Russell Wilson will be on the run Sunday as the Seattle Seahawks take on the Los Angeles Rams. We know that because the 29-year-old quarterback is seemingly always on the run due to a porous offensive line.
Right?
What if we told you that wasn't actually the case? Yes, Aaron Donald & Co. will likely cause problems for Seattle, but according to analysis based on new player tracking information, the much-maligned Seahawks offensive line might actually be decent at pass blocking -- and it might not have been bad last season, either. It might just be an unfair victim of more traditional statistics.
ESPN's new pass block win rate (PBWR) metric using NFL Next Gen Stats examines pass protection relative to time after the snap. Pressure isn't binary; a lineman getting beat after 1.5 seconds is horrific, while sustaining a block until three seconds is OK. That's why we rely on a survival analysis to determine each team's and player's rate of success at various points in time after the snap.