Seahawks tape room: Short yardage problems

The Seattle Seahawks struggled offensively in short-yardage situation last Thursdays. The game tape shows a very simple reason as to why.

For the Seattle Seahawks, the most concerning issue from last Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t the final score. The final score doesn’t matter for exhibition games, but not being able to do what you’re supposed do best is a cause for concern. For Seattle, that mean being able to run the football when they need to.

Near the end of the first quarter the game was still scoreless. The Seahawks had taken their opening possession from their own three yard line and driven out across midfield. A completed pass to Christine Michael on 2nd down left the Seahawks with third and one at the Minnesota 41 yard line.

The Seahawks brought in rookie Alex Collins at running back. On both third and forth downs Collins was stuffed, and the drive ended.

For a team that prides itself on being one of the top running offenses in the NFL, that failure was incredibly frustrating. It may only have been a meaningless preseason game, but there’s a lot to be learned as to why the Seahawks couldn’t get 1 yard when they needed to.

Let’s take a look at both plays.

3rd and 1

The Seahawks set up with Wilson and Alex Collins in the backfield, and two receivers wide to the right side. The base play was a simple read-option, but with an interesting wrinkle.

On top of the give/keep read of the unblocked outside linebacker, Wilson had another option. Based on the coverage pre-snap, Wilson had the option to throw quickly to Kearse on the outside, skipping the run option entirely.

Wilson ultimately made the correct call. Both CBs were too close to the line to take the quick pass. The DE didn’t crash inside, so he shouldn’t have kept it. That left giving the ball to Collins as the correct decision.

So then what happened? Ultimately, the play failed because Gary Gilliam missed his block. He needed to block the defensive end that lined up in the B gap, just inside of his right shoulder.

Gilliam was unable to stay in front of the DE, and Collins was hit in the backfield. The unblocked OLB then came over and made sure Collins wasn’t going to be able to break the tackle and pick up the first down.

See for yourself:

4th and 1

After the failure on third down, the Seahawks went with a much more conventional approach on fourth down. They lined up with Wilson under center and Collins deep. They went with pure man blocking, and ran Collins right up the gut.

Unfortunately, Collins took the way the play was drawn up a bit too literally. Tight end Nick Vannett and entire left side of the line got a great push, but Collins stuck to the clogged up A gap and never made it passed the line of scrimmage.

Ultimately the Seahawks failed to pick up the first down because, on both plays, someone didn’t do their job. On the first play it was Gilliam. On the second it was Collins.

Often times that is all it takes. On those short yardage plays, both teams pack everyone in close to the line. If one guy makes a mistake, there’s no room for the other guys to make up for it.

Next: Seahawks finally fix their FB problem

Overall though, it is important to keep in mind that this was just a preseason game. When the games count, we won’t be seeing Collins in that spot. I have no doubt that Rawls or Michael would be able to pick up the first down there.