DVR Run Analysis - Washington @ Seattle; 27-Nov-2011

Here's my weekly DVR Run Analysis for the Redskins/Seahawks game...

* The good news is that the consistency was back in the running game. The bad news is that the defense, a weak passing game, and penalties let this game slip through our fingers.

* Overall, we got 121 yards on 29 carries for a 4.2 YPC average. Marshawn Lynch got 100+ yards for the third time in four weeks. Regarding consistency, we were never tackled for a loss and were held to no gain on a single running play. 18 of Lynch's 24 runs (75%) were for three or more yards. (14 were for four or more.)

* Q1 - The quarter was weak, but not due to the running game. 20 yards on three runs and a first down. 6.7 YPC.

[7:05] 1st and 10. Power run, splitting the D at the center. Center Max Unger gets the NT, releases to go upstream, and FB Mike Robinson cuts the NT down. Lynch hits a free ILB for a gain of five.
[6:35] 2nd and 5. Slash right (the line goes right while the TE, Anthony McCoy, pulls to split the left side.) TE Zach Miller and LT Russell Okung seal perfectly. Lynch hits the hole and makes a LB miss, getting ten yards and a 1st down.
[:39] 1st and 10. With 2 backs and 1 TEs, the D loads the box. Zone right. Excellent push by Unger, RG Paul McQuistan, and RT Breno Giacomini. Robinson leads Lynch to the RG but is too late to get the LB at the next level. Lynch gets five and could have had a few more had Robinson made that block, but there was just too much ground for Mike Rob to cover.


* Q2 - 39 yards on 10 carries for a 3.9 yard average. One first down. Six good plays - minus Giacomini's penalty when he hit the pile late.

[15:00] 2nd and 5. With two backs, the D loads the box. Power run with 67 pulling. The line gets some push, but the blockers are outnumbered. Robinson takes the OLB on the left, but Lynch taken down by the free man on the right. Credit the D scheme. Gain of 2.
[14:00] 1st and 10. Zone right with nice push on the right side. McQuistan can't hold his block quite long enough. Lynch tries to help McQ with a stiffarm, but would have been better off cutting outside. Gain of 4.
[12:55] 1st and 10. Eight in the box. Unger releases with Robinson cutting the NT and getting in the way of the CB. Unger ends up trying to block three defenders. Leon Washington makes the right cut but is swarmed for a gain of one.
[5:11] 2nd and 10. This is either a power or a slash right. It gets ugly and crowded as McCoy pulls to the left. Lynch goes inside McCoy hard, but McQuistan loses his block and Lynch is caught from behind for a gain of 3.
[4:30] 1st and 10. Zone left with Robinson leading Lynch to LT. The line moves sideways, but not forward. Good pursuit by the D to hold Lynch to a yard.
[3:57] 2nd and 9. Zone right, but the flow is straight ahead. Miller splits the D on the right side. Robinson goes right, but Lynch cuts back. The defender on the left is free, but Lynch leaves him in the dust and levels the safety for a gain a seven.
[2:36] 1st and 10. Quick snap. The line goes straight ahead with Miller splitting the right side. Lynch hits the hole, but Unger lets his man shed. Lynch springs forward from the tackle for a gain of five.
[2:00] 2nd and 5. Zone right with Robinson going to the right end. Lynch cuts inside and explodes just as he's caught to get siz and the first down.
[1:12] 2nd and 20. Justin Forsett just can't get a break. LG Robert Gallery and Okung pull right but miss their blocks. Unger is beat as well. Forsett outruns the free man only to get swarmed for a gain of one. Worst run blocking of the day. Justin, buy these guys better dinners. You need them on your side!
[1:04] 3rd and 19. Slash left. Lynch cuts right to beat the backside defender. He breaks a tackle, hits a scrum, and pushes for a gain of nine. Giacomini comes in for a late hit into the pile and gives back 15 yards.

* First half totals: 59 yards on 13 runs for a 4.5 ypc average. Redskins 7, Seahawks 7.


* Q3 - 51 yards on 11 carries for a 4.6 yard average. Three first downs. Seven good plays; three with a gain of 2; one gain of 1.

[14:52] 1st and 15. Zone left. Miller splits the left end from Gallery as Okung goes forward. Lynch is quick to the hole, but Miller loses leverage and the hole collapses as a LB arrives. Lynch powers for four yards.
[14:15] 2nd and 11. With 2 backs and 2 TEs ("22"), the D loads nine in the box. Zone right. Miller and Giacomini bend their men to the right. Robinson leads and cuts the inside LB. Lynch hits the hole and muscles for ten yards.
[13:39] 3rd and 1. Another "22". Ten in the box. Zone left. Okung slips, piling things up on his right. Robinson shoulders Okung's man long enough to protect Lynch and then Robinson goes forward to take out the LB. Lynch dives from tight quarters for a gain of three and the first down. Robinson made that possible.
[11:53] 1st and 10. Yet another "22". Yet another 9 in the box. Robinson leads inside of RG and gets to the LB. Lynch makes it to the hole and is swarmed. He gets four yards due to good push from the line.
[7:27] 1st and 10. A "21" (two backs, one TE.) Giacomini is lined up to Okung's left. The D continues with 9 in the box. Zone right. Unger gets beat. There's a nice push, but Giacomini lets his man free to the inside. Lynch cuts inside of Unger's man, but is met by Giacomini's man for a gain of two.
[6:52] 2nd and 8. Zone left. Robinson leads left, but things are tight. Lynch cuts right, but McCoy lets his man escape inside for the tackle.
[3:28] 1st and 10. Zone right. McCoy counters left, but realizes there's nobody to slash, so he helps Miller seal. Obomanu makes the critical block of the CB to the outside. Lynch gets the first five yards free, sheds one tackle, bulls through another, and shoots forward for 12 yards and a first down.
[2:52] 1st and 10. "22". 9 in the box. Zone right with McCoy and Okung cutting the backside pursuit. Lynch cuts to the left of Gallery as he and Unger seal. Gain of seven.
[2:10] 2nd and 3. Zone left. It's ragged, but there is some push as McQuistan releases forward. Leon spurts his way through the chaos for four yards and the 1st.
[1:04] 1st and 10. Zone right. Robinson goes outside right, but there was a better hole inside of RG. Leon cuts to the inside, but without Robinson's help, he's swarmed. This is probably Robinson's only so-so decision of the day.
[:28] 2nd and 8. A weak zone left. Leon cuts back, but is swarmed.


* Q4 - 11 yards on 5 carries for a 2.2 yard average. One first down.

[14:02] 2nd and 3. Slash left with McCoy pulling but missing his man. Lynch starts to cut right but sees McCoy's failing block, he cuts left (nothing there) and then threads the needle forward for a yard.
[13:35] 3rd and 2. With three receivers, the o-line is shoulder to shoulder as the defense shows blitz. Zone right. Miller, on the left, doesn't contain his man, but it's okay. Unger, Gallery, and Okung get excellent push. Lynch hammers the left B-gap (between LG and LT) for three yards and the first down.
[9:51] 1st and 10. Slash left with Miller pulling. Two LBs hit the right B-gap. One blocked; the other gets through. Lynch is met a yard back and tries to break the tackle, but Giacomini comes back to help. Unfortunately, Breno hits Lynch backwards and helps tackle him. Breno will get some salt when the team views that part of the tape.
[9:18] 2nd and 10. Zone left. Robinson and Lynch hit the left A gap (between center and LG) hard for four yards.
[5:47] 1st and 25. Stretch left with McQuistan and Miller pulling left. I haven't seen this from Cable/Bevell before. Lynch hits the scrum and carries it forward for three yards.

Redskins win 23-17, but not for lack of a running game.


* Overall Blocking - Props to Gallery, Robinson, Miller, and Okung. All had excellent run games. Gallery was especially strong and sharp. Robinson is transformed from where he was last year. Unger, McQuistan, Giacomini, and McCoy had good games with some room for improvement.

* Play calling - We ran a lot of heavy sets and Washington countered with lots of men on the line and in the box. Bring it on! We were consistently able to win those battles.

Because the Redskins were able to defend the pass with pressure (and our receivers were dropping balls), they didn't need to drop many into coverage. That forced us to use heavy personel when we wanted to run. We continued to center on our standard zone run plays. We executed without needing any tricks.

* Runners - Lynch had a VERY good game. I saw one play where he could have gone further outside for a bigger game, but he hit the correct hole. I had the feeling that he wasn't 100 percent. His brow was tight. He was getting lower back massages. He even got nailed in the jewels once. But he played with top effort and determination. Respect.

* Summary - Our running game is back. We had no losses, many successful plays, and enough small breakaways to average 4.2 YPC. The longest run was for 12 yards, so this wasn't padded. Most importantly, we were able to run this against a D that was stacked against us. We did it with with push, a flawless left side, excellent fullback play, and our standard set of plays.

Go Hawks!