X's & O's Seahawks had a tell on Patriots offense in Super Bowl, defender claims

[SammyBlueCat]

Seahawks had a tell on Patriots offense in Super Bowl, defender claims

The New England Patriots offense struggled mightily in Super Bowl LX, and throughout the day was seemingly one step behind the Seattle Seahawks defense.​

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According to Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, that did not happen by accident. In fact, he claimed after the game that his team’s film study revealed some clear tendencies his unit was keying in on.​

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“I knew what was going on,” Witherspoon told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “We had a good tell on what they like to do and how they like to play and how they were going to attack us. Coach put us in the best position to win. That’s our coach right there, that’s why we always stand beside him and always have his back.”​

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The tell that Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and his staff uncovered could be found along the offensive line.​

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“We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set, they’re going to overset on certain rushes, they’re going to fall for certain moves any time a group of guys get after them,” Witherspoon added. “I think we did that.”​

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What exactly the Seahawks zeroed in on is not known at this point in time. However, Yahoo Sports’ Charles McDonald identified right guard Mike Onwenu as one potential source of information accidentally permeating from one side of the line of scrimmage to the other.​

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Remember many years ago, one of our playoff losses in Denver, the center would bob his head prior to snapping the ball?

 

[Pape]

Remember may years ago, one of our playoff losses in Denver, the center would bob his head prior to snapping the ball?

brian stork

 

[Pape]

If what they say is true, big time failure by the OL Coach and Josh's protection schemes.

 

[upstater1]

They filmed the walkthrough. without that, they don't win

 

[Wozzy]

Josh’s offense was called “predictable” by an opposing defensive coach back in the 2010’s… are we shocked by this now?

 

[TheRainMaker]

“We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set, they’re going to overset on certain rushes, they’re going to fall for certain moves any time a group of guys get after them,” Witherspoon added. “I think we did that.”

I've noticed this around the NFL. Players will stand a certain way along the OL or QB's body language and RB's near QB's that will tell you they are running the football or not.

 

[Toofy]

If this were true, the coaching staff needs to up their game . Maybe because we had so many rookies , there was not much we could do and gane plans were also relatively simpler.

I hope josh challenges Maye and himself to have more different concepts and better game plan and adjustments.

During regular season we always went into lead with no need for adjustment or changes required In Second half on offense. Whenever we needed adjustments we failed in most cases. Bills was a prime example, losing from a 21-0 lead.

It was fun while it lasted this season but 2026 nobody is gonna take us lightly and come up even harder.

Our rookies and maye will need to step up big time , else this season has chances to go the commanders way .

Maybe all we need is to solidify the line to above average and give Maye an additional 0.5 seconds and things start to open up for everyone. But we can't draft mid level talent.

So in draft you want to punt and take the best available talent with high upside. So I might be okay if they gamble a pick on 2nd round or 3rd round on a player with measurables and potential off the chart.

We need a gronk or nacua level impact player . Only Maye and gonzo so far and both are first rounders. We have just not hit on any elite talent in drafts in latter rounds . Every team has 1 or 2 they have hit in last 3-4 years draft classes.

Henderson was supposed to be that guy but he just disappeared big time I. The last 2 months.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Thats very disappointing, the coaching matchup was one of my reasons for optimism but sounds like Seattle’s did a much better job

 

[Wozzy]

Josh was as conservative as he was a week prior in driving snow, ignoring how the weather was beautiful and the Rams got the Seahawks into a shootout just weeks before. Our defense was better than the Rams, I liked our chances in shootout.

Putting Maye in shotgun more late in the game allowed him to see the pressures from the DB’s and forced them to cover. We played right into Seattle’s strengths on defense by playing conservative. There’s nothing “genius” about that.

 

[Ring 6]

Remember many years ago, one of our playoff losses in Denver, the center would bob his head prior to snapping the ball?

That was a nothing burger.
Every team has a trigger for the silent snap. You see a lot of teams have the guard move his arm. There is a trigger and then a silent “hut 1, hut 2, hut 3.
Unless the qb calls everything on 1 the trigger isn’t a tell at all.

 

[Ring 6]

“We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set, they’re going to overset on certain rushes, they’re going to fall for certain moves any time a group of guys get after them,” Witherspoon added. “I think we did that.”

I've noticed this around the NFL. Players will stand a certain way along the OL or QB's body language and RB's near QB's that will tell you they are running the football or not.

That’s been a thing in football for 100 years. In HS ball a lot of RBs look toward the hole when the are lined up, until it’s coached out of them.
It sounds like they found our OL aligns differently based on the blocking scheme or thought they found that.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I was NOT a very good high school FB player

I do remember preparing for one specific game, our coaches spotted a very specific "tell" on film.

Our opponent's guards would basically telegraph the play by taking a baby step a few inches backwards before getting set.

Never the less, their linemen were huge and they mauled us 41-7.

The year before all of this happened, we had a much better team and upset them for the first time in almost 20 years.

So these huge linemen were playing angry, even if we knew their plays.

 

[upstater1]

Thats very disappointing, the coaching matchup was one of my reasons for optimism but sounds like Seattle’s did a much better job

First year coaching staffs are always at a disadvantage. Consistency and communication is so important in the NFL. You need to work on the small details. This isn't so much a matter of a deficiency in our coaching staff as much as it is the natural timeline of any team's progression with a new coach.

This is why only Mike Vrabel and John Gruden have made it to the Super Bowl in the last 50 years as totally new caching staffs in their first year.

The other guys who made it in their first year were already on the staff and just elevated when the previous coach either retired or resigned (Seifert, Callahan, Caldwell, Kubiak).

 

[upstater1]

I was NOT a very good high school FB player

I do remember preparing for one specific game, our coaches spotted a very specific "tell" on film.

Our opponent's guards would basically telegraph the play by taking a baby step a few inches backwards before getting set.

Never the less, their linemen were huge and they mauled us 41-7.

The year before all of this happened, we had a much better team and upset them for the first time in almost 20 years.

So these huge linemen were playing angry, even if we knew their plays.

Belichick used to always look at game tape for tells.

He says there were times when they knew how a defense was setting up in terms of blitzing based on one DE. When he told Brady to look for the DE to get the read, Brady told him he has dozens of things he needs to do pre-snap and that he'd never ever look at a DE so that Belichick had basically just wasted his time. Belichick never bothered scouting that again.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I do remember preparing for one specific game, our coaches spotted a very specific "tell" on film.

I'm jealous you or your coaches watched film. I was on the HS football team in 2000, and we playing like it was football just began. I also asked where the playbook was and the coaches looked at me with confusion. That's when I knew I was screwed. We had to remember plays that they drew up on the fly on a white board. It was embarrassing. We got our asses kicked every week.

This is footage from practice...

 

[Ian]

Happened in 2022 also with Patricia:

How Mac Jones, Patriots Reacted To Defenders Knowing Plays

Multiple New England Patriots defenders said Wednesday that deciphering an opponent's plays is commonplace at the NFL level.

nesn.com

Offense falls flat as Colts LB calls out plays before Patriots run them, players say

Patriots offensive players heard a Colts linebacker calling out their plays on Sunday.

www.masslive.com

 

[Vindicate]

May as well have said "we studied film"

This is generally key to a successful defensive game plan. I think sure for all three preceding games, the Patriots discovered what the tells for the Chargers, Houston, and Denver. You don't hit sacks and find turnovers without it.

 

[NFL Mystique]

Remember many years ago, one of our playoff losses in Denver, the center would bob his head prior to snapping the ball?

The OL coach was out of a job like three days after that game.

 

[NFL Mystique]

If this were true, the coaching staff needs to up their game . Maybe because we had so many rookies , there was not much we could do and gane plans were also relatively simpler.

I hope josh challenges Maye and himself to have more different concepts and better game plan and adjustments.

During regular season we always went into lead with no need for adjustment or changes required In Second half on offense. Whenever we needed adjustments we failed in most cases. Bills was a prime example, losing from a 21-0 lead.

It was fun while it lasted this season but 2026 nobody is gonna take us lightly and come up even harder.

Our rookies and maye will need to step up big time , else this season has chances to go the commanders way .

Maybe all we need is to solidify the line to above average and give Maye an additional 0.5 seconds and things start to open up for everyone. But we can't draft mid level talent.

So in draft you want to punt and take the best available talent with high upside. So I might be okay if they gamble a pick on 2nd round or 3rd round on a player with measurables and potential off the chart.

We need a gronk or nacua level impact player . Only Maye and gonzo so far and both are first rounders. We have just not hit on any elite talent in drafts in latter rounds . Every team has 1 or 2 they have hit in last 3-4 years draft classes.

Henderson was supposed to be that guy but he just disappeared big time I. The last 2 months.

I wonder if stiffer competition might have prepared them for what came in the postseason?