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I'm pleased to announce that Chad Davis of DraftBreakdown.com and I are going to be teaming up for the rest of the season to bring you some notes and thoughts on Seahawks' personnel groupings, offensive/defensive packages, and snap counts for each game, in an effort to help us better understand what the Seahawks are doing on both sides of the ball.
Big, big ups to Mr. Davis for setting out on this endeavor, something that I think will be invaluable to we FieldGullers. If you haven't checked out DraftBreakdown yet, you really need to do so (hint, they're largely responsible for the video scouting clips you've all probably seen and provide an immense wealth of information for college football player scouting.
Anyway, on to the numbers.
According to Chad's charting (which he believes to be accurate, though not technically official; these should provide a snapshot but not be taken as gospel), the Hawks ran 67 offensive plays, excluding three kneel-downs. They ran the ball 39 times (63%) and threw it 28.
Interestingly enough, the Hawks used a tight end on every offensive snap. Their most common grouping was with one running back, two tight ends, and two receivers, and they used that package on 27 snaps, passing ten times and running it seventeen times.
They went no-back seven times, passing on all those snaps. They used two running backs and one tight end eleven times, and ran out of that formation on all but one snap. They used three "TEs" one time - Paul McQuistan technically the tackle eligible 'third tight end' and that play went for a Marshawn Lynch touchdown.
Here are the groupings, snap counts, and pass vs run counts:
• 7 plays out of "02" (0 RB, 2 TE)...7 passes
• 17 out of "11" (1 RB, 1 TE)...10 passes, 7 runs
• 27 out of "12" (1 RB, 2 TE)...10 passes, 17 runs
• 11 out of "21" (2 RB, 1 TE)...1 pass, 10 runs
• 4 out of "22" (2 RB, 2 TE)...1 pass, 3 runs
• 1 out of "23" (2 RB, 3 TE)...Lynch TD... McQuistan 3rd TE
Notable Snap Counts:
First off, offensive line snap counts aren't listed because apart from Lemuel Jeanpierre taking over for an injured John Moffitt, the Hawks line stayed the same throughout the game.
The steady, reliable Zach Miller played in all 67 of the Seahawks meaningful snaps. This is very unsurprising, as Miller is a very, very good blocking tight end and a Pro-Bowler when it comes to catching passes. I had no idea he was in for every single play though, so that was interesting to see. Similarly, Anthony McCoy still got a lot of game action, playing in 39 offensive snaps.
Mike Williams came out briefly after getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and I thought for a moment that he might not see the field again. Wrong. BMW played in 55 of 67 offensive snaps. Sidney Rice was in for 41 before getting hurt, and Doug Baldwin 15. Golden Tate benefitted with some playing time due to these injuries, seeing 24 snaps and catching three passes on three targets.
Marshawn Lynch was obviously the workhorse, and appeared in 49 offensive plays. Justin Forsett was the third down back - all eight of his snaps coming on that down. This is very likely because of Forsett's versatility in the passing game and skill on blitz pickups. Much to many Seahawks' fans chagrin, Leon Washington got only 4 snaps, carrying the ball on three of those plays for 9 yards.
Michael Robinson was in for 16 plays - and made the most of them. As Pete Carroll put it, "At the fullback position, Mike had his best game since we've been here. He really was effective. And he had the matchup of the century going against Ray [Lewis] and he did a very nice job. He didn't win them all - you're not gonna. But he was effective and had some key blocks. He dominated some blocks against their guys at times. So I was really fired up to see Mike play that well consistently and have such a big factor."
Individual Offensive Snaps
• Sidney Rice played in 41 of 67 plays (injured)
• Mike Williams played in 55 of 67 plays
• Doug Baldwin played in 15 of 67 plays (injured)
• Ben Obomanu played in 17 of 67 plays
• Zach Miller played in ALL 67 plays
• Anthony McCoy played in 39 of 67 plays
• Golden Tate played in 24 of 67 plays
• Marshawn Lynch played in 49 of 67 plays
• Justin Forsett played in 8 of 67 plays (ALL on 3rd downs)
• Leon Washington played in 4 of 67 plays
• Michael Robinson played in 16 of 67 plays
The Seahawks defense saw 66 plays. Although I don't have the official numbers from earlier games, I think that for the first time this season, the Seahawks ran out of their nickel package more than their base 4-3 personnel grouping. The base package of was used on only 22 snaps. At first glance this was surprising but when you realize the Ravens only ran the ball twelve times it starts to make sense.
The nickel was used 35 times, with Roy Lewis the nickelback for all 35 of those plays. Lewis was in on seven "dime" package groupings as well, with Atari Bigby (4 snaps) and Chris Maragos (3 snaps) splitting reps as the dimeback (Bigby hurt his hamstring, I believe).
Defensive personnel information
• Seattle saw 66 plays on defense
• They were in base 4-3 personnel on 22 plays
• They were in nickel personnel on 35 plays
• They were in dime personnel on 7 plays
• They were in goal line personnel on 2 plays
Other Notables:
David Hawthorne, and Earl Thomas played in every single defensive snap. Ballers. Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman, 64 out of 66. Chris Clemons saw 62 of 66 plays, including two goal-line personnel snaps.
Red Bryant played DE in 18 base package plays and DT in the 16 nickel and dime packages he appeared in.
K.J. Wright was the odd man out when it came to the nickel and dime sets used so frequently. He only got 24 snaps. Kam Chancellor would have played every snap if it weren't for his injury.
Raheem Brock played in a surprising 50 snaps, including 8 in the base 4-3 package. Anthony Hargrove only got 9 snaps but two of those were in the base personnel grouping.
Clinton McDonald got some playing time, rotating in for 17 snaps; 8 base, 7 nickel, and 2 goal line sets. Newly re-signed Pep Levingston got some action as well, appearing on 9 plays, typically passing downs where the Seahawks were in nickel (8) or dime (1) sets. Rookie Malcolm Smith spelled at linebacker, seeing 12 snaps in the nickel and dime sets as well.
Newcomer Chris Maragos, as I said above, got some action in dime sets, and also subbed in when Kam Chancellor went out with a head injury. He got six total snaps. One thing is sure - Pete Carroll has no qualms about getting his young players out on the field.
Individual defensive snap information
• Chris Clemons played in 62 of 66 plays (18 base, 35 nickel, 7 dime, 2 goal line)
• Brandon Mebane played in 40 of 66 plays (18 base, 17 nickel, 3 dime, 2 goal line)
• Alan Branch played in 42 of 66 plays (18 base, 20 nickel, 2 dime, 2 goal line)
• Red Bryant played in 36 of 66 plays (18 base, 14 nickel, almost all at DT...2 dime, 2 GL)
• David Hawthorne played in ALL 66 plays
• Leroy Hill played in 48 of 66 plays (22 base, 23 nickel, 1 dime, 2 goal line)
• K.J. Wright played in 24 of 66 plays (22 base, 2 goal line)
• Kam Chancellor played in 63 of 66 plays (missed 3 after injury)
• Earl Thomas played in ALL 66 plays
• Brandon Browner played 64 of 66 plays
• Richard Sherman played 64 of 66 plays
• Raheem Brock played in 50 of 66 plays (8 base, 35 nickel, 7 dime)
• Anthony Hargrove played in 9 of 66 plays (2 base, 4 nickel, 3 dime)
• Clinton McDonald played in 17 of 66 plays (8 base, 7 nickel, 2 goal line)
• Pep Levingston played in 9 of 66 plays (8 nickel, 1 dime)
• Malcolm Smith played in 12 of 66 plays (11 nickel, 1 dime)
• Atari Bigby played in 6 of 66 plays (4 dime, 2 goal line)
• Chris Maragos played in 6 of 66 plays (3 nickel, 3 dime)
• Roy Lewis played in 42 of 66 plays (35 nickel, 7 dime)
So there you have it. Again, HUGE thanks to Chad Davis of DraftBreakdown.com (follow him on Twitter here). I noticed him tweeting this stuff the other day and got in touch with him, and we were both stoked at the idea of providing more in-depth information on what the Seahawks are doing. What do you guys think? Rec this post if you're into this kind of thing.