Film Review, Preseason Week 1: Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers, 3rd Quarter

We went over the 1st quarter and 2nd quarter previously, and now we're back to break down the third quarter. Here's a spoiler alert: this was not a good quarter at all for the Chargers.

The offensive formations are denoted by [# of backs] [# of tight ends] and if applicable, shotgun.

The defensive formations are denoted by [# of DL] [# of LBs] and [# of DBs if more than 4]

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SEA 20	False Start

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 15	SEA 15	Micheal runs for 9 yards	20	425 Nickel

Seattle runs outside zone,  but the backside DE Wynn and the NT Geathers get completely washed down the line allowing for a big gain. DL must stay in their gaps here.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 6	SEA 24	Michael runs for 9 yards	12	Base 34

Another run to the left, Bird takes a poor angle to the ball taking himself out of the play. Geathers, I kid you not, gets pushed NINE yards downfield by the C. Making 2 long running plays in a row, poor defense here.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SEA 33	Michael runs for no gain	21	Base 34

SEA runs off tackle right, but Tourek Williams does a great job of disengaging with his man to make the tackle at the line. Would like to see him flash more like this.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 10	SEA 33	Quinn complete to Wilson for 1 yard	11	425 Nickel

SEA runs PA pass but Cattouse does a good job of not biting on the play and comes up and makes the tackle for a next to nothing gain. Cattouse looks the part, so far.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & 9	SEA 34	Quinn complete for 6 yards	11 gun	425 Nickel

SD shows pressure with 6 men at the line of scrimmage(LOS) but with off coverage. This is one of the better blitzes I've seen Pagano run. Both LBs were lined up over the Center, 1 dropped back while Steve Williams blitzed off the edge. Williams forces Quinn to get rid of the ball quicker than he wanted and Cattouse breaks on the ball and makes the tackle. Nice play design.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
4th & 3	SEA 40	Punt-Touchback

After giving up a pair of big runs, the defense buckles down as T. Williams wins his 1-on-1 battle, Cattouse makes his presence felt as a sure tackler, and Pagano gets creative on 3rd down. Well done, D.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SD 20	Whittaker runs for 6	21	43 Over

SD runs inside zone over the RG, Molk & Troutman do a great job at double teaming the DT, driving him out of the play. Gronk gets a nice block on the MLB and it's an easy gain of 6 yards as Whittaker finds the huge cutback lane. OL still more comfortable with zone blocking at this point.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 4	SD 26	Whittaker runs for -3 yards	21	43 Over

SD tries to run a draw play up the middle, but Troutman gets beat at the snap off the ball, forcing Gronk to pick up his man. The chain reaction of that allows the LB to come free(who would have been Gronks man) and get Whittaker in the backfield. After the initial missed block the play didn't stand a chance.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & 7	SD 23	Whitehurst sacked -4 yards	11 gun	425 Nickel

The OL picks up SEA pass rush nicely, but Whitehurst stands in the pocket for just a hair over 5 seconds and takes the sack. He had Green coming open on a deep crossing route, but he panics and drops his eyes. This say goes on the QB.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
4th & 11	SD 19	Punt

After a very nice punt of 55 yards, Bird misses a seemingly easy tackle, and the long snapper gets out of his lane, allowing for a 46 yard return. These are the kind of momentum shifts that loses games.

After a great piece of blocking on 1st down, the drive stalls after Troutman misses his block, and Whitehurst misses Green for a 1st down. Compound this with the poor punt coverage, and it's an all around bad drive. Can't expect your defense to bail you out here.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SD 28	Quinn complete for  23 yards	21	Base 34

Cattouse tries to jam the TE about 5 yards down the field, but whiffs bad, allowing him to run right by him on a corner route for a big gain. It's unfortunate, because Geathers beats his man and the RB to pressure the QB, but all for naught.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & Goal	SD 5	Quinn complete for 3 yards	21	Base 34

SEA runs a quick play action pass, and tries to get the TE free for a score. Wynn does a good job of chipping the TE to slow him down, this allows Catthose to come all the way across the formation and make the tackle. Cattouse appears to have good closing speed.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & Goal	SD 2	Ware runs right for -2 yards	22	Goaline

Don't know what else to call this besides a hell of a play by Beltre. He shoots the gap on the inside of the shoulder beating the TE, then he blows up the FB. Geathers pushes the Center back 2 yards and the defense corralled Ware in the backfield.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & Goal	SD 4	Quinn pass incomplete	11 gun	425 Nickel

SD shows blitz and man coverage across the board, again they drop the LB and bring Cattouse off the edge, he's the 6th rusher. SEA tries to run a pick play or a "rub" route where the slot man runs to the corner of the end zone. Williams doesn't bite and is over the top on the play. The ball is thrown out of bounds. Good play recognition by Steve Williams here.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
4th & Goal	SD 4	22 yards Field Goal

After being backed up for the second time this game, SD does a good job of keeping SEA out of the end zone. They've allowed a couple big plays, but haven't broken. They played really well inside the 5 yard line on this drive.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SD 22	Hill runs for 2 yards	21	43 Over

LT Becton lets the DE cross his face and gets beat right away, Gronk is forced to pick him up, Willie comes down with a very nice crack back block and actually picks up 2 guys. Hill gets tackled in the open field by a CB, need to make him miss there, especially when you're trying to make the 53.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 8	SD 24	Whittaker run for 1 yard	21	Base 43

Inside zone over the LG, Gronk doesn't really block anyone, but there's a gaping hole between the LT & LG and I'm just waiting for Whittaker to bounce it for a big gain, he doesn't. He runs into the pile and is tackled for a minimal gain.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & 7	SD 25	Whitehurst sacked for -6 yards	11 gun	425 Nickel

Bunch right, SEA blitzes a LB, Whittaker blocks him for about 1.5 seconds then gets beat. Becton gets bull rushed back a couple yards, but the initial protection was there, the sack came at 4 seconds. Whitehurst had Meachem on a quick crossing route, have to get the ball out of your hands here.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
4th & 13	SD 19	Punt

Another 50 yard punt gone to waste after a couple of missed tackles, for an 18 yard return.

Another poor series for the offense, Becton looks over matched at this point. Whitehurst holds on to the ball far too long and Whittaker runs hard, but doesn't see the holes that are there.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	50	T. Jackson pass incomplete	12	Base 34

Y-Y formation, SD shows pressure up the middle, and bring 6. SEA runs a play action bootleg right into the blitz of Keiser. Jackson is forced to throw it quick and finds the TE on a crossing route, but he drops it. Addae was there late, and didn't have an impact on the play.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 10	50	Coleman run for 3 yards	21	Base 34

SEA runs a Fullback dive, both middle LBs fall for the outside fake and are out of position. Geathers geta a good push, moving the center 2 yards into the backfield. Keiser crashes down the line hard to stop the play from being a big gain.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & 7	SD 47	Jackson complete deep for 41 yards	11 gun	425 Nickel

SD shows pressure, but backs off and plays man coverage with 2 high safeties. At the snap, Cattouse comes down to take away any crossing routes over the middle, leaving Addae as the single high safety. The DL gets no kind of pass rush, and Jackson has all day to throw. He hits his WR deep down the left side as he had Josh Johnson beat by a couple steps. Not sure what Addae was reading, he was in no mans land. Jackson also had his TE open over the middle, as he had DJ Smith beat by a couple steps as well.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & Goal	SD 6	Ware runs up the middle 6 yards for TD	20	Base 34

SEA runs off tackle left and Beltre blows up the FB, but the cutback lane is enormous as the entire defense over pursues. Wynn has an opportunity to make the tackle but Ware runs right throw him for an easy score.

This is what happens when you have the punt coverage that the Chargers have had tonight, eventually, it catches up to you. With the short field, Seattle is 1 big play away, and they got it. Josh Johnson has had a rough night.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
		Kickoff returned to 15

Goodman must know he's on the roster bubble, he's tried to make something out of nothing. He's made some poor decisions this game as a kick returner.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SD 15	Sorensen complete for 2 yards	11 gun	Base 34

Molk skips the snap to Sorensen, he does a good job of fielding it and immediately getting his eyes down field. He hits Willie on the "switch" route. If he had received the snap properly, they had the right play called because both defenders jumped Willie's route.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 8	SD 17	Hill runs for gain of 4	21	43 Over

Sorensen sees the strength of the defense and audibles to a weakside run. Dombrowski's man beats him instantly and blows the play up inside. Hill has to bounce it outside, cuts up and gets 4. At this point,Dombrowski looks like the worst player on the team.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & 4	SD 21	Sorensen complete to Green for 5 yards	1	425 Nickel

Empty backfield, with 4 WRs and Green in the slot, the protection is there and the pocket is clean. This is what all the talk awas about getting the ball out of your hand quickly. Just as Green is turning around, the ball is already there for the 1st down, with some zip on it. Nice play all around.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SD 26	Hill runs for -4	12	Base 43

Y-Y formation, SD runs an outside zone, and no joke, Dombrowski's man literally pushes him to the ground in the blink of an eye and makes the play in the backfield. Wow. Manhandled.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 14	SD 22	Sorensen incomplete	11 gun	425 Nickel

SD runs a quick PA, Troutman & Molk both get beat. Sorensen does a good job of climbing the pocket, and has Depalma open over the middle, but misses high. This is where Sorensen needs to step to his throw and follow through, not rely on his arm so much.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
3rd & 14	SD 22	Sorensen incomplete	11 gun	425 Nickel

SD has a screen set up, the ball hits HIll in the numbers and he drops it. The play wasn't going for much, as Dombrowski didn't get to the LB in time, he missed the block and would've made the tackle.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
		Punt

Excitement for Sorensen is warranted. He clearly has a live arm and quick release. He needs to work on his mechanics, though. His follow through should leave him finishing "top to bottom." Right now he finishes "right to left" and that's why he was inaccurate, or is usually the reason he's off target. Also, I have no idea how Dombrowski is on an NFL roster.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
1st & 10	SD 45	Ware runs for gain of 2	12	Base 34

Y-Y formation, SEA runs off tackle right, Wynn is able to beat the double team, and make the tackle. Geathers also fights down the line to join in on the tackle. Great showing by both guys, they've really flashed tonight.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
2nd & 8	SD 47	Jackson pass copmlete for 11 yards	11 gun	425 Nickel

SEA comes out in trips left, and runs a screen to the inside WR. FS Middleton is there but can't get off his block, Bird gets blocked by the G, and the WR has an easy gain of 11. Good execution here by SEA.

Down	Yard	Play	O-Form	D-Form
	End of 3rd QTR

This was easily the worst quarter of the three, so far. The offense kicked themselves with penalties and bad execution, and far too many sacks. The special teams were about as bad as you could possibly be. The defense help up for as long as they could, but all it takes is one big play, and that's what happened.