With the game on the line, the Seattle Seahawks had 4th and 2 at midfield with a chance to extend the drive and possibly pull off a monumental win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Geno Smith never got a chance. Why? Because Micah Parsons, one of the best defensive players in the entire NFL, was left unblocked and there’s functionally zero chance for Geno to get the ball out quickly to anyone in a blue throwback shirt.

Now to you and me, this looks like a poorly timed bust in protection. Not a lot of quarterbacks are going to be able to escape Parsons charging right in their face for a sack, so something must have gone wrong.

But the Seahawks had other ideas. Shane Waldron, who had called a generally outstanding game, looked at his play-sheet and whipped out this bad boy by design. Geno Smith explains what happened.

NFL film analyst Benjamin Solak backs this up with his analysis of the fateful final play. It was by design, and with the likes of DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Tyler Lockett all in the pattern, Waldron had DeeJay Dallas be the primary target to counter this blitz. Well… Micah Parsons is different.


I say no more.