Greg Knapp Survives an Executed Drive

Seattle's offense was sloppy. It didn't execute a single play on this short seven play drive. The play calling earned the offense a first down but the players quickly squandered it.

• Pressure was on Matt Hasselbeck in an instant. San Francisco's outside linebackers were storming the backfield. Pressure from the right was nullified by a quick curl by Nate Burleson. He received and ran the ball for six.
• The Seahawks attempted to stretch right, but that was foiled by Max Unger. Unger was supposed to angle block nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin, but Franklin shrugged off the block and continued into Seattle's backfield. Julius Jones had to badly bow his route to the outside and it's a miracle he could turn the corner for any yards at all.
• Seattle ran an inside draw to Justin Forsett. Again, the play call worked and Seattle converted the first. Steve Vallos chipped Franklin and pulled out. Vallos was unbelievably bad last year. He has looked serviceable to average in Greg Knapp's zone blocking scheme.
• The 49ers overloaded the offensive left and Hasselbeck again outlet passed to John Owens. Brian Billick accused Hasselbeck of throwing high, but the pass hit Owens squarely in the hands. That it popped high into the air and could have been picked shows us just how hard and unskilled Owens hands are. Billick was wrong to fault Hasselbeck.
• Manny Lawson embarrassed John Carlson and ended Jones rush to the right before it could start. Lawson staggered Carlson and ran around him and Jones was again faced with 49ers in the backfield before he could touch the ball. Jones ran himself out of bounds for a loss of three.
• Knapp called an outside draw from shotgun and Forsett ran for eight. Yes, Knapp was "giving up". The way Seattle was executing, the correct third down call was a punt.