The Seattle Seahawks got funky last Monday. Ken Norton Jr. stunted hard Youth Shaquem Griffin Jersey , unleashing wild, looping blitzes. His defense looked like Kris Richard’s Seahawks with 3-down linemen looks. On the back end, the coverage was also a complete change up. Seattle predominantly ran two-high safety pass defenses that turned into either match quarters, cover-2 man or bracket man. Single-high, cover-3 and cover-1? This was only witnessed against heavier personnel and formations.Here’s what Kirk Cousins (probably) said at half time:Yes, in addition to the Seahawks’ distractingly lurid ACTION green uniforms, their defensive scheme was also deceiving. The result was a rattled, confused $84M quarterback who double-clutched and missed throws. Norton Jr.’s gameplan was completely different to what the Minnesota Vikings would have prepared for in the days leading up to their 21-7 defeat. The now fired John DeFilippo struggled to figure out ways to move the football. Seattle popped off the screen in more ways than one on Monday Night Football. What this article will cover is the bracket/bandit coverages. In Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, the Vikings have the deadliest receiving duo in the league. The Seahawks limited them to 76 and 70 receiving yards respectively. Zero touchdowns. That’s not bad at all, especially when you factor in garbage time production.In the first quarter Seahawks Tre Flowers Jersey , Seattle befuddled Minnesota’s opening script and didn’t allow a single Thielen or Diggs reception. Let’s get to their second drive of the game.Bracket/Bandit #1The Vikings came out in an 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end and 3 wide receivers), empty shotgun set featuring two wingbacks. They were lied to pre-snap by the Seahawks’ 3-1-7 big seven defensive back (bandit personnel) defense on this 3rd and 12.It looked like a cover-2 man press defense. Instead, Seattle rushed just two of their players. Jacob Martin, lined up at left end, dropped as his green dog assignment required him to stop his rush and cover the releasing man one-on-one.Meanwhile, in the deep secondary, Delano Hill bracketed Thielen over the top. The coverage saw Griffin and Hill double cover Thielen. The other safety, Tedric Thompson, was assigned Diggs deep. Diggs had to contend with the man coverage of Justin Coleman Seahawks Shaquill Griffin Jersey , walling from the initially sugared Akeem King and Thompson: triple coverage. Cousins first looked at Diggs, expecting the middle of the field to be open. He quickly progressed, given the safety movement and immediate two-man plastering. His second read was Thielen’s in-breaking deep route outside. The underneath and over the top layers smothered Thielen, making this even less preferable of a throw.Checking that Martin had dropped with the flat route checkdown, Cousins panned to the other side of the field and the checkdown of Dalvin Cook in the flat. Bobby Wagner, in man coverage over the running back, dropped him for a loss. (The refs made a very strange call on Wagner here, but the coverage still worked beautifully.)Bracket/Bandit #2The bizarre flag on Wagner kept Minnesota’s drive alive, only for them to stall in similar fashion on the next third down—a 3rd and 12. The Vikings plumped for an 11 personnel shotgun trips formation; the Seahawks once more responded with a 3-1-7 big bandit (7 DBs).The assignments were similar, as was the result. King walled Diggs’ skinny post route Seahawks Nick Vannett Jersey , along with the man-to-man press coverage of Griffin and the bracketing of Hill. On the opposite side of the field, the isolated Thielen had Thompson work his way over the top to double cover him above Tre Flowers. It was this safety movement that Cousins first observed. Correctly choosing to move to his next read, Cousins again saw a triple-covered Diggs. He went for the one-on-one the defense produced. Coleman worked well on Aldrick Robinson’s wickedly angled vertical route, staying easily in phase with the receiver.Up front, Jarran Reed managed to command a double-team (benefited by pre-snap sugaring) that saw Martin get a one-on-one with right tackle Brian O’Neill. Beating him for speed to the corner, Martin dipped through and registered a hit on Cousins. Hurried, Cousins’ pass fell nowhere near the intended receiver and Coleman’s sound coverage. Change-Up Seattle’s ability to adapt to their opponent is a massively underrated aspect to Pete Carroll’s genius as a defensive coach. Undoubtedly, Norton Jr. had influence on the scheme too. The Seahawks’ near-perfect execution had Cousins reeling: they went to match-quarters stuff for the rest of the game and it was similarly effective.Said Cousins:The proactive measures neutered the Vikings’ offense of any tangible threat. It was deadly, like Nolan Ryan’s circle change-up after a ton of scorching fastballs. Minnesota was left looking silly.Bobby Wagner reflected on the Bandit coverage post-game:Here’s what Carroll thought of the schematic tweak: With a playoff run now nearly certain, it’s comforting to know that Seattle has ways of taking lethal receivers out of games. Cousins was persistently forced to his tertiary read and he looked shell-shocked in the big moments. A stifling defense that imposes that level of psychological stress on a quarterback is something that screams SEAHAWKS IN DECEMBER. The astonishing part is we can think that about this rebuilding iteration of Carroll’s Seattle. I’m in! Remember when the Carolina Panthers fumbled it six times against the Seattle Seahawks and somehow recovered all of them? It sure felt like Seattle was on the wrong end of fumble luck and squandering opportunities to get some important turnovers.Well as it turns out Youth Kam Chancellor Jersey , outside of that game, the Seahawks have been astonishingly good at recovering fumbles. They forced 21 fumbles on defense and special teams this season (tied for third in the NFL), and were able to recover 14, which is tied for most in the league. Compare that with the 2014 Seahawks, whose fumble luck wasn’t as good, as they forced 20 and only got half of them.It’s good that they’ve been getting fumble recoveries, as the defense has only mustered up three interceptions since the bye week, and just twelve overall. For the second year in a row, none of Seattle’s cornerbacks amassed more than two interceptions, and Earl Thomas is tied for the team lead in picks despite not playing since September. Seattle has the league’s best turnover differential at +15 Youth Will Dissly Jersey , and part of that is not only their defensive fumble recoveries, but their ability to recover loose footballs (or have them go out of bounds) on offense. Of the 14 fumbles forced, only four have been recovered by the opposition, which is the fewest in the league alongside Washington. The past two meetings with the Dallas Cowboys have seen the Seahawks commit zero turnovers and force six, and hopefully that will continue heading into Saturday night.