt in a split second to these dynamic formations and QBs have to figure out the coverage as the play develops. By contrast, with the Vikings' vanilla Tampa-2 the only dynamic is blitzing and the occasional DE who falls into coverage when his initial charge is stymied.

3-4 teams are just blitzing too. The difference is that they can blitz from 8 positions instead of 7. You can zone blitz in either scheme. The main difference between the two alignments is that in a 3-4, there are 8 potential blitzing players instead of 7.

Bothe alignments have advantages and disadvantages.

[The Breeze]

So, it sounds like Carroll has keyed his scheme to blurring the line between the two schemes on a regular every down basis. Throw in those tall physical DBs and they get an ameoba-like system built on attacking and creating confusion.

Reminds me of a basketball team that is able to switch from man to zone and back, any time it will give them an edge.

Not technically a new scheme, rather a shapeshifting one. Sounds like it puts a bit more responsibility on each player to be up on things.....maybe. This is the kind of stuff I learn most about here. It's great.

One major thing I notice about the great defenses in the league, Ravens, Steelrs, Niners and the Pats and Bears of a few years back, is the way it seems like the players are running the system. There is such an entrenched veteran core that has mastered the philosophy that when new players come in it's often a seamless transition and a continuation of the unit's success.

I'm seeing that happen here with Gerald, Kevin,Smith, Robison, Greenway etc. These young guys like Floyd and Rhodes could be huge boons in that respect. Troubling that we don't have a stand out MLB intially, since it could be argued that all those forementioned teams had one as the keystone to their defense.
There are possibilities heading into camp, I hope one of them can step up....doesn't matter who.

[dead_poet]

I'm seeing that happen here with Gerald

[Demi]

You know what defines the Seahawks defense?

PEDs.

[jackal]

One of their players just got suspended for 4 games for PED's

I wouldn't be surprised if the Sea hawks get more of these soon

Pete Caroll always ran a dirty system.. just look what USC got hit with right after he jumped ship

[PacificNorseWest]

Pete Caroll always ran a dirty system.. just look what USC got hit with right after he jumped ship

Stoneface for you, sir. I don't think Pete should be liable for grown men making their own mistakes. It's not like Pete would willingly allow this knowing his two stud CB's and his starting DE would potentially get suspended.

I like Pete. Part of me does want a few more of them to go down for the use of Adderall. It's bad, but damn...I don't like them.

SeaAdderal Seahawks is the nickname now floating around.

[HornedMessiah]

Six Seahawks have tested positive for PEDs since 2011

Six is enough to call it a trend, right? We'll see how they perform next year when they aren't all using Adderall.
They'll either stink because they aren't using it anymore, or they'll be too stupid to stop and it turns into a big controversy surrounding the team.

This team gives me the same feeling as the Jets in recent years. A lot of hype with nothing to back it up. Except the Jets actually accomplished more

[jackal]

Stoneface for you, sir. I don't think Pete should be liable for grown men making their own mistakes. It's not like Pete would willingly allow this knowing his two stud CB's and his starting DE would potentially get suspended.

Its the Head Coaches job to make sure his team is accountable... Pete Caroll knew the heat was coming down on USC and he jumped ship
and left the program, players, and school in the cold

[Mothman]

Six Seahawks have tested positive for PEDs since 2011

Six is enough to call it a trend, right? We'll see how they perform next year when they aren't all using Adderall.
They'll either stink because they aren't using it anymore, or they'll be too stupid to stop and it turns into a big controversy surrounding the team.

This team gives me the same feeling as the Jets in recent years. A lot of hype with nothing to back it up. Except the Jets actually accomplished more

Agreed. I laughed at the last sentence of that report:

Irvin’s suspension also proves that, no matter how good a team looks on paper in May, plenty of things can happen to derail what appears to be a certain Super Bowl run.

A "certain Super Bowl run"? Give me a break. I hope the over-hyped Seahawks crash and burn this season.

[The Breeze]

Can someone explain to me how adderal enhances performance?

[dead_poet]

Can someone explain to me how adderal enhances performance?

Attention, focus, reaction on the field. Basically like a huge rush of adrenaline.