Field Gulls
After the anticipation of their debut against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Seahawks got their first win of the season (even though it was preseason). The game was quiet, and the Seahawks basically spent the second half just controlling the clock in their 33-16 blowout over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Let’s analyze some of the key plays from this game through the All-22 footage!
No pressure was given, but it’s worth noting that he only had 6 passing snaps. In the other 13 snaps, in the running game, he obviously showed fantastic dominance. There’s still room for improvement in some angles for the second level, and let’s hope this is corrected. In this game, Zabel showed all his athleticism getting to the linebackers. This was without neglecting his physical strength and explosiveness in lateral blocks.
Zabel’s role is to help Josh Jones get to the defender and then advance to the next level. He seems to trip over the linebacker’s foot and gets off balance to the linebacker. Leo Chenal (No. 54) takes down Zabel and makes the tackle.
It’s impossible to be a player and not make mistakes. What’s needed is to learn from them and evolve. A few snaps later, Zabel advances to the second level, but this time he jumps the DT’s leg and still manages to reach the LB in time. The defender is aggressive and tries to disengage Zabel, but he adjusts his angle and maintains the integrity of his gap.
Excellent leverage, strength on contact, and keeps his feet moving. Thanks to Jalen Sundell’s great work on the reach block, a huge gap opens up and George Holani achieves another of his preseason breakthroughs.
For an OL, it’s necessary to try different things. Vary your pass set, hand and foot technique, etc. On this play, we see a great battle between the two. Zabel used his outside hands to prepare a snatch and trap to throw the defender off balance. He fails, but maintains the fight and control over the opponent.
I mentioned a few snaps above that it’s impossible to stay in the NFL without making mistakes. So, one of the things I like to evaluate, especially in trench players, is their ability to recover. On this play, Zabel takes a step to the left and ends up away from the defensive end, who attacks with an inside move. Zabel remains calm and adjusts to keep his hips in front of the defensive end and protect the QB.
The first point to note is that he had a few snaps at WILL linebacker in dime formations. This is interesting given the Seahawks’ lack of depth at the linebacker position. Without Tyrice Knight, who is injured, the options didn’t perform solidly.
Emmanwori was the player who gave up the most yards (30). He had two receptions on two targets, one for 22 and one for 8. On one of the...
