A Few Tidbits from Around the Web: Punting

Football season is in full swing. High School, NCAA, and NFL games are happening all over the place.  There have been lots of exciting plays and even more exciting finishes (especially if your team is playing the Seahawks). For some reason the recent weeks have have had a disproportionately large number of weird punt plays. So, for that reason this edition of Tidbits will be focusing strictly on punts.

• On Sunday October 18th, The Indianapolis Colts were in a tight contest with the New England Patriots. During the third quarter on a fourth and three the Colts decided to run a fake punt. The play they ran to try and convert the fourth down was possibly the worst designed play ever. The head coach has since said they weren't supposed to actually hike the ball, but that doesn't matter because they did hike the ball. Fail.
• Michigan vs Michigan State is a fierce rivalry. Traditionally Michigan has dominated, but for as of late "little brother" Michigan State has had the upper hand. Coming into this years game Michigan State had won 6 of the last 7 competitions. This year it looked like Michigan was finally going to top the highly ranked Michigan State, until disaster struck during a punt on the last play of the game.
• This video is old,but it is good. Seahawk's punter Jon Ryan used to play for the Packers and he was really good.
• Somehow with five games played in 2015 the San Diego Chargers have only 3 punt return yards (click the link and scroll down to the bottom to see).

Pete Carroll Fails, the Seahawks Offensive Line is Terrible

It is time for the experiments on the Seahawks offensive line to stop. We know that Pete Carroll, John Schneider, et al are football geniuses. They can spot talent that no one else can. They have proved it time and time again. However, not everyone can get it right every time and when it comes to the offensive line the Seahawks coaches have got it all wrong.

Currently the Seahawks have three players (Nowak, Sweezey, and Gilliam) starting on their offensive line who didn't play       offensive line in college. The Seahawks decided that the raw athletic talent that these three guys possess was enough that they could turn them into NFL level lineman. The coaches thought they could mold them into competent starters and get great value at expensive positions. If it had worked this would sure be a great success story, but instead it has been an utter failure.

On every single offensive play the Seahawks Russell Wilson is put at an increased risk of getting injured because his linemen are unable to even slow down the opponents pass rush. Wilson has already been sacked 18 times in only 4 games. At that paces he will go down for a loss 72 times in 2015. That is a ridiculous amount. His previous season high for being sacked is 44.

Also all those sacks don't count all the other hits Wilson is taking. Sacks aren't recorded when Wilson throws it away right before getting drilled, which is happening a lot. Even though the stats don't show it, Wilson body is still feeling it. He can't continue to take this punishment forever. His play is going to suffer. If he somehow manages not to get injured he is sure to get gun-shy. The constant beatings add up.

The Seahawks are lucky they have Wilson. Without him they would probably be 1-3 and none of those losses would have been close. A slower less mobile QB wouldn't even stand a chance back there. Think of Carson Palmer or Tom Brady. Guys like that would never even get a pass off. Instead we have Wilson who is able to evade onrushing defenders and throw complete passes on the run. His skill and athleticism is saving the Seahawks from humiliation.

As I have repeated stated, the Seahawks offensive line is terrible. That is entirely on the coaching staff. They chose to trade away Pro Bowler Max Unger and let quality players like Chris Carpenter walk without bringing anyone competent in to replace them. It isn't Gilliam, Nowak, or Sweezey's faults they were thrown into NFL games to play positions they don’t understand. Taking a gamble on one guy being able to successfully convert would have been worse the risk, but attempting the conversion on three guys is irresponsibly risky. Pete Carroll should have seen this awful mess coming. Everyone else in Seattle did.

With their current offensive line the Seahawks coaching staff has been a complete failure. Their attempt to find market inefficiencies and succeed by saving money on the line by converting players to the position has been a failure and is putting their star QB at risk for injury. Seahawks are playing with fire and if they don’t change something soon they are going to get burned.