“You know what? I know you guys, you guys are my friends and I don’t want to leave.”
When Robbie Tobeck heard those words from the man who has spent the past six seasons attached to his right hip, he was relieved. After all, the San Francisco 49ers had expended a lot of effort into luring Chris Gray away from the Seahawks this past off season. Ultimately though, no amount of breezy, sunshine-filled days or Ghiradelli hot fudge sundaes could lure the 35 year old right guard from his home, or his teammates.
“I’m just glad to be back here, working with the same guys on the offensive line,” Gray said. “It’s important to me and I realized it more when I thought about leaving. It’s been more than a few years here. The longer you play together as an offensive line, the better you are. We have a lot of confidence together and care about each other.”
During a week in which Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid was ripped from the practice field and ordered to waste 14 hours in court with Terrell Owens and his WD-40 drenched spokesman, Drew Rosenhaus, the words of Gray seem about as ####-hum and yawn-inspiring as a Matlock marathon.
Nevertheless, those words go a long way in explaining why at this point in the season the Seahawks boast an 8 – 2 record. And oh, by the way, they also manage to conveniently delineate why Philadelphia has slipped from perennial Super Bowl contender to a milquetoast menagerie on the field that resembles the Young and the Restless off of it.
“It’s what being on the line together is all about. We sit around and give each other a hard time, tell the same stories year after year and enjoy them just as much as we did the first time. That’s why it’s been fun for a number of years.” Tobeck explained to Mike Kahn for the team’s website.
No one has benefited more from the Seahawks offensive line than Shaun Alexander. Last week, as the NFL Network and Hall-of-Famer Marcus Allen hyped their way into town to profile Alexander for NFL Total Access, nearly half a million Pro-Bowl ballots had been cast requesting the half-back’s services in Honolulu early next year.
Through 10 games Alexander has racked up 1,229 yards and 19 touchdowns. With a few more performances topping the century mark like he had Sunday against San Francisco, Alexander can start to look toward the most hallowed of running achievements – entry into the 2,000 yard club.
Alexander is without a doubt one of the most shifty, hard-to-tackle backs in football today, but without Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Robbie Tobeck, Chris Gray and Sean Locklear, he would find the sledding decidedly more difficult.
“They’re not even offensive lineman anymore,” Matt Hasselbeck sarcastically chided after the Seahawks’ sweep-wielding win over St. Louis. “They’re superstars, rock stars. Spoiled media darlings. They are so big-time, they probably get manicures.”
It would be hard to argue with the quarterback’s words, especially considering Alexander had to split air-time with Hutchinson and Jones for the NFL Network piece. But as with most offensive lineman, a humble nature and willingness to deflect the spotlight defines Seattle’s front five.
“They’re a different breed of guy,” offensive line coach Bill Laveroni said. “They don’t care about being recognized. The recognition they want is from their teammates. They know their teammates respect how they play. The quarterback and running backs know how hard they play and how important they are to every play. And what matters to them most if you watch them interact is the camaraderie.”
It’s that type of close-knit nature that factored in Chris Gray’s thinking when he decided to return for his 8th season with the Seahawks. Continuity is hard to find in today’s salary-capped NFL, however, the majority of Seattle’s line has been working side-by-side for five straight seasons. The production of the Seahawks league-leading offense is the result of a cohesive front that has seen it all and done it all together.
“Unless you play or have played offensive line, you can’t appreciate the difficulty and the necessity for five guys to jell as a unit,” Hutchinson explained. “You really need five guys to be on the same page. We’re responsible for getting the play off the ground.”
While quarterbacks shoulder most of the blame or praise and the receivers and running backs spend their down time in front of the mirror perfecting their latest end zone pantomime, what really separates the have’s and have-not’s in the NFL are the five nameless men up front.
The line is a different machine altogether; it’s the engine of the offense, a complicated collaboration of parts that work together to get the truck moving forward. Fortunately for Seattle fans, the Seahawks boast a Hemi.
You know all of the stats – Alexander’s yards, Hasselbeck’s passer rating and Joe Jurevicious’ touchdowns. These are the type of numbers that allow the networks to send camera crews and the talk-show hosts to decipher the good, the bad and the St. Louis throughout the league.
But when you sit down and try to quantify the production of an offensive line, it’s simply not that easy. After all, NFL.com has no stats for how many pancake blocks Walter Jones has racked up, or how many times Chris Gray has pulled to a kick-out block that allowed clear passage for Mack Strong and Shaun Alexander.
Instead of looking at offensive stats to tell the tale of a line’s success or failure, it would be more prudent to look at the opposition’s defensive numbers.
Every defense has three levels - the defensive line, line backing corps and defensive backfield. By looking at who makes the majority of tackles, and where they make them, you can easily explain whether or not an offensive line has had a productive Sunday afternoon.
If the defensive line is making tackles in the backfield or accumulating sacks, you are probably the Houston Texans or Arizona Cardinals. If the linebackers are making tackles you are probably in the majority of the NFL, you have a decent line, and the people who are supposed to be getting tackles against you are doing just that. But if the defensive backfield has the majority of tackles, you’ve got something special, and those hog-mollies up front are really earning their paychecks. After all, if a defensive back is making a tackle, the chances are he is making that tackle at least 5 yards or further beyond the line of scrimmage.
So if you really want to know why Shaun Alexander seemingly breaks a new NFL record each week, and why Matt Hasselbeck is enjoying his most efficient year behind center, you should take a look at which opposing defenders are wrapping up Seahawk ball-carriers.
In the first week of the season, the Seahawks lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Florida. It was a sweltering Sunday, and Jack Del Rio got cute and decided to outfit the Seahawks in their home blues. Matt Hasselbeck had a terrible day, throwing more picks than Danny Fortson on a pig-tailed hair day. Afterward, the Seahawks limped back home across the country with their first season-opening loss in four years.
However, if you take a look at the Jaguars defensive stats, beyond all the turnovers, the Seahawks offensive line had set a precedent for a season-long trend that would vault their unit beyond every other offense in the league.
Not only was the leading tackler for the Jaguars cornerback Kenny Wright, but the top three tacklers were all defensive backs. Mike Peterson, Jacksonville’s middle linebacker, collected a paltry 4 tackles on the day. In Jacksonville’s next eight games, Peterson led the team in tackles four times, and averaged just under 9 tackles a game.
Against Seattle, Jacksonville’s defensive backfield accounted for 50% of the total tackles made that day. The linebackers managed 26%, leaving 24% mopped up by the defensive line. To contrast, over the Jag’s next eight games, the linebackers averaged 34%, the DB’s moved down to 33%, and the D-line upped their mark to 27%.
Jacksonville met Indianapolis in week two. Against what many regard the best team in football, Mike Peterson totaled 13 tackles and John Henderson, who tackled 3 Seahawks, dominated the Colts for 11 stops. Rounding out the top three was another linebacker, Akin Ayodele with 7 tackles. Overall, the linebackers led the team with 35% of all tackles made, as was the trend for the Jaguars’ subsequent outings.
So what does all this mean? Basically that the Seahawks offensive line dominated the first two levels of the Jaguars’ defense, leaving the third level, the defensive backfield, the area where the majority of Seattle ball-carriers met the turf.
In week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, Fox analyst Brian Baldinger treated the entire contest as a grudge match between Walter Jones and Falcon’s defensive end Patrick Kearny. Baldinger constantly went back to the match-up and the Fox cameras caught Jones embarrassing Kearny play after humiliating play. By the end, Kearny had accounted for two assisted tackles and could easily be labeled Jones’ rag-doll. Big Walt may as well have picked up poor Patrick and stuck him in his back pocket – it was just that bad.
Kearny’s fellow defensive lineman Rod Coleman, heralded as one of the NFL’s best, was also shut-down against by the Seahawks front five. On the day, Coleman picked up one measly tackle and a whole lot of respect for boys in blue. You see, both Coleman and Kearny are not used to this type of futility. If you add up the week before the Seahawks game against Philly, and the two games after Seattle against Buffalo and Minnesota, Kearny and Coleman had 20 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles, numbers those two are far more accustomed to.
Speaking of defensive futility and embarrassing performances, the Arizona Cardinals rolled into Seattle in week 3. They Rolled out of Seattle with cornerback Antrel Rolle leading the team with 11 tackles and the defensive backs having accounted for 47% of the total tackles.
The numbers improved slightly for the preseason media NFC West champs, where in week 8 the defensive backs “only” piled up 42% of the tackles. Of course, the excitement was slightly subdued in Phoenix as that number was altered drastically by the fact that an incredible 12% of total tackles were made by offensive players, a new high for the low-flying Cardinals.
Bertrand Berry, who, after the week 8 blow-out loss, insisted throughout the Arizona media that, “Everybody knows Seattle is not that much better than us,” totaled 4 tackles and 2 assists combined in both contests against the Seahawks. He averaged 4.5 tackles and 1 sack against everyone else he faced on the year.
The trend continued in Washington where Redskin DB’s produced 42% of all tackles, and again in St. Louis where free safety Mike Furrey led the team in stops, and along with the rest of the defensive backfield meant 44% of Ram tackles.
In week 6 against the Houston Texans, Seattle’s line finally seemed to meet its match. Texan linebackers were the first group other than defensive backs to lead an opposing team in tackles. 42% came from the linebackers, a baffling stat considering Seattle had two 100-yard rushers, totaled 320 yards on the ground and had an astonishing five players with runs over 10 yards. Even Matt Hasselbeck had the longest run of his career, on a Vick-like romp in slow-motion that meant 23 yards for the Seahawks.
Week 7 was not only the worst outing for the Seahawks offense, but also the most important win in Mike Holmgren’s tenure as head coach. Although it took the Seahawks every second to pull out a 13 – 10 win and the Cowboys’ defense seemingly dominated Seattle’s offense, the majority of Dallas tackles once again came from the backfield, just barely though - 34%.
Leonard Little has a reputation as one of the best defensive ends in the league. In two games against the Seahawks he has 3 tackles, 3 assists and half a sack, very Little production indeed, that is, of course, unless you count providing highlight material for the ESPN Monday Night Countdown segment “Jacked Up” as productive. Although Pisa Tinoisamoa led the team in tackles (and un-called pass interference), the Rams linebackers only managed 19% of tackles in week 10; once again, the DB’s lead the way with 36%.
On Sunday, the Seahawks walked away with another win, topping the scrappy 49ers by the skin of their teeth. Although it wasn’t their best performance of 2005, the offensive line once again managed to control the first two levels of the Niners defense. San Francisco relied heavily on their defensive backfield as they accounted for 46% of the team’s tackles.
“No kid grows up dreaming of playing offensive line in the NFL, we all had other dreams.” Tobeck said. “But here we are and I’m convinced that there’s nothing more special than playing offensive line because you end up spending so much time with your buddies. We pull it all together. We’re kind of a team within a team. There (are) so many things that go on during the course of a day, training camp, all the hitting we do; it creates a bond between guys.”
That bond has led Seattle’s front five to consistently dominate on the football field. Not only do the Seahawks have the best line in the NFL, but they also have a sixth lineman, Pork Chop Womack, who could start on any other line in the league. When he was hurt in training camp, it opened up an opportunity for 2nd year player Sean Locklear to step in at the right tackle position. Locklear has performed so well in Womack’s absence that even when ‘Chop returned, the team was hesitant to remove Locklear from the starting line-up. Yet another testament to the priority placed on continuity.
The offensive line is without question the most under-appreciated commodity on the football field in many fans’ eyes. But simply put, without the work they put in, the T.O.’s of the world would have no ground to stand on when it comes time for the super-agents to demand their lofty salaries. When asked to confront these charges, Drew Rosenhaus predictably requested the “next question.”
When it comes down to wins and losses, it is the guys in the trenches who do not have the luxury of taking plays off. These iron-men have to consistently produce the same amount of effort every time the ball is snapped. And as the numbers reveal, week in and week out, nobody does it better than the five men that line up in front of Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander.
“They’re consummate professionals,” Laveroni said. “That’s why they’ve been in the league as long as they have. When you look at their work habits and how consistent they play, you understand how important they are to our football team. They prepare, they plan, and they do all their homework off the field they need to do. That makes them better players on the field, and makes the guys around them better too.”
So the next time Alexander breaks a record, or Hasselbeck leads a thrilling 90-yard drive with two minutes left, don’t forget the guys that make it all possible, Seattle’s unsung supermen - Jones, Hutchinson, Tobeck, Gray and Locklear - the offensive line.
Brandon Petersen resides in NFL purgatory, Los Angeles, California. Born and raised in Seattle, and a University of Washington alum, his Northwest roots run deep, as does his passion for Seahawks football. He can be found preaching the 12th man gospel at SeahawksHuddl e.com and can be reached through email at onetoseven@ho tmail.com.
