Chalk Talk: Richard Sherman’s pick-six vs. Texans
Oct 2, 2013, 12:29 AM | Updated: 9:53 am
By Brady Henderson
The biggest play of the Seahawks’ come-from-behind win over Houston was no accident.
It wasn’t much of a surprise, either. At least not to coach Pete Carroll and cornerback Richard Sherman, who had an idea of what the Texans were doing when quarterback Matt Schaub faked a handoff and rolled to his right before lobbing up a pass that Sherman intercepted and returned 58 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
“They had had a tendency to roll out and throw a ball in the flat in those kinds of situations,” Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Danny” Monday morning.
The Seahawks had practiced that play last week, and Carroll said he emphasized to Sherman that with the pressure from strong safety Kam Chancellor forcing the quarterback to rush his throw, the opportunity for an interception could be there.
“We talked about it, ‘Let’s go for the interception on this play. You got a shot because the guy’s going to lob the ball,’ ” Carroll said. “As he turns to come out of his roll and Kam’s right in his face he has to throw hot right there, and usually the hot throw, they rip it right to the guy in the quick flat.”
That’s exactly what Schaub did, throwing a hurried pass to tight end Owen Daniels that Sherman jumped in front of.
“That’s an extraordinary thing to happen,” Carroll said. “The opportunity was there, but then the expertise to pull it off was ridiculous.”
Brock Huard takes a closer look at the play in this week’s edition of “Chalk Talk”.
