All Seahawks

Schematic Detective: Seahawks 200/300 Scat Arrow Bow

Diving into one of Seattle's staple passing concepts, Matty F. Brown breaks down the intricacies of 200/300 Scat Arrow Bow, including an example from the 2021 preseason.

Matty F. Brown

In this story:

Whether intentional or not, meaningful Xs and Os takeaways from the Seahawks 2022 offseason activities have been at an all-time low. The usual traps of quarterback wristbands, assistant coach play sheets, and practice plans have been found empty, looking mysteriously blurry in photos and leaving schematic hunters ravenous. 

Thankfully, we finally were fed a scrap: All Seahawks’ Corbin Smith took this image in approved media picture time and in it we can see “200/300 Scat Arrow Bow.”

Yes, while Smith got himself a snap of quarterback Drew Lock, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, and receiver Tyler Lockett, the degenerates netted a whiteboard with a Seahawks offensive play concept scrawled on it: 200/300 Scat Arrow Bow. So what does the code 200/300 Scat Arrow Bow mean? How does this work with the 2022 Seahawks? And what can we over interpret as we enter the lull, June to July period of the offseason?

The “200/300 Scat” part of the code is the pass protection scheme. On the whiteboard, the first number looks more like a 3 than a 2. But it doesn’t matter, because 200 and 300 go together in scat pass protection: essentially, 300 signifies the center sliding to the right of the pass protection, while 200 tells the center to slide to the left.

“Scat” means that there are only the five offensive linemen pass protecting for the quarterback, with the running back immediately releasing on a route. Scat is actually regarded as an empty pass protection call because of the running back not being involved in the pass pro. It could well be that the “5” on the whiteboard is to remind the quarterbacks that they only have five men in pass pro.

The quarterback must throw hot if the defense brings two additional rushers to the center’s slide, creating a 4 versus 3 outnumbering, or one additional rusher away from the center’s slide (producing a 3 on 2).

Here’s Kyle Shanahan’s 2018 playbook outlining 200/300 Scat: 

And here’s the explanation from Shanahan’s 2015 ‘book: 

Arrow Bow is the passing concept. “Arrow” is the frontside, two-man route combination. And "Bow" is the backside two-man route combine. We’ll deal with Bow first.

Bow features a 12-14 yard “basic” route, what every day folk would call a dig. And an in-breaking hitch route, somewhat confusingly known as an “arrow” route, run at 4 to 6 yards that has the option to widen back to the field if a second-level defender is covering the route tight and to the inside—such as in a man coverage assignment. It ends up looking like a pivot or whip.

This arrow route when run from normal splits is essentially run at the same angle as a slant, with the coaching point of crossing the tracks of the receiver running the basic. This undercut imposes added stress on the defense.

However, the Sean McVays and Shanahans of the world have run the bow concept from condensed splits, meaning that the angle of the arrow route can be more linear. While it is still aimed slightly inside, it is done so as though the stem is starting to climb up the field or across. This means that the route concept develops more quickly, while isolating a single defender in the area. (Note that McVay calls this snapper, presumably because the inside receiver is running the arrow route)

Whether the offensive formation is wide or tight, the main idea is to conflict an interior underneath defender in zone coverage. If this defender takes the cheese of the shallower arrow route, the ball can be thrown to the basic breaking into the window behind. If instead the defender tries to gain depth to the dig, the ball can come out fast to the arrow underneath.

On the whiteboard, Seattle has the “bow” on the backside of their pass concept, a common approach with the call. When Russell Wilson was the Seahawks’ quarterback, relying on the backside dig to hit was rarely fruitful, with Wilson declining that throw for a variety of reasons. However, with Geno Smith or Drew Lock at quarterback, we can expect this to be a bigger part of Waldron’s 2022 attack. And it could even be executed from the condensed splits that Waldron previously experienced in Los Angeles yet restricted in Seattle due to his style of quarterback.

The ”Arrow” part of the concept is similar to Bow, except that the second route in the Arrow pairing is a corner route rather than a basic. So, rather than isolating and looking to high-low an interior defender in coverage, the corner-arrow combination aims to pick on the outside coverage defender. It’s basically a variation of smash. Here’s “Arrow Bow” found by JT O’Sullivan in a mystery Tampa Bay Buccaneers playbook:

Finally, here is an example - found by @cmikesspinmove of Seattle Overload - of the 2021 Seahawks offense successfully executing 300 Scat Arrow Bow with Geno Smith at quarterback. Smith opened to the Arrow part of the concept and saw the Chargers’ aggressive quarters coverage muddy his read, with his outside receiver Gerald Everett not helping after poorly executing his arrow route by failing to cross tracks.

Smith therefore progressed to the backside Bow concept, where he faced more of the Chargers’ Cover 4 pass defense. The curl, immediate inside underneath coverage defender, stuck tight to the arrow route of Freddie Swain, so Swain broke outside.

Smith rightly wanted to hit the basic run by Penny Hart. The quarterback navigated his pocket, moving up. This, along with the shallower routes, saw the linebacker settle and Smith fired to the basic window - beneath and inside the quarters safety - for a big completion. 

For further information and examples of the Bow passing concept, check out this link and the below video:

Published
Matty F. Brown
MATTY F. BROWN

Based and born in the UK, Matty has coached football for over 5 years, including stints as a scout, defensive coordinator, and Wide Receiver/DB Coach. Asides from an Xs and Os obsession, he enjoys: other sports; eating out; plus following Newcastle United. He graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2018 with a BA in Modern History.

Home/Seahawks News