Seattle Seahawks: 5 takeaways from win versus Patriots
By Jake Luppino
Schotty has been excellent with his play calls.
The Seahawks being known as primarily run-first based offense caused them to receive a lot of heat in the offseason as everyone wanted to see Russ unleashed and given the keys to the offense. After a lot of blowback, I think the Seahawks front office realized that if they play with the 4th quarter sense of urgency at the beginning of ball games, they will be very difficult to beat. One of the things Russell Wilson vouched for in the offseason was being aggressive right off the boat.
In their week 1 game against the Falcons, Schotty displayed his trust in Wilson as they aired the ball out and made the Atlanta secondary look silly. In week 1, they did stray away from the run game, but I do believe it was done so to prove a point that they are given Wilson the keys to this offense.
Against Atlanta, the play calling was heavily favored to throwing the ball as Seattle threw 35 times and ran only 20 times. That was the fourth time under the Pete Carroll era in Seattle that they ran for 20 or fewer carries in a single game.
Last night, I thought Schotty was once again on fire with his play calls. This time, they established the run and struck a nice balance between the two. The run game was working last night and forced the Patriots to stay on their toes as both Carson and Hyde can break a big run at any time. The Seahawks had 30 total rushes last night and 28 total pass completions last night. While it seems 50/50, it was primarily another game where the aerial attack was on full display.
I do not think Schotty is getting the credit he deserves as he has been spectacular with his play designs and scripts coming strong out of the gate. Schotty has also done a nice job of getting the half-backs involved in the passing game. Carson has now had back to back weeks with passing touchdowns.
Last night, the one play that showed me this is the year the Seahawks will finally Let Russ Cook came in the 4th quarter on the Seahawks last offensive possession. On 3rd and 1, instead of running a read option, Schotty decided to call a play that would allow Russ to air it out downfield.
Although the ball was poorly snapped, Wilson took the shot down the field and just barely missed Lockett. As a Seahawk fan, although the play did not work, I was very pleased to see the trust instilled in Wilson on what would typically be a short run yardage situation.