Thomas Rawls’ Two-Game Performance vs the 49ers and Steelers - 336 Yards, 3 TDs

Earlier this season, I broke down Thomas Rawls’ performance versus the Cincinnati Bengals, where he carried the ball 23 times for 169 yards and one touchdown. 169 yards was actually the most yards a Seahawks’ running back has rushed for since Shaun Alexander ran for 201 yards versus the Green Bay Packers back in 2006.

Well last week versus the 49ers, Rawls rushed for 209 yards and gained another 46 yards through the air. This week versus the Steelers, Rawls rushed for 21 times for an additional 81 yards and a touchdown. Rawls is now ranked second overall in the Seahawks’ organization for most rushing yards in a single game. According to ProFootballReference, Shaun Alexander is ranked first after rushing for 266 yards against the Raiders in 2001.

Stats
Rawls - 51 carries for 290 yards, 5.7 ypc, 2 TD, 3 receptions on 4 targets for 46 yards, 11.5 ypa, 1 receiving TD

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Rawls versus the 49ers in Week 11

Play 1
Situation: 2nd and 12 at SEA 7
Description: (13:49 - 2nd) (Shotgun) T.Rawls right end pushed ob at SEA 27 for 20 yards (E.Reid)
Opponent: 49ers

• Pre-snap Wilson motions tight end #88 Jimmy Graham to the right side of the formation. The play-call is a one-back power. This play is also run by the Patriots and the Redskins as well.
• The left guard pulls across the formation to lead block for Rawls as the right tackle and the right guard combo down-block defensive tackle #64 Mike Purcell.
• This creates a hole between the tight end and the left guard.
• Wide receiver #89 Doug Baldwin slants inside which drags the outside cornerback in man-to-man coverage away from the play.
• Rawls sees the blocks in front of him and explodes through them cutting outside towards the sideline for a big gain not before shaking the arm tackle of linebacker #53 NaVorro Bowman with a stiff arm.

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Play 2
Situation: 1st and 10 at SEA 43
Description: (12:15 - 2nd) T.Rawls left guard to SF 40 for 17 yards (K.Acker)
Opponent: 49ers

• The Seahawks are in singleback formation and run a counter zone to the left side of the formation.
• The entire offensive line zone blocks to the right which pulls the defensive tackles and linebackers away from Rawls’ intended path on this running play.
• Off screen to your left, in the play diagram, is tight end #88 Jimmy Graham who is the kickout blocker meant to create a hole between himself and tight end #82 Luke Willson.
• Rawls takes his first step of the counter with the blocking. This is meant to fake the linebackers into thinking he is a running an outside zone stretch or inside zone running play. They all bite.
• Once Rawls aims for the hole between Graham and Willson, he sees linebacker #53 NaVorro Bowman sprinting into the hole to stop him. Rawls plants his outside foot, and cuts inside showing a mean juke move to get through the open hole.
• He then explodes towards daylight and angles his path outside towards the sideline before being dragged down from behind by cornerback #20 Kenneth Acker.

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Play 3
Situation: 1st and 10 at SEA 33
Description: (8:42 - 3rd) T.Rawls right tackle pushed ob at SF 37 for 30 yards (E.Reid)
Opponent: 49ers

• This is the same counter zone run to the left as in Play 2 above.
• Pre-snap, Wilson motions Graham to the left side of the formation.
• After the snap, Rawls shows his excellent juke move to shake the tackle of safety #29 Jarquiski Tartt in the backfield.
• Next, he presses the hole and two of the 49ers’ defenders trip on themselves attempting to tackle him. Rawls sees his opportunity on the right sideline and bounces outside.
• Before reaching the sideline, cornerback #26 Tramaine Brock disengages from the block downfield by wide receiver #15 Jermaine Kearse and then attempts to bring Rawls down. However, he has other plans. He jumps at Brock hitting him with his shoulder shoving him to the ground with power before getting pushed out-of-bounds.
• This shows his quickness and power all in one play.

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Play 4
Situation: 1st and Goal at SF 2
Description: (3:04 - 1st) Thomas Rawls 2 Yard Rush S.Hauschka extra point is No Good, Wide Right, Center-C.Gresham, Holder-J.Ryan.
Opponent: 49ers

• The Seahawks run an inside zone run to the right on the goal line against the 49ers’ defense.
• The aiming point of this run is to the weakside B-gap off of the right guard, but linebacker #57 Wilhoite flows towards that gap.
• Rawls sees his right guard sealing #63 defensive tackle Tony Jerod-Eddie outside. This creates a seam between the right guard and the center.
• Rawls jumps through this hole and keeps his legs churning for the short touchdown run.
• On the 49ers’ defense, free safety #35 Eric Reid needs to do a better job of being more aggressive in filling this gap as this touchdown could have been prevented. All Reid has to do is press the weakside A-gap hard and lay a strong hit on Rawls. Instead, he takes advantage of the poor defensive play.

The article continues on the next page where we will take a look at Rawls in the passing game and then Rawls versus the Steelers in Week 12.
On Saturday, I took a look at Russell Wilson’s performance including Rawls’ touchdown on a wheel-route versus the 49ers’ Cover 2 in Play 3. Here’s another example of how Rawls was used in the passing game, when the 49ers brought the blitz.

Play 5
Situation: 1st and 10 at 50
Description: (11:51 - 1st) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass short right to T.Rawls to SF 38 for 12 yards (T.Brock)
Opponent: 49ers

• Rawls from the backfield runs a quick flare-route on the opposite side of the Seahawks’ shotgun trips formation.
• This is a similar play that both the Redskins, Dolphins, and Patriots all run using a lone tight end and a running back in the flat, which makes sense since all four teams have west coast offense roots.
• It works here, because it isolates the underneath zone defenders on the right sideline, while the 49ers bring a multi-level blitz meaning Wilson will likely go to his hot-route receiver out of the backfield for the quick dump pass.
• Before he is about to be tackled, Rawls angerly hits cornerback #26 Brock again (legally) before tripping over him for the 12 yard gain. Would have been another 10 yards if he didn’t step out-of-bounds.

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Rawls versus the Steelers in Week 12

Play 6
Situation: 1st and 10 at SEA 41
Description: (13:47 - 1st) T.Rawls right tackle to SEA 47 for 6 yards (M.Mitchell)
Opponent: Steelers

• This is a split zone running play that we didn’t see much of versus the 49ers in the previous week.
• After the snap, the offensive line zone blocks to the left, reach and combo-blocking their defenders, while Graham kick-out blocks the edge defender: rookie linebacker Bud Dupree.
• Rawls takes the snap and starts right avoiding the tackle of safety #20 Will Allen, then hops over the arm tackle of cornerback #41 Antwon Blake for the 6 yard gain. This play shows how light and nimble he is on his feet while he runs.

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Play 7
Situation: 2nd and 4 at SEA 47
Description: (13:15 - 1st) T.Rawls left guard to PIT 36 for 17 yards (W.Allen; R.Shazier)
Opponent: Steelers

• To go along with the Seahawks’ use of the counter zone and the split zone, they like to run the outside stretch zone and the inside zone. This play is the inside zone.
• This play is blown up instantly by the cut block by right guard #64 JR Sweezy on defensive end #91 Stephon Tuitt. Once the collision takes Tuitt to the ground, linebacker #50 Ryan Shazier gets tripped while attempting to fill his gap assignment, which causes the opening into the secondary for Rawls.
• I showed this play because of how Rawls explodes through the hole and then shows the same juke move he used against the 49ers in Plays 2 and 3 (above) to avoid the diving tackle by safety #23 Mike Mitchell.

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Play 8
Situation: 2nd and 8 at SEA 36
Description: (4:53 - 1st) (Shotgun) T.Rawls up the middle to SEA 46 for 10 yards (C.Heyward; R.Cockrell)
Opponent: Steelers

• Like Play 1 against the 49ers, the play-call is a one-back power.
• Rawls shows his ability to set up blocks by hugging the line of scrimmage for JR Sweezy who is pulling to the left outside of the formation.
• After the snap, he reads the block and cuts inside, and then jumps further inside to allow left guard #68 Justin Britt to block linebacker #94 Lawrence Timmons.
• After Rawls avoids Timmons’ tackle, he collides with Will Allen. He actually uses Allen to propel himself back outside left while not being brought down. Simply a great use of power by the rookie running back.

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There are mixed reports right now when, or even if, Marshawn Lynch will return to the Seahawks. For now, though, it looks like Rawls has cemented himself as the starter going forward showing power, quickness, and patience in the Seahawks’ zone blocking scheme under Darrell Bevell. Rawls should continue to get the bulk of the carries and be one of the few remaining feature backs in the NFL. After the 169 yard performance versus the Bengals and this 336 total yard perfomance these past two weeks versus the 49ers and Steelers, he looks to be a great replacement for Lynch at the tail end of his career.

Follow Samuel Gold on Twitter: @SamuelRGold.