The Seattle Seahawks losing Doug Baldwin will make things a lot easier for the Chicago Bears defense
Seeing the Seattle Seahawks score 24 at Mile Hile Stadium against Von Miller and the Denver Broncos looks impressive on paper. Then you sort through how they got there. The team scored two touchdowns straight off of interceptions that gave them field position inside midfield. Their first touchdown was a one play drive for 15 yards.
Even their touchdown that started in their territory came off of a 51-yard one bomb, which we will get to in a bit. Still, the main point is that despite the 24 point barrage, the Seattle Seahawks offense was sloppy.
That was likely because early into the game, Doug Baldwin suffered a knee injury, and wound up playing in just 11 total snaps. It left the team pretty bare at wide receiver.
Baldwin is out for Monday Night Football, and it brings the question as to whether or not the Seattle Seahawks have an answer to move the football against Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara.
Tyler Lockett
Lockett has to fill in for the Doug Baldwin role. Lockett was often a clear out player who would typically run go routes to expose his speed into the field. The respect that he demands as a deep threat can open things up for Baldwin underneath in the slot.
Now, it will be Lockett in the slot. Fortunately for Seattle, Lockett is a well-versed route runner who can move in and out of the slot. His 51-yard touchdown last week came against Chris Harris Jr. in the slot. You can see in the play linked here that he completely fakes out Harris and the safety with a strong route and bursts into free space over the deep middle.
Bryce Callahan gave up seven receptions last week in the slot, so this could be a matchup that Russell Wilson can expose. However, two questions come to mind.
One is that Lockett has never handled a full workload as a true starter. He did last week, but you can see from his route charts that he has not been a player used in a variety of ways. Can he carry an offense, or is he just a splash player good for one big hit per game?
The other is that due to the lack of depth within the receivers, the team will likely try to get more heavy with tight ends and running backs. This will push Lockett to the outside against bigger cornerbacks, such as Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara. He has not won in the short passing game often and will see a strong test with a lot on his plate.
Brandon Marshall
That is going to put pressure on 34-year Brandon Marshall. Marshall had a nice touchdown against Bradley Roby in which he showed some veteran savvy, and showed that he still could hang with the young boys. It was a great route, as linked here, where he fakes Roby out to get separation.
Roby can catch up to Marshall, but Marshall uses the speed of Roby to create space in the air to haul in the pass. Marshall also had a nice route where he found space in a zone and came back to the football for a first down.
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The question with Marshall will be how impactful will he be. He played just 37 snaps, 65% even with Baldwin taking the early exit. I know it is a former rival, but are they willing to put him in for a full workload?
The rest
They need to. As mentioned, the offense would be working best if Lockett could shuffle in and out of the slot. That requires having three productive wide receivers.
Jaron Brown was brought over from the rival Arizona Cardinals. He likely has to take the Tyler Lockett role, as he can be a splash player down the field. However, there was a reason why Jaron was always the other Brown behind John Brown in Arizona. Jaron had 33 snaps in Week One but caught one pass on three targets. Still, that is going to be his job in the Lockett role. The question will be whether he demands any respect.
Lastly, the team has David Moore, a seventh-round pick from Eastern Central Oklahoma. You heard that right. He made splash plays in the preseason and saw 16 snaps. However, when looking at the complete overall group, there are a lot of questions with Baldwin out of the lineup.
You would think that if the Bears felt comfortable in the ability of Fuller and Amukamara to suffocate Brown that they could load up on some of these other options. After a strong first half, the duo had a rough second against the Packers. It feels as though they are in a good matchup entering Week Two.