Tom Cable, Seahawks offensive line focused on improving ground game against 49ers
Sep 14, 2017, 7:00 AM | Updated: 9:22 am
"Not good enough," O-line coach Tom Cable said of the group's performance Sunday. (AP)
(AP)
Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable and head coach Pete Carroll are confident Seattle’s offensive line can perform better than it did against Green Bay last Sunday, when the group surrendered three sacks and struggled to create space for the ground game.
That doesn’t mean they were making excuses. A disappointed Cable said the line was simply “not good enough,” at one point giving up two sacks on the same third quarter drive.
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“Too inconsistent and not good enough,” Cable said. “At the end of the day, we have to play better in a couple of situations particularly. Some good things, Germain (Ifedi) pretty solid, but as a group, too many inconsistencies.”
Both Center Justin Britt and left tackle Rees Odhiambo echoed Cable’s message that communication and timing is key, and it wasn’t as good as it could have – or should have – been Sunday.
“Today is the start of a new week and a new opponent,” Britt said. “(We’ve) just got to communicate better (to) help our run game and make it run smoother.”
The O-line will get another shot Sunday for the team’s home opener against the San Francisco 49ers, in which the Seahawks are nearly 13-point favorites. Cable noted that the 49ers’ defensive line is a tall group and poses a threat of batted passes, but the offense will get a boost with the expected return of running back Thomas Rawls and by facing off against a San Francisco team that finished dead last in rushing defense in 2016.
“Violence,” Cable said of Rawls’ physical running style. “I mean really when you think about his career, what he has done, he is going to come after it. He is going to go after it every time he touches it.”
That’s not to say it’s going to be an easy feat: Despite Pro Football Focus’ No. 32 ranking for 49ers’ front seven this year, ESPN’s Nick Wagoner said San Francisco’s heavy investment in the unit (and promising performances from its younger players) could help to balance a questionable secondary. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll also had praise for the 49ers’ front seven, but intimated that Seattle will continue to focus on creating space for the ground game.
“The first step (to getting the run game going) was taken nine months, ten months ago, or whenever we started this thing,” Carroll said. “It is just disappointing that we didn’t get the ops and that because of a lot of things that happened in the game. We just need to keep doing it; keep chopping wood is really what it takes.”
