Seahawks Pass Catcher Redemption
Seattle's 2023 offensive struggles have often included their pass catchers. Matty F. Brown looks at how WK13 at the Dallas Cowboys was the first step in Seahawks receiver, and coaching, redemption:
The Seahawks’ Week 13 offensive explosion, featuring 334 receiving yards and 3 receiving touchdowns, may mark the beginning of 2023 pass catcher redemption. Route running appeared more detailed. Skillset deployment from the coaching staff looked more sound. And press conference promises were fulfilled: Geno Smith threw the football earlier, DK Metcalf finished his routes.
When one side of the ball struggles like the Seahawks offense has for much of this season, a lot has to go wrong and everything gets called into question. 2023’s coaching and receiver play has been no exception.
Prior to the five-touchdown Cowboys road trip, Seattle’s attack was in an endzone drought lasting 20 consecutive drives and seven quarters.
Week 12 versus the 49ers saw the Seahawks offense held to under 225 total yards, the third time this had happened in 2023.
Naturally, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron received scrutiny: his unit has failed to reach that 225 yard total on six separate occasions in his two-and-a-bit years calling Seattle plays. Before Dallas, Waldron had coordinated 45 Seahawks regular season games, with his offense held to under 300 yards in 19 of those match-ups—42.2%.
Meanwhile, the poor play of the Seahawks’ pass catchers has underpinned the misfiring 2023 offense, made more disappointing relative to pre-season expectations of the group:
DK Metcalf is the highest-paid player on the roster for a reason
Tyler Lockett is playing his ninth year of NFL football after four-straight seasons of 1000 receiving yards
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the first receiver taken in the draft with the 20th overall selection
Undrafted free agent Jake Bobo emerged as the 2023 preseason star
Tight end Will Dissly was signed to a deal which currently values him as the sixteenth-highest paid at his position in the NFL
Former first-round pick Noah Fant’s arrival in the Russell Wilson trade was seen as a significant acquisition
Fourth-year TE Colby Parkinson is in a contract year
And yet recurring errors from the above targets indicated the challenge offensive coaches—playcaller Waldron, receivers coach Sanjay Lal, and tight end coach Pete McPherson—were experiencing in making this work. Each week, press conference comments combined with troubling tape to increase overall alarm.
Dallas, then, is only the first step in Seattle’s offense, and receivers, playing to their talent level, but it is reassuring how effectively the Seahawks were able to throw and catch the football. Not only was this achieved versus a Dallas pass defense ranked 2nd-best in Sports Info Solutions’ Total Points metric, it was the manner in which Seattle’s passing attack accomplished their success. They corrected.
The Route Running Mix-Ups
Route running mix-ups have plagued Seattle’s offense over the season, seeing them spurn opportunities and punishing Smith when the quarterback has sought to throw his receivers open.
In Cincinnati, Metcalf did not continue to run his route into the space of the coverage over the middle, instead settling on the outside. Smith targeted a dig window; the result was an interception.
On this play against Cleveland, rookie Smith-Njigba tried to sit down his out route after recognizing he was playing against cover 3 zone. Smith expected Smith-Njigba to keep running towards the sideline, zone-or-not, and the result was a total let-off: a dropped, sure-fire pick six.
At Baltimore, Lockett snapped his curl route at a different angle to what Smith expected. The quarterback targeted a more traditional curl break, further inside and less wide, and the ball fell incomplete rather than into the hands of an open Lockett.
This Charbonnet pattern versus the Commanders bent flatter than Smith expected, with the quarterback looking to throw the rookie running back more up-field, giving him a better path to get to the sticks. Seattle ended up missing the opportunity to convert on third down.
“There was a couple of balls—you know, he throws, to the fans it looks like ‘Oh, what a terrible throw!’”, Carroll evaluated following the Week 10 Washington game.
“And the receiver kinda pulled out and tried to adjust what he was seeing in coverage, so it looks like, you know, like the throw’s bad. We have to work together. That’s what I’m talking about, everybody’s gotta help. It’s not just a one man show and sometimes guys make some decisions that don’t work, and don’t work for the QB you know? And you know, you look at him like he can’t throw the ball to anybody.”
In that same game, Fant had a play where he attempted to sit his route down when, versus the cover 3 defense, Smith expected him to keep running to the sideline. In the post-Washington press conference, Carroll was asked if this was the type of receiver error he was referring to; he quickly responded “Next!”
This Fant catch at home to the Cardinals came in triple coverage, and it was partly made in such a tight area because Smith-Njigba ran his route wrong on the play. Rather than attacking the cover 2 side of the pass defense, the first-year Smith-Njigba broke his route aggressively over the top of Fant and across the field.
In the Cowboys match-up, there were no route running mix-ups leading to incompletions or interceptions. Instead, patterns appeared more detailed and better timed with the quarterback’s behavior.
The Execution Errors
Although the Dallas game featured two drops, one from Metcalf on a low slant throw and one shocker from Lockett on a first down dart, the overall receiver execution was better too. Perhaps tellingly, every pass catcher other than Will Dissly was listed as a full participant in each of the practices before the Cowboys game. The last time Seattle’s practice report read this clean was back in Week 2 preparation.
The day after Baltimore Week 9, Carroll was asked about the impact of his veteran receivers missing practice—as Lockett had dealt with a hamstring injury that saw him listed as a non-participant the Wednesday before the game, then limited Thursday, while Metcalf had missed the Thursday with a hip issue.
“It doesn't help us, certainly,” the head coach admitted.
“We need to be out there; the practices are very valuable to us. Anybody that misses, you stand to lose a little bit. In particular, with the intricacies of the throwing game, it does affect us some. Because some of the time in those practices, we’re not at full tempo, that affects us.”
At the Ravens, Smith’s interception targeting Lockett came from the receiver not knowing the check the quarterback called in at the line of scrimmage, after the rookie Bobo failed to echo the call to his outside teammate on the road.
“As far as the communications, I would like the guys to be out there with the younger guys, because we have a couple of young guys that are out there that need to feel that continuity too,” Carroll continued the following Monday.
“They have to make some calls too out there. When we’re together, they’ll be better when they’re out there with more time to practice.”
When I asked Carroll post-Baltimore if route running details needed to be more defined/detailed, more stripped back moving forward, or if was just a case of guys missing practice time, the head coach reemphasized the importance of practice.
“Well I think it’s a little combination here, we need the continuity, because it’s very intricate work,” Carroll answered.
“We need to make sure we help our young guys, help us communicate too. We’re asking a lot of them to play as much as they are, and there was a couple of times where they just…It’s transferring of the information sometimes and realizing that you need to help the guy outside of you as well. Also, the older guys that have been around help the younger guys and make sure that they’re double checking so that we’re doing a good job. So, we slipped a little bit on a couple of situations, but it certainly helps us when we’re all out there together. It just helps, that’s why we practice.”
The reason I asked Carroll such a question, though, was that Seattle’s route running details have been lax over the course of the season, suggesting that the Seahawks may have been overly ambitious in the amount of adjustments to routes on a given play.
“I'm going to chalk most of it up to coaching,” wrote the Athletic’s Nate Tice on the lack of details to the Seahawks’ receiver group. “Metcalf isn't the most refined WR, but Lockett always seems on top of the details of the position. JSN is a rookie, but his head seems like it's spinning at times. The 2021 Jags had similar issues and well… (posts picture of wide receiver coach Sanjay Lal’s coaching career)”
The Skillset Usage
Better receiver skillset usage was an area Carroll did identify as needing to improve, speaking before the Dallas game.
“We’re looking really hard,” he told reporters in his opening statement the day after Seattle’s Week 12 49ers defeat. “We have to maximize our people and have to make sure that we’re putting them in the best positions for them to contribute so that we can make our momentum felt early in the game.”
This hadn’t been taken place. Waldron appeared to be struggling with how he utilized his available receivers.
On this call versus the Rams, the Seahawks motioned Smith-Njigba behind a Lockett rub. The timing of this friction was off—another execution mishap—but getting Lockett’s body type to set the pick was a questionable usage of his talent. Over the middle, Fant failed to work back to the football, instead breaking in a direction Smith didn’t expect and allowing the DB to undercut the route for the pass breakup. The route concept also looked like more of a zone-beater.
This 49ers example saw Lockett as the receiver facing press man coverage. Lockett looked like the receiver responsible for setting a pick for Smith-Njigba once more. However, with how Lockett was disrupted, Smith-Njigba ended up running past Lockett’s position and the timing between the two WRs was messy, JSN running into Lockett’s defender.
On a crucial third down versus the 49ers, Lockett was the receiver facing press coverage, essentially clearing out space for Metcalf to run a shallow crossing route. Lockett struggled physically in his assignment, while Metcalf ran his route slow across the field with a sluggish turn into acceleration.
The primary part of this 49ers concept was designed to be a pick between Lockett and Smith-Njigba versus man coverage. However, San Francisco’s bunch defensive technique rules handled the switch easily, making a simple in-and-out adjustment.
Certain situations, like clear passing third downs or the redzone, have further exacerbated the offense’s skillset deployment struggles. As my Seattle Overload co-host Griffin Spinmove wrote on Metcalf, “despite his large size, he’s not an archetypal ball winner nor a horizontal separator.”
As a result, in these tight situations, the Seahawks generally require longer developing plays that go horizontal, but simultaneously place additional stress on an already tested pass protection.
Metcalf’s route tree in each situation has become predictable for defenders too. In this third-and-9 situation, the defensive back understood what Metcalf was likely to run (fade, deep out or deep in) and adjusted his technique accordingly, undercutting the route for the pass breakup. Observe the poor route spacing on this play too.
Similar defensive anticipation existed in the Rams road game, where the corner camped on the dig after Metcalf’s work at the top of the route failed to create room. The first-and-10, heavy play-action look, along with Metcalf’s depth and steps, gave the corner valuable eliminating information.
This third-and-goal versus the 49ers was a symbolic play for the offense’s overall skillset struggles. Faced with tight man coverage, each receiver was asked to win their one-on-one matchup, essentially playing iso ball, with a vanilla formation and routes. No one was particularly protected from press coverage, with Smith-Njigba in the slot still lining up close to the line of scrimmage even though technically an “off-ball” player. Smith tried to find one of his receivers open within the timing of the play and was sacked.
“You see a guy’s special stuff and try to make sure that it shows up as part of the game plan,” Carroll said on how the offense could improve for Week 13. “Tyler has got them. DK has got them. Noah Fant…they have stuff that they can add to it.”
Carroll was then asked how the coaches could make this happen. He went to route type. “Making sure that we’re choosing the best routes for the guys,” the head coach assessed. “We have unique talents, and we have to make sure we’re maximizing that. I feel like we’re not. I feel like we’re not seeing stuff.”
Dallas Was Different
Dallas was different. The Seahawks deployed their receivers in a way that clearly accented their strengths, while we saw improved patterns that better complimented teammates and fit the quarterback’s timing.
Here, Lockett was given the type of deep slot route off play action that he cooks on. Seattle got the receiver matched up with a linebacker after utilizing a multiple tight end look and nub formation. Smith targeted Lockett down the open middle of the field and the Seahawks drew the defensive pass interference penalty.
“I just want to emphasize in that direction, because we’re fighting to get it right,” Carroll stated in that Friday press conference. “I want to emphasize the guys as much as we can and see if we can maximize the players even moreso.”
This Metcalf touchdown was a typical short-yardage slant for the receiver from the isolated “X” position, but the pre-snap motion of Charbonnet out of the backfield further emphasized and maximized Metcalf’s skillset by widening the available space inside, removing the weak overhang defender. The pass protection also provided a cavernous throwing lane for Smith.
“We’ve got guys in different areas of our game that can do stuff better,” Carroll added.
“Our tight ends can be used better than we’ve used them in the last couple of weeks. We need to get that going again. We have some real positives; we just have to make them come to life. I think that has the best chance at moving us ahead and making us go forward. Just looking at what’s happened in the past here.”
This Fant catch came with the tight end matched up with press coverage, something he has struggled against in recent games. However, the deep crossing route enabled Fant to take a wide inside release and run into a lot of room across the field, to the wide side, putting his athleticism to use. Though the safety moved into an undercut position, Smith put the ball right on his tight end and Fant came down with the catch. The three tight end look also saw Seattle gain two additional blockers, giving Fant the time to get across.
Metcalf’s third touchdown catch arrived courtesy of a long developing horizontal route, with Seattle using play action to buy the concept time. After the Seahawks saw man coverage pre-snap, with Lockett’s motion followed, Fant’s shallower crosser from the backside of the formation then drew safety coverage into the corner trying to run with Metcalf.
Seattle also better protected their smaller receivers from press coverage, aligning them off the line of scrimmage and asking their more traditional, press-beaters, to play on the line.
This Fant grab saw the tight end employed as the “move” type, with Dissly in-line. Fant, off the line and motioned into the flat, was put quickly out in space for a catch-and-run opportunity, beating cover 2.
This third-and-5 Smith-Njigba snag benefitted from the receiver lining off the line of scrimmage, with tight end Colby Parkinson clearing out room at the top of the stack. Seattle also motioned JSN into the stack, seeing the corner overplay the potential inside route as the receiver pivoted back outside to beat man-to-man.
Lockett was able to start off the line of scrimmage on this play, giving him more air to work in versus press coverage. His shift into the inside of a stack also drew the press coverage defender away from Metcalf, providing the big receiver—already benefitting from horizontal space thanks to his tightened split—with vertical room. Metcalf caught the out route.
Finally, the reduced splits of the receivers and pre-snap motion of Lockett resulted in more off coverage for this Metcalf catch. It also meant that the space opened quickly between the curl-flat defender and the hook-curl defender in the Cowboys’ cover 3 pass defense.
The overall route concepts were better from the Seahawks at Dallas too, as some of the above plays have already shown. One big takeaway was how Waldron’s offense manufactured separation versus man-to-man, a weakness that previous defenses had exposed.
This triple bunched concept, with just 13 seconds left, did ask Smith-Njigba to face press coverage, but it provided the receiver with a lot of room to accelerate and then bend his corner route into. The pre-snap look also clearly told Smith that the quarterback was facing man defense. Seattle ended up with the ball at the 1-yard-line following defensive pass interference.
Although Lockett uncharacteristically dropped this pass, the usage of motion resulted in a clean release and a head start versus the man coverage defender. Then Lockett went to work at the top of the route with a head-fake, getting himself wide open—the post safety was occupied by the first in-cut of Metcalf in the slot.
DK Metcalf
Metcalf’s final statline of 6 catches, 134 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns is impressive, but his Week 13 performance—crucially—also featured an absence of past individual errors.
The 25-year old receiver was candid the Sunday before Dallas, identifying an area of his own game that he needed to improve: “trying to do too much.”
Specifically, the receiver was talking about finishing his routes before entering scramble mode:
“So let’s say they’re in cover 1, or cover 2, and I have a site adjust, or I have to change my route. I can’t change my route and try to do the scramble response. I have to finish my route first and then go to the scramble response. Or I may have to hold a DB with my route. And not try to get myself open first and then try to hold the DB. So not try to do two things at once and trying to, you know, finish my route first and then go on to the next step.”
We saw two examples of this issue versus the 49ers, where Metcalf looked to enter the scramble response before he had finished his route.
On this play, the wideout looked to throttle down his pattern versus cover 3 rather than attacking the sideline. That meant an extra defender could pay attention to Smith’s scramble, ultimately reducing the available lane.
And running this slant, Metcalf was bracketed by the safety, the defender playing him with man eyes. This meant that, had Metcalf kept running his slant route across the field, the coverage would have run across too, meaning Smith would have had the corner and the endzone. Instead, Metcalf—by turning up-field on a premature scramble response—brought the defenders into making the stop short of the paydirt.
Geno Smith
This article has focused on Seattle’s pass catchers rather than the quarterback. How Smith throws the football to his receivers will always be impactful, though. Ahead of the Dallas game, Carroll identified that his QB needed to get the ball out fast, although the head coach was more talking from a pass rush perspective.
“It’s just reading more quickly and get the ball out more readily so we can avoid the rush,” Carroll described the Sunday before.
“Of all of the things in particular like this week, we need to get the ball out. The ball has got to get out of his hands so that we don’t give the rusher a chance. If there’s anything in particular, that’s what I’m hoping Geno can find his keys, his reads, and get the ball out ahead of the rush. That’s easier said than done.”
Smith agreed with his head coach the next day, but his answer expounded more to the overall structure of the offense.
“Just processing and going through reads and getting the ball out to the designed guy within rhythm of the play and the offense,” Smith said.
“Coach is right, I probably have been holding the ball a little bit too long to try to see guys open, instead of what I normally do, is to throw them open. Just trusting the guys, trusting myself, believing in what we’re doing and just getting the ball and making sure that I’m throwing it pretty accurately so the guys can make catches and make great plays because they’re great players.”
The Cowboys game was Smith getting the ball out at his fastest. NextGenStats charted the quarterback as pressured on 54.5% of his dropbacks, the highest rate Smith has faced in Seattle. Yet he delivered the football rapidly: Smith’s average time to throw was 2.42-seconds, his quickest ever figure for the Seahawks.
Nothing better illustrates this than his opening touchdown strike to Metcalf, with the quarterback glancing away before firing the ball early into a tight window. As the corner went for the undercut and the robber safety was in a low position, Smith beat the two defenders upfield, throwing Metcalf into a 73-yard touchdown.
A number of Seattle catches came via out patterns, and it’s these types of routes in particular that show how early Smith was throwing the ball. (And how the approach can occasionally result in turnovers, see DaRon Bland’s interception versus Lockett)
The out route thrown early:
Smith throwing as Lockett cuts:
Smith throwing the fade ball as Metcalf accelerates:
Smith throwing the out route to a spot:
Smith throwing the out route early:
Conclusion
It’s important to re-emphasize that the Dallas game wasn’t just a success for the Seahawks offense just because they put up big statistics and points. This isn’t a results-based analysis; it’s more that the receiver process on these plays—scheme, technique, execution—appeared more sound.
It did, of course, help that the offense had more opportunities to attack. And there were other positives to the performance, particularly a more balanced approach to various aspects of the offensive play-calling. How often the Seahawks ran the ball; their formation usage; and their personnel mix, with a successful marriage of single- and multiple- tight end looks, were keys to this gameplan.
These are all foundational elements that must remain present if Seattle’s offense is to build on this performance. Remember, we have seen promising games from the Seahawks’ attack in the past, like Week 2 at the Detroit Lions. Consistency, from the pass catchers and the rest of the offense, is still the real battle as we enter the last quarter of 2023 football.
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