Uniform Silliness

In the recent past the Seahawks had rain-colored uniforms with rain-colored numbers and rain-colored accents. This reflected the weather patterns of the region but it made our players seem like they were trying to literally blend into the scenery.

Since Pete Carroll took over the blue has gotten darker, the metallic pattern made the numbers look tougher and the bright green accents give the uniforms flair. Most Seattle fans probably agree that this is an improvement. This uniform still represents the region but gives the team an emphatic presence.

In the spirit of silliness, here are some observations about the different logos and uniforms across the NFL.

Ravens strike fear into the hearts of poets as they ponder “weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.” However, the Baltimore Ravens’ logo is less than awe inspiring. A quirk of the eye makes the raven look concerned. “It does not look like it’s ready to fight,” said Michael Howard. Further, someone must have thought people might not get the association and added a letter B to the raven. It is not a good idea to put a letter on a logo that must reverse: the B has to turn the opposite way on the other side of the helmet, which effectively makes it two different logos.

At least they decided to use the raven for the helmet. They could have used the shield. 

The New York Giants also have letters on their helmets, but because this is the only thing on the helmet-logo, they can reverse the big, readable letters from one side to the other without the logo suffering a change. New York made a good decision in staying with the letters of their state or team name, which are more identifiable than trying to create a giant (which would defeat its own purpose on the scale of a helmet). They are a traditional team that doesn’t fuss with their uniforms so while there is a craze for retro uniforms this year, I don’t know if the Giants would get much out of switching them.

The Dallas Cowboys come from the Lone Star State. They went with silver uniforms and a big bold star on their helmets.  This logo is not artsy but Texas is more “wild west” than “artsy” anyway. The star does exactly what it is supposed to do: captures the spirit of the team for the fans and lets them know immediately which players in a scrimmage are theirs.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a good-looking logo. It is historic, bold and unmistakable for that of any other team. It has the word “Steelers” on it, which is not reversible within the image, but they made the good decision to only have the logo on one side of the helmet rather than mess with the look of it.

However, in 2015 the Steelers are wearing “bumble bee” uniforms from 1934. These are a different story. Striped shirts and knee-highs are cute in themselves, but to quote L, “This is something that works and is cute in nature for a bumble bee but does not translate well to a football team.” Also the numbers look as if they are drawn on paper and then pinned to the jerseys.

The Oakland Raiders are a tough, old-school football team and their logo shows exactly that. This logo is such a busy mixture of things that it ought to be a disaster: a crest, two crossed swords, and a guy wearing both an eye-patch and an old-fashioned football helmet. As if that wasn't enough, it also has the word RAIDERS on it. However, it is so crazy that it sails all the way around and becomes amazing.

Perhaps the Miami Dolphins were trying for a similar theme with their retro 2015 uniforms but unlike the Raiders they do not get to amazing. Their dolphin is either jumping through a hoop or across the sun. For some reason the dolphin is wearing a helmet which has an M on it because while they didn’t feel the need to make the sun/hoop clear, the fact that this is Miami needed to be established beyond all doubt. To be fair to the Dolphins, their modern logo does not wear a helmet. The sun is a little clearer and there are no letters. This turns their logo from “WTF” to “oh, it’s a dolphin.”

I will also say that no one else in the NFL wears turquoise blue and orange.

The Cleveland Browns do not wear the “brownie elf,” opting instead for plain orange helmets.  This is wise.

The Browns have perhaps widest aesthetic split in their uniforms: the retro chocolate-brown uniforms might not be bright but they suit the name, look old-fashioned in a gritty "play in rain or shine" way, and are unique. The orange version is an unfortunate shade meant to be different from the Bengals. However, the two are still similar enough to be confusing in scrimmage and the Browns’ shade of red-orange somehow triggers afterimages on the television screen.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ helmets look great. The black tiger-stripes against the bright orange are striking. I must address the elephant in the room, though. Their uniforms make the huddle look like Cone-henge.

Tigers are orange and black. Ravens are purplish-black. Stars are silver. So what colors do you pick for rams? The St. Louis Rams said “to hell with it” and chose blue and gold. Their helmets are the most simple and effective in the league. Further, the gold ram-horn swirl makes the players look like they are about to lower their heads and move the chains.  Note how the shoulder accents echo the horns. 

The Cowboys’ star and the Rams’ horns are simple and effective. However, the Minnesota Vikings’ horns do not achieve the same effect. 

Why not? It’s hard to say. The star and swirl are simple 2D renderings but if anything the Vikings went too simple with their big white curve. It’s difficult sometimes to tell what the horns are. Is it a Joker smile? Venom eyes? For all their simplicity, the Viking horns are not as readily apparent as other logos.

 

The Washington Redskins logo is meant to be a stereotypical Native American. Dan Snyder resists changing it because of “tradition” but it isn’t even a great logo. Aesthetically, it has a lot of fussy details that blur into a dark blob from further away than about ten yards. If someone didn’t already know what the logo was supposed to be, they probably would not be able to tell from the stands.

The Denver Broncos made excellent use of abstract rendering with their logo. The Bronco is immediately identifiable. It looks fierce and fast, and discourages people from wanting to mess with it. Can't say I'm a fan of the orange jerseys but that color does look cool in the mane of the logo.

Seahawks vs 49ers - Aaand he's safe!

The Seahawks had a handy victory over the 49ers this weekend. I liked most of what I saw from the boys. Here are some notable highlights.

Marshawn Lynch was out with an abdominal injury but Thomas Rawls had one of the best games of his rookie career. I've said before that Marshawn Lynch isn't just physical, he is also patient. He can afford to be: he isn't just strong, he isn't just fast, but he can also accelerate from Zero to Beast Mode in almost a single step. Not many people can do that. Lynch has also been working with the linemen for a long time and can read them well, so he can begin to accelerate almost before the opening comes up because he knows where they'll be and when. 

Marshawn was on the sidelines, keeping a close eye on Rawls. During the defense's turn on the field, he'd collect Rawls and talk to him. This is of course a departure from the usual for Lynch but he appeared to be enjoying himself. Rawls certainly was.

I like that Lynch is not threatened by the new, young running back. Many star athletes would feel threatened. Not Lynch. I did not see one ounce of jealousy or pettiness in his eyes all game, just fondness and respect. Almost relief. "Man, I'm glad we found this guy." 

You see, Lynch is smart enough to know that if he goes into Beast Mode, he has got to be able to rest afterward. There needs to be a RB to take over in the meantime. It can't just be any old RB either. The guy has to have a style of play similar to Lynch so that the rest of the offense doesn't have to waste mental effort switching their style of play every time the RBs switch out. He has to be a physical threat, so the opposing defense doesn't try to get cute. He has to be a mental threat too, so he can draw fire away from Wilson.

The better Rawls is, the better the rest of the team, including Lynch, can be. It makes sense that Shawn is pleased. It's just that people usually aren't so sensible.

In a post-game interview Rawls said some things that made me smile. He said that he hadn't felt this happy and excited about playing the game since he was in high school. He also said that in the past several weeks he'd come to regard the linemen and the rest of the offense as brothers and mentioned that now Shawn was working with him on pacing.

In other words, I think Lynch was teaching him the Pete Carroll Way: trust first, technical stuff second.

Tyler Lockett was everywhere. He returned kicks to put the Seahawks in good position, he caught passes, he even caught one that he ran in for a touchdown. Lockett looked thrilled beyond belief, like he was a kid pretending to be an NFL player in the back yard. "And then the quarterback will be in trouble and he'll throw it to me, and I'll catch the pass. Oh no, here comes one guy but whoosh, I dodge him. Then here come two more guys, they try to tackle me but I power through one more yard for a touchdown...!"

Then he realizes he isn't pretending, he actually just did that. Anyway, that's how he looks.

Lockett too had interesting things to say post-game. "It's all about trust, all about knowing where the others will be at all times. That's the only thing we have to remember."

There are psych studies that bear this out. It is a well-known fact that that humans only have so many "slots" in their working memory to remember what they're supposed to do. Human brains do a lot better if everything doesn't keep changing rapidly, because if there are too many rapid changes they burn up all their brainpower tracking that instead of working on the problem at hand. Not only do they remember better in a stable environment, but more "slots" are freed up to concentrate and solve problems. Also, people have only so much willpower to put toward a task at any given time. The Seahawks run on heart and willpower so this is important for them. You might not think this applies to small changes in the environment but it absolutely does.

In one well-known experiment, two sets of people were both shown to a waiting room with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of delicious cookies. Group 1 were offered cookies. Group 2 were just offered radishes. 

Then both groups were given a difficult geometry problem to solve. Guess which group persevered longer and had more success? Group 1, the group that did not have to burn up mental and emotional energy dealing with forbidden cookies.

That's not exactly the same thing as Carroll Mode vs match-

ups... and I don't know what would have happened if it had been skittles... but it does illustrate my point about constant changes in the environment and giving your players many complicated things to worry about, taking a toll on their ability to persevere in the face of challenges.

Richard Sherman did an excellent job. At one point he leaped up for a possible interception. Oh, he kept the ball from getting to the receiver. That wasn't a question. He just didn't quite get the pick. After coming to rest on his stomach with his arms outstretched to either side, he paused to give a theatrical sigh. You could see his ribs and shoulders and even arms puff up, then deflate. This was a full-body sigh. Then he planted his knuckles, swiftly pushed himself up and he strolled away nonchalantly. The whole thing reminded me of one of those slow-motion cat-jumps.  I mean, tell me Sherm doesn't look like a cat when he does his thing. The jump the cat does at the end, and the one Sherman did for his we're-going-to-the-Superbowl "tip" are practically mirror images, not just when he jumps up, but when he lands-- both he and the cat twist their body but keep their focus on what they are trying to swipe.

One of the announcers (I do not know his name yet but will find out), did something classy. The other guy tried to bring up Russell Wilson's personal life not once but twice, and this announcer gently but firmly deflected it.

Announcer 1: "He just signed a huge contract, he's got a superstar girlfriend, I'd be surprised if it doesn't gets in his head."

Announcer 2: "You know, Russell told me that when he comes to the field, he comes ready to play football. And that's what he's doing. Ah, here's a hand-off to Rawls."

A minute or so later the Announcer 1 tried again: "Well, with a celebrity girlfriend, he does open himself up to comments--"

He was once again boxed out: "He isn't the only quarterback to deal with that. They let their girlfriends worry about them during games, not the other way around. Look at that pass to Jimmy Graham. Was it good enough for a first down? I think Graham had it."

This was a classy thing to do, all the more so in an era of journalism that tries increasingly to mix sports with gossip and drama.

Graham did have the first down, by the way. SF challenged it but the tape showed that the big tight end planted his forearm elbow-to-wrist firmly in bounds before being rolled into the chalk. A smaller guy might have been pushed out before then, but Graham has some heft to him.

I felt sorry for the 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Basically Colin Kaepernick requested to be on the injured list. Apparently he'd needed a minor surgery for a while but elected to have it done right now in the middle of the season instead of waiting. The 49ers said "Fine" and put their backup, Gabbert, in the game instead. Gabbert tried very hard and even made a little start at a comeback in the late second / early third quarter. Unfortunately it was impossible to get everyone on the same page for a coordinated effort and the 49ers had unraveled by the middle of the third. After a particularly bone-rattling Cliff Avril sack (and the following Victory Boogie), the camera caught Gabbert venting to the new head coach Jim Tomsula, who didn't look happy either. Both of them appeared frustrated. As we both know, they inherited a mess. There is a lot wrong with that football team and firing their old head coach, Harbaugh, did not fix it.  This is sad because it's not a lack of effort and it's not a lack of talent. They have some great players but the unhappiness and uncertainty keeps them from clicking together well.

Russell Wilson played well. He scored on the majority of Seattle possessions. There were a couple of stupid penalties but not enough to throw him off stride. He didn't say so, but getting backed up to first and fifteen (the way he often was in the Cardinals game) throws off the rhythm of the whole set. Not this time though. There was a nice mix of hand-offs, short passes and long passes. He spread the ball around to Baldwin, Kearse, Graham and of course Lockett. He showed his wiliness more than once. There were times when the 49ers thought for sure they were about to grab him but he darted out of the way and took off running.  He happened to slide into a first down right near a guy who was trying to guard against that very thing. Wilson's outstretched, pointed foot went right between the guy's ankles and the rest of him was leaning back away from the guy. In this instance it was for self-preservation but in baseball you lean as far backward as possible to prevent getting tagged before your foot hits the base. 

Anyway this scene looked so much like a batter sliding into home plate that the announcer said, "Aaand he's safe!"

The Good News: 

Carroll Mode is starting to click with the rookies. This is crucial if the Seahawks are going to fly for the second part of the season.

The Bad News:

If the Seahawks are going to do this, they've got to do it soon. We're running out of runway here.

The Question:

Will the fledgling rookies fly?

Long-Term Sherman

During a recent sushi dinner my friend L, a long-distance runner, mentioned a bizarrely competitive woman at her workplace who heard through the grapevine that L runs marathons. This woman found L and began to tell her about all of her own athletic accomplishments.

I offered the opinion that being an athlete is like being tough, rich, or classy. If you have to tell everyone you are, you probably aren't. There were thoughtful nods.

"Unless you're Richard Sherman," I added. "Then you can say whatever you want."

The table rippled with happy agreement; smiles, nods, laughter. This is an easy quip to make in Seattle but it made me think. Could this enjoyment be more than fans liking to hear their mischievous favorite "run his mouth?"

I think so.

Sherman can turn a phrase. He has a proven ability to connect with a wide variety of people. People remember his outburst after the Playoffs victory but that is an exception. Sherman has many settings between "off" and "high" and is good at gauging which one will be most useful to him at the time. 
 

Like Conan O'Brien, Sherman can draw out introverts. However, he does not shy away from controversy and knows how to subvert expectations (also like Conan). People who don't like him watch him anyway because they are never bored. Even haters want to see what he'll say next. Sherman isn't just a mouth, though. He is fun to talk to, always has something relevant to say, can direct a conversation and will only strike sparks if that will make it more interesting.

He graduated from Stanford with a master's degree in Communications. He earned the PWFA Good Guy Award because he helped the media cover the NFL.

Sherm is having a blast now, but he is smart enough to plan for years down the road when he gets too old to play the game but his mind is even sharper and more experienced than it is now. I really do think he is planning to become an announcer and he is building the qualifications. He has the education, the personality, and the natural talent to be great at it.

Seahawks vs Cardinals - we must stop beating ourselves with penalties

This was the kind of game that separates the true 12s from mere fair-weather fans.

The first half was a disaster. The offensive line was such an uncoordinated mess that Wilson had to be more concerned with self-preservation than making plays. First down penalties from the receivers and linemen were singularly unhelpful in that they backed the Seahawks up from "manageable" to "long."

Marshawn Lynch was so annoyed with the line issues that he gathered the offense together at the sidelines and gave them a talking-to. It looked like a cross between a pep-talk and a reverend thundering at his congregation. This was quite a thing coming from Lynch, who usually spends his off-time gazing calmly at the horizon.

It must have worked.

Inside the two minute warning Wilson mounted a ferocious drive, using Lynch to pound through for a first down, running it himself for another, then completing a 40-yard pass to Jimmy Graham that might as well have been shot from a cannon. This put them in the Red Zone. 

Wilson tried a pass that didn't pan out. Then, just when everyone thought he'd hand it to Marshawn Lynch, Wilson craftily put it into Will Tukuafu's giant paws instead. Tukuafu is a big, relatively slow guy but all he had to do was chug one yard into the end zone before the Cardinals realized what was happening.

The score at the end of the first half was 22 - 7 Cardinals. Seven points may not sound like much, but it mattered a lot to the fans and the team. The momentum carried over to the third quarter.

The Seahawks had two scoring drives to start the second half: first one ended in a field goal, second was a touchdown. Wilson scored on a 30-yard "sluggo" play.

The Cardinals head coach, Bruce Arians, was grumpy all night. He challenged so many calls that he ran out of challenges and mouthed off to a referee such that he got an Unsportsmanlike called against his team.

In the third, KJ Wright nabbed a forced-fumble ball and took off running. He was brought down at the three yard line but Shawn brought it home on the next play. He was patient, too. He didn't charge forward immediately or try to force his way through where it wouldn't count. No no. He chose his opening and followed it.

25 - 23 Cardinals.

Bobby Wagner forced another fumble for a pick-six. This put us in the lead.

25 - 29 Seahawks.

More penalties against the Seahawks led to what would have been an abortive Cardinals drive ending in a touchdown. 

32 - 29 Cardinals.

Late in the fourth, we needed the defense to hold it together in time for Wilson to make another drive: a touchdown to win or at least a field goal. But the defense, who had been doing well and even made some great plays, made a critical error. They expected a throw and a Cardinals runner escaped to make a touchdown.

39 - 29 Cardinals.

Wilson did not give up. He drove into field goal range and was prepared to go further. Then Pete Carroll told him to let Hauscka kick a field goal. The plan was to get an onside kick and tie it. Unfortunately while the field goal worked, the onside kick was caught by the Cardinals.

The final score was 39 - 32 Cardinals.

I have to give our guys credit for not giving up even after that terrible first half. The Cardinals, who must have felt like they were going to stomp all over us, instead had to fight to the bitter end.

The Good News:

The road to the Playoffs just got rockier but it has not disappeared. 

The Bad News:

The Cardinals are a great football team but let's face it, those penalties were the deciding factor. Doesn't matter who they play, the Hawks can't afford to beat themselves.

The Question:

Can the Seahawks bounce back from this loss at home in time to get back on the rocky road to the Playoffs?

Phish, Seahawks, and utmost silliness

Phish phans love to make connections between their beloved jam band and virtually anything else. Let's make some now, shall we?

We all remember the day that Phish gave Seattle the wonderful idea to use the "Wiiiilsooon" chant to announce the arrival of #3 to the field. 

Trey Anastasio (lead guitarist of Phish, pictured above) did a cover of a Gorillaz song called "Clint Eastwood"  on his album Traveler. The cover is definitely worth a listen and Jennifer Hartswick uses her voice to great effect. The last verse mentions a Russell. Obviously the original songwriters were referring to someone else but so was Anastasio when he wrote "Wilson" thirty-some years ago for his music thesis that no one was even supposed to hear. 

It was just a happy coincidence that their names happened to be the same. 

Anyway the line from "Clint Eastwood" goes "...through Russell, not his muscle but percussion he provides." 

What's that I hear you say? Percussion has absolutely nothing to do with the Seahawks' Wilson? Ah, but that is where you are wrong.

If you want to be even sillier, as phans are prone to do, you might even notice that Phish have another song called, what else, "Alaska."

The Way of It, Part Three: A Series of Fictitious Conversations Demonstrating the Evolution of Football Strategy

 Seattle, 2010.

John Schneider’s usual television-star smile is absent as he sits in the coffee shop of the highest building in Seattle. He is grumbling to himself over his latte. 

"Over the years, the Seahawks have developed one of the worst win-loss records in the NFL. We’ve only been in the playoffs a couple times. There was a twenty-year stretch when we couldn’t even win a playoffs game. We managed one or two good years but now… ugh.”

Raindrops streak the big glass windows that offer a panoramic view of the city. 

“Bring in the next guy in for the coaching job,” Schneider tells his assistant. “Not that it will make any difference."

A man with a narrow face and white hair walks into the coffee shop. He is sixty years old but moves like a man thirty years younger as he grabs his chair.

Seattleites on their lunch break barely glance at the two men. They are more interested in the view out the big windows and in acquiring an afternoon coffee to shake off the lethargy of the rainy afternoon. Most of them are only vaguely aware that their city has a football team.  

After Schneider goes over Pete Carroll’s resume, he announces, "You’ve played in the NFL before. You’ve won some games in your coaching career, especially lately, at USC. The job is yours. You’ll want the computers with all our data, since all the teams are using match-ups and statistics.”

Carroll nods polite thanks but looks Schneider in the eye. "I am going to take the Seahawks back to a very old tradition. Sure, I’ll look at the numbers, but in my mind football is not really about match-ups and statistics because it is not played by individuals. Football is a team sport."

"That's… nice," Schneider looks dubious.

"The thing is, the match-up coaches and the statistics coaches lack a philosophy. They just keep talking about 'adjustments' from week to week."

"That's their job, isn't it?"

"No.” Carroll leans forward across the table and gestures with his hands as he explains, “A coach's job is to set up a system that stays the same and that accomplishes things a certain way. Once I get the guys who can work in my system, and once they get good at it, they will win games."

“Then people will know your tendencies and they will find match-ups." Schneider mimics Carroll’s tone.

"They will try. Meanwhile, I use my system to remove match-ups altogether, and I use my system to stress the opponent's system. Since the other team doesn't have a system, or doesn't understand their system as well as we do, they will break down first. Hopefully before the game is over," Carroll says with a wry grin.

"Again, that sounds very nice but I don't get it."

"Think it through. The other team wants a match-up. Let’s pretend they have Lawrence Taylor on their team. They want to match him against our left tackle, who is a slow guy. L.T. is the greatest of all time. He'd always get the better of our left tackle in a match-up but if we use my system, the match-up won’t be there. Our left tackle is going to let him go and do something else." 

"It’ll be mayhem." Schneider looks nervous even thinking about this. "Lawrence Taylor will put our quarterback in the hospital."

But Carroll’s eyes are twinkling. "They’ll think so too. But he won’t, because we run an option. We make a play that forces their L.T. to make an instant choice. He can make a good choice if he knows exactly where his teammates are and what they are supposed to be doing, who they’re covering, and he can trust that they’ll handle that. But he doesn't know for sure where they are, since his team changes everything from week to week and even quarter to quarter as they search for match-ups. L.T. can’t possibly keep track of all that and he knows it. So he’ll just go where his momentum takes him. Or maybe he’ll hesitate. Either way he’ll make the wrong choice often.”

“Often enough to win games?”

“Yes sir. The truth is that in an increasingly complex game that has twenty-two players running around on the field, the most valuable thing is teamwork. My players don’t have to keep a lot of numbers and adjustments in their heads. All they have to do is know where their teammates will be at every second of a play.”

Carroll pauses significantly, as if to underline his statement: “And by the way, we don't match up one man against another. We accomplish tasks in groups, by zones."

"Even blocking?"

"Especially blocking. If I have guys who build up experience in my system, we can beat a team of players that is better than we are at every position. We can move four blockers into a zone where only two defenders are. Their L.T. might be great but he and his buddy will be hard pressed to hold off four of our guys who know just how to work together. Our players learn how to accomplish these tasks by drawing on the wisdom and experience that we have built up with each other within our system. Yes, in time it won’t be my system, but theirs as well.”

"So you won't make adjustments?” Schneider is nonplussed. “At halftime all great coaches make adjustments. The more you can change and adjust at halftime, the better coach you are. I mean, Bill Belichick makes big adjustments all game long. At halftime he practically reinvents his team if he is losing."

Pete Carroll smiles and shakes his head. “If I did that it would throw off my whole system. Those things are a distraction for the players.  Imagine a team that keeps changing what they do every week, alright? Imagine them trying to beat our guys who draw upon the accumulated wisdom of using a system for a year. While their guys start over and over each game with constant adjustments, my guys are learning to play for each other."

“So,” Schneider says slowly, “At halftime we will remind our

players of what they already know. We remind them of how certain aspects of the system flow to accomplish what they need to do. If you’re right, then after a year of playing together they could practically win games without us there.” Schneider chuckles. His television-star smile is back. “So Pete, what kind of quarterback do you want?”

Yes, now Pete Carroll must choose a quarterback for his new iteration of the Seattle Seahawks. A sleepy-eyed young man with a great throwing arm catches his eye. The problem? This Wilson kid is under six feet tall and just over 200 pounds with all his gear on. He can throw, he is fast, he is athletic… but what does the new coach say when he's trying to justify why he wants this kid, who has been passed over by virtually everybody else, to the point that other teams draft punters before they pick him? Why this kid? Why not someone else with similar statistics?

"I watched him interact with the players on my team. Russell had only been there one afternoon, but everybody wanted to listen to him. He brought out the best in them and they accepted him as a leader. That was when I knew he was the one." (While the rest of our conversation was fictitious, that last is a real quote from a Pete Carroll interview.)

 *******

Sure, Carroll looks for ratings and stats. He definitely looks for talent. However, he is also looking for a “fit” more than most coaches in the current era of the NFL. Fans can reel off countless instances of Carroll picking up players who did not do well on other teams, but transplanting them into his system and encouraging them to flourish. Marshawn Lynch is probably the most spectacular example.

There is a reason why the match-ups that the announcers talk about very rarely go the way they are “supposed” to against Seattle. For example, during the Playoffs last year, Green Bay could not take advantage of a match-up against Sherman after he was injured and essentially playing with one arm. Seattle plays zone so often and in such a way that the match-ups either aren’t there or are so blurry as to be useless. The offense does not know where Sherman will go. He usually does not follow one guy around or even go to the same place on the field.

A notable exception, of course, was the man-to-man coverage against Dez Bryant in the Cowboys game. Bryant is good enough to warrant full time man-coverage by Sherman, but usually Sherm is such a terror because he is “flying around.” His teammates know the system and know where he will be at any given time. However, to outsiders, the Seattle defense often looks like swirling chaos. It helps that they switch men in and out of the zones fairly often, too. The Legion of Boom all know where their players are, but the offense is often baffled and caught off guard.

All of this organic changing and swirling may be part of the reason why Seattle gets caught with twelve men on the field so often it is becoming a running joke, though.

Anyway, the same system holds true for the Seahawks on blocking. Someone watching the game can never be never sure who the Seattle linemen will block. If you watch the replays, you will see that the linemen are usually not aiming at a particular person. No, they are headed to an area. They trade off opponents as needed so it is difficult to pick on one of them. This is, of course, 'zone blocking' and takes a long time to learn because it is absolutely critical for one lineman to know where his teammates are and what they are capable of.

Zone blocking is terrible when there is miscommunication, the way we saw earlier this season. When it works, though, it is beautiful to behold.

Now we look at our fictitious Pete Carroll. What we left out of our portrayal is that "the system" is not merely a variety of plays. Carroll has taken a lifetime of coaching and reflection and then he created a concept or philosophy. Next he had to figure out what aspects of play worked with his concept and which ones did not. I'm sure there were some great ideas that he had to pare away because they did not work with the concept (every editor knows how that feels). So a system emerges.  

Now, it isn't like Carroll doesn’t study the other teams or look at tendencies. Certainly, he has work to do each week in that area, but he does not switch up the entire style of play from week to week.

Then he had to flesh out his system with personnel. This too must have been a difficult process because his idea runs against the "common sense" of the NFL. Carroll passed up guys who looked slightly better on match-ups in order to draft people who fit the system. Then he had to teach the players how the system works. Then he had to get in their heads and make them believe in it, which was one reason he absolutely had to find a quarterback who had a firm belief in the system and could inspire it in others. 

Win Forever.

___

"The Way of It" is a collaborative effort between Ada Fetters and Michael Howard.