Monday, September 17, 2012

Masters of the Halftime Adjustment

Pete Carroll taunting Russell Wilson


So by now it's no secret to anyone paying attention to the Seahawks that Pete Carroll and his coaching staff are good at making the necessary adjustments at the half.  Like, really good.  The staff's remarkable ability to out think the opposition has only been surpassed by the remarkable ability for the fans to be able to realistically count on these adjustments happening.  A complete 180 from previous regimes in Seattle who never appeared able to make the necessary adjustments during games.  Consider this.  Since the start of 2011 (I decided not to count 2010 since that team was pretty lousy, got blown out a bunch of times and thus wouldn't be a good indictment of Pete Carroll's abilities as a head coach) , the Seahawks have allowed 10.25 points in the 1st half as opposed to 9.25 points in the 2nd half.  Where you really notice the difference is on offense.  The Seahawks offense since 2011 has averaged an abysmal 7.5 points in the 1st half of games while improving to 12.6 points during the 2nd half.  The five point differential is actually quite a substantial improvement.  Even more staggering is the fact that the Seahawks have scored more points in the 2nd half in 14 of these 18 games.

Obviously, this means that the coaching staff is tuned in to the flow of the game and understands whatever weaknesses they need to try and exploit and what they themselves need to shore up.  Having a coaching staff that can successfully make adjustments on the fly, during the heat of the moment is a huge advantage and a great quality to have.  Having said that, I'm pretty sure Pete Carroll isn't as satisfied as he could be in this department.  In fact, I think he probably expects more improvement in this area as the season progresses.  The Seahawks identity on offense goes hand in hand with Pete's ability to make minor changes that go a long way.  While Pete might tinker with things here or there, the Seahawks gameplan is going to stay the same for the most part.

I look at it this way.  During the first half the 'Hawks are looking to get settled in to their flow.  I don't think they'll ever really be an explosive first half team offensively.  And that's okay.  They're going to run lots of 'run heavy' formations and while they don't necessarily get the results (Marshawn Lynch had 2.2 ypc in the first half Sunday, for example) they're going to stick to it.  As the game wears on and defenders get tired of trying to take down Marshawn and now Turbin, the Seahawks can either continue to punish the opposition with the run as we saw against the Cowboys and then this also gives them the added option to work in play-action, bootlegs and this will also give them more 1-on-1 opportunities outside with Rice, Tate, and Edwards.  If you watched the Lions/49ers game on Sunday night you'll notice that the 49ers are attempting to master this strategy as well and I think it's fairly safe to say that they're a little bit ahead of the Seahawks offense at this point in time, although yesterday's performance was promising.  That's going to be a hell of a matchup in a few weeks!

When you look at the performance of the defense half to half you start to realize exactly how consistent this unit has been since the start of last season.  Shockingly, they can also stand to improve on their production.  If Russell Wilson can duplicate his performance against Dallas throughout his entire rookie season the Seahawks defense will finally take that next step towards becoming a truly elite defense.  The more first downs the offense piles up, the more time on the sidelines for the Seahawks big bodies.  We all saw how amazing these guys can be last season, and that was when they were on the field all day because of the offense' ineptitude.  Can you imagine these guys fresh during the 4th quarter?  Yes, you can.  You saw it yesterday and I'm sure it looked just as good to you as it did me.  Even in garbage team the Cowboys couldn't pile on stats for the sake of padding stats.  The 'Hawks were still playing like a pack of ravenous wolves trying to kill Liam Neeson in the middle of the Alaskan tundra.

Next up, Green Bay.  Easily one of the best teams, talent wise, in the NFL to go along with their excellent coaching staff and well respected front office.  This probably ranks up there with the season finale of 2010 as the biggest game during Pete Carroll's tenure with the Seahawks, so far.  The Packers offense is exceptional and cary bury opponent's early.  While the Seahawks should remain confident in their ability to fight tough until eventually breaking through, it's absolutely imperative that they keep this thing close early on.  Look for the defense to be especially keyed in on the deep ball.  I expect to see Earl Thomas making a lot of plays early on in this one.  As well, I'm expecting a bunch of press coverage this week to disrupt the Packers slants and timing patterns (like the back shoulder throw Rodgers has perfected) which are largely based on precise timing.  I must admit, I worry about Trufant in this game.  I love Tru and think he's been solid so far despite allowing a few completions on third downs, but he will definitely have his work cut out for him next Monday.  If the Seahawks can make the Packers uncomfortable early on, it'll go a long way towards a potential victory.

Will we see yet another example of Pete Carroll and his gang of teachers getting the better of the opposition's old ball coaches?  I think so, but I don't think the results will be as pronounced this week as opposed to last.  The Seahawks ability to diagnose a game has proven to be a real, tangible thing and I'm sure the rest of the league is taking notice.  However, the Packers also have a great coaching staff and a ton of talent, so they might cancel each other out.  Regardless, somebody should call that crazed nut Bobby Fischer and let him know that there's going to be an excellent chess match in the Pacific Northwest next Monday.  Hopefully it'll be Pete Carroll uttering checkmate.



No comments:

Post a Comment