Malik Jackson is a 6'5, 270lb senior for Tennessee. As you'll see in the video below, he literally played every position on the Tennessee defensive line. Anything from nose tackle in a 3-4 to defensive end in a 4-3, Jackson did it. Most commonly he played both the 1 tech and 3 tech in a 4-3. At 270lbs.

Jackson originally committed to USC under Pete Carroll. I only just now learned that after trying to dig up some background info on him. That isn't why I chose to write this piece, but it is interesting now that I know about it. With USC his appeared in 21 games as a rotational guy during his freshman and sophomore years, getting 5.5 sacks and a couple forced fumbles. He transferred without sacrificing a year of eligibility because of USC's sanctions. Since joining Tennessee, he's started 24 out of 25 games, collecting 7.5 sacks, 26 tackles for loss and a couple more forced fumbles.

But who cares about stats, on to the video.

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Seattle shouldn't have lost this game.

Offensive Line

Play 1 - Max Unger and Robert Gallery vs Darryl Washington and Calais Campbell. Washington and Campbell blow this play up. Calais Campbell shrugs off Robert Gallery and gets into the backfield, stringing out the run. Unger isn't able to get out on Darryl Washington, allowing him to knife in and bring down Leon Washington for a lose (despite a pretty nice stiff arm by Leon).

Play 2 - Max Unger and Robert Gallery vs Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell. Gallery gets good push on Campbell as he tries to pursue the play. Darnell Dockett jumps to his left as the ball is snapped, allowing Unger to get position on him and screen him out of the play. Washington slips the arm tackle from Campbell and busts off a 15 yard gain.

Play 3 - Zach Miller, Left Tackle. Zach Miller is playing left tackle and Paul McQuistan lined up outside of Breno Giacomini in an unbalanced formation. Gallery does his thing, driving Campbell down field as Campbell is trying to pursue the run. Unger jumps out immediately and gets a nice cut block on Darryl Washington. Miller does an excellent job, pancaking Steward Bradley and screening Adrian Wilson out of the play. Leon takes advantage of the giant hole between Gallery and Miller, nearly picking up a first down.

Play 4 - Robert Gallery vs Vonnie Holliday. Yikes. Not much to say here, rough play for Gallery. That he gets driven back so far isn't actually that big of a deal on this run, but getting shucked the way he did blows it up. If he could have at least managed Holliday for a beat longer, Marshawn Lynch has a lot of space ahead of him.

Play 5 - Max Unger vs Darryl Washington. This run is a team effort, but Unger and Washington were matching up all day. When Unger was drafted, John was nervous about how he would handle 3-4 nose tackles. Seattle has handled this in a variety of ways, and against Arizona the most common way was to have Unger ignore the defensive line and get out on a MLB instead. Unger is very good in space and he shows it on this play, neutralizing Washington. McQuistan gets a good cut block on Campbell and Gallery escorts David Carter out of the play. Marshawn has gotten so good at cutting back on runs like this. He's able to weave his way to the first down marker before dragging Rashad Johnson an extra five yards.

Deep Passing Attack

Play 6 - Deep Ball: First attempt. Play action pass with great protection. Tarvaris Jackson overthrows this ball, but it's catchable. Obo didn't have his best game, but he wasn't as bad as some people were saying. Each of his drops were very tough catches, this one included. Still, he had a realistic chance of reeling this ball in and he wasn't able to make the play.

Play 7 - Deep Ball: Second attempt. Same deal, play action with great protection. Tarvaris goes all out on this one though, over throwing it so badly that Obo has no shot.

Play 8 - Deep Ball: Third attempt. You might be noticing a trend. Play action pass. The protection isn't quite as good as the previous two, but still very good. Jackson has Tate but puts the ball out of bounds.

Play 9 - Deep Ball: Fourth attempt. No play action on this one but the protection is solid again. But, just like the previous plays, Jackson over throws it and Ricardo Lockette has no shot at the ball. Wait, what?

Play 10 - Deep Ball: Fourth attempt part 2. Look at Lockette eat up that cushion. In fairness to TJack, this is actually a decently placed ball. Lockette has to slow down to find the ball and then battle Marshay Green for position. It's not the best pass, but it's close enough and Lockette is able to come up with a circus catch.

Play 11 - Deep Ball: Fifth attempt. TJack has all day in the pocket but over throws Lockette again. The one positive you can take from all of these plays is that Jackson does a nice job of anticipating his receivers coming free down field. With the exception of maybe the second attempt, none of these guys are open when TJack lets loose.

Tarvaris Jackson

Play 12 - Tarvaris Jackson vs Triple Coverage. Jackson sense the pressure from the free blitzer and knows he has to get rid of the ball. That's good. He decides to loft the ball down the middle of the field, allowing Richard Marshall to make an easy play on it. That's bad.

Play 13 - Tarvaris Jackson and Dougie Fresh. Jackson has a nice pocket but scans the field and doesn't find anyone open. He wants to check down but Marshawn trips over Paul McQuistan. Jackson does a good job keeping calm with plenty of protection, looks back down field and finds Doug Baldwin. Very nice catch by Baldwin to get the first down.

Play 14 - Tarvaris Jackson and Cameron Morrah. Dockett and Nick Eason eat up Lemuel Jeanpierre and Unger pretty quickly on this play. Jackson is able to check down and find Cameron Morrah before taking a hit. Not a particularly special play, but it's good awareness from Tarvaris to sense the pressure and get the out to a receiver instead of taking a sack.

Intermission

Play 15 - Richard Sherman Dance Party.

Seahawks' Pass Rush

Play 16 - Kam Chancellor and Leroy Hill Blitz. Seattle was aggressive in blitzing Arizona, but they weren't any more effective. I obviously don't know how this blitz is designed, but to my eye it's ruined by Kam Chancellor taking a path that's too wide and cuts off Leroy Hill. Hill has to slow and try to cut back inside of Kam, instead of having maybe a free path to Skelton if he had just rushed straight into Levi Brown at the start of the play. Roy Lewis tops the play off with some pretty poor coverage on Andre Roberts, who picks up the first down.

Play 17 - David Hawthorne and Roy Lewis Blitz. David Hawthorne is too tentative a blitzer for my liking. He always seems to pussy foot around at the line of scrimmage. Roy Lewis gets picked up by Larod Stephens-Howling, but pressure from Anthony Hargrove and Raheem Brock forces John Skelton his way. However, Lewis isn't able to make a tackle and Hawthorne isn't able to chase down Skelton before he gets the first.

Play 18 - Earl Thomas Blitz. Earl Thomas gets a good jump and nearly comes clean on this blitz. Daryn Colledge gets to him just quick enough to force him a little wider and out of the play. Thomas ends up unable to get a hand on Skelton. Mebane is able to get pressure up the middle, almost picking up a sack while wearing Lyle Sendlein as a cape.

Unfortunately, Skelton is able to step up into the space that Red Bryant should be filling, but isn't. Bryant likes to give up on pass rushing and play contain. I don't know if he's being coached to do this, but it very likely costs him a sack in this situation. Levi Brown has completely bailed on his block, deciding to flail after ET instead. If Bryant had kept up his pass rush, he's very likely there to take Skelton down when he steps forward to avoid Mebane.

Play 19 - Leroy Hill and Roy Lewis Blitz. Chester Taylor and Lyle Sendlein do a very nice job on this blitz. Taylor crosses in front of Skelton to pick up Lewis. Sendlein bails on Allen Branch to pick up Hill, and in the process gets a nice chip on Hargrove. Larry Fitzgerald lined up in the slot, ultimately leaving Kam Chancellor to cover him. He does this poorly, and Fitzgerald catches the ball with enough space to break off a long run for 41 yards.

Play 20 - Zone Blitz. Seattle rushes three down linemen and blitzes Roy Lewis, dropping Chris Clemons into coverage. The blitz works pretty well, with Raheem Brock mucking up the right side of the offensive line, allowing Lewis to come free. Insanity ensues, as Skelton is able to slide to his left and then throw to his right, hitting a wide open Todd Heap. Heap gets some pay back on Chancellor, breaking his ankles and getting the ball down to the Seattle goal line.

Play 21 - Leroy Hill Blitz. This is another nice blitz that goes for not. Hill blitzes and shrugs off Brown, getting pressure up the middle. King is no match for Clemons, who gets pressure to the inside despite what looks like a hold. Unfortunately, Clemons runs into Hill and the two get tangled up on each other. Skelton slides to his left and is able to scramble for a first down.

Seahawks' Run Defense

Play 22 - Red Bryant vs Rex Hadnot and Jeremy Bridges. This play works because of the double team Jeremy Bridges and Rex Hadnot get on Bryant. They're able to drive him back before Bridges slides off and gives Hawthorne a weak push that sends him sprawling. Hawthorne seems to want a flag, and it does look like a borderline block in the back. Chancellor comes down and fills the hole up the middle, but Howling is already taking this play off tackle. Bridges continues to terrorize Seattle defenders, knocking Browner out of the play. Howling ends up with 39 yards before ET is able to bring him down.

Play 23 - Brandon Mebane vs Daryn Colledge and Lyle Sendlein. Mebane has great burst off the line and he uses it to drive a double team back into Howling as he takes the hand off. Howling tries to cut it back up the middle but Hawthorne has the hole filled. Howling tries to bounce it outside once more before giving himself up to Clemons.

Play 24 - KJ Wright vs Rex Hadnot. Mebane sheds Sendlein at the snap, Bryant slides off a cut block from Bridges and shrugs off a chip from Jeff King as KJ Wright picks up the pulling Hadnot and drives him back into Howling's running lane. Wright sheds Hadnot and the three combine to tackle Howling for a loss.

Seahawks' Secondary

Play 25 - Earl Thomas vs Andre Roberts. This is cool. It's rare that we get to see a safety cover like this for the entire play. Thomas is up in the slot on Roberts. He gets a good press on Roberts, handles the double move and sticks with him down the field. We don't get too see it too often, but Thomas is special in coverage.

Play 26 - Earl Thomas vs LaRod Stephens-Howling. Thomas does an excellent job reading run and tracking down the play from behind. There's an audible "Aw!" from the crowd as they see the hole open for Howling before ET brings him down.

Play 27 - Earl Thomas vs Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is lined up in the slot, something Arizona did quite a bit with success. Thomas tries to separate Fitzgerald from the ball, but Larry Fitzgerald is really good.

Play 28 - Richard Sherman vs Larry Fitzgerald. Sherman gets a decent press on Fitzgerald but Fitz is deceptively fast and starts to separate. Sherman tries to get physical with him but loses that battle too. By the end of the play, Fitzgerald has enough separation that if the ball is placed where it needs to be, Fitzgerald probably scores a touchdown.

Miscellaneous

Play 29 - Heater vs Andre Roberts. Heater can still lay people out.

Play 30 - KJ WRIGHT HAS A FOOTBALL!! Hat tip to Earl Thomas on the strip.

I'm skipping the Bears game for now. I might come back to it in the offseason, along with some of the games earlier in the season if people are interested.

If you're curious why the size varies on these gifs, it's because Photobucket limits me to 20MB per image. Longer plays mean bigger gifs, so I have to get them under the 20MB limit by shrinking them. This sucks, because the longer plays tend to be running plays and those are the ones where it's the most beneficial to have large gifs that allow you to see all of the offensive linemen's numbers. So if anyone is aware of a way around the limit or a site that doesn't have the same restriction, please let me know.

Play 1 - Richard Sherman vs Michael Crabtree. Richard Sherman is a little handsy here and mistimes his jump, but you can see the fluid athleticism that allows him to be so effective. You can also tell he's not going to forget Victor Cruz anytime soon.

Play 2 - Richard Sherman vs Michael Crabtree Part 2. The Niners call a great play here, with Sherman playing 8 yards off Michael Crabtree running a stop route. Sherman recognizes and closes quickly, able to make a nice tackle and prevent a first down.

Play 3 - Richard Sherman vs Kendall Hunter. Sherman reads the run and get's into the backfield, popping Anthony Davis back far enough to force Kendall Hunter to cut it up inside. He recovers from the collision with Davis and is able to make the tackle on Hunter, who slipped a bit on his cut, along with Raheem Brock. As the color guy said, this would've been an excellent play for a linebacker. To see a corner play like that is ridiculous.

Play 4 - Brandon Mebane and Alan Branch vs Mike Iupati and Adam Snyder. This play has big problems written all over it, as Jonathan Goodwin, Joe Staley and Vernon Davis all get out and block the linebackers. Hunter sees a hole up the middle with lots of green beyond, but it closes on top of him as Brandon Mebane and Alan Branch are able to slide their blockers into the hole. Branch sheds his blocker and wraps up Hunter, who does a good job of efforting his way to an extra yard or two.

Play 5 - Brandon Mebane vs Jonathan Goodwin and Adam Snyder. Mebane gets a great jump at the snap and gives up no ground to the double team. When Snyder slides off to try to pick up a linebacker, Mebane sheds Goodwin and trips up Frank Gore at the line. Kam Chancellor and David Hawthorne also do a very nice job on this play, filling their gap and stonewalling the full back and pulling left tackle, leaving Gore with no where to go.

Play 6 - Pass Rush Fail Part One. Looks like I forgot to put the delay in this gif. Just queue up some Benny Hill and go with it. Red Bryant, Mebane, Branch and Brock. No one gets within two yards of Smith. It's a good thing Alex Smith is bad!

Play 7 - Pass Rush Fail Part Two. Chris Clemons, Branch, Pep Levingston and Anthony Hargrove. Hargrove is a defensive tackle playing at end on this play, but he might be the team's second best pass rusher after Clemons. He's the only one that gets any kind of pressure on Smith, but it doesn't get there soon enough and Smith is able to dump off for a big gain. Had he not had an outlet there he would've been able to either roll out and buy more time or just run for a sizeable gain himself.

Play 8 - Pass Rush Fail Part Three. Bryant, Mebane, Branch and Clemons. Mebane gets a good jump and decent push against a double team, but ultimately doesn't get within two yards of Smith. Clemons stunts to the inside of Branch but isn't able to shake Staley and then Gore gets a good block on him. Red Bryant doesn't look like he's even trying. I have no idea what he thinks he's doing on this play.

Play 9 - Pass Rush Fail Part Four. Bryant, Branch, Mebane, Clemons. Bryant attempts to stunt and goes nowhere. Clemons is man handled by Staley. Smith is able to buy time long enough for Davis to find a hole in the zone behind Leroy Hill.

Play 10 - Pass Rush Fail Part Five. Bryant, Branch, Mebane, Clemons. To be fair on this one, the Niners run a really nice play action here that pretty much the entire team bites on. The defensive line ends up scattered across the field, with Clemons left as the only guy with a real opportunity to provide some pass rush. Clemons is doubled up though, so he get's no pressure. Mebane ends up for yards past the line of scrimmage, Branch breaks free of his blockers far too late, and Red Bryant is in better position to tackle the receiver who is five yards down field than he is to sack Smith.

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Here's a conversation starter: I like John Gruden. I like him a lot even. Does he say dumb things? Yes, absolutely. So does every other announcer. Does he have a passion for football? Oh my goodness yes. Does he have fun calling games? Seems to me he does. Those last two are huge for me. I enjoy sitting down on a Monday night and watching a game of football with my pal John. His excitement is infectious, and that's a hell of a lot more than you can say for most guys.

Play 1 - The Doug "Prematurely" Baldwin Screen. There's nothing particularly special about this play, outside of Doug Baldwin doing his thing. But Seattle was able to run this little wide receiver screen several times against the Rams with quite a bit of success. It went a long ways to neutralizing an under rated St Louis Rams pass rush.

Play 2 - A Flea Flicker Gone Wrong. Alan Branch does a nice job beating his man to get a free shot at Bradford, but what's really impressive to me on this play is KJ Wright. Wright reads the play as soon as Jackson begins to slow down and then uses his impressive acceleration to get to Sam Bradford.

Play 3 - KJ Wright vs Billy Bajema. The block by Bajema is poor and Wright makes him pay with a slick little inside move. Wright, again, reads the play well and shows off his acceleration.

Play 4 - KJ Wright and Richard Sherman. Wright should've caught this ball, but I don't care much about that. It's a tougher catch than it looks with the ball getting on him pretty quickly. There's a reason he doesn't play wide receiver. What I love about this play though is Richard Sherman. The taunting penalty that came later in the game was foolish, but Sherman's big personality and leadership seem to be a positive for the defense. He's quickly become one of my favorite Hawks.

Play 5 - KJ Wright vs Stephen Jackson. How many different ways can I say this? Wright reads plays really well and has a special ability to close on the ball. KJ is a beast.

Play 6 - Max Unger vs Gary Gibson. There's a lot going on in this play. The first thing that jumps out is a surprise appearance by 2009 Max Unger, who gets pushed back by Gibson forcing Lynch to cut back. McQuistan drives his man to the ground, Gallery doesn't quit on the play and block Quintin Mikell 5 yards past the line of scrimmage and Jeanpierre comes flying into the picture at the end of the play to kill a man. Marshawn Lynch also does some stuff along the way.

Play 7 - Rams Run Blocking Part 1. This was the second offensive play for the Rams and it was something Seattle would see several times throughout the game. It was mostly very effective. St Louis would let one of Seattle's defensive tackles come clean into the backfield, with the two guards moving out into the second level. The rest of the line would block down, sometimes a full back or tight end would pick up the tackle behind the line of scrimmage, and Jackson would hit a hole with what was usually pretty good downfield blocking.

Play 8 - Rams Run Blocking Part 2. Again, Branch is left unblocked as the guard doubles down on BrandonMebane. Unlike the previous play, the guards aren't able to get out to the second level and open a hole for Jackson. Mebane slids his double team to where the hole should be and Red Bryant stone walls the right guard. Hawthorne comes down to fill, and Jackson is forced to bounce outside before Branch can catch him. This works out, since Wright has been swallowed up by Harvey Dahl and Jackson is pretty good.

Play 9 - Rams Run Blocking Part 3. The Seahawks do a good job of stringing this run out and Sherman does a nice job of taking Harvey Dahl, the pulling guard and lead blocker, out of the play. Unfortunately the backside of the defense deteriorates, with Clemons getting cut block and Earl Thomas getting destroyed by Danario Alexander, leaving a gaping cut back lane for Jackson.

Play 10 - Rams Run Blocking Part 4. MNF had this annoying habit of showing plays right as the ball was snapped or a beat after, which makes putting together a descriptive gif difficult. I can't be sure, but it looks like the Tony Wragge lets Mebane go, to be picked up by the tight end. This is, if I have my jargon straight, the wham play that the Niners have made popular this season. It's the same idea as the first Ram Run Blocking gif above. Red Bryant mucks everything up however, as he stands up his double team preventing Jason Brown from peeling off and blocking the linebacker. Instead, Wragge blocks David Hawthorne leaving Kam Chancellor unaccounted for. Chancellor stops Jackson as Wright and Mebane converge to clean up the play.

Play 11 - Brandon Mebane vs Bryan Mattison. Mebane slides off a weak cut block and tackles Jackson, who has no where to go with Branch and Red driving the left side of his offensive line back three yards.

Play 12 - Brandon Browner In Press Coverage. At first I had this down as a double move that Browner played really well. Now, I'm leaning towards a really good press by Browner that delayed Gibson's route so long it looked like a double move. Whatever it was, Browner smothered it.

Play 13 - Richard Sherman vs a Double Move. This is a double move, and Sherman did whatever the opposite of smothering is. Sherman let this double move breathe.

Play 14 - Michael Robinson vs Quintin Mikell. Nice all around blocking here, with Gallery and Morrah getting down field, McQuistan handling his man and Robinson putting a big block on Quintin Mikell.

Play 15 - Lemuel Jeanpierre Fake Out. Nifty little fake there by Jeanpierre. I'm pretty sure Jeanpierre sucks, but it's not for lack of effort.

Play 16 - Chris Clemons and Anthony Hargrove. The Monday Night Football cameramen screw me again. Chris Clemons gets the sack here but Anthony Hargrove is right behind him. He gets great pressure up the middle, forcing an oh shit double team from the center and doesn't give Bradford any room to step up and avoid Clemons.

Play 17 - Brandon Browner and Anthony Hargrove. Hargrove again gets good pressure up the middle, using a spin move to force Bradford to move. Unfortunately Clemons isn't there to take advantage on this play and Browner gives up the first down.

Play 18 - Raheem Brock Sighting! Brock blows this play up, splitting the double team from Harvey Dahl and Billy Bajema to get into Jackson's running lane in the back field. Hargrove sheds Thomas Welch and cleans up with Hawthorne and Chancellor at the line of scrimmage.

Play 19 - Anthony Hargrove vs a Triple Team. This is mostly just an effort play, as Hargrove runs into a triple team and doesn't get much pressure up the middle. But he doesn't give up and is able to slip free of his blockers and get the sack on Bradford after he's flushed out of the pocket by Leroy Hill. All in all it was a pretty good day for Hargrove.

Play 20 - David Hawthorne vs Stephen Jackson. A lot goes right for Seattle on this direct snap to Jackson on the goal line. Alan Branch beats his man and is able to clog up Jackson's running lane. Mebane cut blocks two offensive linemen. And Hawthorne shoots past Adam Goldberg to fill the hole and tackle Jackson.

Play 21 - Earl Thomas is Invisible. You have to admit, it'd explain a lot.

Play 22 - No Seriously, You Guys Should Probably Try To Block Earl Thomas. Thomas does a great job getting low on Jackson here. He's not able to get him to the ground but Jackson's only option at that point to to leap over the pile to get back to the line of scrimmage.

Play 23 - Chris Clemons vs Lance Kendricks. Another great example of Clemons' abilities in the run game. Stephen Jackson is not an easy person to tackle, but Clemons has little trouble getting an arm on him and then wrapping him up.

Play 24 - Kam Chancellor vs Sam Bradford. Excellent job by Chancellor reading Bradford and jumping the short route.

Play 25 - David Hawthorne vs the Turf. Thank god for Kam Chancellor. Hawthorne has a chance to make a play in the back field but faceplants instead, leaving Chancellor as the only thing between Stephen Jackson and the first down.

Play 26 - Brandon Browner vs Brandon Lloyd. Is this good corner back play? I honestly don't know. He doesn't get his head turned around but he's able to play the ball anyways, batting it away from Lloyd without getting grabby with him and drawing a penalty. It was a nice play, but I'd much rather see him turn his head in the future.

In memoriam.

Apropos, I was surprised at how frequently Cole came out of this game. These two didn't really face off all that often. I didn't count but if you asked me who saw more snaps, Tapp or Cole, I would guess Tapp. Tapp was mostly man handled by Okung, but did have a nice play or two.

Not pictured: KJ Wright. If Okung hadn't gotten hurt, and I hadn't fallen behind a week on these posts, I could have dedicated a second post to Wright. He's had a monster last two games.

Last programming note before the gifs, big thanks to Mr. Bigtrain. I'm sure most of you have run across some Bigtrain21 gifs here, like maybe this one. He was nice enough to take the time to email me and explain how he makes his gifs, which are much smoother and more like a video than the stick figure flip book gifs that I was pumping out. There are still a few kinks I'm working out, like which speed I like best, but the upgrade in quality is undeniable.

Did I mention that this new way of making gifs also saved me from buying photoshop? Bigtrain is the best, guys.

Play 1. The stonewalling began early, with Robert Gallery chipping in.

Play 2. This is, uh, well. This is holding. It's not the most egregious hold I've ever seen, but it's a hold. Also, if Tarvaris Jackson makes a better throw this is a touchdown. Not that it mattered.

Play 3. Step up, TJack! Step up! Zach Miller can only do so much against a pass rush specialist like Jason Babin, but Trent Cole poses no threat going up against Russell Okung. It gets cut out a bit, but Okung does a really nice job finishing his block here despite the sack.

Play 4 - Russell Okung vs Brian Rolle. I think we all realize this by now, but Okung plays mean. He pops two Eagles on this play, looking more like Kam Chancellor than an offensive tackle.

Play 5. Okung and Michael Robinson both do a great job on this play. Cole isn't dominated, but he doesn't get close to factoring either. Okung hooks him a bit there at the end, but the plays over by the time it happens.

Play 6. This is identical to play three with the exception of Doug Baldwin.

Play 7. Cole gives Okung everything he can handle but Okung ends up getting leverage and finshes his block with some nasty.

Play 8 - Russell Okung vs Akeem Jordan. Okung will put you in the turf.

Play 9. Okung hooks Cole again here, and it looks like Cole might come up a bit gimpy. I wonder if this wasn't a big factor in Cole losing it at the end of the game.

Richard Sherman is intense. I hope we're watching these two guys for a long time.

Play 1 - Heater's delayed blitz. At least I assume it's a delayed blitz, because it's slooooooow. He has no shot of reaching the quarterback or even pressuring him, really. This may be a big part of why the team doesn't blitz more often, for whatever reason they do it really poorly.

Play 2 - Mebane vs Trent Williams and Chris Chester. Mebane is playing the three tech here and shoots off the line at the snap. The guard blocks down and Williams isn't able to get over to Mebane quick enough. Mebane gets so much penetration he screens out Chris Chester, who is pulling from the right guard spot. Red Byrant tosses Fred Davis aside and stops Roy Helu for no gain.

Play 3 - Kam Chancellor vs Fred Davis. Davis blocks long enough to get Chris Clemons off balance, which buys enough time for the full back to follow up with a cut block. He then releases into a drag route across the field. Kam Chancellor jams Logan Paulsen and continues with him well into Leroy Hill's zone. By the time Kam sees Davis it's too late, he's too far out of position and can't recover.

There's been some talk about Chancellor being the highest rated defensive player in Brian Burke's metrics. It's awesome, and it speaks to Chancellor's play making ability, but we should be aware that a play like this doesn't appear anywhere in those stats. It's a pretty huge blind spot that makes me leery of using those individual defensive stats.

Play 4 - Seahawks max protect. Anyone curious how Seattle handled one of the best pass rushing teams with a right side made up of back ups? Here were the pass plays on their first offensive possesion: Screen, 3 receivers running routes with Marshawn chipping before releasing into a route, and then this max protect play. Pretty extreme measures. As the run game got going they opened it up more, but these max protect plays didn't go away.

Play 5 - Heater vs Roy Helu. Hawthorne has the opportunity to stop this play near the line of scrimmage but he takes a bad angle in the hole and Helu is able to keep his legs moving through the arm tackle.

Play 6 - Heater confusion. I've watched this play multiple times and I still don't know why Hawthorne stops and tries to change direction at the last minute.

Play 7 - KJ Wright and Red Bryant vs Maurice Hurt and Fred Davis. Wright drives Davis back and seals the edge really nicely while Bryant does his thing. Hurt isn't able to get over quick enough to be anywhere near in position to handle Bryant.

Play 8 - ET vs Rex Grossman. Guess who wins.

Play 9 - Heat confusion, part 2. Same deal, starts off in the correct direction before suddenly changing course and putting himself out of position. I don't know a ton about Shanahan's offense, but from what I do know and what I saw from Hawthorne in this game, I think it puts a ton of pressure on the middle linebacker.

Play 10 - David Vobora and Brandon Browner vs Red Grossman. Vobora switches sides of the defensive line at the last minute and comes clean on his blitz, forcing Grossman to make a quick throw. Browner makes an excellent play on the ball that looks a lot like the pick he had earlier.

Play 11 - Clemons in coverage. Pretty cool play call here. Malcolm Smith rushes behind McDonald and Brock, overloading the right side of the offensive line. On the left side of the line Clemons drops into coverage on Davis and does a nice job. It's not the fastest blitz, but Smith does a really nice job of avoiding the tackle and coming clean to the inside. Grossman rewards the play call with a classic Grossman throw and Chancellor nearly comes away with a pick.

Play 12 - Leroy Hill vs Roy Helu. Really nice play by Hill here, slicing through the offensive line to tackle Helu for a loss. Hill is a very under rated component of this run defense.

Play 13 - Run blocking dominance. I don't have a lot to say about this, some of the readers who are more knowledgeable about offensive line play can probably point out a few interesting things about why this run was so successful. All I know is that gets about four yards of push and Lynch isn't touched until he's about nine yards downfield. Kudos to Michael Robinson for a nice cut block on London Fletcher that seals off a lot of trash from spilling out in front of Lynch.

Play 14 - More run blocking dominance. This is pretty classic zone blocking. Robert Gallery and Max Unger team up to get good push up the middle and seal off a couple linebackers who over-pursue to the play side. Meanwhile Anthony McCoy and Russell Okung cut block the back side, leaving a nice cut back lane for Lynch.

Play 15 - KJ Wright vs Rex Grossman. This is an outstanding play by Wright. He drops back into a zone, staying right in front of Donte Stallworth. He sees Helu slipping out into the flat and moves to cover him. He's never stops reading Grossman's eyes though, so when Grossman goes back to Stallworth, Wright is able to react, come back to his man and break up the pass.

Play 16 - TJack vs the 8 man blitz. Guess who wins! This play is actually a little confusing and not all on TJack. Not seen, TJack appears to audible or call a hot route of some kind, as he's pointing and tapping his head before hiking the ball. This is backed when Obo turns in to take a quick screen pass, which would have gained at least a few yards. Unfortunately TJack is stuck on Golden Tate, who get's absolutely owned by DeAngelo Hall. Tate goes nowhere and has completely given up by the time TJack is sacked. There really isn't the opportunity for Jackson to make more than one read, so it's hard to be too upset with him. It's just a shame that his first read took him to Tate instead of to his left, where Zach Miller is also a possibility.

In case you're wondering, the flag was for a hold by Giacomini.

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Late gifs are better than no gifs. Thanksgiving slowed me down but there was too much good stuff from the Rams game for me to skip it all together. I'm hoping to have the Redskins up soon, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get that done. Not that anyone wants to see more of that game.

Play 1: Brandon Mebane vs Tony Wragge part 1. Unstoppable forces meets oh so movable object.

Play 2: Chris Clemons vs a triple team. Something to keep in mind before you get excited about every undersized speed rusher in the upcoming draft: The Leo needs to be able to play the run. A lot of people, myself included, thought the Leo position would leave the Hawks vulnerable to runs on his side. And if the Leo was what myself and others thought it would be that would've been true. Clemons is no Red Bryant but he can hold his own in the run game. He probably deserves more credit than we give him, he's a really well rounded player.

Play 3: Red Bryant and Brandon Mebane vs the right side of the Rams line. These guys manhandled the Rams offensive line all game.

Play 4: Leroy Hill vs Tony Wragge. Hill had 7.5 sacks as a rookie and has been used very little as a pass rusher since. I'd be interested to see if he can do more of this.

Play 5: Alan Branch vs Harvey Dahl. Branch embarrasses Dahl by pushing him back about 4 yards before joining Hill and Wright in cleaning up the play.

Play 6: Brandon Mebane vs Tony Wragge part 2. You know who's not very good?

Play 7: Marshawn Lynch vs CJ Ah You. Beef Moe in pass pro. Nastiest chip block I've seen in a while.

Play 8: Russell Okung and Max Unger vs Robert Quinn and Gary Gibson. Gary Gibson looks silly here and it's nice to see Unger finish off a pancake, but I'm guessing Gary Gibson looks silly a lot. Quinn on the other hand is a premier pass rusher that the Rams took 14th overall last year, and Okung black holes him.

Play 9: Brandon Mebane vs Sam Bradford. It's a little hard to tell from this gif but Bradford gets absolutely thumped on this play. There's an audible crunch on the TV broadcast when Mebane hits him.

Play 10: Zach Miller vs Brady Poppinga. This is Miller just doing his thing. The entire left side of the line seals off well and Lynch has a nice gain.

Play 11: Justin Forsett vs the run scheme. The very first one of these I did focused on the Seahawks run schemes. I was critical of a few plays, none more than this one. Look familiar?

In the interest of not crashing everyone's browsers I've linked to the gifs instead of embedding them. You're welcome.

Play 1 - James Carpenter vs Cory Redding.  He still looking rough in pass protection. Please don't be hurt for too long, James.

Play 2 - Gallery vs Haloti Ngata.  Hit it, Mr Muth:

The other thing Gallery is good at is driving his feet when a defender tries to disengage. Defensive linemen are taught to explode off the ball, get leverage in their gaps, find the ball, and get off a block. It sounds like a lot, but it should all happen within the first two seconds of the play. There are two ways to effectively block defenders in the NFL. One way is to out-leverage them at the snap -- this is what the stretch game is based on. The theory is that once a defender loses his leverage on his gap, he panics and starts overcompensating to recover, opening up cutback lanes. The other way is to run your feet like hell when the defender is looking for the ball and he’s trying to disengage the block. When a defender is trying to do those things, he isn’t moving forward as much, and is less focused on the blocker. By running your feet, you can really move a defender right as the back is hitting the line of scrimmage. This is what announcers are referring to when they say that someone is "finishing his block." Finishing your block results in late-opening cutback lanes and a lot of arm tackles. Gallery excels at finishing blocks late by running his feet.

Play 3 - Marshawn Lynch vs a cutback lane.  I've heard people say that Marshawn Lynch does more with less than any other running back.  Plays like this are why I disagree. As great of a game as Marshawn had, cutback lanes are still being wasted.  

Play 4 - Marshawn Lynch vs a hole. I'm not exactly sure what to make of this play, other than that it should have gone for more yards.  Lynch appears to ignore the hole Miller is trying to lead him through, instead opting to run up the back of Jeanpierre.  It's easy to put all of the blame on Lynch for picking the wrong hole, but it does look like Gallery misses his block on Ray Lewis. Lewis would've had a play on Lynch if he had followed Miller, and Lynch may have had more room to run behind Gallery if he doesn't miss. Ultimately I don't like Lynch's decision but Gallery also has a part in why this play isn't more successful.

Play 5 - Seahawks' offensive line vs Ravens' defensive front 7.  This got some attention in the game thread comments. The only thing that isn't sexy about this gif is that CBS didn't cut to the play until well after the snap. 

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Gifs!  Everyone loves gifs!  Everyone might not love these gifs because these are my first gifs and they're alright, but not the best.  I have a plan to make future ones better, but for now these will do. 

I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about these because I'm kind of in a hurry and because you can see the plays for yourself and make your own conclusions.  I know what I took away from them and I'm interested to see what other people take away from them.

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Last Sunday against the Bengals I found myself doing something I'd never done before, questioning a blocking scheme.  I'm no Ben Muth and wouldn't pretend to be, but on one play in the second quarter the run blocking scheme was so odd I took notice.  It was something I kept in mind when I went back to rewatch the game and, sure enough, I started spotting other odd line schemes.  Below I've outlined three of them, the one that made me go back and look and two others I found.  

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