For much of this season, the running game foundation of the Seattle Seahawks offense crumbled like the Walls of Jericho. A team consistently near the top of the NFL in rushing suddenly found itself in the bottom third of the league. Finally, in last Saturday night’s 26-6 thrashing of the Detroit Lions, Thomas Rawls rebuilt those walls.
Rawls carried the Seahawks on his back, running for a franchise playoff record 161 yards on 27 carries. Leading into the contest, head coach Pete Carroll stated a desire to get Rawls 20 touches in the game. Mission accomplished.
Thomas Rawls Runs Wild in Seahawks Thrashing of Lions
Because of injuries to Rawls and exciting rookie C.J. Prosise, the running game has been stalled for most of the season. Talented, but inconsistent Christine Michael was released mid-season. The cobbled together offensive line, an area where the front office has decided to go cheap to spare cap dollars, has been consistently dominated by upper-tier defensive fronts. As a result, the cohesion, stability, and improvement of the offense suffered accordingly.
The Seahawks rediscovery of the ground game and a sturdy performance by a defense still adjusting to life without All-Pro free safety Earl Thomas keyed the big win. As a result of the success running the ball, the Seahawks dominated time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 37 minutes. The defense also helped in this area, holding the Lions to just 2-of-11 third down conversions.
Seattle averaged just under five yards per carry – with end of half and game kneel downs removed. So, what changed? The Lions certainly don’t have one of the better defenses in the league, which helped. Schematically, offensive line coach Tom Cable seemed to tweak his zone blocking scheme. Most noteworthy, there were more power running game sets, featuring fullback Marcel Reece (playing in his first career playoff game). I-formation and isolation sets behind spirited run blocking by the maligned line opened holes.
One thing that stands out? Seattle used fullback on 33 snaps against Lions. Had used fullback just 107 snaps in 16 regular season games.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) January 8, 2017
The Seahawks normally get a lot of juice out of running from shotgun formation using the zone read, but this game looked different. Quarterback Russell Wilson is normally a big feature in the zone read, when fully healthy, but he had no rushing attempts, outside of the kneel downs.
An effective running game is the staple of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s offensive design, and it adheres to head coach Pete Carroll’s core philosophy. It eats up the clock and wears down the defense, and opens play action passing. Wilson thrives when the play action is clicking, and that is when the Seahawks offense is dangerous. Wide receiver Doug Baldwin flourished, especially in the second half, snagging 11 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. He understands the importance of the running game’s mutual benefit on the passing attack: “It opens up everything for us,” he said after the game. “I’ve told you guys before that everything runs through our run game.” [New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/08/sports/football/seattle-seahawks-detroit-lions.html]
Russell Wilson and Paul Richardson Shine
Wilson was very efficient, completing 23 of 30 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. His 76.7 completion percentage is a franchise record for in a postseason game. He displayed his usual chemistry with Baldwin, but it was Paul Richardson who really stepped up. Richardson, seeing more snaps now with the season-ending loss of play maker Tyler Lockett, had three beautiful catches, one of them an insane one-handed grab in the end zone for a touchdown.
Defense Stout
Of course, the Seahawks defense came to play as well – the other part of the equation in what they always want to do. The impact of the loss of Thomas roaming the deep middle in passing situations is obvious, but it always starts first with this defense in stopping the run. Detroit managed only 49 yards on the ground on 15 attempts (3.3 average) and it was never a factor in the game. Lions receivers helped the cause as well, with several dropped passes that could have changed the game. There were also several personal fouls, and it seemed like Detroit was a little intimidated on this stage. The Seahawks recorded three sacks of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, and they consistently brought pressure that disrupted his timing.
No running game, poor third down conversion rate, and timely errors is not a good recipe to win at Seattle. Hence, the Lions are still searching for their first playoff game since the 1991 season.
The Seahawks have now won ten straight home playoff games, and move on to the Divisional round Saturday against the high-powered Atlanta Falcons. It will be interesting to see if the suddenly resurgent running game gets packed for the tough away game in the Georgia Dome.
