From @ToddBrock24f7: Even Parsons was shocked at how quickly he found himself in the backfield on Seattle’s last gasp Thursday. Turns out, they let him come.
With 1:11 to play and facing a do-or-die 4th-and-2 from the midfield logo, the Seattle Seahawks needed to convert one play to keep their final drive alive if they hoped to reach the end zone and pull out a comeback win over the Cowboys.
Less than two seconds after the ball was snapped, though, the Seahawks’ fate was sealed. Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons had darted around Seattle running DeeJay Dallas and, completely untouched, was making a beeline for quarterback Geno Smith. Smith drifted backward, trying to buy just enough time for a receiver to come open.
With Parsons in his face a full 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, Smith pushed a desperate sidearm toss toward his running back. It fell harmlessly to the turf, and the Cowboys ran out the clock for a 41-35 win in a thrilling back-and-forth affair.
It was one of the few highlights of the night for Parsons, who ended the game with an uncharacteristic and relatively quiet two tackles, three QB hits, and zero sacks.
But the most surprising part of the game’s final play? It was exactly how the Seahawks had drawn it up.
“It is the design,” Smith confirmed to reporters in a postgame press conference.
It’s a bold strategy, Pete Carroll. Let’s see if it pays off.
The Ringer‘s Benjamin Solak broke down how it was supposed to go.
While former NFL offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz weighed in to explain that Seattle’s concept was actually slightly different from the Notre Dame/Navy example in terms of the O-line responsibilities, he agrees that the running back (Dallas) doesn’t end up where he’s supposed to be for the play to work.
Smith also admitted as much after the game.
“The right tackle had to squeeze- right there versus zero [-blitz], so he did the right thing. Micah came free. We knew that would possibly happen. I tried to get the ball around him and just wasn’t able to,” Smith said.
“We thought DeeJay could slip through there, and we could get him the ball in the flat. He wasn’t able to get through there, kind of got held up. And that’s kind of how the play went.”
What held Dallas up? As Solak points out, it’s Lawrence, the Cowboys’ other starting defensive end, who was lined up to the inside of Parsons on this play.
“Sometimes teams have what they call a peel with the end, where if the back releases, then the end will peel. Parsons will peel,” Smith explained. “On that play it was an all-out, so he continued to rush.”
Parsons himself was surprised at how quickly he was able to get into the backfield.
“Yeah for sure,” Parsons told reporters after the game. “I feel like I was getting there pretty fast all game. Geno was doing a great job, just getting the ball out fast. And that’s not something he had on film, where it was just quick-game all game.”
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
It turns out Smith and the Seahawks had practiced all week on getting the ball out of his hands quickly, in preparation of the Cowboys’ pass rush. He was sacked just once on the night, due in large part to a 2.54-second average time to throw, his quickest of the season.
Even with a hair-trigger, that final play was a gamble, to be sure: to beat Parsons- one of the most dominant game-wreckers in the league- by leaving him totally unblocked, letting him come scot-free, and throwing the ball- either right past his earhole to an inexperienced running back in the flat… or to DK Metcalf, who had already torched the Cowboys for 134 yards and three touchdowns and was wide open.
Seattle is no stranger to making bizarre short-yardage play-call decisions when the game is literally on the line. Remember how Super Bowl XLIX ended? In that nail-biter, the Seahawks didn’t rely on their superstud running back (Marshawn Lynch) when they needed a yard.
On Thursday in Arlington, they relied too heavily on a third-string rusher when they needed twice that.
“I think they left the back on me,” Parsons said afterward. “That’s not a good strategy, either.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
[mm-video type=video id=01hgk43hn4g35y9p3qhg playlist_id=01eqbwens7sctqdrqg player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01hgk43hn4g35y9p3qhg/01hgk43hn4g35y9p3qhg-465096c39118919e79d756d753c1544d.jpg]
[lawrence-newsletter]
