Monday Read Option, Week 2: San Diego "Exposes" Seattle With a Performance that Will Be Hard to Duplicate

Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers did what Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Colin Kaepernick (2x) and Drew Brees (2x) could not do against the Seattle defense since last December: control a game. Those other star quarterbacks had averaged 5.8 yards per attempt and had only 6 touchdown passes against Seattle in 6 games (1-5 record). On Sunday, Rivers averaged 7.7 yards per pass, threw three touchdowns to Antonio Gates, and finished with a 124.2 passer rating against a team that was in the conversation for one of the best pass defenses of the last decade.

How did they do it?

San Diego controlled the ball for 42:15, keeping the ball away from the Seattle offense and repeatedly moving the chains with long drives. The official box score lists San Diego as 10 for 17 on third down, but this does not seem accurate. One of the non-conversions was on the final possession when San Diego was kneeling on the ball. Two others were not converted on the play, but had a defensive penalty resulting in first down (defensive holding and personal foul). All told, San Diego had 12 third down conversions. They went 7 for 7 on third downs of 6 yards or less.

Reports last night had some Chargers saying Richard Sherman was “exposed.” Sherman fired back, laughing off the charge and saying “Lmao Exposed? …. Complete 3 passes 0 touchdowns 0 explosive passes…. These guys make me laugh.”

The truth, as always, is somewhere in between. Antonio Gates is on the Tony Gonzalez career path of Hall of Fame receivers, defying age, slowing down a step but still a technician who is working over players with his veteran guile and great hands and body positioning, and the Seahawks could not deal with him. San Diego used the backs, both on running plays and passes, to get to manageable third downs and keep Seattle off balance. And yes, San Diego did not duplicate Green Bay’s game plan where Sherman was basically getting the day off.

I had Sherman directly in coverage on 4 of the plays (another was questionable and likely a zone pass off). But while Sherman wasn’t in coverage on any of the throws to Gates for touchdowns, one thing was clear–the Chargers weren’t afraid to target him on key third downs. This was not only when he was directly in coverage, but on plays where they anticipated the defense and put he and his linebacking partners in a bind.

For example, this early third down conversion to Ryan Matthews on the first scoring drive.

The play attacks to Sherman’s side of the field, he initially follows Allen in, reacts to the run fake, and then turns to the vertical route by Ladarius Green (which Rivers reads and throws to Matthews as soon as he turns). Malcolm Smith sits in a zone guarding no one, and there is no one containing Matthews outside. This was a play that San Diego ran to specifically induce a reaction from Sherman and open that play up, and they got it.

Next is a two play sequence after San Diego was facing 2nd and 18 following a penalty. Explosive plays, maybe not, but important ones, yes. Rivers rips a throw into Keenan Allen with Seattle appearing (as far as I can tell from the TV angle) to drop into 3 deep, completed right in front of Sherman and before the linebacker can get over.

That was immediately followed by a 3rd down conversion to Keenan Allen, where he did beat Sherman on a slant in man coverage and turned him around.

This was a fun game to watch, an offense humming against a great defense, and this may have been one of my favorite plays. This again came after penalties had backed the Chargers up, and they were facing a near-impossible goal to go from the 23. San Diego got the coverage they wanted for the receiver screen, with Sherman bailing out into a cover-3 look. The lineman got out and to the linebackers, and it picked up 15. Touchdown to Gates on the next play, with a more manageable third down.

The last play is another one where they attacked Richard Sherman, and his interplay with the outside linebacker on who to cover, on another key third down. In this one, Royal goes in motion, starts to run to the middle of the field, and then pivots out, while Gates takes the linebacker deep. Sherman likely had outside responsibility on this one, with the linebacker taking the inside route. Sherman appears to read Gates as the outside route, and he is double covered. When Royal spins back to the outside, it is an easy pitch and catch for the first down.

What’s interesting about this is that it is a similar concept to what the Texans used last year on the decisive pick six by Sherman of Matt Schaub, with Royal in the role of Owen Daniels and Gates clearing deep like Andre Johnson did. This time, though, Sherman read it differently.

San Diego played an efficient game offensively, using the whole field and attacking some of the tendencies with their ability to use backs and tight ends all over the field. Don’t worry about a demise of Seattle’s defense, though, or that this exposure could have long term effects. It still required precision and perfection on third down, and San Diego recovering 4 of the 5 fumbles in the game (including all 3 when on offense).

For one day, though, an opponent turned the tables and made the Seattle defense a bit uncomfortable.

REFEREE ERRORS GALORE

Earlier in the Seahawks game, the replay official failed to properly review a Percy Harvin touchdown (on a sweet pitch play, by the way) where Harvin appears to have stepped on the sideline on his way to the end zone. Because all scoring plays are subject to review, it is incumbent on these reviews to err on the side of caution and stop the action, since a coach can no longer do it (and would be penalized if they tried).

That’s not the only case from yesterday. The Jets missed out on a touchdown on 4th and 4 that would have tied the game, when a timeout was granted to assistant coach Marty Morninwheg.

The problem? Assistant coaches cannot call timeouts under the rules, which state “[t]he Referee shall suspend play while the ball is dead and declare a charged team timeout upon the request for a timeout by the head coach or any player (not a substitute) to an official.”

Only players on the field or the head coach can call timeout, and if Morninwheg was running down to let his head coach to know to call one, but he did not, well, an improperly awarded timeout altered the game.

It wasn’t the only stoppage situation with a timeout that had a big role. At the end of the Tampa game, Mike Evans was awarded an injury timeout, and because it was in the final two minutes and Tampa had no more timeouts remaining, it required a 10 second runoff that ended the game. The problem? The injury occurred with about 15 seconds left, the player collapsed back to his knees at 13 seconds, and whistles started blowing at 11 seconds. No one confirmed the time and the clock rested at 8 seconds. Game over.

MICHIGAN STATE OWNS THE QUARTERBACK WINS

Drew Stanton and Kirk Cousins weren’t supposed to play on Sunday, but injuries to the starters in front of them (Palmer ruled out before the game, Griffin injured in the first quarter) threw them in. Brian Hoyer is holding off Johnny Manziel in Cleveland. All three went to Michigan State, meaning the Spartans improbably produced almost 20% of the victories on Sunday.

It was certainly a win for the QB wins category, though it may be hard to duplicate. As a group, the former Michigan State signal callers averaged 6.1 yards per attempt in the victories, though they did avoid turnovers. Kirk Cousins had the best statistical game against the Jaguars defense, leading some people to retweet this article I wrote before the season. We are through a game against what looks like a pretty bad defense, and the numbers . Kirk Cousins will get his chance for a lengthy period of time against a more balanced schedule where teams prepare, and we’ll get to see if the talk is worth it. Maybe.