Field Gulls
You ever try to make eggs in the morning, but left them in the pan for too long? I’d call that a failed scramble.
Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy also has some thoughts on this: he’s tracking a new metric called Failed Scrambles; which charts further defensive success, and shows the Seattle Seahawks defense as the elite unit they are.
Failed scrambles are not delicious but they’re really cool because the QB thinks he’s going to save the play and when bam! Brought down for a gain of seven inches. Problem is, that’s not technically a sack for the defense.
Schatz to the rescue. Here’s his definition:
To figure that out, I counted failed scrambles for each team. Those are scrambles that don’t achieve at least 45% of needed yards on first down, 60% of needed yards on second down, or 100% of needed yards on third or fourth down. I also added in intentional grounding flags, since those are essentially sacks
Counting those, the Seahawks jump all the way up to third in the NFL. It’s significant, because as we’ve discussed, they’re not nearly as great at outright sacks; they’re 12th overall. But combined, they’re smack in the middle of the most ferocious defensive fronts this season.
17 quarterback scrambles have been attempted against Seattle, and 11 of them have failed. Only five teams have been scrambled against more, which I believe speaks to the high volume of four-man pressure the Hawks bring.
In short, this is highly encouraging. At one point Mike Macdonald was scheming up the highest pressure rate in the league with one of the lower sack rates. Adding this though, even when the quarterback gets away, he doesn’t really get away.
Great stuff by the big guys up front.
On another note, Seattle’s third at this offensively as well. They’ve allowed the 7th-lowest true sack percentage (very good), but Sam Darnold has only one failed scramble. That makes the unit 3rd in the almighty sack/scramble rate.
The Washington Commanders are incredibly mediocre on both fronts, so the Seahawks will have the advantage here on Sunday night.
