Quick Film Review: Five plays from the Seahawks’ offense against the Bears

Week 2 of the 2022 NFL preseason saw the Seahawks take a sizable step backwards compared to Week 1. Despite losing 32-25 there were a lot of promising signs from Seattle against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including the play of Drew Lock and Boye Mafe. Unfortunately Lock missed the game against the Bears due to Covid-19 and Mafe missed some snaps with an injury. Injuries and illnesses aside there is little room for excuses for Seattle. They scored only 11 points, none of which came with their starting unit on the field against a team who many expect to be one of the worst in football in the Chicago Bears. Down below we are going to breakdown some of the highlights and lowlights from the offensive side of the ball.

Travis Homer

On this play Homer starts it off by running right into a hoard of players at the line of scrimmage. His vision is questionable as rather than cutting it back he continued to run right into the mess of players, although he made up for it after by staying upright and bouncing it out. He does a good job of putting his hand on the offensive lineman’s back to help him stay balanced and prevent him from getting sucked into the pile. After that he forces three missed tackles with two of them coming in immediate succession of each other. Once he gets to the sideline, he does a good job of switching the ball into his boundary arm to make it more difficult for any defender to strip the ball.

Charles Cross

Cross does a great job of shutting down one of the more productive edges in football on this play in Robert Quinn. He does overset to the edge off of the snap, which was a routine problem for him in college, but he quickly recovers by getting his inside arm across the chest plate of Quinn. Cross does a really good job of keeping his arm in front of him, forcing him up field and inside rather than hooking him and bringing Quinn down, which likely would have resulted in a holding penalty. Throughout the entirety of the play, he does a great job of displaying bend in both his hips and knees to maintain leverage as well as staying balanced throughout the play and light on his toes.

On a penalty-filled evening, this was a highly encouraging rep by Seattle’s top draft pick against one of the better pass rushers in the NFL.

Geno Smith

There is a lot to take away from this play. The big positive from it is we see Geno Smith work through his progressions from left to right and then back to left rather than forcing a throw. Additionally, the offensive line creates a beautiful pocket for Smith to throw from. Quarterbacks are not supposed to be able to work through that many reads without being pressured so hats off to the whole unit on this play.

Now to the negatives.

Smith throws this ball from a completely flat-footed position. The West Virginia product has to step into this throw, which would allow him to lead Penny Hart, whom had he been led would have had a chance at a walk-in touchdown. Smith may have been worried about the safety positioning over the top so he underthrew the ball to effectively ensure a big completion. Although, if he led Hart and kept the ball on his receiver’s outside shoulder, I don’t see the safety being a problem. This is going to be a serious detractor for the Seahawks offense this year if Smith is the Week 1 starter. Even if he was to step into the throw there is no guarantee he would have been able to significantly lead Hart compared to Drew Lock, who most likely would have been able to. Smith’s arm strength does not truly threaten defenses down the field or to the opposite sideline.

Abe Lucas

I have a feeling Abe Lucas bullying someone is going to be a part of these articles every week. Lucas is quick out of his stance to beat the defender Trevis Gipson to the spot. He then immediately gains leverage on Gipson by getting below their pad level whilst utilizing his strong lower half to continue to drive him back. Once they lose balance, Lucas finishes Gipson by driving him right into the ground. Pancake blocks like this one is something we can expect Lucas to put on tape throughout the year.

Jake Curhan

This is a bad rep from Jake Curhan, who is playing right guard on the play. Right off of the snap it appears Curhan hits the defender Trevon Coley in the face mask instead of in his chest plate which could have been called an illegal hands to the face. This forces Coley to go down bringing Curhan down with him. His feet do get clipped by the defender falling down but he still loses his balance too easily. The next problem is where Curhan’s eyes go as he is getting up, rather than focusing on his assignment and making sure he stays on the ground. Curhan instead gives him a light tap on the back and then looks up field. The California alum also does not show much urgency in getting up, taking his time which essentially took him out of the play. In the end Geno Smith is sacked and Seattle punts, summing up an ugly half of football for the Seahawks.