What would it take for the Seattle Seahawks to make the 2020 Super Bowl?

To answer this question I looked at two teams which made the Super Bowl and employed a similar offense to Brian Schottenheimer. I will look at similar defenses next week.The HogsJoe Gibbs worked as offensive coordinator for Don Coryell but like Brian Schottenheimer retained some of Coryell’s ideas without retaining Coryell’s pass-centric approach. Washington won three Super Bowls in four appearances. The Skins ran more frequently than they passed in every one of those seasons D.J. Fluker Color Rush Jersey , combining a grind-it-out approach to rushing with a deep passing attack.Ted Marchibroda described Gibbs’ offense like this: “Joe did a great job focusing on the running game. He gave the ball to Riggins and let the Hogs do the dirty work. Then he’d set you up that way and get a big play on you through the air. It wasn’t anything fancy. They just played mistake-free football. They’d set you up with play action and crossing receivers. He’d give his quarterback maximum protection, and he always seemed to know when the offense was ready to hit one of those big plays downfield.”This could double as the most favorable possible review of Schotty’s Seahawks offense.How Seattle Could Emulate Gibbs’ SkinsThe Hogs, Washington’s famed offensive line, were not populated by high draft picks. Russ Grimm was the highest drafted among Washington’s first iteration, having been drafted 69th overall. Three members had been cut by another team prior to signing with Washington, two members were undrafted, one member was drafted in the seventh round, and one in the 11th. Instead they were defined by a mentality of toughness, and since that’s a bit airy, we might say they were defined by great coaching and the ability to attack through running the ball.Washington had a great offensive line coach throughout Gibbs’ tenure, Joe Bugel. Rather than throwing resources at the offensive line, for Seattle to duplicate the success of any one of Gibbs’ four Super Bowl contenders would likely require better coaching by Mike Solari. Solari is a very successful offensive line coach, but two things really differentiated Solari’s 2018 Seahawks from any of Bugel’s Washington teams: positional fit and penalties.In all four seasons in which Washington made the Super Bowl, Gibbs’ Skins never finished outside the top ten in fewest penalties charged against his team. Seattle improved in 2018. Previously the most penalized team in the NFL, the Seahawks finished 15th in 2018. Another such leap would allow Seattle to better play so-called “mistake free football,” completing their already impressive abilities to control the clock and field position, and avoid turnovers. Achieving that goal might require Seattle to move or replace Germain Ifedi. 63 of Seattle’s 115 penalties were charged against the offense, which was tied for fourth worst in the NFL. Ifedi (10), D.J. Fluker (9) and J.R. Sweezy (8) accounted for 27 of those penalties. Ifedi was assigned seven sacks allowed to Sweezy’s 3.5 and Fluker’s 0.5. That was a career worst for Ifedi, and pretty damning in light of how much Seattle worked to protect him.Ernie Zampese’s 1995 CowboysZampese is another coach who patterned his offense around the Air Coryell that coached in the Super Bowl, winning in 1995. He also served under Carroll in New England during Pete Carroll’s two seasons coaching the Patriots. Zampese took over something of a ready-made offense in Dallas, but that doesn’t stop us from looking at the nature of that offense and how it might provide a sort of blueprint for Seattle.The Cowboys regularly fielded one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history throughout their run. Line play is often a sort of chicken or egg affair, in which successful offenses tend to be known for their good offensive lines, but whether those lines are the cause of that greatness, or whether the line is simply recognized when the offense is on the whole playing well, is often impossible to know. But, either way, Zampese’s Cowboys like Bugel’s Skins were known for their excellence in the trenches Barkevious Mingo Color Rush Jersey , that excellence was perhaps best appreciated through a seemingly unstoppable rushing attack, and those lines were not made up of high draft picks or splashy free agent signings but a mix of mid-round picks and castoffs.How Seattle Could Emulate Zampese’s Cowboys The Cowboys also had excellent talent at the skill positions, and the Seahawks really have no in-house equivalent to Michael Irvin, Jay Novacek or Daryl Johnston. Johnston was a fullback and it doesn’t seem likely Seattle is looking to add or develop a top fullback, as Tre Madden only played in 8% of offensive snaps in 2018. Instead the Seahawks are likely to target a smaller move tight end like Schottenheimer had in New York and St. Louis. Someone like Lance Kendricks or Dustin Keller, or, prospectively, Geoff Swaim or Tyler Kroft in free agency, or Ricky Seals-Jones should Arizona not retain him, or one of a host of interesting prospects in the draft could fill the position.Given the success of Tyler Lockett and the previous excellence of Doug Baldwin, finding a true number one like Irving may not be entirely necessary, but finding a tight end who is a major contributor as a receiver is almost imperative. Nick Vannett seems capped out as a yeoman do-everything tight end that will never be a major contributor as a receiver. Ed Dickson never really found his fit, and though he has or had the athletic profile to stretch the seam, turning 32 before the season starts, one shouldn’t expect him to contribute beyond his previous level. Will Dissly could possibly rise up to become a Novacek like player, but that’s probably wishcasting based on too little data. Dissly was not much of a receiver in college, receiving for nearly a quarter of his college receiving yards in one game against the Montana Grizzlies, an FCS team. He had that one really fun 66 yard reception in Week 1, but that reception represents nearly half of his total yards receiving, and by Weeks 2 and 3, Dissly was back to contributing at a level typical of a blocking tight end.Thinking abstractly, Seattle could achieve a similar kind of skill position excellence not by directly imitating Zampese’s Cowboys but by adding a receiving tight end. The winner among Vannett, Dickson and Dissly would then be Seattle’s Johnston, only a tight end. Which is to say: run blocker, pass blocker in max protect, and least importantly, receiver. Conclusions The Greatest Show on Turf Rams ran a version of the Air Coryell but one which bears little resemblance to the scheme of Schottenheimer. The Super Bowl winning Baltimore Ravens ran an Air Coryell in 2012, and Schottenheimer worked under Cam Cameron Ed Dickson Color Rush Jersey , the designer of that offense, with the Chargers in the mid-2000s. But Cameron was fired mid-season. His replacement, Jim Caldwell, also ran a version of the Air Coryell, but like Mike Martz in St. Louis, Caldwell’s scheme was much more pass-centric, much more of a direct offshoot of Don Coryell’s work, and not very similar to anything Schottenheimer is ever likely to run in Seattle. The same could be said about Bruce Arians and his work for the Steelers in 2008. Similar origins but very different interpretation and not very instructive for decoding how the Seahawks’ offense might be able to make the jump from good to great.The Seahawks have some holes. Despite their excellence, Baldwin and Lockett are a shaky foundation for a reliable receiving corps. Finding a tight end who is neither Jimmy Graham nor Nick Vannett, but some combination of the better parts of both, is very possible and would represent a sizable improvement at a potentially vital position. But most likely the Seahawks make the Super Bowl in 2020 because of the quiet process of development. Those many months of study and practice which make serviceable players good and good player great. Which is to say, the Super Bowl bound Seahawks of 2020 would be the one and done Seahawks of 2019, only better. Not saved by some rookie or free agent acquisition, but made through a tireless commitment to improving. Tre Flowers is a fifth round rookie safety conversion project. That now seems wildly preposterous, given he’s already mastering Carroll’s defensive back technique. Like the 5th round success of Richard Sherman, the cornerback’s length is a massive help. With jamming and ball-playing aided, the scary aspect for offenses is that Flowers is faster than Sherman ever was, running a 4.45 forty-yard dash at the NFL combine. Way back in August, I highlighted the various Seahawk-y traits Flowers showed in college which would transition nicely to the pros. Yet I doubted his ability to start in his first year at the position: This was a time when Byron Maxwell was cornerback #2. Flowers’ improvements have stunned me. He’s grown throughout the season, showing a short-term memory but also never getting totally beat. Ladies and gentlemen, John Schneider has done it again. Flowers’ game against the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday was the perfect demonstration of his talents and the remarkable coaching skill of Carroll. The rookie’s ability has seen some teams target Shaquill Griffin more. While the Cardinals lack premier wide receiver talent, they did, at least, attempt to pick on Flowers. Let’s look at his technique within Seattle’s scheme.Staying in phaseYou may remember Arizona’s scored their lone touchdown off play-action after Akeem King bit on Larry Fitzgerald’s fake block.On his first snap of the game, Flowers somewhat bit on a play-fake too. Maybe it was the shifted Fitzgerald, the #1 receiver, running across the formation as though he were blocking split action. Or perhaps the two tight ends successfully sold they were run blocking at the beginning of their routes. Whatever the reason, Flowers took two steps forward—keen to set a strong secondary EDGE facing the run—despite having deep third responsibility.Flowers’ athletic ability meant he could recover though. He turned his hips quickly to run downfield with the deep crossing route of tight end Chris Hubert. Flowers then kept in phase with Hubert well. Knowing he had the help of Bradley McDougald over the top of the route Jaron Brown Color Rush Jersey , Flowers stayed in the hip pocket of the receiver. Flowers also took a path that undercut Hubert’s in-break. If Josh Rosen hadn’t led Hubert downfield, almost throwing a pick to McDougald, then Flowers was in position to play the football. As a defense, the Seahawks completely locked the bootleg flood up. Man against crosserSeattle’s confidence in their defensive backs versus the poor offense of the Cardinals saw them play lots of man coverage. Situated in the slot, Flowers aligned over Malachi Dupree with an off alignment and outside shade. The Seahawks’ cover 1 placed Flowers in a one-on-one with Dupree. As Dupree quickly bent his route to the boundary side, Flowers rapidly exited his shuffle and half-turned to open to Dupree’s side.His cushion distance over Dupree was near enough maintained. It would have been tempting for the corner to fully open and run downfield, but he stayed looking downhill and squarer for a few more steps—ready to break underneath.After diagnosing that Dupree was continuing downfield, Flowers turned and exploded. He pretty much ran the route for Dupree, blanketing the second-year wideout. Dupree contacted Flowers first, to which Flowers held his space and Rosen’s overthrow fell harmlessly incomplete. The area for Flowers to take this to the next level is for him to make a play on the ball, but it’s encouraging how much he looks for the pass in coverage. Speed-turn versus slantThe Dallas Cowboys will run double move routes with Amari Cooper. Be them a hitch-and-go or a slant-and-go, they will try to get cornerbacks to bite. While Shaquill Griffin has been fooling for such trickery this season, Flowers’ overall patience has seen him be wiser.He was beat on this third down by Pharoh Cooper though, giving up the first down. In straight man-to-man coverage outside, Cooper re-set the line of scrimmage against the press, inside shade alignment by releasing outside as though running a fade.Flowers’ jam had him with his right leg backwards somewhat, and the corner didn’t stay fully square or move with the jam; he was thinking go route. A degree more patience was needed here. As Cooper got Flowers to somewhat kick back to the fade, the receiver then used his far arm to subtly push Flowers’ in the back and fully turn the corner outside. Breaking inside unopposed, Cooper was open to catch the slant.Flowers’ cautiousness about being beat deep is far more preferable than the opposite. What Flowers showed after being beat was most impressive. Quickly realizing that Cooper had deceived him, Flowers executed a speed turn that saw him take his eyes away from his man. This is a brave move that requires confidence.The manoeuvre saw Flowers recover to play Cooper again. Rather than trying to make a play on the ball and missing, Flowers waited for the catch and brought Cooper down just over the first down line. Off-man missWe did get an uncharacteristic whiff from Flowers on 3rd and 4. He was in off-man coverage with Fitzgerald. Rosen immediately hit the hitch of Fitzgerald for the first down. Flowers had nice patience, stepping to maintain his position. Despite a few unnecessary added steps that will be eliminated with added experience, Flowers still triggered quickly downhill to make the tackle and stop any yards after catch.Except Flowers missed Fitzgerald. He went over the top of his man, as though trying to play the ball, and grasped nothing but air. Fortunately, Wagner’s rat-like zone enabled him to atone for Flowers’ excited mistake.Quarters techniqueThe Seahawks have run more and more two-high safety looks this season after Earl Thomas’ injury. The “red 2” version of “cover 2” has been a large reason for the defense’s effectiveness in the redzone. But in clear open-field passing situations, the coverages help compensate for the lack of range brought by Thomas’ absence. Carroll and Ken Norton Jr. opted for a cover 3 cloud that had strong match rules on this 2nd and 5 with just 15 seconds left in the half. For instance, Bobby Wagner matched the running back in his middle hook. The two-high safeties were free to be aggressive and play more like man on the #2 receivers.The cloud-look still featured three-deep shells Tre Flowers Color Rush Jersey , placing Flowers in the field-side quarter of the “quarter, quarter, half”. Flowers disguised his zone technique cunningly pre-snap, aligning in press-alignment as though in press-man. For Rosen, having faced some cover 2 man already, this could have been another version of that pass defense.Instead, Flowers bailed late into his zone, look-in technique. He remained well over the top of Dupree and was able to observe Rosen’s turn. Flowers could see the ball as soon as it left Rosen’s hand all the way through his coverage, whereas Dupree hadn’t even turned to locate the football.With this head-start granted by look-in technique, Flowers attempted to intercept the overthrown Rosen pass while maintaining his over the top leverage. He was heavily contacted for about 5 yards by Dupree, which tangled Flowers in hand-fighting that stopped him from playing the ball. Really, this should have been offensive pass interference—something Flowers appeared to claim at the end.Walling inside manLike his sound outside leverage on Dupree’s crosser from the slot, Flowers also played with excellent inside leverage to wall the middle of the field. Tasked with covering Fitzgerald one-on-one in a cover 2 man, Flowers looked super comfortable on the 3rd and 13 after Seattle switched into the coverage late.Flowers adjusted his positioning to maintain his inside leverage on Fitzgerald. He opened to Fitzgerald to wall the receiver from the middle of the field as the receiver closed the cushion. This was great awareness from Flowers of the strength of this coverage (over the top help to the sideline) plus the weakness of this coverage (the middle of the field is left open).With Flowers in excellent position to run with any deep middle of the field route, he got physical when establishing his space and grabbed Fitzgerald. Some referees may have called a hold on Flowers, but the corner did well to not relinquish separation to Fitzgerald.Rosen wanted to go to Fitzgerald. But, after seeing the tight coverage of Flowers, the quarterback was forced to progress to a desperate back shoulder throw to the sideline. Flowers removed the passer’s primary read, a future hall of famer no less.Elite potentialThe examples covered had Flowers looking accomplished in a plethora of Carroll’s defensive back techniques. His game was virtually shut-down. In bump-and-run, off-man or off-zone the corner is employing various methods to win his individual matchups. His speed and length gifts him recovery ability. Moreover, he is demonstrating a clear understanding of the coverage concept each time and the role his individual assignment plays in each pass defense. Development is not linear. Flowers may have a “sophomore slump”. Yet right now, he appears to be hinting at “best corner in franchise history” potential. He’s got the best coach possible to realize that promise. Not bad for a guy who never played outside corner in college. The offseason focus will be adding interceptions to his game; there’ve been several near misses and Flowers does play with consistent ball-hawking intentions. Then he’ll be a complete master of how to play cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks.For more on Seahawks defensive back technique, check out these editions of Seahawks on tape: https://www.fieldgulls.com/2018/8/4/1764...osition-battles https://www.fieldgulls.com/2018/8/6/1765...rpe-tre-flowers