Seahawks play caller Shane Waldron is on the spot to heed Pete Carroll, help Geno Smith
The offense he coordinates, for which he calls the plays, isn’t scoring touchdowns enough.
It’s not extending drives enough. It’s not running the ball or pass blocking well enough, either.
His boss, the head coach, wants him to diversify his approach and use more of his players more effectively. That’s what Pete Carroll said this week, in an unusual and only slightly veiled critique, following Seattle’s 18-point home loss to the 49ers, the team it must beat to win its division.
Yes, Shane Waldron gets the sense it’s time for him to make changes to help Geno Smith and the Seahawks (6-5) at the high-riding Dallas Cowboys (8-3) Thursday night. Those changes need to be effective enough to also work at mighty San Francisco (8-3) next week and against NFC-best Philadelphia (10-1) the week after that.
That puts Waldron on the spot this week to fix Smith and the offense.
“I think there’s an urgency every week in the NFL, and I think after a performance like we had this past week (it’s there),” Waldron said Monday, on the eve of the team flying to Texas for Thursday’s game in Arlington (5:15 p.m., channel 13/Amazon)
“This is a game of excitement, a game of playing with energy,” Waldron said. “So (it’s) finding that balance of, ‘OK, yeah, we’re frustrated. We want to make this better. We want to fix this thing right now,’ but then also not going outside the box of, what’s our fundamentals? What’s our core techniques?”
That indicates it’s back to the basics, with changes, for Smith the Seahawks’ stalled offense this week.
The most basic of the passing game Smith needs to change: Not holding onto the ball so long.
Waldron was asked: What’s the one aspect that, if Smith improves, your offense will take off?
“The one aspect I think for Geno is that timing and rhythm in the pass game, especially in the known passing situations in the third down,” Waldron said.
That is, getting the ball out quickly.
Smith must throw far more quickly than he did while getting sacked six times by the 49ers on Thanksgiving.
Smith said Monday he needs to throw his receivers open by trusting they will get free, rather than waiting to “see them open.” That’s how he’s been sacked 13 times the last four games, three of them Seahawks losses.
“Coach (Carroll) is right. I’ve been probably holding the ball too long to ‘see guys open,’ instead of what I normally do, which is to throw them open,” Smith said. “It’s trusting the guys, again, trusting myself, believing in just getting the ball out ...
“We just have to be better at being more consistent, and it starts with me. I have to be better overall. I’m working my tail off trying to get that done.”
Smith was full go in practice Monday. But the bruised triceps on his throwing arm from Seattle’s loss at the Rams Nov. 19 is still not fully pain-free, he said.
Shane Waldron’s plans
Waldron’s plan against the 49ers was to throw deep to test their secondary and hopefully add to San Francisco’s seven penalties for defensive pass interference in its first 10 games.
That plan failed. While Smith waited for, primarily, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to run long patterns, Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead and the 49ers’ defensive front dominated the Seahawks’ offensive line and battered Smith.
Waldron’s plan against the Cowboys assuredly won’t be the same. Dallas’ Micah Parsons has 11-1/2 sacks in 11 games. Cornerback DaRon Bland has an NFL-leading seven interceptions. He’s returned five of those for touchdowns.
Waldron said all 11 offensive players, including Smith, must work more effectively and efficiently for Smith to get the ball out more quickly in Dallas.
“I think that’s one thing where we’re looking to take a step forward,” he said.
Carroll said he and, without using his name, Waldron need to improve, as well, to help Smith and the offense. Carroll said he will remain involved in third-down plays Waldron is calling. Seattle is 29th in the 32-team league in converting third downs (31.34%).
“We have to be more efficient throwing the football to complement our third-down opportunities,” Carroll said. “We were 3 for 11 (against San Francisco). We need to be 6 of 11. And then the whole game seems different. It’s a few plays of execution.
“I want to make sure that we’re maximizing the personalities and making sure that we’re using our guys as well as we can use them. That’s a focus for us.”
Carroll said he wants to make sure “we’re choosing the best routes for the guys. We have unique talents, and we have to make sure we’re maximizing that. I feel like we’re not. I feel like we’re not seeing stuff. You saw the play-making of Jaxon (Smith-Njigba against the 49ers), and he continues to show stuff that separates him from others, and we just need to give him more chances.
“We’ve got guys in different areas of our game that can do stuff better. Our tight ends can be used better than we’ve used them in the last couple of weeks. We need to get that going again.”
That’s scheme and play-calling.
That’s Waldron.
We could bring up, again, Seattle is 29th in rushing attempts this season. We could mention lead back Kenneth Walker hasn’t practiced the last two weeks after leaving the Rams game early with an oblique injury. How his replacement as starter against the 49ers, Zach Charbonnet, had just three rushes in the Seahawks’ 19 offensive plays in the first half last week. That’s while San Francisco romped to a 24-3 lead and effectively ended the game.
But that’s old news. Not running enough to keep defenses honest and from teeing off on Smith is a problem Waldron and Carroll said they want to fix but have yet to — and during games often don’t try to.
Thus, Smith is left to throw behind an offensive line that must repel pass rushers who know he is throwing. To do that, he must throw more quickly, before those pass rushers beat Seattle’s blockers, again, and get to Smith.
Again.
“I think, number one, (it) starts with me getting the guys into position where we can get some of those plays where they are ball-out plays in a good rhythm against the right coverage structures,” Waldron said.
“We’re going to continuously work at getting better and improving every single day in that area, because it’s something that we need to do. And we will do.”
This story was originally published November 28, 2023 at 5:20 AM.
