Thursday, January 30, 2014

Percy Harvin: Super Bowl X-Factor?

It’s been an up and down year for Percy Harvin. He went from a high (being traded to a championship contender and receiving a contract extension) to a low (needing hip surgery) to another high (coming back ahead of schedule) back to a low (having a hip flare up with the potential to end his season) to another high (coming back for the playoffs) to a low (concussion) to a high (playing in the super bowl). On less than 10 targets/touches this year he’s had a 58 yard return, a one handed catch, a high-leaping jump ball catch, a beautiful run on an end around, and 2 hits take him to the locker room.
He’s playing only 6 quarters this season, yet the argument could be made he will be the most important offensive player in Super Bowl XLVIII.


(14:51)(Shotgun)P.Harvin right end pushed ob at NO 15 for 9 yards (C.Lofton).
I don’t think the Seahawks ran more than one or two wide receiver end-arounds all year, and I can't remember the last time they ran one with success. If there is one thing that Harvin has that none of the other Seahawks receivers have its lateral speed and quickness.

The Seahawks are in a 4 WR formation, Harvin and Tate to the left and Kearse and Baldwin to the right.












Harvin motions towards Wilson and takes the ball. There is no disguise to what the Seahawks are doing here- no misdirection, no playfake- just a simple end-around to one of the best playmakers in the game.











As Harvin turns the corner, Zach Miller and Jermaine Kearse (circled) have huge blocks to create a lane for Harvin. This just further exemplifies Kearse's abilities as a blocker.













Another view of the two key blocks.

















This is a play that the Seahawks put in their playback specifically for Harvin. This is just another thing for a defense to game plan for, and adds a horizontal element to the Seahawks offense.

(13:10)(Shotgun)R.Wilson pass short left to P.Harvin to NO 41 for -1 yards (M.Jenkins; R.Harper).
Second offensive play of the ball game, Percy Harvin’s first play in, what do the Seahawks do? They throw a bubble screen to Percy. Extremely predictable, poorly executed, and simply ineffective, yet this was one of my favorite play calls of the game. (Why? I’ll get to that later).

The Seahawks line up with three wide receivers to the left, Russell Wilson in shotgun with Marshawn Lynch to his right.













As you can see here, before Russell even has thrown the ball Saints safety Roman Harper is breaking on the play. This gives Doug Baldwin the task of blocking two players.












This is an easy play to recognize for the Saints defense, and an impossible play to block for Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin.













Even though this play resulted in less than nothing, I like the call, because as you can see from this next play, it set things up later in the game.

(14:23)(Shotgun)M.Lynch up the middle for 15 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
I broke down this play last week, so I won’t go to far into detail on this one. The main pointed I want to make, is that the last play that was a failure of a play, set up this play for a touchdown.

The Seahawks come out in the same formation as the last play.












Harvin fakes the bubble screen. Pay special attention to Saints safety Roman Harper on this play as he bites on the fake by Harvin. This opens up enough room for Marshawn, who gets in for a touchdown.



To reiterate my point, Harvin is such a special player that he can impact the play without even touching the ball. Just running a failed bubble screen earlier forced the Saints to defend that element of the offense, which helped open up the run for Marshawn.

(1:29)R.Wilson pass deep right to D.Baldwin to MIN 31 for 44 yards (X.Rhodes).
The last play showed how Harvin can open things up for other players in the run game. This play shows how Harvin can open things up for other players in the passing game.

20 personell for the Seahawks (2 RBs, 3 WRs). Harvin is on the slot on the left side of the field, with Baldwin to the outside.














Harvin gets a great release off the snap, and easily gains inside position on the nickelback in coverage on the play.














The Vikings are playing  cover-1 man, and the single high free safety bites hard on Harvin, who is streaking open down the middle of the field. This gives Doug Baldwin a one-on-one matchup with corner Xavier Rhodes, and he wins easily.









Having a big time playmaker like Harvin who the defense is always worried about can make plays like this one happen. Harvin, who easily beat man-to-man, forced the help on this play, which allowed Doug Baldwin to make a play.

(4:46)(Shotgun)R.Wilson scrambles right guard to SEA 49 for 1 yard (D.Hawthorne).
Later in the half, the Seahawks call another bubble screen to Harvin, and this time the Saints blitz a safety, which gives the Seahawks the number advantage on the outside.

As you can see from the diagram below, safety Malcolm Jenkins blitzes on this play, which gives the Seahawks a 3-on-2 advantage.












For whatever reason, Russell Wilson decides to pull the ball down and not risk the throw. As you can see in this picture, there is a fairly large window for Russell to throw through.













Even after Russell pulls it down and starts to scramble, there's still room for him to throw the ball.














This play was resultant in only one yard due to Russell's relative conservativeness in this particular game, but had he pulled the trigger, this could have potentially been a substantial gain for the offense.

Harvin has officially been cleared for Super Bowl XLVIII, and full participated in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday. He undoubtedly will play on Sunday, but what he can contribute is still in question. If he can maintain the level of play for the first half of the Saints game throughout the entire game, he will make a big difference on the game. If he isn't able to play more than a half, his impact may be minimal.

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