| 15 August 2009
One of the reasons the Seahawks offensive line has looked less than great is injuries. Another is Mike Wahle's retirement, and perhaps the biggest is that this is a new blocking scheme that will take some time to learn. Another one, and this goes hand in hand with the last, is that the Seahawks do not practice "cut blocking," but will rely heavily upon it in the games to great the running lanes that we so covet.
The Zone Blocking System that we've been hearing about is fairly simple, but it goes against the instincts of most players who have been brought up as man blockers. The most basic definition would be this: In a zone blocking system, the offensive blockers are assigned a 'zone' to block rather than specific people. A called play will not necessarily be altered by different personnel coming in at defensive tackle, for example.
But lets delve a little deeper into the ZBS, cut blocks (and why we don't practice them), and what we can expect from the Seahawks tonight and going forward...
There are three general "types" of zone runs - Inside Zone (between the offensive tackles), Outside Zone (just outside the tackle), or a Sweep in which a running back will zip just inside the last offensive player on the side that the sweep is called to. Every play will be a little different, but in general a blocker is going to check whether he is blocking anyone (mental gymnastics!), and if not he'll slide over with wide, sideways steps to double-team a blocker and thus opening up a lane for the running back. Say the RG is unblocked in an inside zone run, he might slide in or out to help out the tackle or center; this double-team is important, but if a linebacker comes into his zone, he will still be responsible for breaking the double team and blocking him. That is only the most basic scheme, but you get the idea.
One of the key components to Mike Solari's zone blocking scheme is the cut block. The Cut Block is a specific technique wherein the offensive lineman will try to knock his defender onto his back. This is achieved by immediately getting low and driving into the upper thigh, hip or waist area. When done correctly, it's a fairly safe but incredibly annoying (if you're the defense) technique, as it will immediately take you out of the play and can lead to other defenders tripping over you and further disturbing order. Sweeeet.
There is some controversy with cut blocking though, with the bulk of that coming from improper blocking -- linemen diving at knees, for example, which is a serious injury risk. Beyond that, it looks and feels dirty as you're getting clobbered before you have a chance to react most times, and suddenly you're out of the play with a fatty bruise on your hip. Lame!
Cut blocks are illegal both in the open field (remember when Hasselbeck was called for one in SBXL? Y'know, when he tackled someone and they called it an illegal block, charging us 15 yards... remember that? Yeah... that...), and when a defensive player is already engaged with a blocker.
The Hawks will be testing out Cut Blocks for the first time tonight. How will it look? We'll find out soon!
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