Tag: Tyler Lockett

Pete Carroll hoping Seahawks make positive transition out of bye week

Coming off of a huge Monday night victory over the 49ers, coach Pete Carroll is hoping the Seahawks can make the most of the bye week.

The Seattle Seahawks won’t be taking the field Week 11, enjoying a late bye to rest and recover. Coming off the heels of a huge Monday night victory over the San Franciso 49ers, coach Pete Carroll is hoping the team can make the most of the break.

“Yeah, I think we’re very, very fortunate,” Carroll said on Tuesday. “I always would tell you that they bye came at the right time because it did. It came when they gave it to you. We can make a good transition out of this, I think.”

Although Seattle escaped the San Francisco matchup with very few injuries – save for wide receiver Tyler Lockett – the extra time to recuperate could lead to the return of a number of players Week 12.

“I hate that we didn’t have our meetings today to have the fun of watching the highlights and the film like we like to do and have a good time and all that because the guys got to separate,” Carroll continued. “We just have to recreate that when we come back Monday.”

The Seahawks have a bonus practice Monday afternoon before reporting for the full work week on Wednesday to prepare to face the Eagles in Philadelphia. The game has been flexed to an early start, so adjust your schedules accordingly.

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How Amari Cooper, Dak Prescott rank as a crime-fighting, pass-game duo

Standard metrics don’t do justice to the incredible start to Amari Cooper’s tenure in Dallas

Dallas has built its identity in the last decade on running the football.  They’ve had a 1,000+ yard rusher in five of the last six years, with the lone exception being Ezekiel Elliott’s 983 yards in a 10-game 2017 season.  And while Zeke is still on pace for 300 carries in 2019, there are signs that an offense built around the passing game will give them the best chance to win.

And they’ve finally got a receiver paired with Dak Prescott who can lead them through it.

Through nine games this season, Amari Cooper’s 848 yards is already more than any Cowboys receiver has had in a single season since Dez Bryant tallied 1,320 in 2014.  His connection with Prescott was there from their very first game together, catching a touchdown pass on just his third target as a Cowboy.

There’s been an interesting question of which QB-WR combination has been the best in recent years floating around, and much like the MVP discussion, Prescott and Cooper have been frequently absent from the conversation.  While pairs like Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill, or Matt Ryan and Julio Jones tend to be the first places people go, Dak and Amari have a strong case that often goes ignored.  Let’s change that.

Completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) is becoming more and more common in quarterback evaluation.  It takes recent NFL data and calculated the likelihood of a given pass being completed based on target depth and side of the field.  Next Gen Stats also calculates a version of this that factors in receiver separation, but we get a very close approximation using our own data.  I took the calculation for CPOE (courtesy of The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin) and modified it slightly to the CPOE for wide receivers.  From there, we can combine that with a receiver’s actual catch rate to find their catches over expected.  This is useful because while efficiency is important, volume also matters when talking about wide receivers.  Receivers who command more targets are more important to an offense than efficient receivers who don’t get targeted much.  Catches over expectation aren’t very sticky year-to-year, but they do correlate well with total receiving EPA, so this should be considered more of a descriptive stat rather than a predictive one.  Here is every receiver season since 2010, with Cowboys highlighted.

Cooper’s nine games in 2019 are already better than the nine games he played last year, and approaching Dez Bryant’s two best totals.  And remember, this is a cumulative statistic.  Cooper has seven more games to go this year.  There’s a really good chance he finishes with the best numbers in a single Cowboys season this decade.

To compare him to some other notable wideouts in the NFL, let’s run the same numbers, but just during the time frame of Cooper’s tenure with Dallas.  Since Week 9 of 2018, only two wide receivers have more catches over expectation than Amari Cooper.

Cooper ranks seventh in total EPA, but he’s also caught more balls than expected than every receiver but Michael Thomas and Tyler Lockett.  He has been a clear No. 1 receiver since the trade, and has helped elevate Prescott’s game when he’s on the field.  Here’s how the Cowboys receivers look by CPOE and EPA/target.

Prescott’s CPOE is the vertical red line, the team’s EPA/target average the horizontal one.

Prescott’s CPOE is at its peak when targeting Cooper and tight end Jason Witten, but his efficiency (measured by EPA/attempt) is miles ahead when throwing at Cooper vs any other receiver.

A look into the receiving success over time since Cooper’s arrival paints another great picture of how important he’s been to this offense.  Here’s the cumulative EPA for each Cowboys receiver with at least 20 targets since Week 9 of 2018.

Nobody even comes close on this team to matching Cooper’s production or his consistency.

The Cowboys’ offense has been overshadowed by a strict commitment to the run game, but it’s time to acknowledge that their passing offense is not only one of the best in the league, and not only features an MVP candidate at quarterback.  It’s also got a star wide receiver producing at a level that rivals any other player in the NFL.

Related Cowboys Data Analysis

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Seahawks tied for 2nd-most players on the injured reserve

The Seattle Seahawks are no stranger to the injury bug. They’re still finding ways to win despite having one of the highest injury totals.

Injuries, like in any sport, are a part of the game of football. Some injuries can derail seasons and others can, unfortunately, end careers. The Seattle Seahawks are no stranger to the injury bug, but they aren’t letting it impact them this year.

Heading into their bye week, the Seahawks are tied with the Texans, Jaguars, and Broncos with 13 players on the injured reserve. That is good for the second total, behind only the Falcons. Of that group, Seattle surpasses only the Falcons in terms of money on the IR.

The teams at the top of the list, at least financially, lost their starting quarterbacks. The Seahawks find themselves near the top in both categories because of the sheer quantity of players on the IR – although they have been fortunate that the impact felt by many of those losses has been minimal. As such, the team’s record is 8-2, and they just dethroned the last undefeated team in the league.

One of the biggest contributors to Seattle’s cap money tied to the IR is tight end Ed Dickson, who is expected to be activated soon. His return will be a big help on the field, which only adds to the potential of this team down the stretch.

Even though the Seahawks haven’t lost a player like Ben Roethlisberger or Cam Newton, they are still stinging from the losses of starting center Justin Britt and tight end Will Dissly.

Hopefully, the “big money” injury (a la Russell Wilson or Tyler Lockett) isn’t on the horizon and the team can continue to heal.

On the other end of the bye week, the Seahawks will be taking on the  Eagles, likely with the help of Dickson.

A healthy Dickson not only lowers the amount of money tied up on the injured reserve, but it also gives Seattle more depth at a key area of need for the rest of the season.

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Report: Tyler Lockett flying back to Seattle, expected to play vs. Eagles

Seattle Seahawks star receiver Tyler Lockett is expected to play in Week 12 after getting the go-ahead to fly back home from California.

Seahawks star wide receiver Tyler Lockett is flying back to Seattle today, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He spent the last few days at a Bay Area hospital for precautionary reasons after suffering a lower leg contusion in Monday night’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Lockett did not play at all in the overtime period on Monday and was sent to a hospital with swelling in his leg. The team opted to leave him in California as a safety measure, and he remained there on Tuesday as well.

Lockett is on his way back on Wednesday, via Seahawks owner Jody Allen’s private plane, and he is expected to play in Week 12 against the Eagles in Philadelphia, according to Schefter. The Seahawks have a Week 11 bye.

Lockett is in the midst of a Pro Bowl-caliber season, racking up a career-high 62 receptions for 793 yards and six touchdowns through the first 10 games.

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Tyler Lockett remains in California following lower leg injury

Tyler Lockett remains in California to have his lower leg evaluated, but with a bye week upcoming, the Seattle Seahawks expect him to play.

The Seattle Seahawks are going into their bye week at the perfect time.

Although teams feel that way nearly every week, this week has extra significance with Tyler Lockett, the team’s leading receiver and a potential Pro Bowler, suffering a lower leg contusion late in Seattle’s overtime victory in San Francisco on Monday night.

The Seahawks left him behind in California to get looked at, and coach Pete Carroll confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Lockett is still down in the bay, and will be there at least another day while he gets checked out.

“He’s gonna stay another day, he’ll be there again tonight just for precautionary reasons,” Carroll said on Tuesday. “He’s better than he was yesterday. Our people think he’s going to be fine to play. He’ll need the rest of this week to make sure everything goes away, but he should be fine to play next week.”

Lockett’s status would certainly be a lot murkier if Seattle played this Sunday, but with their next game not until November 24, it gives Lockett plenty of time to rest and recover and hopefully not have to miss any games.

Lockett suffered the injury late in Monday’s contest, although Carroll couldn’t pinpoint exactly win.

While he has severe swelling on his leg, as long as there is no other damage, fans can expect Lockett to be back in time for the Seahawks to take on the Eagles in a few weeks.

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Tyler Lockett suffered lower leg contusion in win over 49ers

The Seahawks won a big game against the 49ers, but injuries to Tyler Lockett and Luke Willson could be consequential down the stretch.

The Seattle Seahawks pulled off a stunner in front of a national audience on Monday night, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 27-24 in overtime to move to 8-2 on the season.

The bruising, physical game did not come without its downfalls however, as two key members of the Seattle offense suffered injuries that could have an impact on this team down the line.

Veteran receiver Tyler Lockett, arguably Seattle’s second most important offensive player, suffered a lower leg contusion late in the game and was not on the field during the overtime period.

Coach Pete Carroll said after the game that the contusion caused immediate swelling, enough that he was off-site getting evaluated right after the game.

“He got a really bad lower-leg bruise,” Carroll said. “He’ll be okay, but it’s a pretty severe situation for right now.”

It’s unclear if this injury will cause Lockett to miss any time, which would be a devastating loss for this Seahawks team.

Lockett only had three catches for 26 yards, but he has been Seattle’s leading receiver all season and is playing at a Pro Bowl level this year.

The other injury was a hamstring for tight end Luke Willson, who came out of the game in the second quarter and never returned.

Carroll wouldn’t elaborate on Willson’s injury, but hamstring injuries can linger and could certainly limit him down the stretch this season.

The team does have reinforcements coming in Ed Dickson, who will need to return from the injured reserve in Week 12 or else be out for the year. Seattle also got another strong performance from Jacob Hollister, which eases the sting of potentially losing Willson.

Carroll will speak to the media again on Tuesday before the team takes the rest of the week off for their bye, so check back then for an injury update.

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