The Art of Pass Interference
Two weeks ago I remember reading this article about the Seattle Seahawks defense: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/11/gilbride-says-seahawks-have-perfected-the-art-of-pass-interference/
The quote that really hit me was : "As explained by Kevin Clark and Jonathan Clegg of the Wall Street Journal, the Seahawks engage in blatant pass interference on a regular basis, accepting that a penalty will be called from time to time but realizing that the officials won’t call it every time."
and this one (particularly the source)
“[The Seahawks] look at it and say, ‘We may get called for one but not 10,’” FOX’s Mike Pereira, a former [NFL] V.P. of officiating, told Clark and Clegg.
As they are a west coast team and I live here in Michigan I hadn't had the opportunity to watch them until the playoffs but, after watching last night's game, DAMN if this analysis isn't dead on. Don't get me wrong here, I'm 100% envious of Seahawk fan and their team and wish I saw a little more of that out of Michigan. It certainly looked like the jamming at the line was more aggressive and held longer than allowed. It seemed like every Denver receiver who even passed by a Seahawk defender had a limb or jersey pulled. It was certainly obvious from the throws that no Denver receiver was at the point that Manning was throwing to and you have to wonder if that was Manning being so off or the receivers having no opportunity to run their routes.
Again, NOT HATING. That was one of the greatest defensive performances I've ever seen and I enjoyed every second of it. My point is the theory of the article and whether that is truly the case and whether this kind of defense can in fact survive, particularly if tried at the college level. At some point do the referees just start throwing flags every play?
[Ed-S: football isn't OT, especially considering one of M's biggest rivals uses this "art"]
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
I agree. It's their style of play and now they have a fat ring to show for it. There's nothing wrong with playing that way. And until the league sees it as an issue, they should keep doing it.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:41 PM ^
You don't consider breaking rules to be wrong, then you're totally right.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
The rule isn't that you can't interfere. The rule is that if you interfere, then the offense will get the ball at the spot of the foul and they get a first down. So, as long as you accept that you are going to be penalized on occasion when you actually interfere (5 yards downfield), you aren't breaking the rules.
It's the same concept with holding by the offensive line. As long as you accept that you will on occasion get penalized 10 yards, it is in your best interest to grab onto the jersey of the defender to help keep them in front of your, despite this technically being holding.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
Seattle was penalized 10 x for over 100 yards, twice as many fouls as Denver and more than twice the penalty yards. What Seattle has done, what the Green Guys have done, is to intimidate both the opposing offense and the officiating. I think one of the best examples I saw last night was a Seattle LB holding the Denver TE from the time he crossed the LoS until the whistle was blown. A win win for Seattle, Manning became ever more frustrated as the officials completely ignored the holding.
I see no reason why every other team shouldn't follow suit. At worst they'll remain competitive, at best their defense has a chance to dominate the opposing offense.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
it is being tried at the college level...in east lansing.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^
Didn't someone do a diary on it? Or maybe SpaceCoyote just had a lengthy post on it one time...but I think the idea is true. They play very physical knowing they won't get called every single time which permits them to get away with a little more than your average team would. I think it's a fairly brilliant strategy - no ref will have the balls to throw 10-15 flags for PI in a game
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
in which the refs DID have the balls to call PI every time it came up. And yet, when that happens, apparently all you have to do is whine and complain about it and argue that it's IMPOSSIBLE for a team to have 15 PI penalties in one game... and everyone who didn't watch the game will believe you. Even though 14/15 of those penalties were absolutely legit, and you shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt on that last one when you're playing that way.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:54 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 6:32 PM ^
But even then, ND only scored 17. MSU lost because its offense didn't show up.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
Funny you should say. While I was watching the game last night, it felt a lot like watching State's defense. Particularly the way both defenses move to the ball, keep everything in front of them and dare you to beat them deep. I think the big difference in my mind is that much of what State does revolves around completely shutting down the run. On the other hand, the Seahawks pass defense is so great, I think it forces the other offense to run or rely on short passes. Both rely on their speed but I think the big difference is the type of fear factor in what they take away.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^
the ability to generate a pass rush. Manning was feeling the pressure. The first int was a hurried throw when the pocket was collapsing. Seattle didn't seem like they had to blitz much because their 4 man rush was getting pressure. MSU to some extent is able to do the same thing, but I think Sparty blitzes more. If you can get pressure on the QB and make him antsy, you've won half the battle.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
a little bit, but the speed of the seahawks D allows them to maintain contact downfield in a way that previous defenses couldn't because they often just weren't as fast and agile as today's athletes.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
There's truly a hold by an offensive lineman on every play, so why wouldn't defensive backs try to get in on the fun to try to gain a competitive advantage as well?
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
To his days at USC, every game there would be a personal foul early in the game for hitting out of bounds, roughing the passer etc. They would do it to set the tone of the game and make sure the opponent knew that USC was bigger, badder and better.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
That's been the game plan for Dantonio and MSU for the last several years. It's an even better plan in college because the max PI penalty is just 15 yards. State practices it so their corners become good at playing that way. It's a mentality. Michigan does not have have that mentality.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
Mattison looks to be comfortable with the Bend and Break philosophy of defense. Fairly risk averse he is. However, I'm willing to concede that may be more a function of the athletes currently available to him than it is his basic philosophy.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
they do commit more than anyone else, but people act like they commit PI on every single play and that's not the case.
Hell, there was even a play where Sherman completely beat D Thomas on a bit of a fade that Manning tried, had a very good shot a pick and Thomas grabbed Sherman with both arms and pulled him down. No flag. Blatant offensive pass interference I thought.
Then later on the touchdown catch, Thomas was clearly interfered with by Maxwell for Seattle and made the catch still. I feel like if he hadn't caught it, a late flag probably would have come out, but it was clear.
The only other one was a play where Earl Thomas was dropping in his zone and seemed to inadvertently go right in Julius Thomas's path as the ball was in the air. It could have been flagged, but was meh.
There were a couple other they did call on Seattle, one was called interference that should have been defensive holding. Sherman pressed whoever he was on in man regularly and always let up between the 5 and 10 yard mark, I didn't see anything egregious there and I watched him every single play after all the talk.
To me it was mostly an issue of Seattle playing physical and getting a due amount of flags, other people complaining and adding scrutiny and then people nitpicking to see every possible tug they can when those little tugs and pushes happen on every route for every team. But because Seattle has that "reputation" it's the one people talk about. And in fairness, nothing Seattle has done, or did last night, was nearly as bad as Welker hitting Talib; that wasn't a rub play regardless of what the NFL said, he ran right at him looking where he was going and lowered a shouler.
February 3rd, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
Agree. Seattle jams receivers at the los to throw the timing and then they have the speed to keep up with the receivers. In addition, their db's are pretty fundamentally sound, and by that I mean they turn their head to look for the ball. One of the easiest ways for a defender to get a PI call is for them to not turn their head. If a defender turns his head to look for the ball, I think it makes it much tougher for a ref to throw a PI flag.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
at the same time, I'd like to see the NFL address the use of 'pick' plays by the offense.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^
I agree about last night's game. I had watched bits of Seahawks games throughout the year, but Denver's receivers and tight ends just couldn't get off the line clean except for a few occasions. And those mostly came in the second half when Denver was already down big.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
Jamming, yes, but not reaching out and grabbing/tugging. And I saw it going on well beyond 5 yards from the LOS.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
If its so easy why is not every team doing it? p.s. I agree with the philosophy - it is effective and my only question this has not been happening for 3 months, the Seahawks have been doing this now for 3 years. (and MSU for a few as well) I don't see why it is not widepspread if its that easy.... esp in college where your max penalty is 15 yards, and in return you can literally disrupt every single passing play.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
This is an evolutionary style, though. It takes time to catch on. The concept of breaking a rule every play is already taught, but to the OL instead of defenders. I would expect that as more teams have success with this, it will catch on quickly. In turn, there will be some rule alterations and clarifictions along with referee emphasis on enforcing those rules. Most of the time, this still won't be called because it's legal to make contact within 5 yards of the line as long as the ball isn't in the air. However, I would expect that there will be a strong emphasis on calling PI after 5+ yards of contact. That will, in turn, force teams to dial it back a bit, etc.
The reason you wouldn't want to coach this style is that not only are you going to get some penalties in critical situations, but you also open yourself up to getting beat deep if your defender doesn't get a good jam or hold on the receiver. On top of that, I'd imagine that it's difficult for players to instinctively know when to let go (5 yards) as to not get a penalty.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
I don't think it was the same article but Brian linked to one by the Wall Street Journal that basically says the same thing.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527023037544045793105000…
The Seahawks do it because they can get away with it. They have big, fast corners, that run routes as well as any receiver. It helps they have freak of nature Earl Thomas in the backfield to erase all of their mistakes too. If any other team in football could replicate that defense they would. Not every team in football has three all-pros in their defensive backfield though.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^
I read an article recently that pointed out that the Seahawks defense was probably guilty of some infractions but likely not much different than other teams; they just play really tough defense that really bothers passers and receivers because the league has been moving more toward a pro-offense rulebook.
http://thebiglead.com/2014/01/30/seattle-seahawks-defenders-how-often-do-they-really-commit-fouls/
They have great corners, and that has helped immensely. What happend at MSU, at least to me, is closer to a Seattle-lite where they have some good corners but also, frankly, college refs are pretty bad at calling penalties and certainly wouldn't do it consistently. Hell, the only way MSU lost this year was when the refs actually did call PI's pretty aggressively. I have always believed that MSU will take a step back next year because not only are they losing half the defensive starters, that whole backfield will disappear. They won't crater or anything, but it is hard to imagine them replacing Thomas and Dennard with equal players, and much of their pass defense relies on those stars in the defensive backfield.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303743604579350864192256256
They didn't just call out the Seahawks and their defensive scheme. They also call-out the Broncos and the numerous pick plays they use to free the WRs.
Regardless of whether it was legal, I still think that Welker meant to takeout Talib in the AFC Championship game. Thus, I was ok with the Seahawks grabbiness last night. That and enjoyed the "Manning face" of both Payton and Eli.