SB Nation - Marcus Trufant

Seattle Seahawks Sleep through First Possession; Forfeit Game

John Morgan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:34:35 -0000

Marcus Trufant blew coverage and Jordan Babineaux took a bad angle of pursuit, but Andre Johnson scored because Gary Kubiak saw a tendency in Seattle's coverage and exploited it to game-winning effect.

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I am profiling Aaron Curry this week, but between Curry posts, I want to talk a bit about the Seahawks in general. Seattle allowed a touchdown on the first play of the game. The Texans quick-snapped Seattle and Andre Johnson burned Marcus Trufant up the right sideline for an easy score. The quick snap made the play. Johnson was able to get around and past Trufant off the snap, and though Trufant didn't lose ground chasing Johnson, it didn't matter because he was already beat. Jordan Babineaux should have adjusted his angle to intercept Johnson, but even if he could have, the damage was mostly done. The Texans out game planned Seattle and left the Seahawks defensive brain trust looking like a big bag of DeHaven.

Seattle, continuing a season long trend, played awful football in the first set of possessions. Before he burned Trufant, Johnson pointed up and out, indicating "streak" to Matt Schaub. The Texans exploited a simple wrinkle to storm out to an early and pivotal lead*.

The Seahawks countered with no plan at all. Sean Locklear stood, protecting uncontested space as two defenders streaked off left end. Brian Cushing smashed Matt Hasselbeck before he could set. Moments like this inspire a "what the fuck?" reaction from fans. Beyond play calling, challenges and clock management, we most tangibly perceive the impact of coaches in the precision or sloppiness of the team. Seattle was playing rec football against a professional team. Whether Locklear was standing clueless because of poor discipline, poor coaching, zone blocking or a basic inability by the Seahawks to read and adjust to blitzes, the coaches, and especially Greg Knapp, own this failure.

Ray Willis jumped on second and pushed Seattle back five yards.

The next snap reached Hasselbeck cleanly, but he couldn't control the football, and, attempting to swing his body and hand off from his fingertips, he dropped the precariously held football. I watched that snap several times, and nothing looked abnormal until it reached Hasselbeck. That play set Seattle back another two yards. Seattle was lucky to recover it at all.

Seattle punted on third down. Excuse me, it ran a draw to Justin Forsett for seven. Seattle punted on fourth down. It gave up on third down.

If you are curious what that looks like in terms of win probability, behold:

Seattle's coaches, through the sheer force of their lack of preparation, schemes (like zone blocking), lack of discipline and conservative play calling on third down, had reduced Seattle's chances of winning to 23%. If someone wants to tell you that Seattle is not talented and couldn't have hoped to compete with Houston, go ahead and show them this graph. Seattle's talent must of been in the John when God was handing out coaches. This wasn't Curry being dirty, or Spencer being a simp, this was a team with a plan exploiting a team without a clue.

Jim Mora promised to take the next two days to scrutinize the offensive line. Well, Mr. Mora, I will take the next five days to scrutinize you. We might need to make some changes.

*Johnson said this about the touchdown: "Coming into the game we knew that their cornerbacks like to sit on routes," Johnson said. "So we were hoping that they would give us the coverage we were looking for, and they did."

Given Seattle's quarterback situation and that the Texans were playing at home, the impact of falling behind by a touchdown is actually underestimated by win probability. After two minutes of elapsed game clock, Seattle had almost already lost the game.

Max Unger in the Trenches; Josh Wilson on the Sideline

John Morgan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:49:27 -0000

It's hard enough to get a read on a corner in quarter, but when that corner subs out, it's impossible. Jordan Babineaux played left cornerback and Marcus Trufant right. Lawyer Milloy substituted for Babineaux at safety. So it was for most of the quarter. Josh Wilson made one important play, contacting Josh Morgan on a short pass on third and 10, and throwing Morgan out bounds to end the drive and stop the clock.

Unger didn't have anymore big moments during the half, but at least he was getting snaps. He single blocked twice to open the next drive. He held on both plays and on the first, finished by chucking his man right. Power, the missing component in Unger's game. He moved left with the pocket on the next play and controlled the left defensive end. Unger struck the nose tackle, lost the block, recovered and buried him on a run up the middle that went nowhere. Chris Spencer helped double the nose on Matt Hasselbeck's long pass to Nate Burleson, a pass that fell one yard short of awesome and one yard long of interception.

Unger has improved as a pull blocker. He is no longer driven back. He doesn't struggle to release or release too late. Unger pulled forward and engaged Patrick Willis, but Willis stood tall and kept the struggle in the hole. Justin Forsett ran left for five.

The 49ers blitzed on the next play, and with superior numbers and overloading the edges, caved the exterior pocket and threatened a group sack. Unger let Ray McDonald achieve a stride on him. McDonald slashed around Unger's right shoulder and towards Hasselbeck, but as the pocket warped and collapsed around him, Hasselbeck stepped forward and negated the entire rush. Unger shadowed McDonald and cleared as Hasselbeck stepped up and scrambled for 23. Moments like this remind that Seneca Wallace may have the legs, but smarts make smart quarterback scrambles.

The entire Seahawks line surged left and Spencer blew back Aubrayo Franklin. Unger never got a chance. The cutback lane tore open to the offensive right, but Julius Jones skipped the hole and hit the pile. The run went for two.

Hasselbeck pumped and scrambled himself into pressure on the next play. It was ugly all around, but Unger kept his head in it and his quarterback clean.

The drive ended with Unger reading and picking up a defensive end stunt. To his left, Michael Lewis exploded through the line untouched and forced a fumble. It was a curious play to say the least. Spencer pointed left, identifying the blitzer. Then Hasselbeck looked like he was audibling and Forsett shifted from left to right. It's the second time we've seen Forsett on the wrong side attempting to pick up a blitz. The announcers commended him for it the first time. He didn't luck into a recovery this time.

There wasn't much more of the quarter to speak of. Seattle regained possession, but managed little before running out the clock. Unger released well on the screen attempt right, but the rest of Seatle's line was AWOL. Jones slipped out of bounds for a loss of two. Unger controlled his man on another nice looking deep route by Deion Branch, but the pass sailed nowhere and luckily to no one. Unger finished with a good block on McDonald. McDonald, you might remember, owned Unger in week two.

Brandon Mebane in the First Quarter and the Optimal Defensive Line, Pt. 2

John Morgan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:38:26 -0000

Mebane should have Cole's job. The decision to restructure the line around Colin Cole was stupid when made and has led to predictable results. Seattle's third down stand, in which Tapp knifed through Mike Gandy and tackled Wells in the back field, is a great example of how important Mebane was to Seattle. Mebane was on the right, beside Tapp where he belonged. Cole was on the left. Seattle was in a five man front, but Mebane was still double teamed of the snap. It was an ugly, but effective display. He hit his blockers low, getting topped and dropped, but holding ground and most importantly, freeing Tapp. Tapp took apart his single block and used his great inside move to come free to the ball carrier.

Mebane had two more nice looking pass rush moves, but neither effectively freed him. He hustled into a play off end and forced the near interception by Marcus Trufant. Mebane was good, good enough to make those around him better, but not as good as he has been at the one-tech. Cole needs to be worked down in the rotation. His presence stops Seattle from starting an optimal line.

That idea was on my mind as I notated Mebane's day: The Seattle Seahawks optimal, starting defensive line. This season is about next season and this offseason about adding talent where it's needed. Seattle traded for a three tech in his prime and turned him into a defensive end. It's not a bad idea, but with Lawrence Jackson's development, Seattle has options at end. Redding should bulk back up and move inside. He has the motor, length and repertoire of rush moves to be a very good inside pass rusher, but he isn't contributing much from the outside. Mebane should bulk up and reassume the one-tech. Cole would be his rotational partner, what he always should have been, a better Howard Green.

The key to forming this line is complementary skills. Mebane has helped free Jackson, but Jackson is not a great pass rusher. Mebane should be keeping blockers off Tapp. Redding's major weakness is getting high in his stance and subsequently pushed back. Jackons pairs nicely with him because Jackson is very stout for an end and a very good run defender. When Redding sags back, Jackson can drive his man into the hole, narrow it, and even disengage and make the tackle. Seattle might cede some stoutness in the middle, but it fields an elite corps of linebackers. Building this defense to defend the run has, predictably, done just that. When it must defend the pass, be it third and long or playing ahead, it has crumbled.

Seattle could add interior line talent through the draft. A player like Tyson Aluala is a natural complement to Mebane. It doesn't need to though. I think Redding wants to stay and if Seattle can pony the bucks, he will. He shouldn't be outrageously expensive. Concerns about health have passed. He has appeared once on the injury report and not for a knee or groin, but a shoulder. Seattle can not continue to sink over $20 million into Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck and Patrick Kerney. The Seahawks could retain their best talent and be players in free agency with that money.

We have months before those decisions are made. Until then, Seattle needs to stir things up and experiment. It needs to test roles and figure out its offseason needs. Seattle had the right game plan against Warner, but used the wrong personnel. It can't start Cory Redding - Brandon Mebane - Colin Cole - Patrick Kerney and expect a persistent pass rush. That line features, arguably, two to three players that are below average pass rushers for their position. And yet, by moving Redding inside and Mebane over center, the resulting Lawrence Jackson - Cory Redding - Brandon Mebane - Darryl Tapp line has three, even four above average pass rushers for their position.

Jim Mora said he was encouraged despite the loss. I would be more encouraged if Seattle did something about the loss. Seattle had zero sacks. It continues to excel against the run, but at what cost? The NFL is a passing league. The Seahawks have a great linebacker corps and three corners that can tackle. It shouldn't need to optimize its line for run stuffing, but it nearly has. It can allow long runs and win. It allowed over 200 yards to Frank Gore, but would have been in the thick of it against San Francisco if not for Matt Hasselbeck's injury. It can not allow another quarterback to sit back and pick apart its zones. Seattle shot of the gates like a contender, but without pass rush, it crumbled, allowing Kurt Warner to become just the latest quarterback to fatten up against the Seahawks zones.

Brandon Mebane in the First Quarter and the Optimal Defensive Line, Pt. 1

John Morgan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:05:46 -0000

More photos » by Ross Franklin - AP

Seattle took an early lead and implemented a smart strategy to defend Kurt Warner. The scheme was right, but the personnel wrong. It has the talent to field an above average pass rushing line, but it needs to sit Colin Cole.

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Has Brandon Mebane struggled to transition to the three tech? That is something I will explore deeper this week, but if he hasn't struggled, nor has he proven himself the force he was at the one tech.

Seattle has three players that are nominal three techs: Mebane, Cory Redding and Craig Terrill. Redding plays end, but is very much more a 3-4 end than a traditional 4-3 end. He influences and collapses the pocket rather than disengages and makes plays. He just isn't quick enough to edge rush and though he has been good and great at what he does, he hasn't provided much pass rush. Terrill is the standard organizational soldier type that is in turns under- and overappreciated. Seattle could upgrade but does not have to upgrade.

It has two one-tech types: Colin Cole and Red Bryant. Cole is the most reliable of the two and one of the most active tackles in Seattle's rotation. He can square against most single blocks, but that's his skill set almost in its entirety. Three tech used to be the feature tackle position in a 4-3, but the proliferation of 3-4 schemes has made the nose position in demand and three tech types less popular.

Signing Cole was a mistake. He hasn't proven much as a Seahawk and his ridiculous contract practically forces Seattle to start him. When Seattle needed its front four to provide pressure, it was exposed. Seattle's ends are average. Lawrence Jackson is developing, but is unlikely to ever be a great pass rusher. Darryl Tapp is a good speed rusher, but aside Cole, he isn't getting the one-on-one matchups he thrives against. Patrick Kerney still has burst around the edge, but his spate of injuries have sapped his upper body strength and he is as much a situational pass rusher now as Nick Reed. It's a nice foundation, but it won't strike fear into this season's opponents.

Seattle had a better front four last season, even minus Kerney. Mebane was a better one-tech than Cole, and though Rocky Bernard had little left to give, Mebane and Bernard were better collectively than Mebane and Cole. Mebane is supposed to be making plays and Cole stuffing tacklers, but Cole can't and so Mebane is again doing both. Bane does not get off blocks exceptionally well and his pass rush arsenal isn't developed. He established himself in this league as the type of punishing bull rusher that two blockers struggled to stop.

Anatomically, it's easy to see why: Mebane has an exceptionally low center of gravity, gets lower in his stance than almost anyone and erupts off the snap with such violence that many blockers are beat before they can defend themselves. As a three, a popular way of combating Mebane's explosiveness and exceptional leverage is to fade and draw his weight from over his feet. He gets ahead of himself, so to speak, and can be blocked whence unbalanced.

My notes on Mebane are mostly positive. He ran through a pulling blocker and tackled Beanie Wells for a loss of four at the start of the Cardinals second drive. He then played nose twice in a three man rush and performed ably, but wasn't able to separate. That's the problem for Brandon: He is great off the snap, but he does not consistently separate from blockers. As a one tech, Mebane was able to collapse the pocket into the quarterback and bull rush into sacks. As a three tech, he needs to be able to fight off a single block and show quickness to the ball carrier. That might not be within Mebane's ability.

Guaranteed Victory? Why the F**k not?

Johnny Peel (DKSB) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:50:04 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Seattle Seahawks' Nate Burleson has the 10th most receptions in the NFL after 8 games.

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"So, we're going on the road to play a football game. We're gonna win.

"I don't care what you say. People can print it in the paper, they can send it to the teams we're playing. But they know just like we know, we're going to win the game."

-Nate Burleson

With apologies to TJH, that's Seattle's best WR talking, and it's hard to see the downside of Nasty Nate putting himself out there like this. Conventional wisdom in cases such as this usually consists of shaking heads and clucking tongues, worried about giving the opposition "bulletin board" material. Burleson even prefaced his remarks by saying that he didn't want to create the mythical "BBM," but he just plowed ahead anyway. I say huzzah! What is the worst that can happen here?

The Seahawks were all quiet as mimes before the last dust-up with the Cards, and that ended up a 27-3 Ed Norton-on-Jared-Leto-in-Fight-Club beatdown. If Burleson's remarks geek up Arizona and they lay another pounding on the Hawks? Meh. That's what 95% of the football-attentive public expects anyway. We'll be sad, but I'm guessing most of you reading this expect to turn your attention to the 2010 draft next Monday.

But what if this gets even just Nate himself to raise his game? What if he takes a punt all the way back for six? Or goes 7 for 120 with 2 TDs? Or gets off to a hot start and opens things up for Housh, Branch, and Carlson? Even if it's just taking attention off TJH and putting it on himself, that would be a net positive as far as I'm concerned.

If the Seahawks actually win after Burleson's guarantee, this game will be the stuff of franchise legend. When #81 gave the Blue Man Group a spark, which grew into a 2nd-half playoff push (which we've seen before in 1979, 1990 and 1995) and maybe even another NFC West title.

So Matt Hasselbeck? Brag about how you're gonna torch their secondary for 300+ yards. Marcus Trufant? Tell Larry Fitzgerald that he looks like Zoidberg when he dangles his gloves from his facemask. Aaron Curry? Tell Beanie Wells that he's gonna be made the game's prison punk rookie this Sunday.... and so on.

Couldn't hurt.

More over at my home blog, Dave Krieg's Strike Beard

Patrick Kerney Subtly Swings into Irrelevance

John Morgan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:40:20 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Above we can see where the blitz broke down.

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That drive was another pin in the Seahawks hopes. Seattle barely budged the ball before Jon Ryan and Seattle's coverage unit combined to undo the Seahawks field position advantage. The resulting drive would sap what was left of Seattle's comeback chances.

Marion Barber scurried for six and Tony Romo converted the first on a pass to Martellus Bennett. Seattle, for its part, put a lick on Bennett: Aaron Curry standing him up and Jordan Babineaux delivering the blow.

Then, for a brief shining moment, Darryl Tapp nearly undid a half's worth of damage and put Seattle back in the lead. It was another moment where Seattle missed by inches. Tapp rushed around left end and forced back Flozell Adams enough to block out Romo's preferred throwing lane. Tapp jumped as Romo motioned and Romo tucked before taking another attempt. The ball sailed behind intended receiver Roy Williams, but where a good break nets a pick six, Josh Wilson skidded and the pass proved too errant. Ironically, an accurate pass results in a pick six.

Then the wheels came off. Seattle was attacking and Romo forced consecutive offside penalties to convert the first. Penalties would decide this drive.

Lawrence Jackson moved into right defensive tackle alongside Tapp, and stopped the next two plays near single-handedly. He tackled Barber after two and read and reacted to a draw and curled in to stop Barber for a loss of one. Jackson has looked every bit the end I wanted him to be: aware, active, athletic and everywhere.

From the official NFL rule book:

Actions that constitute defensive pass interference include but are not limited to:

. . .

(e) Cutting off the path of a receiver by making contact with him without playing the ball.

This play pissed off a lot of Seahawks, but the ruling was justifiable if not maybe right. Marcus Trufant was attempting to curl underneath Miles Austin's deep route. Jordan Babineaux was to play over top, though he clearly wasn't deep enough and would have been beat on a clean throw attempt. Trufant curled into Austin's route. The contact looked incidental, with Trufant clearly not attempting to cut off the path of Austin, but he did cut off the path of Austin and Dallas got the call. So it goes.

In the same play, but of less interest, Nick Reed dropped into cover and was literally stride-for-stride with Patrick Crayton. That a player - and damn Crayton is slow.

Seattle cued up a Marshall seven-man blitz and forced an incomplete.

Seattle sent Josh Wilson on its next blitz and Deon Grant hit Crayton to force an incomplete.

Third and 9: Miles Austin for 16. This was a failure of pass rush. The blitz design was..not so good. One could see it working, but there was one major flaw inherent in its design. Perhaps this graphic can illuminate what I mean. For sake of clarity, I'll only show the key players.

You'll have to excuse me if that's too subtle, for I am a humble caveman confused and frightened by your modern world. It's a perfectly cromulent blitz design and swinging Patrick Kerney across the line should give him a strong matchup against the left guard, but Kerney is far too slow to get into the action before Romo finds an open receiver. This will rile some feathers, but do not be surprised if Seattle drafts a defensive end in the first round of next year's draft.

Cory Redding and David Hawthorne combined to delay the inevitable. Redding created the pressure and Hawthorne hit the ball out of Jason Witten's hands. A play later Roy Williams palmed the ball into the end zone and the Seahawks fell behind by two scores to end the half.

Seattle got the ball back and ran a simple run to kill the clock. The fun was over. The third quarter awaited.

What is Wrong with Seattle's Secondary?

John Morgan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:56:22 -0000

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

Jim Mora cut his teeth coaching Seattle's secondary. Since his arrival, Seattle's secondary has been an awful mess.

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David Hawthorne shot the gap and tackled Felix Jones for a loss of three. It was the kind of quick turnaround Seattle needed to escape a potentially damning fumble. Then everything crumbled in front of Seattle's high priced secondary.

Roy Williams ran a ten yard curl and ran off Marcus Trufant. Tru was caught in his backpedal and Williams was wide open for the reception. Trufant managed to wrestle him down before the first, but Dallas was left with an easily convertible first and back in field goal range.

The Cowboys motioned Miles Austin into the backfield, using Marion Barber as the up back. They ran a toss sweep off of right end. Seattle's linebackers fought off and broke through Austin's lead blockers, but Austin exploited a crack to effort past the line. He was upright and exposed and stumbling through the marker when Jordan Babineaux sunk his helmet into his arms and popped the ball from his grasp. Seattle failed to recover. The play was called back on a Martellus Bennett hold.

Dallas was third and eleven and either about to pass or about to run and settle for the field goal. We know how this ends.

Seattle's persistent third down futility reminded me of something Brian Burke wrote in an email exchange.

My theory is that this may be why run defense appears so unimportant. Say teams are not operating at the game equilibrium, and passing is, on balance, a more lucrative strategy than running. In other words, there really is a considerable passing premium where the payoff for a pass is generally higher than a run, all things considered.

Having a good run defense would therefore be somewhat self-defeating. Take the 2007 Vikings defense that gave up only 3.1 yards per run (good) but 7.0 yards per pass (bad). Facing such a solid run defense, a good offensive coordinator is forced to pass more...which would be a far more effective thing to do in the first place, especially against a relatively weak pass defense. A team like the 2007 Vikings would essentially be forcing their opponent to unwittingly play a more efficient and effective strategy, all the while exploiting their own weakness.

Seattle's ability to force third and long by stifling the run game was undermining the overall defense. It's maddening. It's infuriating watching Patrick Crayton run past the marker and quick-curl without a man within three yards of him. Deon Grant was assigned over coverage and dropped deep. Josh Wilson was assigned under coverage and played the passing lane. Romo effortlessly split the two and found Crayton for 16 and the first.

The Cowboys reset with Austin in the backfield and Barber again the up back. This time Austin was a decoy. Leroy Hill chased him into the right flat, but Barber had the ball. Babineaux, David Hawthorne and Aaron Curry controlled the interior gaps and Babs shot up and tackled Barber after two.

Seattle blitzed five, dropping right defensive end Darryl Tapp into cover, and Curry closed on Jason Witten before he could receive. Witten twirled and juggled and dropped the ball.

It was again third and long. Seattle rushed seven, Trufant covered Austin, Austin initiated contact and Trufant was flagged for pass interference. A play later, Barber ran off right tackle for the touchdown. In seven plays, Seattle had forced two third and longs, it had forced a fumble it couldn't recover and a hold that negated the play, but it couldn't defend the pass. Why can't Seattle defend the pass?

The Veteran Jog that Sealed Seattle's Fate

John Morgan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:04:38 -0000

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

Seattle helped Dallas into the end zone with its sloppy, arrogant play.

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There were two major turning points in Sunday's contest. They happened in short succession and turned a close game into the beginning of a blowout. The second was a questionable defensive pass interference penalty called on Marcus Trufant after Miles Austin initiated contact. That cost Seattle 10-12% of win probability. The first made the second possible.

I have nailed Nate Burleson for not finishing routes and I have criticized several Seahawks receivers for not finishing blocks. Missed blocks and dropped routes are easy to ignore. If a receiver does not finish his route, the quarterback usually does not target him and the sin stays within the family, known only to players and coaches. If a receiver does not block, walks over and says "what's up" as I've seen T.J. Houshmandzadeh do, it does not usually lead to much. Maybe another body hits the pile. Often the play is over before it matters.

Seattle splits three wide in an unbalanced formation. Deion Branch is split wide left, Housh is in the left-slot, John Carlson is tight left and Justin Forsett is aside Hasselbeck's left hip. Burleson is alone on the right. Matt Hasselbeck is in shotgun.

The Dallas Cowboys are in a 3-3 nickel with the right outside linebacker walked up to line, showing pass rush. The left corners are walked off, but Terence Newman is opposite Burleson, straddling the first down marker.

It's third and three and Seattle is down by four.

Seattle runs an inside draw. It gets good push from Chris Spencer and Rob Sims. Forsett slips through a seam and streams out the other side behind the pulling Spencer. He has the first.

Before he's blindsided and the ball pops from his grasp, let's rewind and look around. It's a shotgun snap and the handoff to Forsett is quick and definitive, so the wide receivers have to hustle to influence the play. They're not going to run off their guys, but they could put a body on them. Burleson inches up towards Newman and when it's clear he's beat, stops, stands and spectates. Houshmandzadeh starts quicker but slows and instead of engaging nickelback Orlando Scandrick, he jogs up and behind the referee. Newman forces the fumble and Scandrick recovers for 15 yards.

The Seahawks chances of winning drop from 43% to 23%.

The VRR: Seahawks (2-4) @ Cowboys (4-2)

Aaron Novinger — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:30:53 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

Could Miles Austin make it three big games in a row to help the Cowboys to three consecutive victories?

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The two games before their bye last week, the Seattle Seahawks have respectively been super hot, and then super cold. It would behoove the Cowboys to prepare for the former, so there is no chance of losing out on a much needed three-game win streak.

Dallas must stay focused no matter which Seattle team comes to play.

"For right now, it's good to be in a good position," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "But at the end of the day, you've got to put more wins together and be a solid team throughout the whole season in order to be what you want to be."

This Sunday, the team with the identity crisis will be the visitors.

The Seahawks have no idea what they are: the team that beat Jacksonville 41-0 or the team that didn't convert a third down in a 27-3 loss to Arizona.

"It's amazing how one week can change the way you think, isn't it?" Seattle coach Jim Mora.

More VRR after the jump.

CB Marcus Trufant will play for the first time this season, but the Seahawks may bring him along slowly.

Sunday, Trufant will be running around covering the Cowboys’ Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton. The plan is to have Trufant play in the nickel defense, at his usual spot on the left side. On the other downs, the corners will continue to be Ken Lucas and Josh Wilson.

"Having a play run at you every 30 or 40 seconds at that position can be difficult," is the way coach Jim Mora put it this week. "So, we need to see where he is endurance-wise. Obviously, he’s got to knock some of the rust off in terms of his technique, but he’s doing that, and he’s worked hard."

Hasselbeck and Housh are trying to get on the same page.

Houshmandzadeh had four catches for 34 yards and has grown frustrated over the situation. The pair spent extra time working together during the bye week.

"We'll find out when the games matter," Houshmandzadeh said. "It's easy to do at practice, when no one's on you."

The quarterback believes there's no easy explanation for his inability to get the ball more to his top target.

"Just trying to figure out what we're good at," Hasselbeck said. "One of those things is just to be automatic with some of the guys I throw the ball to and get some routes where we feel that confidence, that 'automatic' confidence. That breeds consistency. We're close some times, but we misfire. We have to fix that as quickly as we can."

Here is Seattle's injury report.

On the verge of a three-game win streak, Coach Phillips is keeping the players focused on their mistakes.

"We have to continue to just eat our humble pie," linebacker Keith Brooking told reporters in Irving. "We played one really solid game across the board, offensively, defensively and special teams. But at the end of the day, you have to look at the big picture. We have to keep it going. This is a 'What have you done for me lately?' league."

Slapping the Falcons (4-2) gave the Cowboys (4-2) a two-game winning streak and catapulted them into the playoff conversation. But all the good vibes Dallas took from that game will disappear should it lose to Seattle (2-4) on Sunday.

"We haven't won the Super Bowl or anything," linebacker Bradie James said. "We haven't even won a playoff game. We're excited. We have some confidence. But we need to be consistent."

The Cowboys haven't won three in a row since Weeks 11-13 of last season.

"Winning a couple of games, doing well in a couple of games sets a trend, but it doesn't make you a consistent football team," Phillips said. "To be consistent, you have to win three in a row."

Penalties, penalties, penalties. The Cowboys really need to cut those out...right? Hmm, Todd Archer takes a closer look at the team's record when it commits eight penalties or more in a game.

Last week, Atlanta's second touchdown came in part because Stephen Bowen was called offside on a third-down play. But it got me to thinking about how the penalty issue has been a big deal for a while.

They had eight against Atlanta and still won. Care to guess what the Cowboys' record is in their last 16 games in which they have been penalized eight or more times in a game?

It's 11-5. Amazing, isn't it?

The presnap penalties conundrum: five yards lost or maintain big play opportunities?

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said that the penalties that bother him the most are the pre-snap ones. Phillips said it's when you make changes that you can't jump. Phillips also offered that they could go on the first sound every time but that would hurt their audibles that have resulted in big plays.

Coach Phillips seems to have no qualms about putting Felix Jones back at kickoff return.

"The guy's well right now and he's ready to play. We'd like to get him the football and I think that's an opportunity to do that."

Said Jones: "Hey, there ain't no way around that. This is a physical game. You can get hurt walking a straight line. You just play football; there's no way around not getting hurt."

Jones has averaged 25.8 yards on 24 career returns and scored one touchdown last year. He said his knee continues to improve.

"The knee brace really helped out a lot, and you just go from there," he said. "Every day it's getting better until the point where I don't need it anymore. From now on I guess I'll be using it until I feel 100 percent, and confident about what's going on with my knee."

Ogletree huggers: could this be the second week we get to see #85?

The Cowboys also could use rookie receiver Kevin Ogletree. Active in one game this season, Ogletree has four kickoff returns for an average of 23.5 yards, similar to Jones (23.0) and Austin (24.7).

"That’s all you really want to do is help the team win," Ogletree said. "That’s what I’ve been here for. That’s been my motto. When I get in there, I believe it’s going to be trying to make a play or do something to help us."

Again the team's punt returner, Patrick Crayton will take advantage of every opportunity he has with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

"However they come my way, I've got to maximize them," said Crayton, the NFC special teams player of the week after the longest punt return by a Cowboy since Deion Sanders went 76 yards against Indianapolis a decade ago. "I've got to squeeze 100 percent of the juice out of it."

Crayton was hardly a whiner when assessing his situation last week. He said he would have liked to hear something from the coaching staff, but didn't act like it was hard to figure out.

"I had a dropped pass and a muffed punt," he said. "And the other guy had 250 yards."

Tony Romo has faith in Roy Williams .

"I'm a firm believer that if a guy shows me on a consistent daily basis out here on the practice field that he can do it, he's going to do it in the game," Romo said. "Sure, people are going to have games that aren't whatever they may feel up to their own standards, but that's each individual wanting to be competitive within himself."

"Roy works his butt off at practice. He comes out and he performs out there daily and I don't see any reason why he's not going to have a very successful rest of the season. I'm not going to shy away because he shows me on a consistent daily basis that he does so many good things. It'll happen."

Gerald Sensabaugh says that his thumb is cool, and the defense is ready to ravage the Seahawks' offense.

"Yeah, he (Ware) should be, but we’re all licking our chops a little," Sensabaugh said. "We’re ready to get out there and play again after the game we had Sunday. Our guys are going to be ready to pressure, no matter who’s at tackle or on the O-line. We’re going to get pressure, regardless."

Sensabaugh said that his surgically repaired right thumb, which was heavily wrapped in Sunday’s win over the Falcons, didn’t bother him or change his aggressive approach, and said he sees no reason for that to change.

"It’s pretty good — it’s healing up pretty well, I’ve got a new cast on it today, and I’m ready to go," he said. "I’ll throw it in there. It didn’t hurt me tackling—it didn’t help me catching the ball, but as far as tackling, it didn’t bother me at all."

Junior Siavii is growing into his role as Jay Ratliff's backup at NT. The Cowboys need him to continue to do so.

The Cowboys can preserve Ratliff only if the backup is effective, and Siavii has been. The Cowboys credited Siavii with being in on seven tackles during 16 plays in Sunday's win against Atlanta.

"It would be nice to see him get even more plays," said Ratliff, who agreed that breaks help him stay fresh in the fourth quarter. "He's doing well. We help each other out. We're a team, and we feed off each other."

In high school, Miles Austin did not join the football team until his junior year. Finally, football coach, Steve Mucha, got him aboard.

Mucha, 48, remembers the frustration he felt when Austin repeatedly rejected his pleas to join the team.

"He was concentrating on basketball and track, so we had kind of written him off," Mucha said. "I'd ask him to join and he'd say, ‘It's too late.' I'd say, ‘It's not too late. Let's see what happens."

Just before halftime of his first high school game, Austin caught a 70-yard pass to set up a score.

"Because he's such a great athlete, he caught on quickly to everything we were doing," Mucha said.

As a senior, Austin led the Boilermakers in interceptions and was an all-county receiver.

SAEN's Tom Orsborn also notes:

The record for most receiving yards over three games (in one season) is 612 by the Houston Oilers’ Charley Hennigan in 1961.

Here is the NFL Game Center link for the Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys.

And here's the series history between the two teams.

Dallas leads the all-time regular season series with Seattle, 7-4, including a 34-9 home rout of the Seahawks on Thanksgiving Day 2008. The Seahawks won the previous regular season meeting, a 13-10 home result in 2005. Seattle last won in Dallas in 2002.

In addition to the regular season series, the teams played a memorable postseason contest, won by Seattle in dramatic, 21-20 fashion at home in the 2006 playoffs.

Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips is 6-1 in his career against the Seahawks, including a 4-0 mark while the Broncos (1993-94) and 1-1 while at the helm of the Bills (1998-2000). Mora was 0-1 against Dallas while at the helm of the Falcons (2004-06), and will be meeting Phillips for the first time as a head man.

Seattle Seahawks Trade Nothing for Pro Bowl Corner Marcus Trufant

John Morgan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:58:40 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Chin up men, the Seattle Seahawks have traded for Marcus Trufant and given surprisingly little to get him.

Browse more photos »

Want a big deadline deal that rights Seattle and pushes them towards an exciting if maybe ultimately futile end to their season? Want that player without giving up a thing? How about a player that plays at one of the most valuable and rare positions in the NFL? A player that turns a weakness into a strength, makes Josh Wilson one of the best nickel corners in the NFL and could be that completing piece that puts a talented and young defense over the top?

Remember when Marcus Trufant could be all that and more? He can still be. Let's flashback to 2007 and remember when Tru was a no-doubt Pro Bowler. Thanks to that smutty crew at Field Gulls for the content. I'm just here to be snarky and provide links.

Marcus Trufant

Penetration: 1

Good Coverage: 26

Broken Tackle:5

Blown Coverage: 13

Blown Assignment: 1

*Includes all games minus Week 10, Divisional Round and the second half of Week 3 and the first half of week 1.

Highlights

9/31/07

Marcus Trufant grabbed two picks, a gimme that could as easily have been any DB on the roster and another that may be proof of real growth. The gimme was on the Niners first play from scrimmage after the onside kick. Trufant just happened to be in the best position to grab Trent Dilfer's badly sailed pass. The second, also ridiculously enough on a play-action (think you better scrap the play-actions once your team is down by twenty Mike?) was an exciting display of coverage and well timed aggression. Trufant is at his customary position, alongside the receiver's hip, when Dilfer tosses a wounded duck. Tru breaks coverage and zips back to the ball. Playmaking is the component Trufant has long needed to become a next level corner. For the past few years he's excelled in coverage. You very rarely see Tru out of position on a pass, but he's never mastered creating fear in opposing quarterbacks. That comes from opportunism and turning bad passes into picks. Some of the problem has been his hands, which are just okay, but the larger factor is that Trufant rarely ever plays anything but the receiver. It's good cover corner technique and I don't want him to become a Delta O'neal type route jumper, but the best corners know when to play cover and when to play the ball. Maybe Trufant is finally figuring that out.

10/21/07

First play, Rams fourth drive. The Hawks are dominating the line of scrimmage, but leading only 10-3. Bulger, with good time, attempts a deep pass along the right sideline. Tru intercepts. On the replay, here's what we see. Off the line Tru uses expert body position to subtly ride Bruce up against the sideline. He's literally in lockstep with Bruce, hip to hip, running down the right sideline. That's all classic Tru, but here's where we see something new. Still shadowing Bruce, playing the man, he sees Bruce look up towards the descending pass. Trufant sticks up an arm and begins to turn his body back towards the line of scrimmage. Both men are still running at near top speed, so that's incredibly difficult for Tru to do. The ball hits Tru in the arm and bounces back towards his bread basket, Tru snags the ball, tip-toes two feet centimeters from the sideline and converts the interception. He doesn't ballhawk, he never breaks coverage opening the potential for a big gain, Tru nullifies his man and punishes the attempt. Bulger wouldn't look Bruce's way again until garbage time in the fourth quarter. That's true shutdown corner play that Seattle hasn't had since Shawn Springs. That's Tru, free agent 2008.

11/25/07

The next play is a pass. The Rams attempt to combo block Mebane off the snap, but he sheds the center, isolates the guard, and walks him back into Bulger. Never attaining true penetration, but creating pressure, and forcing Bulger to throw into coverage. That coverage is sublime. Marcus Trufant locks down Holt, and without breaking off his man scoops up the interception. Tru is still primarily a cover corner, but his ability to play the ball has improved tremendously. What is most exciting, though, and what may vault Tru into the realm of shutdown corner, is that he gets picks without breaking coverage. Even the best cover corners, like Dallas' Terrence Newman, generally have to jump routes to score picks. That's risky. Tru gets picks on plays that are either pick or incompletion. It's yet to be seen if Tru can keep it up, but if he can, he could become one of the five best corners in football.

12/9/07

Tru showcased some of those ball skills we've long looked for from him. He's been a top cover guy for the last two years (albeit on some very shoddy secondaries), but this season he's shown both the ability to shutdown a receiver, and play the ball for the pick. With that said, it's not likely that Tru would have attempted either of his two second half picks if not for the Hawks being up big. Each was a little risky, jumping routes and thereby breaking coverage, but both were done expertly. The question for Tru, who's already turned into an elite NFL corner, is this growth? Will he take his big day on Sunday and turn it into confidence or cockiness? Tru at his best has shown the ability to lockdown a receiver, the ability to jump routes for the game-changing pick, and, most importantly, the ability to know when to do each.

1/5/08

The Truth: On the Skins second rush of their second drive, the Hawks gang tackled Portis after 6 yards. The Hawks have Portis wrapped, so Tru, the freakin' brilliant player that he is, goes for the strip. Nothing came of it, but it's a really heady play, and a compliment to Jim Mora Jr's coaching.

Lowlights

9/16/07

Marcus Trufant often gives too much cushion in coverage. If you're playing Marvin Harrison perhaps the five yard separation is warranted, but against Anquan Boldin playing so soft allows for a lot of short, but productive completions.

10/7/07

Rough day for Seattle's secondary, and though we think of the big men along the line as suffering the most from fatigue, the little guys, of which Seattle has considerably less depth and who must run around all game, looked the worse for wear. On the Steelers' back breaking 10 minute drive to open the second half, Marcus Trufant, Jennings and Jordan Babineaux combined for four blown coverages resulting in 56 yards and 3 first downs. Tru seemed to have particular trouble keeping his feet.

11/25/07

Speaking of Russell, he is partly to blame for Bruce's touchdown reception. It's 3rd and 6, the Rams are in a bunch formation left, the Hawks, a base package with man coverage. Grant is lined up over top, Jennings on the exterior and Trufant on the interior. At the snap the top and inside man of the bunch run in what might best be described as an "X". Jennings picks up the receiver running out, Grant the receiver running in. The pattern has the effect of screening Trufant from Bruce until about 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. Now, Tru bears blame, while Jennings and Grant are able to confidently maneuver the formation and pick up their men, Trufant looks bewildered. It is possible that he assumed that the inside man would be his responsibility and not Grant's, but that we'll never know. What we do know is that Trufant is well behind Bruce and desperately in need of deep help. That's where Russell, who is working in a middle zone in the endzone, should run over to cover Bruce. Instead, Russell stays in the center though Grant has his man covered, and then doesn't break towards Bruce until it's entirely too late. The Rams convert the score and Trufant looks a couple shades worse than he deserves.

12/2/07

Two plays later the Eagles run trips left, and in an eerily reminiscent scene, Tru loses Curtis breaking towards the sideline. It's 9/10ths the same play call the Rams ran last week in which Tru broke coverage and allowed Isaac Bruce to get open in the endzone. Mora may want to find a more effective way to defend against that. Russell tackles Curtis 47 yards down the field, and had Curtis not nearly fumbled the ball switching hands, it's unlikely Russell catches him at all.

Outlook

In 2007, Marcus Trufant developed from a top cover corner to a top corner. Tru was in the mix for best overall defensive player for Seattle in 2007, but was definitely their least replaceable. Losing Tru would have sorely weakened Seattle's run stopping, coverage against top receivers and crippled its right secondary: Need I explain the enormity of Jordan Babineaux + Brian Russell? I lobbied pretty hard for Seattle resigning Trufant and it's good to see that though Tim Ruskell clearly prefers his own players to the Hawks' former GMs collective holdovers, he's not dogmatic. The question now for Trufant is does he maintain or even build upon his substantial gains from 2007, solidify his rep as a Pro Bowl player or regress to the very good tackling cover corner he once was. Tru is a young 27; in his absolute prime. Fans can and should expect a level of play like last season's for the next 3-5 years. If Tru wants it bad enough and everything breaks right, he could become Champ Bailey good.

Photo Courtesy: ESPN