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Seattle Seahawks tape study: Wilson to blame for Graham’s lack of production

By Keith Myers

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In their loss last Sunday, the biggest issue to come out of the game for the Seattle Seahawks was the complete lack of production from tight end Jimmy Graham. Graham was targeted just twice in the game, and had just one catch for 11 yards.

Following the game, no one had any answers as to why it happened. Fans blamed offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Pete Carroll said the team tried to get the ball to Graham, but it didn’t happen. Graham was reportedly very unhappy.

To get an idea of what the real problem was, I charted every pass play from Sunday’s game. The result might surprise you.

Here is some of what was found:

1st Quarter

1st pass: WR screen to Lockett – Graham blocking

2nd pass: Play-action to Coleman

Graham was open in the seem. Wilson had the protection needed to wait the fraction of a second needed for Graham to turn around and look back for the ball (He did almost immediately after Wilson released the ball). Wilson simply took the check-down to Coleman too quickly.

3rd pass: deep pass to Baldwin – Graham also open, but Baldwin the right read

The way the routes were designed, this appears to have been a play set up to get the ball to Graham. The route combinations cleared the entire center of the field for him to work with.

It just happened that Baldwin’s corner route also broke open. Wilson rightfully took the big gain.

4th pass: Wheel route to Graham

The Seahawks put Graham in motion to help him get a free release, then had him run a wheel route outside against man coverage. He was single covered down the sideline against a much smaller defender, but Wilson under-threw the pass and it fell incomplete.

5th pass: Pass to Willson who fell down

It was third and three, and the play call was clearly for the pass to go to Graham. The route combination created a pick-route on the outside to get him free for an easy first down.

Wilson instead decided to go off-script and throw to a tightly covered Luke Willson. Willson fell down and the pass was incomplete.

Had Willson stayed on his feet, it is possible that he catches the pass and the team gets the first down, but he was still well covered while Graham was clearly open. This was a poor choice by Russell Wilson.

So in five passes in the first quarter, four play calls were made to try and get the ball to Jimmy Graham. Wilson threw elsewhere on the three times when Graham was open, and under threw the one pass to Graham when he was covered.

2nd Quarter

1st pass: play action. Graham covered short, Willson open in middle.

2nd pass: Wilson sacked. Graham broke open too late despite double coverage.

Graham was dealing with a short-deep bracket here, but breaks across the middle and gets separation. Unfortunately, Gilliam misses his block and Wilson gets sacked before Graham can get clear.

3rd pass: Deep pass to covered Kearse. Just about everyone else open, including Graham

Wilson throw a deep pass here to a well-covered Kearse on the far sideline. Considering how bad Kearse is at those types of passes, that clearly wasn’t a good choice. Graham gets clear between the safeties against cover-2. That could have been a big gain.

4th pass: Pass to Baldwin. Graham draws two defenders

Graham has two defenders on him on the top of the screen. Baldwin is open in the middle against a linebacker. Wilson makes a good choice going to Baldwin here.

5th pass: Graham open underneath, but not enough for 1st (3rd down play) Wilson waited, then ran.

Seattle used Graham as a decoy here, hoping to pull the linebackers up on his short route and create room at the sticks for Baldwin and Lockett. It didn’t work.

Both linebackers stayed back, and Wilson had no one open for a first down. Had Wilson thrown to Graham, he almost certainly would have been tackled short of the marker.

6th pass: Pass to Lynch – Bracket coverage on Graham

Graham draws bracket coverage at the top of the frame, leaving Lynch open underneath. Free rushers meant that Wilson didn’t have time to wait for Graham to eventually get clear.

The second quarter saw a shift in Green Bay’s game plan. There was a major focus on Graham, with multiple defenders being occupied by the big tight end.

The Seahawks adapted by letting Graham move defenders to create gaps for other players to work with. Except on the one third-down play, it was often successful.

Second Half

The second half included a lot more passes by the Seahawks. Seeing as this article is already extremely long, I’m not going to include every pass.

Graham open on post

Wilson is rolling out, but isn’t under immediate pressure. If he sets his feet and trusts Graham (who has inside leverage) on the deep post. This is likely a touchdown.

Graham open in center if Wilson just throws it.

Graham is behind the defense and with inside leverage. Wilson checks down to Lynch for minimal gain. Doug Baldwin is also open. This is an awful decision by Wilson.

Graham’s one reception

Graham is open an Wilson hits him. Wilson’s progression makes it appear that Graham is a primary receiver on this play. Baldwin in the center of the field offers a much bigger gain, but it is tough to fault Wilson when his primary is open.

Baldwin’s touchdown

Graham is a open-ish, but he has multiple defenders on him once again. Wilson stares him down to freeze the free safety. This allows Baldwin to have then entire center of the end zone to work with.

The result is an easy touchdown for the Seahawks.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for someone to blame for Graham’s lack of production in Week 2, the target should be Russell Wilson. He had Graham open multiple times and didn’t get him the ball.

The Seahawks made a major effort to get Graham the ball early in the game, but Wilson went elsewhere with the football. The one time when Wilson did trust his big tight end, the pass as under thrown.

After that, Green Bay did a good job of taking away Graham for the rest of the game. The Seahawks used that to their advantage to create opportunities for other players. This was a good adjustment made my Bevell and the coaching staff.

But the Seahawks didn’t get completely away from Graham in the play calling. They still found ways to get to him open for big plays. For whatever the reason, Wilson just did not get Graham the football.

It should be noted that the Seahawks only repeated the same route combination once in the entire game, and they did so out of different formations. Any claims that Seattle’s play-calling lacks diversity is completely incorrect.

Overall, this was not a good game for Russell Wilson. We’ve seen him play much better in the past. It is safe to say that if Wilson gets back to making smart choices with the football, Graham will begin putting together some very productive games.

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