The Way of It: 'Air Coryell,' Jim Hart, and 'bend but don't break' defense

This is about “bend but don’t break” defense technique, the legacy of a passing strategy first invented by Don Coryell and implemented by his strong-arm quarterback Jim Hart.

During the Seahawks-Browns game (12/20/15) you might have been puzzled and annoyed because our defense kept giving up first downs, usually on the third. This happened over and over again. They defense let the Browns get halfway across the field or even to the 20 yard line before finally stopping them, but doing so with authority. We were even treated to the Mebane Belly Dance after he sacked Manziel.

"But why couldn't you do that until right now?" asked Hawks fans. "You should be giving them something else for Christmas, not first downs!"

The defense only gave up one touchdown and a couple of field goals, though. On the last drive, we even got a pick. This leads me to believe the Seahawks were experimenting with “bend but don’t break.” They let the Browns trudge across the field, working hard for every first down (remember, the first was usually given up on the third) and allowed them to have their goal in sight before an authoritative stop, sometimes with a sack thrown in. Over and over.  

It is possible that the defense were having a bad day, but that is not what the score says.

The score says that the Seahawks were trying out a new variation of an old theory called “bend but don’t break.” You shade the receivers deep (cover them but do not let them get past you), which opens up the potential for short plays but keeps the long ones from getting out of control.

One of the reasons that some defensive teams go with “bend but don't break” is that a short field is much easier to defend than a long field. When the other team is on their own 20 yard line, they have tons of room to go over the top. If the defense plays tight coverage, it is highly likely that one receiver will put a good move on the defender and get way past him. The fact is, most defenders in tight coverage inevitably end up between the quarterback and receiver. Hopefully only by a few inches at first but in 2 seconds a good receiver can stretch that distance into a few steps. This isn't too bad since you want to be in the way of the pass when the ball is in the air. Ah, but if the quarterback is going over the top for a deep pass, then a few steps behind means the receiver can pull away for a touchdown once he gets the ball. Here is Tyler Lockett doing exactly that off a Russell Wilson pass for 49 yards. 

So a good defender tries to delay that break point (that point where there is separation of more than one step) to further down field. How far down the field is safe? Most people would say about 30 yards because surely the defensive line will put the quarterback under pressure by the time the deep receiver is that far down the field. However, a quarterback with a strong, accurate passing technique can throw the ball (on a high “rainbow” trajectory) at that same point in time but it won’t come down until the receiver is 50 yards down field. So really the defender is responsible for about fifty yards. That's at a minimum!

I say it is the minimum because the limiting factor here is the quarterback's arm strength and long ball accuracy. Most quarterbacks can throw 50 yards. To put this in perspective, guy who went through training in high school football— not the quarterback, but one of his high school team members— throws for about 35 yards.

Interestingly, Eli Manning and Russell Wilson can both throw for 65 yards with accuracy far above the average quarterback, though they have very different reasons for this. Part of that is physical. Wilson is tight knit and muscular while Manning is long and lanky. Much more of throwing long, accurate passes has to do with technique, however.

Real passing ability comes from how you wind up to throw and your point of release of the ball, but also it comes from your hips and even your feet. This is why Phil Simms often comments about an interception “the quarterback threw that off his back foot.” That means he did not step forward and rotate his hips into the throw, and that's why the ball did not have that "pop" when the ball left his hands. Sometimes Simms notes that improper technique but the ball does have some "pop" anyway, in which case Simms says, "That was all arm!" partly in admiration and partly an admonition to do it right next time.

Here, in a nutshell, is the difference between a quarterback who can unwind his body with maximum efficiency for a long, wicked-accurate pass versus an inefficient quarterback who expends a lot of energy for a passthat does not go very far: Rodgers and Tebow, respectively. Rodgers, Manning, and young Wilson all exhibit proper technique although they have three different builds. 

Where am I going with all this? Why, we are going all the way back to the beginning of long passes. Back in the day, it wasn't this way at all. Long bomb passing technique did not matter as much before the 1970s. 

The start of 50 to 60 yard strategy came from a man named Don Coryell. “Air Coryell” described his philosophy and his scheme at a time when the running game had an overwhelming emphasis across the NFL. One could safely say that Coryell was 30 years ahead of his time.

We all know John Madden so I will let Madden introduce Coryell. 

Before Coryell's time the St. Louis Cardinals were a joke. After his time they would be a joke again (then they’d move to Arizona, where they are today) but during the 1970s they were not only a terror for the NFL, they were a bewildering terror. The secret ingredient that Coryell added was his passing scheme that could score from anywhere, at any time, developing pass route combinations and timing concepts are used to this day.  He even the idea that receivers ought to 'read' the defense and run the right route based on that. Yes, that was a concept that the Giants used until recently. All these innovations back then is why smart defenses today have to use the "bend but don't break" philosophy.

This defensive structure is the legacy of Don Coryell and his strong-arm quarterback Jim Hart, who once threw a pass that was in the air for 80 yards! If Wilson and Manning have “pop,” Hart had “boom.” The “Air Coryell” strategy would simply not have been as spectacular without Hart. 

On shorter passes Hart was known to throw with such velocity it was called a "rope," which means the ball had an incredibly flat trajectory. A Jim Hart pass could sprain a receiver’s fingers. Rumor was that some of those 'sprains' were actually fractures. Yes, your eyes are popping open. They should be. 

Here’s to you, Jim Hart and Don Coryell. OsQ is praising you like we should, for innovations that changed “The Way of It” for the NFL.  Back when people hadn't seen it before, this strategy was baffling and frustrating.

My father, one of generations of Giants fans, was treated to the “Air Coryell” circus twice a season as a kid because the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Giants were in the same division at the time. He had this to say.

"That's how you throw it!" my father [OsQ’s grandfather] would blurt out during a game. It was also a lament because the Cardinals were going to beat the Giants, and we noticed that Harts passes were hard to intercept. The defenders seemed to be afraid to try to catch it! And they couldn't because you had to get used to that velocity. Surely there was or is some quarterback who could throw the ball a few yards farther, but for me its Jim Hart who is the king of the long pass.

Sadly, neither Coryell nor Hart are in the Hall of Fame. While Coryell is known to astute football fans, Hart has been all but forgotten. 

What they were doing back then would not seem strange to most fans because they would recognize it all as common pass plays today. It has become normal fare in the NFL. Maybe that's part of why people don't remember Coryell and Hart? People have a bad habit of supposing that what is “normal” today has always been there, which means a kind of amnesia in respect to the ones who first invented the things we take for “normal.”

In the Madden-Coryell clip from earlier, Madden expresses understanding that he is in the Hall of Fame because he's standing on the shoulders of an innovator. His next funny story in that clip is a variation on that theme: at the conference, everybody else went to the speaker about "I Formation," but Madden figured he'd go to the guy who taught the speaker. Why didn't anyone else do that?

Why indeed. 

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

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?