Pete Carroll said something very wise

[chenyan94]

a few weeks back Womens Earl Thomas III Jersey , and I don’t know if it received enough attention.“There’s this rejuvenation to every season that we have that’s a remarkable part of our business that sometimes we don’t talk about enough. The newness, the challenges, the unknown, the expectations and the uncertainty of all of it makes this very exciting.”(In fact, I could not find the quote I was looking for. This is pretty close.)That it did not receive much attention is perhaps indicative of why it’s so wise. The media almost cannot help but fixate on older players who are often well past their respective primes. We recognize achievement retroactively, of course, and when an athlete (or actor, writer, director, comedian, & c.) has established themselves as “great,” that reputation is endowed with inertia. A great player, whatever they do and however good they still are, meets a journalistic need for prominence. And, because we’re talking about humans interacting with humans, humans creating enduring relationships with humans, and a massively unbalanced power structure between journalist and athlete, those journalists are heavily incentivized to promote and if necessary defend those athletes they have developed a relationship with. The sideshow of coverage which surrounds and often overshadows the game itself, and which is almost condescendingly simplistic and direct, reinforces the reputation of greatness just as the player’s reputation and fans reinforces the legitimacy of the coverage. This is sometimes called “brand synergy,” but brands do not play football. It is very hard to determine season to season exactly how good a player is, and it’s hard to discredit a player with a reputation of greatness. Hard, especially, because people become fans of a specific player, and pride combined with ignorance has a way of producing chauvinism. Not nationalist in this case, but a kind of blind loyalty which manifests what it perceives as the virtue of loyalty in a kind of stubborn, wounded, unwavering need to protect and defend the player, often belligerently. And not just against so-called “haters,” but in a way, against the dispassionate and grim march of time.Most likely the very few who ever achieve greatness in anything will only be great for a very short time. Those who never achieve greatness are most likely nevertheless still the very best they will ever be for a short amount of time, and in athletics, that time will most likely be when they are very young. As certain performance enhancing drugs are purged from widespread use, that window creeps ever forward in time, so that increasingly nothing is so valuable as a star player on a rookie contract. Sometime soon that player will be rewarded for their greatness, and given the fact that the free agent market tends to be pretty efficient, it will become increasingly unlikely that that player will be able to achieve surplus value. The player has been paid for what they’ve done as early senescence eats away at what they can do. This is often called the “winner’s curse,” as the winner of a free agent bidding war is the team which submitted the highest bid. The player is signed but at the maximum realistic range of their value.In his disarming way, ever accentuating the positive, Carroll explained to the world why he is one of the best head coaches in the NFL. He’s a football rat, understands the game and specifically his style of defense exceptionally well, trusts his evaluation and the evaluation of the Seattle Seahawks’ brain-trust, and understands how the media inherently distorts the truth; how its access to a megaphone, if you will, should not be confused with authority. It is possible to be very loud, very influential, and over-brimming with confidence, and yet comically wrong. This:I think it’s fair to say, is the apex position for proper punditry. But sports, God bless sports, allows an interested person to bypass the filter. Admitting the irony of my writing the above, all of the above, let us look at some of Seattle’s un-great defenders in the very midst of their ascendance. These are unheralded dudes who will face a thousand pitfalls before they are given a chance to be paid what they are worth. Many, maybe most, will never reach that place in which the market compensates them for years of exploitation. Yet they’re ballin. They are the blood and breath of a top-five defense.We start here:Michael Dickson has achieved 1.20 expected points of value by turning a quickly-stalled drive which achieved -8 yards of field position into first and ten from the Oakland 12 for the Raiders. Much of that value will be immediately lost.The camera does not switch away from an inflated white ball being volleyed around Wembley until the defense is set, but a funny thing happens. Here is the Raiders’ initial look from a different camera angle.It’s a very unbalanced look, with three Raiders’ skill position players to the right of center and only one to the left. It mismatches Seattle, insomuch that LEO Frank Clark and weakside linebacker Austin Calitro are aligned opposite the presumed strong side. Before the snap, Oakland motions out of this potential advantage.I do not want to say Jon Gruden’s offense is bland, predictable and outdated Womens K.J. Wright Jersey , but it sure seems like Seattle anticipated Oakland’s alignment after motion, meaning the Raiders essentially motioned into a disadvantage. Clark is better aligned. Seattle’s strong defenders are aligned to the strong side. Tedric Thompson can shade towards both likely deep threats: Martavis Bryant and Jared Cook. But the underneath route to Marshawn Lynch works like a charm.Derek Carrier, just above the skycam, is a blocker in waiting. Lynch is totally open, including a throwing lane and no underneath coverage. 86, Lee Smith, does not have an obvious throwing lane, especially given the shallowness of his route. And Cook (O) is defended over, under and by the sideline:I think lots of tape analysis ignores throwing lanes and underneath coverage, preferring to excoriate quarterbacks for missing open receivers, and failing to recognize that by an NFL-standard, those receivers are not open.(y) is Austin Calitro, and (x) is Shaquill Griffin. Both are deeper than what we would probably consider ideal, and I think both are deeper than ideal for the same reason: Calitro is not quick enough to play Mike in a Pete Carroll defense. Given the alignment, Calitro is the de facto middle linebacker. Both are hedging in order to avoid “breaking,” and that opens a ton of room underneath. Quill does a good job of not cheating too badly. He is able to close off his third of the field and initiate the tackle which stops Lynch after a gain of 13.You know that part and so we will move onto the next play.It can be understood pretty simply. It also, it turns out, didn’t count.Play action sucks up the underneath defender Bobby Wagner (O).And though he scrambles to get back and signals to Tre Flowers as a means of compensating for his misread, Flowers (x) is not able to switch his zone assignment fast enough to stop Amari Cooper.I like this picture because you can see Wagner (z) desperately attempting to catch up. And you can see the dynamic nature of zone coverage. (y) is Quill, and Quill is assigned the defensive left of Seattle’s three deep zone, but is exactly between the hash marks. No Raider is left or outside of his coverage. In this way football is like world football (soccer): zones are not circles marked on the field like one would see in a video game, but dynamic proximal locations determined by relationships. Cooper’s route busts Flowers’ zone by beginning on the offensive right and sweeping left across the field, targeting the weak point in which Flowers must pass off Bryant (the Raider by Quill in the above image) to Shaq and Tedric. With a little help from Wagner, Flowers is on it pretty quick, and thanks to young legs and good coaching, Flowers limits Cooper’s yards after catch.This is all wiped by out by pretty obvious holding by Jon Feliciano of Shamar Stephen, but that holding is also pretty much irrelevant to the outcome of the play. What remains is teachable tape. Time constraints and my extreme verbosity will force me to split this analysis into two parts. My apologies, time is not my ally this fall. But before we pick up this drive next week, let me look at one last play.Our initial look:Which turns into a kind of shambolic screen pass:That is ended by #90 Jarran Reed. Reed begins the snap by playing left defensive tackle, specifically the three technique. He splits a guard-tackle double team, but so doing gets washed out way away from Richard. He’s the fella facing away from the camera and with his arm out and jersey apparently reading “茝0” in the above screen grab. Also of note is Nazair Jones, who is just inside the goal post and peaking out from behind 76, Feliciano. Jones will effectively stay away from Feliciano long enough to both close Richard’s “rush” lane, and “force” right guard Gabe Jackson (66), into doubling him. That allows Reed to take a relatively flat angle of pursuit and trip up Richard after a short gain.Clark and Quinton Jefferson deserve a little credit for rallying to the ball, and Mingo channels Richard toward the middle and therefore toward Reed, but this is Reed’s play. Someday too late, some interested party will point out how, as a gap-sound do-everything defensive tackle who gets push, can separate from a blocker at will, hustles his ass off and is a pretty good pass rusher, Reed is one of the better defensive tackles in football. Maybe if we’re lucky, when that’s said, it will still be true. Though the NFL is not known for trade deadline deals, it definitely seems as though it’s been more active in recent years than ever before. At last year’s October 31 deadline, the Seattle Seahawks traded for Duane Brown, the Buffalo Bills traded for Kelvin Benjamin, the Philadelphia Eagles traded for Jay Ajayi, the San Francisco 49ers traded for Jimmy Garoppolo, and the New York Jets traded for Rashard Robinson. A few days prior to that, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded for Marcell Dareus.This season, we’ve already seen Amari Cooper, Carlos Hyde, Eli Apple, and Damon Harrison move cities. It’s likely we’ll see a few more before Tuesday’s deadline and while there will be plenty of speculation leading up that, I’ve decided to outline a few players that Seattle won’t be dealing for this season.The Seahawks are 3-3, having won three of their last four, and surprisingly they have fewer needs than I expected. The return of Ed Dickson at tight end and K.J. Wright at outside linebacker after missing the first six games essentially gives Seattle two “additions” to the roster already. They’re also looking to get back Rasheem Green and Dion Jordan on the defense, potentially aiding their pass rush issues.At this point, their only potential “needs” seem to be upgrades that would seem unnecessary in trade. For example http://www.seattleseahawksteamonline.com/ethan-pocic-jersey , the Seahawks could technically trade for a “number one receiver” but is it worth giving up a draft asset for when you are getting by just fine with Tyler Lockett, Doug Baldwin, and David Moore? Seattle could target a receiving tight end if one was out there, but has the offense looked worse for the wear without one these last few weeks? They could add a pass rusher, but anything more than a rotational piece is potential overkill.The Seahawks moved two second rounders and a third rounder to acquire Sheldon Richardson and Brown in separate deals last season. If there was an offer out there that seemed too good to be true, I’m sure John Schneider is ready to negotiate, but anything more than depth acquisitions wouldn’t seem to fall in line with Seattle’s current needs. Here are a few players who likely won’t be on the Seahawks come Tuesday:Olivier Vernon, DE/OLB, GiantsNew York is already starting to dismantle their over-priced defense, having dealt Apple and Harrison in an effort to have more acquisitions for building the defense again in 2019. The Giants somewhat inexplicably gave Vernon an $85 million deal in 2016 even though he wasn’t seen as a “star” edge rusher by the public at large. Below the surface though, Vernon had 36 QB hits for the Miami Dolphins in 2015 and New York’s return on investment didn’t look to bad in his first season with the team: 64 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss, 8.5 sacks, 23 QB hits. But last season he missed four games and his numbers dipped as New York fell to 3-13. He’s missed four games this year and it’s hard to say how valuable he’ll continue to be. It’ll be hard for him to match his $15.25 million salary in each of the next two seasons and that salary could prohibit a team like Seattle from giving the franchise tag to Frank Clark while also retaining some of their other young players. Instead, you might want to consider Giants defensive lineman Kerry Wynn. He signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal in the offseason and has played decently without much attention for it. New York might be able to cop a day three pick if they don’t decide to re-up Wynn.Janoris Jenkins, CB, GiantsOne of New York’s other high-priced acquisitions in 2016, Jenkins has a $62.5 million contract that pays him $10 million in each of the next two seasons. That’s not terrible for a good cornerback, but Jenkins is also more prone to giving up long scores than the average high-priced defensive back, and that’s not something that tends to jive with Pete Carroll. If Tre Flowers were a disaster, then the Seahawks would be desperate, but he’s not, so they’re not, and acquiring anything more than a depth corner doesn’t make any sense.Gareon Conley, CB, RaidersThat being said, Conley surely makes more sense than Jenkins. He’s 23, he’s long, he’s relatively cheap, and he could become great. However, Oakland probably wants a first rounder just like they got for Cooper, and that’s too pricey for a player who might only get in the way of the development of Flowers.Bruce Irvin, LB, RaidersI know how much some fans want Bruce to return to Seattle, but to do what? K.J. Wright is back and Barkevious Mingo is playing as well as to be expected when he signed a two-year deal. To put a hand in the ground and play defensive end? That’s not him. There’s no place for Irvin, so why give up anything for him? If you’re looking for a former Seahawk on the Oakland defense to trade for, how about Clinton McDonald? He’d be a lot cheaper and he’d fill a more important need. I think there’d be some logic to Seattle trading a conditional late pick for the 31-year-old McDonald.Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, BrownsI don’t even know if Cleveland likes or dislikes Ogbah, but I assume every player acquired prior to the 2017 draft is on the table. Ogbah had 1.5 sacks in the last game, his first time getting to the QB this season. The 32nd overall pick in 2016 (one after Germain Ifedi), Ogbah has not yet proven to be a special edge rusher, but the Browns don’t have many other options. And believe it or not, Cleveland is well in the race for the AFC North, especially if they pull off the upset in Pittsburgh this weekend. I don’t think Hue Jackson is giving up and I don’t think the Browns are sellers.Jabaal Sheard, DE, ColtsMargus Hunt, DE, ColtsThe Colts have the cheapest defense in the NFL and it shows, but Sheard and Hunt each have four sacks this year, playing much better than they used to. However, even at 2-5, Indy can’t believe they are out of the race in the AFC South, where the Houston Texans lead the division following an 0-3 start.Indianapolis isn’t selling, especially with a date against the Raiders on Sunday.And that’s one of the biggest hurdles between the NFL and an active trade deadline: there aren’t enough games before the deadline to have many teams who are ready to quit on the season. Even the Buffalo Bills could beat the Patriots this week and only be two games out of first. The San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals are out of it, but play in Seattle’s division. The Colts and Browns aren’t far out of first.There will be some trades in the next week, but the Seahawks aren’t likely to be involved in any of them, unless it’s on the low-key end of things.
_________________
http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/