Now for the bigger and bolder decision, the play that ignited Seattle’s comeback, punter Jon Ryan’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Garry Gilliam on a fake field goal. Ryan had been lobbying for the call during the week of practice, after special teams coach Brian Schneider’s staff identified the weak link in the Packers field goal block team.
Reserve linebacker Brad Jones was recklessly aggressive coming off the edge on film. He consistently darted hard to the inside in an effort to get the block, and often went to unnecessary lengths to do so. Against Dallas in their divisional game, he lined up on the left side three times and on the right once, and on one attempt he tried to leap over a blocker only to get stonewalled.
So with five minutes left in the third quarter and Seattle still trailing 16-0, Carroll gave Ryan the go-ahead to execute a fake specifically designed for this game. Ryan had two options:
1. Take the snap and roll out to Jones’ side with either Garry Gilliam (left side) or Luke Willson (right) as a receiving option. If the linebacker covers the receiver, Ryan should run. If not, throw it.
2. If Jones isn’t on the field, take a delay of game penalty and then kick the field goal.
“Kickers are head-jobs anyway,” Ryan said within earshot of Hauschka, “so you don’t want to screw them around.”
Jones showed up on the left side, which meant undrafted rookie tackle Garry Gilliam would get the throw if necessary. Gilliam, a converted tight end out of Penn State, hadn’t caught a touchdown since high school.
“I broke the huddle like, Please be on my side, please be on my side,” Gilliam says. “And then [Jones] was.” -- LMAO, how ridiculous is this? Jesus.
Linebacker A.J. Hawk committed to stopping Ryan’s run, so Ryan lofted the ball over Hawk and into Gilliam’s mitts, becoming the second Canadian to throw a touchdown in the NFL playoffs (the first was Mark Rypien). But it’s nothing new for Ryan to be featured in a fake attempt; over his career he’s run for two first downs with one coming on an option run with Hauschka against Washington this season.
Players say that each week Schneider dreams up some contingency that only rarely comes into play. A week earlier, it was alerting Kam Chancellor to a subtle tell in Carolina’s field goal formation, enabling Chancellor to hurdle the Panthers’ line not once but twice.
“They do their research,” Gilliam says. “Every week we have plays like that. There are little things that the coaches research and can pick up on. I can’t even remember all of them. I just drop them from my memory and move on every week.”
Credit to Schneider for doing the grunt work, Carroll for making a pair of gutsy calls, and Seattle’s fearless and fast-thinking special teamers. They are as big a reason as any that the Seahawks will get a shot at a title defense.