NFL1000: Seattle’s Legion of Boom Still Great, but with 1 Obvious Flaw

The Seattle Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense has set an impossibly high standard over the last few years. It has led the NFL in scoring defense in each of the last four seasons, a feat unequaled in the post-merger era—only the Cleveland Browns of the 1950s had done it before.

To make that mark in a time when things are entirely favorable to the modern passing offense is even more remarkable. And it’s why any little slip in that defensive performance can cause a lot of “agita” in the Emerald City. So when the Jets’ Brandon Marshall beat Richard Sherman a couple of times in Week 4, it’s a big deal. When Earl Thomas misses deep assignments and leaves openings in the passing game, it gets noticed.

More is expected of these guys, because more has been given.

And when the Atlanta Falcons are able to come into CenturyLink Field and put up three touchdown passes and 252 net yards in the third quarter of a close 26-24 Week 6 loss—one that many believe might have been a win for the league’s top offense were it not for an uncalled pass interference penalty on Sherman late in the game—it is a big deal. Sherman certainly agreed; his sideline tantrum got as much notice as the defensive issues on the field, and the Seahawks did seem to rally in the fourth quarter.

But the allowance of that Falcons offensive outburst, as uncharacteristic as it was, did show a dangerous flaw in Seattle’s defense: If everyone’s not on the same page, things can go wrong in a big hurry.

Seattle’s defense is not complicated. Most of the time, it plays a Cover 3 zone base with more and more nickel defense. So you could call it a 4-2-5 zone-based scheme with two island cornerbacks (Sherman and whoever bookends him), a deep safety (Thomas) and a rover safety (Kam Chancellor, when he’s healthy).

Head coach Pete Carroll has specific attributes in mind for his defensive backs—they must be aggressive, technically sound, ruthlessly competitive and very smart. They’re not protected by advanced schemes, which is why communication between those defensive backs is so important.

The first problem with the communication that allowed the three touchdowns in that third quarter was that Chancellor was out with a groin injury. This was significant because Chancellor is a huge part of that on-field communication as far as coverage indicators and receiver splits. Chancellor was replaced by Kelcie McCray, an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas State who has mostly performed on special teams throughout his career. After the game, Sherman spoke about miscommunication with McCray adding to his frustration.

The second problem for the Legion of Boom is that Atlanta’s receiver splits are designed to mess with defensive positioning. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan loves to bring tight ends and running backs out wide pre-snap, especially to the side of the field with more receivers, which tilts the field and forces a defense to adjust in a hurry. On the first of the three touchdowns, a 36-yarder from Matt Ryan to Julio Jones in which Jones just ran through Seattle’s defense, it was clear that the Sherman/McCray side got something wrong.

Pre-snap, the call was for rookie tight end Austin Hooper to motion from the right-side H-back position to the far left, outside Jones. Now, clearly, the optimal design for the Seahawks would be to have Sherman covering Jones as much as possible, but Sherman’s assignment appeared to be to carry the widest receiver and for McCray to adjust to Jones.

Not the best matchup for Seattle even if McCray were in place, which he wasn’t. Was McCray confused by the fact that …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com