Seattle runs the ‘Belly Flip’ and it has nothing to do with Brandon Mebane
Sep 15, 2014, 8:55 AM | Updated: Sep 16, 2014, 4:49 pm
SAN DIEGO – There will be people who describe Percy Harvin’s first-quarter touchdown run as the “Jet Sweep” that was the toast of NFL filmheads in Week 1.
Don’t be one of those people. Not just because no one really likes the guy that professes doctorate-level expertise in football plays he has never actually run, but because that touchdown was not scored on a Jet Sweep.
More coverage of the Seahawks’ Week-2 loss to San Diego
• Recap | Stats | Photos | Interviews | Carroll Show | • O’Neil: What we learned | • O’Neil: Seahawks’ issue was a matter of time | • O’Neil: Time (of possession) on Chargers’ side | • O’Neil: Seahawks say heat wasn’t a major factor | • Huard: Breaking down Harvin’s touchdown run | • Henderson: Seahawks couldn’t wrangle Rivers | • Henderson: Sherman was hardly ‘exposed’ | • Henderson: Carroll fine with Lynch leaving early |
It was actually the Belly Flip, an option play in which quarterback Russell Wilson is charged with deciding whether he hands the ball off to Marshawn Lynch or fakes that handoff and pitches it to Harvin, who is running in motion toward the sideline.
We’ll let the receiver explain.
“The first read was Marshawn up the middle,” Harvin said, “and if everybody was to crash down on him, and Russell felt I could get to the edge, he’s to pitch it.”
Well, on the play in question, the defense did collapse in toward Lynch, leaving Wilson to pitch the ball to Harvin, who then followed Doug Baldwin’s lead.
“Doug did a heck of a job on the block,” Harvin said. “I did the easy part.”
Please note: Just because you know what the “Belly Flip” is, it doesn’t mean you should be one of those people who talks about it as if you were the inventor. With great knowledge comes great responsibility.