Seahawks’ defensive disguises put Shanahan’s offence under pressure
Bucky Brooks says Seattle’s shifting coverage and defensive line could complicate San Francisco’s run and play-action game when the teams meet on Sunday.
In a Week 4 film review for Fox Sports, analyst Bucky Brooks examines how Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s defence has challenged San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s offence. The teams are scheduled to meet on Sunday.
Brooks describes Shanahan’s offence as built around zone runs, motion, shifts and condensed formations. The movement, he says, can create explosive plays when defenders lose assignments or become misaligned.
Seattle’s approach, in Brooks’s assessment, uses two-high safeties, light boxes and five or six defensive backs to complicate San Francisco’s reads. The Seahawks vary how they respond to motion, sometimes shadowing the moving player before dropping into zone coverage, and sometimes switching defenders to meet the player in man coverage.
Brooks says the disguises make it harder for the 49ers to read coverage before the snap. Seattle’s lighter boxes also leave room for its defensive backs to help contain runs while guarding against play-action passes.
He credits defensive linemen Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II and Jarran Reed with disrupting interior runs and pushing San Francisco towards the edges, where Seattle’s defensive backs can make tackles in space.
