In week 13, the Seattle Seahawks’ offense looked the best it has since Week 2 of the season when they scored 35 points against the Dallas Cowboys. Although Seattle cruised to 35, their offense completely stalled to a catastrophic degree in the fourth quarter.
The final three drives for the Seahawks offense all died near midfield on 4th-and-short yardage situations. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s play calling in those situations were disastrous to an inexcusable and borderline incomprehensible degree. But none was more egregious than the final play of the game.
Facing a 4th-and-2 at the 50 yard line, Waldon dialed up a play that intentionally left star pass rusher Micah Parsons unblocked. Predictably, it did not work, Geno Smith threw a hurried incompletion, and the Seahawks lost their third-straight game.
Waldron took to the media to discuss the ill-fated play, and had this to say:
Asked Seahawks OC Shane Waldron today about the final 4th down play at Dallas and leaving Micah Parsons unblocked. He noted that Dallas moves Parsons around so there was no certainty where Parsons would be when the play was called: pic.twitter.com/AwC4W3q0rR
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) December 8, 2023
The excuse of Parsons moving around the field and making it difficult to know where he is on the field does not hold up. The play was essentially a screen pass, where they are supposed to let in a defender while the running back sneaks behind him. And Waldron didn’t have an inkling that perhaps Dallas would line up their best defender in the best possible situation for him?
A more comprehensive breakdown of how this play is supposed to work – and why it didn’t – can be seen in the tweet below.
Here's why Micah Parsons was unblocked on that game-winning pressure (it was by design)
And if you're like "Micah Parsons was unblocked by design?!?!??!"…yeah I agree pic.twitter.com/Sv9pZ3wjCp
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) December 1, 2023
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