Seattle Seahawks Pass Defense vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: 37/59, 480 Yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs
The overarching theme to the Seattle Seahawks’ season on defense is what has happened to the Legion of Boom. There have been multiple late game collapses by the Seattle defense and the secondary has been picked apart in some high profile games. The demise of the Legion of Boom may be overstated a bit as they are 9th in passing yards allowed per game (232.0) and T-1st in TDs allowed (11) but there should be concern as Seattle is 16th in Y/A (7.2), 18th in completion percentage (62.8%), T-22nd in INTs (8), and 13th in passer rating allowed (85.3). This is not the dominate pass defense that scared most of the league for two years. Pittsburgh put up gaudy numbers against the Seahawks and a lot of this is because Ben Roethlisberger is an elite QB with all the weapons he could want. But to give up 480 yards of passing on over eight yards per attempt is disheartening despite only giving up one touchdown compared to the four interceptions. So what is happening to Seattle defense? Has the lost talent in the secondary (Brandon Browner, Byron Maxwell, Walter Thurmond, etc.) caught up to Seattle as they have not been able to reload yet? Or is it due to teams figuring out how to attack and pick apart the simple Cover 1/3 scheme that the Seahawks use? This article will go into the film and diagnose what the ails the Legion of Boom and how the Seahawks need to fix the issue.
*Note: I’m going to be listing the ten plays that I think best exemplify what went wrong for the Seahawks on the first page. If you want to see all of the plays and my opinions on them (basically my research notes), they will be listed on following pages afterward in chronological order of the game film.
Pass #1
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 44
Description: Q1-(1:48) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Middle to M. Wheaton to SEA 35 for 21 Yards (E. Thomas)
When I was watching the film, I noticed a lot of the time that MLB Bobby Wagner (#54) was very flat-footed in coverage. He didn’t get a whole lot of depth in his drops and was waiting for a dump off receiver to come out of the backfield. When in zone coverage, though, if there isn’t a receiver in front of you, you are supposed to be bailing backward to take away and deep routes that are developing behind you. Wagner doesn’t follow those rules many times throughout the game and on this play he gets taken advantage of. WR Markus Wheaton (#11) is running a post route out of the slot and works his way into the massive void that opens up between FS Earl Thomas (#29) and Wagner. If Wagner drops back in his coverage and gets underneath the post route, this void doesn’t exist and Roethlisberger doesn’t have a window to throw it to Wheaton. OLB KJ Wright (#50) has RB Deangelo Williams (#34) running the out route underneath him so he needs to stay more upfield in his coverage. This is very atypical of Wagner in the past as one of the things I read in his scouting report was he excelled in getting depth in his zone drop. His lack of depth in his zone drop is seen again here:
Pass #2
Situation: 2nd and 5 SEA 33
Description: Q2-(9:54) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton to SEA 14 for 19 Yards (M. Burley)
Wagner (#54) repeats the same mistake that he made on the previous play as he didn’t get nearly enough depth in his drop. Wheaton (#11) runs a seam route behind and Wagner and instead of Wagner getting underneath the route, he dances in one spot because he isn’t sure of TE Matt Spaeth (#89) is going to come out for a route or not. Spaeth isn’t really a threat in the passing game and he is blocking DE Cliff Avril (#56) initially so there is no reason why Wagner should be dancing around where he is. If he even gets one or two more yards of depth, he may have an interception on this play. Instead, he leaves another void between Thomas (#29) and him and Wheaton sits down in that void.
Pass #3
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 29
Description: Q1-(9:57) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to R. Nix Pushed Out of Bounds at PIT 35 for 6 Yards (K. Chancellor)
SS Kam Chancellor (#31) in the first half was just awful. While this play isn’t awful in terms of the result, the same idea that effects him on this play burns him badly later on in the game. Chancellor has the flat zone on this play. I don’t know who taught Chancellor how to drop in zone coverage but this terrible technique. His back his turned to the play and he has no AWARENESS of what is going on with the play. If he drops back with proper technique, he would be aware of what is going on in his surroundings and jump the out route of FB Roosevelt Nix (#46). Instead, he leaves Nix wide open and Roethlisberger has an easy throw to make. There is a reason why I bolded the word awareness on this play. It is a key factor in what went wrong on the following pass.
Pass #4
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 44
Description: Q2-(1:16) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Left to M. Wheaton to SEA 15 for 41 Yards (B. Wagner)
Chancellor (#31) has a much more important responsibility as he is the deep middle defender. He has to play centerfield and clean up the mistakes of the other players. When playing the deep middle of the field, you need to keep your shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage and stay deeper than the deepest receiver. Chancellor has the second part down, but he again turns his back to the play (well half of it) and losses awareness of the right half of the field when he focuses on the deep route of WR Antonio Brown (#84). Brown is a dangerous WR but CB Richard Sherman (#25) is a great CB (and was one of the few bright spots) and Thomas (#29) is sitting underneath the route. There is no reason why Chancellor should be focusing all his attention on Brown. Wagner (#54) again doesn’t get enough of a drop in his zone coverage so Wheaton (#11) is wide open on the right side of the field on the seam route. If Chancellor was aware of his surroundings, he would see Wheaton all alone and clean up Wagner’s mistake. Instead, he is no position to make a play on this pass and costs his teams a lot of yards.
Pass #5
Situation: 3rd and 1 PIT 47
Description: Q3-(0:25) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Left to M. Bryant (D. Shead)
I’m going to focus on Thomas (#29) for the next few plays because he was not his usual self. Thomas has some of the best instincts in the game and has the range that most safeties can only dream up. But he is also aggressive in his coverage and play and it led to some really poor decisions. This pass is an incompletion, but this should have been a touchdown as WR Martavius Bryant (#10) has burnt SS/CB DeShawn Shead (#35) badly on this play. Thomas is responsible for the deep middle of the field and is the only defender that can help Shead if he gets beat deep. Instead, he is jumping the dig route of Wheaton (#11) that should be the responsibility of the LBs underneath. Thomas has to be available to get over the top of a deep route and should be bailing out Shead on this play. The Seahawks get lucky as Roethlisberger’s hesitation gives Shead a chance to catch up to Bryant and break up the pass, but this could have been an interception for Thomas if he plays this right.
Pass #6
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 31
Description: Q4-(11:51) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Middle to M. Wheaton for 69 Yards and Touchdown
This time, Thomas (#29) trying to make the aggressive play while in deep coverage costs the Seahawks big time. Thomas has the deep left half of the field and should be bailing in his coverage immediately off the snap. He doesn’t get any depth in his drop, though, but that isn’t the main issue. The main issue is why is he focusing on Roethlisberger scrambling? He sees that Wheaton (#11) has run past CB Jeremy Lane (#20) in coverage and his initial movement to help Lane out. For some unknown reason (you would have to ask him or Pete Carroll), he stops following Wheaton and instead runs upfield to try to tackle Roethlisberger scrambling out of the pocket. Thomas should be the last player chasing Roethlisberger and instead should be running deep with Wheaton. Because Thomas loses discipline, Roethlisberger has the whole left side of the field to throw to and burns the Seahawks with a big play.
Pass #7
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 25
Description: Q3-(4:20) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton to PIT 32 for 7 Yards (B. Wagner)
I love that Thomas (#29) is an agressive player who likes to lay the lumber. But there is a difference with coming in like a missile and just being completely out of control in a tackle. This fits the second scenario as Thomas is all sorts messed up in his technique. Thomas’s head is facing the turf, he isn’t bringing his arms with the tackle, and he is trying to launch into Wheaton’s (#11) to knock him down. All these things are a recipe for disaster when dealing with an elusive WR and Wheaton makes him look silly with a simple juke step. Thomas needs to spend more time with new tackling coach and work on how to tackle like a rugby player instead of launching at a player. He wasn’t the only player to do it (Wagner had a similarly poor tackle) but he was the worst offender and if he misses a tackle like that in the open field he is going to give up a big play.
Pass #8
Situation: 2nd and 3 PIT 49
Description: Q3-(8:52) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Right to M. Bryants to SEA 11 for 40 Yards (D. Shead)
It’s not all on the veterans of the defense for why the Seahawks struggled. Shead (#35) had his first start of his career at CB and he didn’t exactly look the part. The thing I noticed the most about him is that he does not elite speed. This was shown in Pass #5, but he didn’t get off the hook like he did on the previous pass I mentioned. Shead’s technique is fine on this play, but Bryant (#10) just runs right by him. Shead is built like an SS (6’1, 220 lbs) so asking him to cover one of the fastest WRs in the game in man coverage is unfair to him as he is not built to keep up with a WR like Bryant. But if Shead cannot work on least jamming WRs better off the line of scrimmage of keeping up with them better, offenses are going to design formations that get Shead matched up with the speed receiver and he is going to be exploited over and over again.
Pass #9
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 15
Description: Q2-(1:05) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton Pushed Out of Bounds at SEA 6 for 9 Yards (M. Burley)
The Seahawks gave CB Marcus Burley (#28) to show what he’s got at nickel back and he showed off one thing loud and clear, he doesn’t have the quickness to pull it off. This is just one example of what would happen to him against the Steeler’s WRs on short routes. Burley would keep up with the receiver for the first phase of the route but as soon as the receiver cut, he would either get left in the dust or overrun the route. Burley does not have the quick-twitch movement required to be a nickel back and was benched for Lane (who just got off the injury list) in the second half. Burley isn’t exactly a big guy either so his ability on the outside is limited and if he can’t handle slot receiver, there isn’t really a place for him in the secondary. I remember him gettting exploited by the Patriots in the super bowl by quick hitting routes and the Steelers did the same thing to him again.
Pass #10
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 48
Description: Q4-(1:45) L. Jones Pass Deep Right Intended to M. Bryant Intercepted by K. Chancellor (D. Shead) at SEA 7. K. Chancellor to SEA 7 for No Gain (M. Bryant). The Replay Official Reviewed the Interception Ruling, and the Play was Upheld. The Ruling on the Field Stands
It wasn’t all bad for the Seahawks, though. They did get four interceptions and I wanted to show the best of the bunch. Shead(#35) actually does a good job of not letting Bryant (#10) get behind him on Bryant’s go route and is in a great position to make a play on the ball. Jones should have never thrown this pass, but he decided to anyways and the Seahawks take advantage. Chancellor (#31) is in deep middle coverage and on this play he is actually aware of his surroundings. He maintains good posting in his drop back into coverage and once the ball is thrown he takes off to help Shead out. He doesn’t have Thomas’ speed so he isn’t able to go for the ball initially, but he is in the right spot for the tipped pass and makes an acrobatic catch to bring down the interception. I said after watching this play “see what happens when everyone does their role.” The Seahawks are good enough that when they do their assignments right, they can shut down or at least hamper a team’s ability to pass.
Overall Impression
There isn’t one thing that you can pin the failure of the Seattle’s pass defense on for this game. There was a combination of factors that caused the defense to give up so many yards. The first factor is the Seahawks do not have a #2 CB that they can trust right now. DeShawn Shead replaced Carey Williams at the second CB position and he wasn’t given a half of a field like the Seahawks usually do with their CBs. They kept Richard Sherman on Antonio Brown all game and tried to get away with Shead on Martavius Bryant. Shead is a converted SS though and he does not have the speed to keep up with the faster WRs in the game. If the Seahawks are going to keep using Shead, they are going to need to cheat Thomas over the top of Shead to deal with speed receivers that offenses are going to try to get Shead to cover. I think Shead has potential to be a good #2 CB, but he isn’t comfortable yet and he is going to having some growing pains. The Seahawks also don’t have a nickel back worth his salt right now. Jeremy Lane is just coming back from injury so he will get better as the year goes on, but right now he is rusty and not as fast as he should be. Burley doesn’t have the quickness to play in the slot and was beat over and over against by the quick cuts the Steelers’ WRs made. I don’t think the Seahawks have an answer other than Lane for the nickel back position unless Carey Williams turns it around and can fill that void. The veterans of the defense don’t get a free pass either as some of the studs of the defense were garbage against the pass. Bobby Wagner was not getting enough depth in his drops and kept letting seam routes get behind him, Kam Chancellor had a terrible first 2 1/2 quarters as he was out of position and was unaware of what was going around him, and Earl Thomas was too aggressive jumping underneath routes which left Shead on an island way to often and was out of control in his tackles. I also have to give some credit to the Steelers. They had a very effective game plan to attack the cover three and took advantage of the mismatches over and over again. But the Seahawks committed a lot of mistakes and the Steelers made them pay for it.
There are still some positives to take out of this game. Sherman shut down Brown after the first quarter and locked him down as well as any CB can expect, KJ Wright was his usual very solid self in coverage, Chancellor looked more like himself in the second half, they were able to force four interceptions, and the pass rush ramped up the pressure in the second half. The question is, how do the Seahawks become the legion of boom again? The first thing that needs to happen is the veterans need to do their jobs and stop freelancing. I don’t know if it is because of the accolades have gotten to some of the player’s heads or they are trying to make up for the weakness at CB, but players like Wagner and Thomas need to just do their job and trust that the other players will do theirs. The second is to pick up a solid CB in the offseason. Seattle believes that they can draft their way into a solid secondary, but right now they are in a transition as Maxwell, Browner, and Thurmond III have not been replaced yet. Grabbing Greg Toler from Indianapolis or Jarraud Powers from Arizona for year or two would be great to help complete the transition in the secondary from the previous stars. They also may want to draft a CB in the first or second round (I like Kendell Fuller out of Virginia Tech or Tony Conner out of Ole Miss) so there is less development time needed for the CB to be ready to play from the time they are drafted.
If you want to see every play, click on the pages below.
1st Quarter
Pass #1
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 20
Description: Q1-(15:00) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to H. Miller Pushed out of Bounds at PIT 27 for 7 Yards (M. Morgan; D. Shead)
Something that I have noticed watching film of Seattle and teams that run similar systems (Falcons and Jaguars) is that they try to hide what the coverage is at times but will give away what they are running once it gets close to the snap. QB Ben Roethlisberger (#7) fakes the snap and sees that both CB Richard Sherman (#25) and SS DeShawn Snead (#35) to drop back in their alignment. Roethlisberger sees this and knows that the Seahawks in a Cover 3 and that TE Heath Miller (#83) is going to be open on the quick hitch as Snead is playing deep and OLB Michael Morgan (#57) has a long way to go to get to his flat zone coverage. Roethlisberger catches the snap and throws it immediately to beat the coverage. Snead and Sherman have to hold the disguise for longer to prevent Roethlisberger from making this easy pre-snap read and throw. (1/1, 7 Yards)
Pass #2
Situation: 2nd and 3 PIT 27
Description: Q1-(14:31) B. Roethlisber Pass Incomplete Short Middle to H. Miller (B. Wagner)
MLB Bobby Wagner (#54) makes a great play knocking the pass out of Miller’s (#83) hands but the ball is out so fast that it’s impossible to judge how good the Seattle defense was going to be. Roethlisberger (#7) is trying to dump it off to Miller quickly to pick up the first down in front of Wagner. Wagner delivers a big hit on Miller and dislodges the pass to bring up third down. (1/2, 7 Yards)
Pass #3
Situation: 3rd and 3 PIT 27
Description: Q1-(14:28) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Right to M. Bryant (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) makes a good play breaking up the pass, but he should not make a living trying to play like this. Shead has the man to man coverage on Bryant (#10) in the Seattle Cover 2 and he gets beat to the inside quickly. He does a good job staying close to Bryant, but Roethlisberger (#7) does not throw the right pass on this play. Roethlisberger should have tried to drive it into Bryant’s down field and inside shoulder to take advantage of the inside leverage of Bryant. Instead, he floats a beautiful pass into Bryant’s breadbasket. This allows Shead to rake Bryant’s arm and knock the pass out of his hands. If Roesthlisber throws the right pass, Shead has no chance to make a play on the ball and the Steelers get a big gain
Shead is not the only one to have some issues on this play. FS Earl Thomas (#29) doesn’t survey the field from his deep middle position and instead bites on Roethlisberger eye placement by floating to his right. This opens up a window for Roethlisberger to even throw the pass to Bryant in the first place. Also OLB KJ Wright (#50) is poor in his underneath hook coverage. Miller (#83) is slow in the release into his route due to the jam by rookie DE Frank Clark (#55) coming off the line fo scrimmage but he doesn’t eventually get into his crossing route. Wright doesn’t see this though and lets Miller go right by him into the gap between him and DE Cliff Avril (#56) in coverage. If Roethlisberger dumps it off to Miller, the Steelers would pick up an easy first down. (1/3. 7 Yards)
Pass #4
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 16
Description: Q1-(11:12) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Right to A. Brown
WR Antonio Brown (#84) is open on the flare route, but there wasn’t anything the Seahawks could do in this coverage to stop the route. SS Kam Chancellor (#31) is responsible for flat coverage, but he is playing off in his coverage and is not nearly as quick as Brown is. This route was going to be open and the best the Seahawks can do on this play is for Chancellor and Sherman (#25) to rally down and stop the play short. Lucky for the Seahawks, Roethlisberger misses the pass and the ball ends up being overthrown. (1/4, 7 Yards)
Pass #5
Situation: 2nd and 10 PIT 16
Description:: Q1-(11:10) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to De. Williams to PIT 20 for 4 Yards (K. Wright)
The coverage is overall solid, but I think Wagner (#54) should have expanded a little more in his hook zone drop. Brown (#84) is running the curl route and Snead (#35) is playing deep third coverage, therefore he cannot be aggressive in taking away this route. Brown is open underneath for a quick gain on second down, but Roethlisberger (#7) doesn’t like the throw because Wagner is in the area. I personally would have tried to throw this to the outside shoulder of Brown to prevent Wagner from making a play on the ball. If Wagner expands a little more outside, he would have taken away this route completely.
The pass rush, on the other hand, does not do its job. DT Ahtyba Rubin (#77) gets washed so far down to his right by RG David DeCastro (#66) that he ends up being the rightmost pass rusher. This plus Avril (#56) getting pushed downfield of Roethlisberger by RT Marcus Gilbert (#77) opens up an alley for Roethlisberger to escape the pocket that is crumbling from the pressure of DT Brandon Mebane (#92). Wright (#50) is stuck between a rock and a hard space as he has to prevent Roethlisberger from scrambling while keeping tabs of TE Matt Spaeth (#89) behind him. This leaves Willaims (#34) open as a release valve for Roethlisberger to dump it off to. Wright does a great job rallying to Willaims from preventing any further gain. (2/5, 11 Yards)
Pass #6
Situation: 3rd and 6 PIT 20
Description: Q1-(10:34) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to H. Miller to PIT 29 for 9 Yards (B. Wagner)
This is all on Wright (#50) as he is overaggressive trying to take away the route of Miller (#83). Wright has the hook zone coverage in this Tampa 2 and he is working with Shead (#35) on the slant-flare combination of Miller and rookie WR Sammie Coates (#14). Shead does his job on sitting in the flat zone and taking away Coates so Wright has to take away the slant route. Wright is overzealous in his pursuit of Miller and lets him beat him to the inside. Roethlisberger (#7) sees this and makes the easy completion for the first down. I do want to give some praise to DE Michael Bennett (#72). Bennett does a great job of seeing the double slant route combination of Spaeth (#89) and FB Roosevelt Nix (#45) and getting underneath both the routes. Bennett shows great awareness on this play and its kind of surprising since he is a DE. (3/6, 20 Yards)
Play #7
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 29
Description: Q1-(9:57) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to R. Nix Pushed Out of Bounds at PIT 35 for 6 Yards (K. Chancellor)
Chancellor (#31) needs to be more aware of what is around him. Chancellor does a good job not completely biting on the play action fake, but when he drops into his flat zone coverage, he turns his back to the offense completely. I was never taught in football to turn your back to the QB when dropping into coverage and this is poor technique by Chancellor. If Chancellor would have been facing the right way and using proper technique, he would have seen Nix (#45) leaking into the flat after his chip block. His lack of awareness opens up the route and Roethlisberger dumps the ball to Nix for a good gain.
Sherman (#25) also has to be mentioned as well as his technique in coverage is really poor. Sherman has man coverage on Brown (#84) and is in press coverage. He doesn’t get a good press on Brown though and he lets Brown beat him to the outside easily. Sherman is in decent trail position but is so out of control that once Brown breaks on his curl route, Sherman runs right by him. Sherman has to see that Brown is slowing down and put on the breaks with him instead of after he flies right past him. Chancellor’s poor drop is the only thing that bails him out as Chancellor end up sitting in the window of the curl route. (4/7, 26 Yards)
Pass #8
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 40
Description: Q1-(9:09) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to H. Miller to SEA 43 for 17 Yards (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) gets most of the blame for this completion, but Wagner (#54) does him no favors. Shead is in man coverage against Miller (#83) and lined up with outside leverage from his CB position. Miller run the post route and this is a difficult route for Shead to cover with his leverage. But Shead is too passive in coverage and is giving ground to Miller while trying to maintain outside leverage. Shead needs to be more aggressive in his coverage because Miller is not going to beat him deep and get on his hip. Instead, he has no chance to keep up with Miller’s inside move and Miller is open in the middle of the field. This is partly due to Wagner (#54) as he bit on the play action fake. If Wagner doesn’t bite as hard on the fake and doesn’t creep forward pre-snap, he is sitting in the window and Roethlisberger (#7) has no chance to make this throw. The combination of Shead and Wagner open Miller up and he gets a big reception. (5/8, 43 Yards)
Pass #9
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 43
Description: Q1-(8:27) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to W. Johnson to SEA 38 for 5 Yards (B. Wagner; M. Morgan)
The Steelers dial up the right play to beat the Seahawks defensive play call. The Seahawks run a Cover 3 and bring Shead (#35) off the edge as a blitzer. This leaves only three defenders underneath in zone coverage and the Steelers exploit it by running FB Will Johnson (#46) on a slant route underneath Spaeth’s (#89) curl route. Wright (#50) initially respects the curl route of Spaeth and slows down Spaeth to help Chancellor (#31) behind him. Johnson comes underneath this and is open as Wagner (#54) has to take away the curl route of Miller (#83) on the other side of the formation. Roethlisberger sees this and makes the easy throw. Wright would have needed to jump Johnson’s slant route and let Chancellor handle the curl of Spaeth to defend this play, but this is asking a lot out of Wright. (6/9, 48 Yards)
Pass #10
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 31
Description: Q1-(7:07) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to A. Brown to SEA 29 for 2 Yards (R. Sherman, B. Irvin)
I’ve been critical of Wright (#50), but I have to give credit when credit is due as he made a great play here. The Steelers run the quick screen to Brown (#84) on the outside and get Miller (#83) and LT Alejandro Villanueva (#78) on the outside as lead blockers. Wright recognizes the screen immediately and races Miller to the spot. He beats Miller’s block which forces Villanueva to block him instead of blocking Sherman (#25). This leaves Sherman unblocked and he and the hard pursuing OLB Bruce Irvin (#51) are able to make the tackle on the play. (7/10, 50 Yards)
Pass #11
Situation: 3rd and 5 SEA 26
Description: Q1-(5:43) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Left to M. Bryant
I’m sort of confused on what the Steelers are actually trying to do and I think Bryant (#10) is running the wrong route on this play. Sherman (#25) has man coverage on Brown (#84) in the slot and this is a mismatch. Sherman is not a slot CB and rarely plays in the slot as his quickness is not his strength. But Seattle doesn’t have a slot corner who they trust on Brown and Sherman has to cover him in man coverage. Brown runs right by him on the wheel route and is open for a TD. But two things on this play prevent this. The first is Bryant’s route makes no sense. I think he is supposed to be running a post route, but instead he runs a straight go route and gets in the way. He also drags Shead (#35) into the area and makes the whole left-hand corner of the field clogged up. The second is the pass rush of the Seahawks. Wagner (#54) comes through the A-gap and runs right by LG Ramon Foster (#73) as Foster is trying to get into position for the screen pass phase of the play. Wagner’s pressure forces Roethlisberger to throw off his back foot and he doesn’t get close to enough on this pass to get it to Brown. (7/11, 50 Yards)
Pass #12
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 8
Description: Q1-(3:25) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to H. Miller to PIT 16 for 8 Yards (B. Wagner)
Wagner (#54) has to expand in his hook zone coverage on this play and there is no reason why he was flat footed at the stat of the play. Mebane (#92) is dropping into coverage so Wagner should be naturally pushing more outside towards Miller (#83). Instead, he stays flat footed and has no chance to keep up with Miller on the out route. Roethlisberger (#7) has an easy throw to Miller for a good gain on first down. Sherman (#25) is very lucky that Miller gets open quickly as he was burnt badly by Brown (#84). Sherman has deep zone responsibilities in the Cover 3 but for some reason stops dropping backward into his zone. Brown gets on top of him quickly and Sherman has no momentum going into his turn out the back pedal. Brown has 2-3 yards on Sherman because of this and I don’t think Sherman is going to catch him if a ball is thrown that way. (8/12, 58 Yards)
Pass #13
Situation: 2nd and 2 PIT 16
Description: Q1-(2:51) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Right to A. Brown
Wagner (#54) does exactly what you are supposed to do as the middle zone defender in Cover 1 and helps bail out a defensive mistake. Sherman (#25) has man coverage on Brown (#84) on the crossing route but as soon as Brown cuts to the inside, Sherman gets rubbed by Wright (#50) who is playing man coverage on Williams (#34) on the flare route. Sherman has to go route him and loses any chance of covering Brown. Wagner sees the crossing route and carries the route across the middle of the field. He can’t keep up with Brown, but his tug on Brown’s jersey (which was legal since it was within five yards) throws off the timing of the throw and Roethlisberger misses Brown to the outside. The good thing about Sherman being rubbed in his man coverage is that he is in position to bail out CB Marcus Burley (#28). Burley has good initial positioning on WR Markus Wheaton (#11) but he gives up inside leverage and Wheaton is able to run away from him. Wheaton runs right into the path of Sherman and he doesn’t end up getting open on the play. (8/13, 58 Yards)
Pass #14
Situation: 3rd and 2 PIT 16
Description: Q1-(2:47) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Left to A. Brown. Penalty on SEA-M. Bennett, Defensive Offsides, 5 Yards, Enforced at PIT 16 - No Play
This play doesn’t count because of the offsides by Bennett (#72) but the range of Thomas (#29) is impressive. Thomas is sitting in the middle of the field and has to split the deep routes of both Brown (#84) on his right and Wheaton (#11) on his left. Roethlisberger (#7) knows he has a free play so he is going to go deep no matter what. He sees that Shead (#35) is bailing into his deep zone coverage so he comes back to his left and lets Brown go one on one with Sherman (#25). Sherman is in decent to good position for most of this play but at the last second he loses a stop on Brown. Sherman could have been in great position and it wouldn’t have mattered as the throw from Roethlisberger is inch perfect. Thomas though comes from all the way in the middle of the field and is able to dislodge the ball from Brown with a legal shoulder check. Chancellor (#31) shows a complete lack of awareness again as he doesn’t even see Wheaton running behind him. Chancellor needs to get some depth in his drop to help Thomas out. If Roethlisberger didn’t go to Brown, he had Wheaton wide open on the seam route for a big gain.
Pass #15
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 21
Description: Q1-(2:41) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to De. Williams to PIT 29 for 8 Yards (K. Wright; B. Wagner)
The Seahawks should have stopped this play for a minimal gain. The Steelers call a good play against this coverage as Williams (#34) is going to be open on the pop pass no matter what. Wright (#50) has to go into the flat to take away the in route of Brown (#84) and this leaves a void in the coverage as Thomas (#29) is coming up from his safety position to get into his hook zone coverage. Thomas’s reaction to the throw is great, but his tackling technique is really poor as his head is down, he bends with his back instead of his hips, and he doesn’t use his arms to wrap up. Williams bounces off of him and is able to pick up more yards due to DT Jordan Hill (#97) being out of control when coming in for the tackle and Miller’s (#83) block of Wagner (#54). (9/14, 66 Yards)
Pass #16
Situation: 2nd and 2 PIT 29
Description: Q1-(2:15) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to A. Brown Pushed Out of Bounds at PIT 44 for 15 Yards (R. Sherman)
The back shoulder fade is one of the hardest routes to defend in man coverage, in general, but Sherman (#25) opens himself to be exploited on this play. He is matched up in man to man against Brown (#84) and at this point Brown has already beaten Sherman deep multiple times. Sherman sees that Brown is releasing to his outside like he is going to run another go route and tries to cut him off by getting over the top of Brown. By doing this, it opens up the back shoulder fade as Sherman cannot deaccelerate nearly as well as Brown can. Brown sees this and turns for the back shoulder fade and Sherman runs right by him. Roethlisberger (#7) is on the same page as Brown and exploits Sherman’s technique for a big gain. Sherman needs to play proper technique and trust that he has the speed and size to knock Brown off his route and keep up with him. (10/15, 81 Yards)
Pass #17
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 44
Description: Q1-(1:48) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Middle to M. Wheaton to SEA 35 for 21 Yards (E. Thomas)
Wagner (#54) has to drop deeper in his zone drop if the Seahawks are going to stop this play. The Seahawks are in their Seattle Cover 2 that they run against trip formations (Man coverage by the backside CB and zone everywhere else) and Wagner is sitting in the hook zone. Wagner initially gets underneath the post route out of Wheaton (#11) but he doesn’t get any depth after getting underneath the route. There are no routes underneath for Wagner to worry about so he should be naturally getting depth to take away the post route. Instead, he sits flat footed and Wheaton is able to get into the big gap between the LBs and Thomas (#29). You can argue Wright (#50) should have dropped deeper as well in his coverage but he had Willaims (#34) running towards him initially so he had to respect Williams coming out of the backfield before he could work backward in his coverage. (11/16, 102 Yards)
Pass #18
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 35
Description: Q1-(1:11) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Bryant Pushed Out of Bounds at SEA 31 for 4 Yards (D. Shead)
The Seahawks get caught on the nickel back blitz by the quick screen, but Shead (#35) and Chancellor (#31) (initially) do a great job in limiting the gain. The Steelers have what they want as they have two blockers (Miller (#83) and Wheaton (#11)) against Shead and Chancellor. Chancellor does a good job getting downhill fast to clog up the intended lane for Bryant (#10) to run through on the screen (between Miller and Wheaton). This forces Bryant to try to run to the outside instead and Chancellor gets the job done despite getting pushed ten yards downfield by Miller. Shead is a strong safety and is built like one as he is 6’1″ and 220 lbs. Wheaton is giving up 30 lbs to Shead and Shead takes advantage of this by pushing Wheaton into Bryant and shedding off of the block to knock Bryant out of bounds. (12/17, 106 Yards)
Pass #19
Situation: 2nd and 6 SEA 31
Description: Q1-(0:36) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Right to A. Brown
Sherman (#25) uses his size to advantage for the first time against Brown (#84) on the go route on this play. Sherman has maybe the longest arms out of any CB in the league and he uses them to his advantage on this play as he pushes Brown toward the sideline with the jam and hand fighting. This gives Roethlisberger (#7) a very small window to throw the ball into and his pass is overthrown. Sherman does lose a step when looking back for the ball, but his work before the throw was made took away Brown’s route. The Seahawks did get lucky though as Miller (#83) was open underneath on the curl route. There is nothing the Seahawks could do to stop this on the play call because as Wagner (#54) was coming on the blitz. Chancellor (#31) and Burley (#28) (?) were both occupied by WR routes (Wheaton (#11) on the crossing route and Bryant (#10) on the out route respectively) leaving Wright (#50) to cover Miller. Wright is on the opposite side of the formation and has no chance to pick this route up. (12/18, 106 Yards)
Pass #20
Situation: 3rd and 6 SEA 31
Description: Q1-(0:31) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to H. Miller to SEA 27 for 4 Yards (K. Chancellor)
Shead (#35) may have been fortunate on this play as he lets WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (#88) get by him too easily on the play. Heyward-Bey takes a jab step to the outside before running the post route and Shead gets turned around. Shead gives up the inside due to getting turned around and Heyward-Bey gets by him as a result. A throw to Heyward-Bey may have been tricky due to Thomas floating towards the post route but an early throw could thread the needle as the Seahawks are in man coverage and Chancellor (#31) is focused on Miller (#83). Roethlisberger (#7) doesn’t even give this a look though as he sees the blitz coming and dumps the ball of to Miller on the out route. Chancellor is playing off coverage on Miller so he is always going to give up the short out route. He makes up with this by closing on the throw quickly and stopping Miller in his tracks by using his size and wrapping him up. (13/19, 110 Yards)
2nd Quarter
Pass #21
Situation: 4th and 2 SEA 27
Description: Q2-(15:00) L. Jones Pass Short Left Intended for A. Villaneuva Intercepted by J. Lane at SEA 22. J. Lane to PIT 24 for 54 Yards (D. DeCastro)
This is a great job by the Seahawks to react to the change in formation in a calm and prepared manner. As soon as the Steelers shift in formation, Seattle audibles to their base Cover 3 package. The Seahawks have multiple defensive position players going up against mostly offensive and defensive linemen in coverage so predictably no one is open on the strong side of the formation. The Steelers try to sneak Villaneuva (#78) out to the left and have QB Landry Jones (#3) throw back to him and it kind of works as CB Jeremy Lane (#20) is late to react to the route. Jone’s pass is horrible though as he throws it well behind of Villaneuva, forcing him to stop his route. This allows Lane to climb the ladder and make the athletic interception. If Jones tries to make Villaneuva run under the pass, Lane may still get over the top of the route for the INT but Villaneuva would tackle him and the Seahawks would not have gotten such a big return. (13/20, 110 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #22
Situation: 2nd and 6 SEA 45
Description: Q2-(11:39) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to M. Bryant to SEA 40 for 5 Yards (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) is going to give up this route to Bryant (#10) just based on his alignment. The Seahawks are in Cover 2 Man and Shead has the responsibility of Bryant. Shead gives Bryant a big cushion because Bryant is known for being a home run threat on any play and Shead isn’t the fastest secondary player in the world (4.53 40 yard dash). Shead back pedals out of his stance to maintain that cushion and Bryant has a four-yard gap with Shead once he makes his cut. Shead’s rounding backward out of the back pedal gives him no chance to make a play on the ball, but I do like how he closed down on the out route hard and his attempt to knock the ball out of Bryant’s hands. (14/21, 115 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #23
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 38
Description: Q2-(10:31) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Right to M. Bryant (D. Shead)
This should have been a touchdown for the Steelers as Shead (#35) was beat by Bryant (#10) deep on the go route. The Seahawks are in a Cover 1 Robber and Shead has man to man coverage on Bryant. Unlike the previous pass, Shead is playing on the line of scrimmage and the speed mismatch shows as Bryant runs right by him. If Roethlisberger (#7) throws this ball out for Bryant to run under, Bryant has a touchdown. Instead, Roethlisberger underthrows the pass and this allows Shead to get in the way of the pass. Chancellor (#31) also needs to question as he is nowhere near this pass despite being responsible for deep coverage. Chancellor stops his drop once Roethlisberger starts his throwing motion and loses any chance to get over the top of Bryant and make a play on the ball. Chancellor needs to keep back pedaling and make a break on the ball once he knows where it is going. (14/22, 115 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #24
Situation: 2nd and 10 SEA 38
Description: Q2-(10:25) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to H. Miller to SEA 30 for 8 Yards (B. Wagner). Penalty on SEA-B. Irvin, Defensive Offside, 5 Yards, Enforced at SEA 38 - No Play
Wagner (#54) needs to know when to go for the interception and when he should just drive through the receiver. Wagner (#54) is in hook zone coverage and the only player in his area in Miller (#83) running the curl route. Miller does a good job finding the hole in the zone coverage between Wright (#50) and Wagner but Wagner is in a great position to stop this play for a minimal gain by driving through Miller. Instead, he goes for the pass breakup and ends up being out of position to make the tackle. He does wrangle Miller down, but this should have been a reception of four yards instead of eight. Irvin’s (#51) offsides make this all naught.
Pass #25
Situation: 2nd and 5 SEA 33
Description: Q2-(9:54) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton to SEA 14 for 19 Yards (M. Burley)
I thought Wagner (#54) was supposed to be great in coverage? Wheaton (#11) is running the seam route and Wagner in his hook zone coverage has to get depth in his coverage to take away this route. There is no one in his area underneath so he should naturally be getting depth on his drop. Instead, he stops dropping and gives a window for Roethlisberger (#11) to throw this pass into. If he gets even another yard or two of depth, this could be an interception for him. (15/23, 134 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #26
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 20
Description: Q2-(2:10) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Left to A. Brown (R. Sherman)
The Steelers called a great play to attack zone coverage, but Sherman (#25) showed off why he is once of the best CBs in the league on this play. The Steelers run a Curl-Flare combination with Brown (#84) and Wheaton (#11) respectively and this route combination was the bain of my existence in college. The flat defender against this route combination has to make a choice in either to cover the flare or the curl route. In this case, Burley (#28) covers the flare route and leaves the curl route for Sherman (#25) to handle. Sherman has deep outside coverage in the Cover 3 so Brown should be able to come out of his break and make an uncontested catch. Sherman does a great job recognizing the route concept and slow down his deep drop to be in a position to make a play on the throw as soon as Brown curls back. Sherman uses his long arms to reach over Brown and break up the pass on first down. (15/24, 134 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #27
Situation: 2nd and 10 PIT 20
Description: Q2-(2:06) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Bryant to PIT 29 for 9 Yards (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) needs to stop spinning to the outside when he transitions out of the backpedal if he is going to have success in the NFL. Shead is matched up on Bryant (#10) in man to man coverage and jumps to the outside to take away the go route. Bryant is running a curl route instead and gets inside leverage because of this. To compound matter worse for Shead, he spins to the outside and ends up giving Bryant a yard or two of space to the inside. Giving up the inside that easily on a curl route is asking to be picked on and Roethlisberger (#7) does just that for a good gain. Shead needs to make the much shorter turn to the inside and battle Bryant instead of turning to the outside and giving up the curl route. (16/25, 143 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #28
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 31
Description: Q2-(1:30) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Left to M. Bryant
The initial coverage by the Seahawks is pretty good as Roethlisberger (#7) has nowhere to go before the pass rush gets close to him. But Bennett (#72) is the Seahawks own worse enemy as his athletic attempt to sack Roethlisberger allows him to escape. Bennett and Hill (#97) do a great job collapsing the pocket as Bennett beats Villanueva (#78) to the outside with a speed move and Hill pushes DeCastro into Roethlisberger’s lap. Bennett doesn’t have a good angle to sack Roethlisberger though so he jumps in the air and tries to strip sack him. He misses though and knocks down DeCastro. Hill for s split second is wondering where the heck his blocker went and this gives Roethlisberger enough time to escape the pocket.
Shead (#35) does a great job initially covering the go route of Bryant (#10) and maintains down field leverage on him. Once Roethlisberger gets out the pocket, scramble rules are in effect and Bryant stops his route and comes back to Roethlisberger. Shead doesn’t do a good job of keeping track of him and is caught off guard by this sudden break in Bryant’s route. This leaves Bryant wide open for a big gain and Shead is very lucky that Bryant flat out drops the pass. Chancellor (#31) also needs to be questioned as well as he has no clue where Bryant is on this play. He only focuses on the dig route of Wheaton (#11) and as the deep half defender Chancellor has to be more aware of what is around him. If he was, he would have been closer to Bryant and may have been able to break up this pass. (16/26, 143 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #29
Siutation: 2nd and 10 PIT 31
Description: Q2-(1:22) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton to PIT 44 for 13 Yards (D. Shead)
I think Wagner (#54) goes rogue on this blitz as there is no one in either A-gap for the pass rush. He looks like he is going to blitz up the middle, but instead he bounces to his outside and rushes off the edge. If he blitzes up the middle, Roethlisberger doesn’t have the ability to step up in the pocket and Avril (#56) may have a chance to grab Roethlisberger by the legs and bring him down. Instead, Roethlisberger has a clean pocket to step up into and has no one in his face.
The route by Wheaton (#11) is almost unfair, but Burley (#28) needs to do a better job of staying in control. Burley has Wheaton in man coverage and has great position on Wheaton in coverage initially. Burley is expecting that Wheaton is going to run the post route and is trying to run the route withWheaton. He doesn’t see that Wheaton is throttling down though and runs right by Wheaton when Wheaton curls back for the ball. Burley needs to sense that Wheaton is slowing down and slow down with him in coverage if his is going to be able to take away this route (17/27, 156 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #30
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 44
Description: Q2-(1:16) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Left to M. Wheaton to SEA 15 for 41 Yards (B. Wagner)
While the Seahawks pass rush does the secondary no favors, Wagner (#54) and Chancellor (#31) look completely lost out there. Wagner is playing hook zone coverage on this play and he should be dropping underneath the seam/corner route of Wheaton (#11). Instead, he runs to the middle of the field chasing ghosts and runs into Thomas (#29) who has the other hook coverage. Wagner needs to stay disciplined and get depth in his zone to take away Wheaton. Even with this, though, Chancellor should be sitting on the top of this route and taking Wheaton away. Instead, he turns his back (again!) on the route and is worried about Brown going deep. Chancellor needs to trust that Sherman can handle Brown and play is responsibility. Both Wagner and Chancellor blow their responsibilities and leave Wheaton wide open for a big gain. On a side note, did Thomas and Wagner see the same ghost? Thomas jumps towards the middle of the field despite there being no players in that area of the field. If he stays still, he is sitting right in the window of any throw to Brown (#84) on the curl route. (18/28, 197 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #31
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 15
Description: Q2-(1:05) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton Pushed Out of Bounds at SEA 6 for 9 Yards (M. Burley)
This isn’t even fair for Burley (#28) as Wheaton (#11) cuts that sharply at full speed and Roethlisberger (#7) throws a perfectly timed pass. Burley has Wheaton in man coverage and is in good inside position. He is playing downfield of Wheaton though and this leads to his downfall as his momentum is moving backward once Wheaton makes his cut. Wheaton’s cut is ridiculous though as he cuts at almost ninety degrees at full speed and makes my knees hurt even thinking about making that sort of cut. Burley tries to recover, but he has no chance as Roethlisberger throws this pass before Wheaton is out of his break. It would take a top level corner to take away this route and Burley is not close to that at this point in his career. (19/29, 206 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #32
Situation: Two-Point Conversion Attempt
Description: B. Roethlisberger Pass to J. James is Complete. Attempt Succeeds.
Shead (#35) needs to be more situationally aware and aggressive in his coverage. The Seahawks are in a match-up zone and Shead has Rookie TE Jesse James (#81) in coverage. Shead is playing off coverage in the end zone and does no make up the cushion on James. This makes it too easy for James on the jerk route to cross the goal line and make himself available for the conversion. Shead has to eat up this cushion and get right on James’ hip instead of sitting back and trying to mirror him in this situation.
3rd Quarter
Pass #33
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 15
Description: Q3-(12:49) B. Roethlisberger Sacked at PIT 13 for -2 Yards (C. Avril)
The Seahawks do a great job taking away the screen pass and it allows for the pass rush to get to Roethlisberger (#7). Roethlisberger is trying to hit Brown (#84) underneath on the clearout screen but both Burley (#28) and Wagner (#54) are in the area to break up or pick off the pass. His next option is the seam route of Wheaton but Thomas (#29) is aggressive in his coverage and jumps the route, taking it away. At this time, Avril (#56) and Bennett (#72) meet at Roethlisberger and Bennett bull rushes Villaneuva (#78) into Roethlisberger’s side and Avril gets around the pull block of Foster (#73). Roethlisberger has no chance to escape and the Seahawks get their first sack.
Pass #34
Situation: 2nd and 12 PIT 13
Description: Q3-(12:09) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to De. Williams to PIT 30 for 17 Yards (E. Thomas)
What happened to Chancellor (#31)? He does not look like close to the player that he was the last two years. The Steelers run the screen and Wright (#50) does a good job beating the block of James and forcing Willaims (#34) back to the inside. Chancellor is unblocked initially and has a free run at Williams. His angle is poor though as he is aiming at William’s outside shoulder. This allows Williams to cut back to the inside and even if Foster doesn’t pin him to the outside Chancellor has no chance to make a tackle. Wagner (#54) does Chancellor no favors by getting pushed to the outside by DeCastro (#66)/overpursuing to the outside but Chancellor needs to take a better angle to make this tackle. (20/30, 223, 1 INT)
Pass #35
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 30
Description: Q3-(11:33) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to A. Brown to PIT 35 for 5 Yards (B. Wagner)
If Brown (#84) is setting up to catch it two yards from the line of scrimmage, it’s wise to just let him catch the ball and rally down instead of being aggressive and getting beat deep. That is what the Seahawks did as both Wagner (#54) and Lane (#20) don’t track him up the field. This turns out to be good for the Seahawks as Lane is sitting in the window of the out route of Wheaton (#11) behind him. Roethlisberger’s (#7) only throw is to dump it down to Brown and let him try to create some magic as the defense of the Seahawks was very sound on this play. I do have a little issue with how Wagner wasn’t aggressive in trying to tackle him, but it is understandable as Brown can make any tackler look silly if they are too out of control. (21/31, 228 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #36
Situation: 2nd and 5 PIT 35
Description: Q3-(10:46) B. Roethlisberger Sacked at PIT 27 for -8 Yards (F. Clark)
The coverage could have been garbage and the Seahawks would of bee fine (It was initially fine). Clark (#55) looks like he is shot out of a cannon and he blows right by Villanueva (#78) for the sack on Roethlisberger.
Pass #37
Situation: 3rd and 13 PIT 27
Description: Q3-(10:08) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to M. Wheaton to PIT 42 for 15 Yards (E. Thomas)
Wagner (#54) and Thomas (#29) need to be more aware what is going on the play. Wheaton (#11) is running a deep curl route out of the slot and both Thomas and Wagner should have been keying on him. Wagner has no one else close to him underneath so he should be dropping in his coverage to at least the first down line and rally down to anything underneath that shows up later. Instead, he expands in his zone coverage and gets no depth in his drop. He is completely unaware of what Wheaton is doing on his route and leaves the window open for Roethlisberger (#7) to throw through. Thomas should have been flying over to Wheaton earlier as Wheaton is the only receiver in the middle of the field. Instead, he sits flat footed and only reacts to the route when the ball is already in the air. (22/32, 243 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #38
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 42
Description: Q3-(9:29) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to A. Brown Pushed Out of Bounds at PIT 49 for 7 Yards (R. Sherman)
This is just the Steelers taking advantage of the leverage of Sherman (#25). Sherman is playing off coverage on Brown (#84) as he is responsible for deep outside third coverage in the Cover 3. Roethlisberger (#7) checks to the quick hitch to Brown and takes advantage of this for a quick gain on first down. (23/33, 250 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #39
Situation: 2nd and 3 PIT 49
Description: Q3-(8:52) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Right to M. Bryants to SEA 11 for 40 Yards (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) doesn’t have the speed to keep up with Bryant (#10) deep and he gets exploited on this play. Shead’s only hope to keep up with Bryant on this route is to jam him on the line of scrimmage effectively. Bryant gets a free release though and runs right by Shead. Roethlisberger (#7) throws this pass as soon as they are even because he knows that Bryant will outrace Shead to the ball. This is proven to be true and the Seahawks give up a big gain. (24/34, 290 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #40
Situation: 3rd and 9 SEA 10
Description: Q3-(6:46) B. Roethlisberger Scrambles Up the Middle to SEA 2 for 8 Yards (B. Wagner). Fumbles (B. Wagner) and Recovers at SEA 2. B. Roethlisberger to SEA 2 for No Gain (B. Wagner)
The Seahawks do a good job taking away the clearout concept of the Steelers but almost give up a first down due to poor pass rush discipline. The Steelers are trying to run off the defense with a bunch of deep routes and dump the pass off to James (#81) underneath. The Seahawks defend this well though and Lane (#20) is sitting on the crossing route of James. On the pass rush, Rubin (#77) splits DeCastro (#66) and C Cody Wallace (#72) on the pass rush puts gets pushed too far upfield by Wallace. This allows Roethlisberger (#7) to escape the pocket and scramble. Rubin needs to be disciplined and not give Roethlisberger a chance to escape by making sure he is always in front of Roethlisberger. Wagner (#54) bails out Rubin though by closing down on Roethlisberger and preventing the first down pick up.
Pass #41
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 25
Description: Q3-(4:20) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Wheaton to PIT 32 for 7 Yards (B. Wagner)
This should have been two yard gain at most. The Steelers catch the Seahawks on the blitz and Wheaton (#11) presents himself quickly as the hot route receiver. Thomas (#29) is responsible for him as he comes down from his safety position to his hook zone responsibility and does a great job rallying down to try to make the tackle. He comes in out of control though and his head is looking at the turf. Wheaton easily dodges him and is able to pick up a decent gain on first down because of the poor tackling form. (25/35, 297 Yards, 1 INT)
Pass #42
Situation: 2nd and 3 PIT 32
Description: Q3-(3:42) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right Intended to M. Wheaton Intercepted by A. Rubin at PIT 39. A. Rubin to PIT 37 for 2 Yards (D. DeCastro)
This pass is going to be an interception/incompletion even if the ball does not slip out of Roethlisberger’s (#7) hand. The Steelers are trying to run a rub route concept with Brown (#84) running a slant route underneath’s Wheaton’s (#11) wheel route. The Seahawks are in man to man coverage and Sherman (#25) does get rubbed off Brown’s slant route. Chancellor (#31) is sitting in the middle of the field and is quick to react to Brown coming his way. If Roethlisberger gets it towards Brown without it slipping out of his hand, Chancellor is either going to lay the boom on Brown or pick it off. The ball slips out Roethlisberger’s hand though and falls into Rubin’s (#77) chest for an interception. (25/36, 297 Yards, 2 INTs)
Pass #43
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 27
Description: Q3-(2:51)B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to A. Brown to PIT 38 for 11 Yards (D. Shead)
This is well-designed play by the Steelers to take advantage of the Cover 3. The Steelers occupy the Seahawks’s short zone coverage defenders with the Nix’s (#45) flare route in the flat zone (covered by Morgan (#57)) and Spaeth’s (#89) curl route (Covered by Wagner (#54) in hook zone coverage). This leaves Brown (#84) going one on one with Shead (#35) with his curl route. Shead has deep outside third responsibility so he has to give ground when covering Brown. Shead is three yards away from Brown when Brown curls back for the ball and he has no chance to break up this pass. The only way the Seahawks could have covered this would have been for Wright (#50) to work across the formation to cover Spaeth and have Wagner expand under Brown’s route, but this is a difficult task to ask any defense to do in this coverage and the Steelers exploit it. (26/37, 308 Yards, 2 INTs)
Pass #44
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 38
Description: Q3-(2:10) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to De. Williams to PIT 35 for -3 Yards (C. Avril). Penalty on PIT-M. Gilbert, Illegal Use of Hands, 10 Yards, Enforced at PIT 38 - No Play
The Seahawks coverage on this play is superb. The only receiver that is open past the line of scrimmage is Johnson (#46) and he is only going to get a two to three yard gain on the catch as both Morgan (#57) and Wager (#54) would have closed down on him quickly. You could argue that Morgan shouldn’t have expanded as deep in his drop as he did, but I personally have no issue with his drop back into coverage. I would like to point out Sherman’s (#25) technique on this play. He is playing the deep outside third of the field and sees that Brown (#84) is running a deeper speed route. Once Brown cuts outside on his out and up, he jumps to the outside to take away Brown’s outside leverage. Sherman gets beat to the inside once Brown turns upfield because of this, but this was the right decision by Sherman. Sherman knows that he has Thomas (#29) in the deep middle of the field and knows that if Brown cuts back to the inside, Thomas will be there to pick up the route. Jumping to the outside takes away a sideline route that Thomas could not get to.
The defensive line needs to get some love as well as they made Roethlisberger (#7) jittery in the pocket. Both Rubin (#77) and Mebane (#92) get penetration up the middle and collapse the pocket. This forces Roethlisberger into a quick decision and he dumps it off to Willaims (#34) to avoid the hit. Avril (#56) didn’t get a hint of pass rush on the play but sees that Williams is leaking out of the backfield and takes off after him instead of trying to continue a futile pass rush. This turns out to be a great decision as he is right there to tackle Willaims for a loss. This is all for naught though as Gilbert (#77) gets called for illegal use of hands.
Pass #45
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 28
Description: Q3-(1:42) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to A. Brown to PIT 39 for 11 Yards (J. Lane; R. Sherman)
There isn’t much to talk about here. The Steelers exploit a one vs. two matchup and throw the tunnel screen to Brown (#84). Wheaton (#11) has an easy block on Lane (#20) and Brown is off to the races. Sherman (#25) does a good job of keeping Brown in front of him and not letting Brown pick up a huge gain. (27/38, 319 Yards, 2 INTs)
Pass #46
Situation: 2nd and 9 PIT 39
Description: Q3-(1:06) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to J. James to PIT 47 for 8 Yards (K. Chancellor; M. Bennett)
There is nothing wrong with the coverage on this play. The Steelers run a pop pass to James (#81) which is very hard to cover in zone coverage without giving up the pass. Wagner (#54) reads the play way and is there to hit James once he makes the catch. Wagner commits the same errors that Thomas (#29) had earlier in the game as he ducks his head and doesn’t wrap up. James bounces off of Wagner’s shoulder check and Wright (#50) whiffs as well because of James bouncing off of Wagner. This should have been a minimal gain at best but poor tackling plague the Seahawks again. (28/39, 327 Yards, 2 INTs)
Pass #47
Situation: 3rd and 1 PIT 47
Description: Q3-(0:25) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Left to M. Bryant (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) makes a great play breaking up this pass, but he is lucky that he wasn’t watching Bryant(#10) run a catch in for a touchdown. Shead has Bryant in man coverage in the Seattle Cover 2 and lets Bryant get a free release. Bryant beats him with his speed again and is wide open for a touchdown as Thomas (#29) is nowhere to be found playing deep. Thomas sees that Wheaton (#11) has gotten behind the LBs against and jumps the dig route instead of playing deep. If Thomas doesn’t do this, Wheaton is likely going to be open because Wright (#50) gets minimal depth in his hook zone coverage even though he has no underneath him. But Thomas’s freelancing to make up for other player mistakes almost cost his team big time as he left Shead on an island. Shead is fortunate that Roethlisberger hesitates because Roethlisberger’s arm strength cannot keep up with Bryant’s speed and Bryant is forced to slow down on his route. This allows Shead to catch up to Bryant knock the ball out of his hands when the both jump for it. (28/40, 327 Yards 2 INTs)
4th Quarter
Pass #48
Siutation: 1st and 10 PIT 20
Description: Q4-(14:18) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Left Intended to A. Brown Intercepted by R. Sherman at SEA 35. R. Sherman to PIT 39 for 26 Yards (A. Brown)
Sherman (#25) is not going to have an easier interception in his career. He is matched up with Brown (#84) in man to man coverage and gets in great position against Brown’s go route. Sherman then pulls off a subtle push and Brown falls to the ground. I don’t think this should have been pass interference because I think Brown flopped and this was a good no call. All Sherman has to do after Brown falls is run under the pass and catch it like a punt. On the other side of the field, Shead (#35) is matched up with Bryant (#10) again and even in off coverage he gets burnt deep on the go route. Roethlisberger doesn’t go to him though because Thomas has drifted towards Bryant and would be able to get over the top of the go route. (28/41, 329 Yards, 3 INTs)
Pass #49
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 20
Description: Q4-(12:17) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Right to M. Wheaton
Chancellor (#31) does something right for a change and his positioning throws off Roethlisberger’s throw. Chancellor is responsible for the flat zone coverage and does a good job of expanding outwards towards Wheaton’s (#11) out route. Chancellor is in a great position to pick off a pass that is thrown behind Wheaton so Roethlisberger (#7) has to throw the ball to the outside to avoid this chance. Roethlisberger throws a safe, low pass that ends up being too low and falls short of Wheaton. The coverage outside of Chancellor is solid as well. (28/42, 327 Yards, 3 INTs)
Pass #50
Situation: 2nd and 10 PIT 20
Description: Q4-(12:14) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to M. Bryants to PIT 31 for 11 Yards (D. Shead)
Shead (#35) has been burnt multiple times this game by Bryant and this opens himself up to being beat by the curl route. Shead has Bryant (#10) in man to man coverage and instead of trying to play press coverage, he bails off the line of scrimmage to take away the go route. When Bryant stops to curl back, Shead has all his momentum going backward and cannot stop with Bryant. This leaves Bryant wide open on the curl route and Roethlisberger hits him for a first down. (29/43, 338 Yards, 3 INTs)
Pass #51
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 31
Description: Q4-(11:51) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Middle to M. Wheaton for 69 Yards and Touchdown
I don’t know what Thomas (#29) is thinking on this play. Thomas is responsible for the deep left half of the field yet he gets no drop on his coverage. He turns to the inside and he sees that Wheaton (#11) has gotten past Lane (#20) (due to a great swim move off of the line of scrimmage). Thomas should be flying backward to keep even with Wheaton and trust that Sherman (#25) will handle Brown (#84) on the outside. Instead, he drifts towards Wheaton and then gets sucked upfield by Roethlisberger (#7) scrambling. He should be the last person sucked upfield and keep dropping backward till Roethlisberger is past the line of scrimmage. Instead, Lane cannot catch up to Wheaton and Roethlisberger has a whole half of the field to throw to Wheaton for the touchdown. (30/44, 407 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #52
Situation: Two Point Conversion Attempt
Description: B. Roethlisberger Pass to A. Brown is Incomplete. Attempt Fails. Seattle #25 Sherman Intercepted the Pass in the End Zone
The coverage on this play is pretty spot on as all of the receivers are covered by the Seahawks. Lane (#20) maybe should have followed Wheaton (#11) out to the flat on the out route but he knew he had Shead (#35) out there so this was likely not an issue. I usually have issues with secondary players charging at the QB when they are scrambling, but Thomas (#29) helped make this play by rushing down on Roethlisberger (#7). Roethlisberger is able to escape the pocket due to Hill (#97) being shoved to the inside by Foster (#73) and he looks like he has an open lane to convert the two-point conversion. Thomas flies out of the secondary to get in his face though and forces Roethlisberger to force a pass to Brown (#84). Sherman (#25) is in a great position though and uses his length to beat Brown to the ball and grab the interception.
Pass #53
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 26
Description: Q4-(8:07) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Right to J. James [M. Bennett]
The Steelers are trying to set up the screen pass, but Avril (#56) does a great job clogging up the play. Avril is coming on the pass rush and is initially blocked by James (#81). Once James tries to release to become available on the screen pass, Avril grabs a hold of him and delays James’s release. This allows Bennett (#72) enough time to beat Villaneuva (#78) with a bull rush and force Roethlisberger to dump the ball at Jame’s feet. (30/45, 409 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #54
Situation: 2nd and 10 PIT 26
Description: Q4-(8:04) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to De. Williams to PIT 39 for 13 Yards (J. Lane)
The coverage by the Seahawks on this play is really good. The only issue I can see is that Thomas (#29) jumps to the inside initially to take away Wheaton’s (#11) post route. This allows Bryant (#10) to be open for a split second after Shead is down jamming him in his flat zone coverage. As soon as Thomas sees Wagner (#54) running underneath the post route, he immediately bounces back towards where he suppose to be and would be able to get over the top of Bryant’s go route. Williams (#34) is open underneath the coverage because he comes out of the backfield after he throws a chip block on Bennett (#72) so I wouldn’t expect any of the Seahawks to cover him. The issue I have is how passive the tackling technique of Lane (#20) and Shead is. Lane is somewhat understandable as he is my size (6’0, 180 lbs) and a lot smaller than Williams but Shead is a strong safety by trade and should be more aggressive in trying to tackle Williams. Instead, Shead tries to catch and rip the ball out of Williams’s hands and allows him to fall forward for extra yards. (31/46, 420 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #55
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 39
Description: Q4-(7:27) B. Roethlisberger Pass Deep Right to M. Wheaton Pushed Out of Bounds at SEA 33 for 28 Yards (J. Lane). Seattle Challenged the Pass Completion Ruling, and the Play was Reversed. B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Deep Right to M. Wheaton
Do the Steelers just have a bunch of speed merchants as WRs? (Answer to that question, yes) Lane (#20) is coming off surgery on his knee so he may not be at 100% speed yet, but Lane has sub 4.5 40 yard dash speed and Wheaton (#11) just runs right by him. Lane’s technique is fine, but Wheaton just beats him to the outside with ease and is open for a big play on the outside. Roethlisberger throws a pretty pass to Wheaton, but Lane makes a heads up play to shove Wheaton after he makes the catch. This prevents Wheaton from getting his second foot down and the pass falls incomplete. (31/47, 420 Yards, 1 INT, 3 TDs)
Pass #56
Situation: 2nd and 10 PIT 39
Description: Q4-(7:22) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Right to M. Bryant (K. Chancellor)
This is the Chancellor (#31) I remember watching. Chancellor is responsible for the hook zone coverage and sees that Brown (#84) is running the flare route from the slot. Chancellor recognizes that the Steelers are running the slant-flare combo. Lane (#20) is responsible for taking away the flare route so Chancellor has to expand to his outside and jump the slant route if the Seahawks are going to defend this play. Chancellor does this and should of come down with the interception as he cuts in front of Bryant. (31/48, 420 Yards, 1 INT, 3 TDs)
Pass #57
Situation: 3rd and 10 PIT 39
Description: Q4-(7:18) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Middle to M. Wheaton [B. Irvin]. Penalty on SEA-M. Bennett, Roughing the Passer, 15 Yards, Enforced at PIT 39 - No Play. Penalty on SEA-R. Sherman, Defensive Holding, Declined
Lane (#20) needs to know where the sticks are and not bee too passive in his coverage. Lane is playing off man coverage on Wheaton (#11) and his goal in his coverage is to not be burned deep. In doing this, he gives up the middle of the field to Wheaton and Wheaton is open on the curl route. Lane has to be at least a little more aggressive and not be five yards away from Wheaton once he makes his break. Lane is lucky that Roethlisberger (#7) can’t complete this pass due to the heavy pass rush. Irvin (#51) and Bennett (#72) get good pressure on Roethlisberger as Irvin is a complete mismatch for James (#81) in pass protection and Bennett’s stunt splits DeCastro (#66) and Wallace (#72). Irvin makes a legal hit on Roethlisberger as he is throwing it, but Bennett hits him high and gets called on the easy roughing the passer call. On a side note, I don’t see any blatant defensive holding on Sherman (#25) on this play but the angle of the camera obscures the view so I may be wrong.
Pass #58
Siutation: 1st and 10 SEA 46
Description: Q4-(7:13) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Left to De. Williams to SEA 48 for -2 Yards (M. Morgan)
This is a great head’s up play by Morgan (#57) to sniff out the RB screen and blow it up for a loss. Morgan is responsible for the flat coverage and is sitting in the zone where the Steelers are trying to run the screen to Williams (#34). Roethlisberger (#7) tries to get the defense flowing to the fake screen to Bryant (#10) but Morgan stays home and doesn’t bite on the fake. As soon as he sees Williams leak out of the backfield, he flies upfield and beats Wallace (#72) to the spot to make the tackle. (32/49, 418 Yards, 1 INT, 3 TDs)
Pass #59
Siutuation: 2nd and 12 SEA 48
Description: Q4-(6:36) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Middle to A. Brown [B. Irvin]
The coverage by the Seahawks is great on this play and Roethlisberger (#7) is lucky he gets hit by Irvin (#51) on this play. Roethlisberger is trying to hit Wheaton (#11) on the wheel route but Lane does a great job staying over the top of the route and not letting Wheaton get behind. He then senses Bennett (#72) is at his feet and tries to scramble through the gap created by Hill (#97) getting pushed to the outside by Foster (#73). Irvin does a good job of not getting deeper than the ball and runs back downfield to put pressure on Roethlisberger. Irvin’s hit forces the ball to fall short for the incompletion, but this may have been the best case scenario for the Steelers. Sherman (#25) is right on the hip of Brown (#84) and it would have taken a perfect pass for Sherman not to intercept it. (32/50, 420 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #60
Situation: 3rd and 12 SEA 48
Description: Q4-(6:31) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Right to De. Williams to SEA 34 for 14 Yards (B. Wagner; R. Sherman)
Lane (#20) forgets that Williams (#34) outweighs him by 30 lbs and as a result Williams runs right through him. The coverage by the Seahawks is good on this play and the only route they give up is Williams underneath as the release valve. Lane is in perfect position to close down on Williams and make the tackle short of the first down line. Lane forgets the low man wins (especially when the lower man is bigger than him) and William’s hits him in the chest. Combine that with Lane not wrapping up with his arms and Williams easily runs through him for a first down. Lane needs to hit Williams in the thigh and bring his arms through if he going to tackle the bigger Williams. (33/51, 432 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #61
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 34
Description: Q4-(5:45) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to W. Johnson to SEA 23 for 11 Yards (M. Morgan)
I don’t even know what Wagner (#54) is thinking on this play. He is responsible for the hook zone coverage, but he expands to the outside like he is covering the flat. Morgan (#57) has that responsibility and does a good job getting underneath the go route of Brown (#84). Wagner needs to stay in his responsibility and react to any route coming his way. With Wright (#50) trying to get underneath James’s (#81) seam route, there is no one underneath to cover Johnson (#46) on the crossing route. Roethlisberger (#7) takes advantage of this and the Steelers pick up a first down. (34/52, 443 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #62
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 23
Description: Q4-(5:09) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to M. Wheaton to SEA 16 for 7 Yards (E. Thomas)
Lane (#20) needs to stay parallel to the line of scrimmage when he is dropping backing in man to man coverage. Lane is playing man to man coverage on Wheaton (#11) and does a good job on not giving up inside leverage on the initial phase of his coverage. Lane turns his hips to the outside slightly when Wheaton is about to make his cut and that is all Wheaton needs to beat Lane to the inside on his in route. Thomas (#29) almost makes a great interception though as he flies upfield to jump the in route when no deep routes come his way. Roethlisberger’s (#7) is perfect though as it is slightly behind Wheaton, preventing Thomas from making the interception. (35/53, 450 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #63
Situation: 2nd and 3 SEA 16
Description: Q4-(4:32) B. Roethlisberger Pass Short Middle to M. Spaeth to SEA 10 for 6 Yards (K. Wright)
It is very tough to cover receivers running delayed routes in zone coverage because zone defenders are going to drop deeper and expand outside in their coverage. This is exactly what Wright (#50) does on this play and it is the right thing to do. Spaeth (#89) comes out late into his route because of his chip block on Bennett (#72) and does a good job of settling underneath the zone coverage. You can argue that Wright should have rallied down to Spaeth immediately, but Wright doesn’t know if a WR is going to run a dig behind him and he can’t give that away. What Wright does well is that he rallies down quickly to Spaeth and doesn’t allow Spaeth to get extra yards after the catch by wrapping him up and driving him backward. (36/54, 456 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #64
Situation: 1st and Goal SEA 10
Description: Q4-(3:55) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Left
The coverage on this play is excellent as none of the Steelers rReceivers are able to get open. There may have been a small window that Wheaton (#11) was open on the crossing route where he was underneath Wager (#54) and not quite in Sherman’s (#25) deep outside third zone. Roethlisberger (#7) cannot see this though as Hill (#97) has pushed Villaneuva into Roethlisberger’s field of vision. Roethlisberger is able to get outside of this pressure but by the time he does, Sherman has Wheaton on lock down and Roethlisberger has nowhere to throw this pass. Irvin (#51) is able to beat Foster (#73) to the outside and get pressure on Roethlisberger, forcing Roethlisberger to throw the pass away. (36/55, 456 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #65
Situation: 2nd and Goal SEA 10
Description: Q4-(3:57) B. Roethlisberger Pass Incomplete Short Right to M. Bryant
I do not know what has gotten into Thomas (#29) this game but he is jumping a lot of routes he shouldn’t. Bryant (#10) is running the seam route and the Steelers are trying to free him up by having James (#81) rub Shead (#35) off his man coverage. James ends up being planted, but his rub is effective as Bryant gets a step on Shead. Thomas is playing in the deep middle of the field and should have been getting over the top of the seam route. Instead, he is too aggressive and tries to jump the dig route he thinks Bryant is going to run. Bryant is open in the back of the endzone for a touchdown but the Seahawks catch a breaks as Roethlisberger (#7) overthrows him. (36/56, 456 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #66
Situation: 3rd and Goal SEA 10
Description: Q4-(3:43) B. Roethlisberger Scrambles Right Guard to SEA 3 for 7 Yards (K. Wright)
Wright (#50) was in good position to tackle Roethlisberger (#7) on the scramble but he is lucky that Roethlisberger didn’t toss a pass over the top of him for a touchdown. The intial coverage by the Seahawks is solid, but a miscommunication happens between Wagner (#54) and Wright. Wagner sees that Heyward-Bey is running a speed dig route and pass him off to Wright in coverage. Wright doesn’t get any depth to get underneath Heyward-Bey though as he his focused on Roethlisberger scrambling. If Roethlisberger keeps his head up when running, he could have tossed it over the top of Wright to Heyward-Bey for a touchdown as Thomas (#29) is in bracket coverage with Sherman (#25) against Brown (#84). Instead, Roethlisberger sees the gap to run through (Formed by Wallace (#73) pancaking Hill (#97)) when Irvin (#51) gets around Villaneuva and takes off to scramble for a touchdown. Wright does a great job of stopping him in his tracks short of the goalline, but Wright gets lucky on the play.
Pass #67
Situation: 1st and 10 PIT 18
Description: Q4-(1:57) L. Jones Pass Incomplete Short Left to M. Wheaton
Lane (#20) needs to expand in his zone coverage and gets bailed out by a poor pass. The Seahawks are in a Tampa 2 and Lane is responsible for the hook zone coverage. Wheaton (#11) is running a curl route and Lane should naturally expand underneath this route in his zone coverage. Instead, he drifts straight backward and Wheaton is unopposed on the curl route. Jones (#3) throws a duck and Lane gets bailed out for his poor zone drop. (36/57, 456 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #68
Situation: 2nd and 10 PIT 18
Description: Q4-(1:54) L. Jones Pass Short Left to De. Williams Pushed Out of Bounds at SEA 48 for 34 Yards (E. Thomas)
There are two things that go wrong on this play. The first is Irvin (#51) needs to recognize that the screen is on. Williams (#34) acts like he is going to block Irvin and then spins out of the way to set up for a screen. This should be setting off every alarm in Irvin’s brain and he should turn immediately back to Williams to take away the screen. Instead, he keeps coming on his pass rush and Jones (#3) passes over the top of Irvin to Williams. The second is one of Shead (#35) or Wright (#50) have to beat a block and at least slow down the screen pass. Instead, Shead is too passive in attacking the block of Foster (#73) and Wright gets pinned to the inside by Wallace (#72). This gives an alley for Williams to run through and Williams is off to the races. (37/58, 490 Yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs)
Pass #69
Situation: 1st and 10 SEA 48
Description: Q4-(1:45) L. Jones Pass Deep Right Intended to M. Bryant Intercepted by K. Chancellor (D. Shead) at SEA 7. K. Chancellor to SEA 7 for No Gain (M. Bryant). The Replay Official Reviewed the Interception Ruling, and the Play was Upheld. The Ruling on the Field Stands
Hey look, Shead (#35) doesn’t get burnt deep by Bryant for a change. Shead has deep outside third coverage in the Cover 3 and he is bailing the whole time in his coverage. Bryant (#10) is running the go route and Jones (#3) should have never even tried to throw this pass to Bryant as Shead is in perfect position to take it away. Shead does a good job high pointing the ball and tipping the ball, but Chancellor (#31) makes an even better play to intercept this pass. Chancellor is playing in the deep middle of the field and does a good job hustling over to the sideline after the ball is thrown. He should not have been expected to get close to this pass but he takes a great angle and when the ball is tipped is in the air makes an acrobatic catch for the interception. Jones should have thrown this pass to James (#81) on the pop pass as Wagner (#54) (correctly) is getting underneath Wheaton’s (#11) seam route and Thomas (#29) is playing his hook zone coverage from his safety position. (37/59, 490 Yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs)