What Seahawks Pro Bowl rookie Tariq Woolen learned from his first NFL playoff game

Tariq Woolen was in no mood to talk.

Not many inside the Seahawks’ locker room at Levi’s Stadium were late Saturday afternoon. Their surprising run into the playoffs, their unexpected season, were over.

Woolen, Seattle’s Pro Bowl cornerback from his wondrous rookie season, was among those Seahawks devastated.

“The cornerbacks that played did a fantastic job to make it through a season. They’re crushed in there right now,” coach Pete Carroll said moments after San Francisco attacked them and the Seahawks in a 41-23 victory in the NFC wild-card playoffs last weekend. “They couldn’t see it coming that the season was going to be over (Saturday).

“So they’re in shock about it, almost.”

Some of that shock came from the final game for Woolen being unlike his 17 in the regular season.

San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan again showed he’s one of the NFL’s best game planners and play callers. He had the 49ers going at the NFL’s co-leader in interceptions when he was in both man-to-man and inside him in zone coverage. The 49ers threw towards Woolen six times. That was three times more than most teams threw at him per regular-season game.

Three of those targets were on long, horizontal crossing routes over the middle of the field, wide open away from the rookie cornerback. Two appeared to be zone coverage, not Woolen’s direct responsibility, but where Woolen was the only Seahawk to react to the play, and late.

Woolen’s best play was on Seattle’s first defensive series Saturday. He raced back to break up a deep pass over him, intended for San Francisco’s Jauan Jennings in the end zone. Woolen’s speed made up the ground Jennings had on him while quarterback Brock Purdy’s pass was in the air on that incompletion.

But then the 49ers just ran free in Seattle’s secondary. San Francisco’s deep crossing routes exposed the huge voids far behind Seahawks inside linebackers Cody Barton and Tanner Muse, playing because Jordyn Brooks ended the season on injured reserve, and in front of deep dropping safety Quandre Diggs.

It doomed Seattle that, again, its defense could not consistently generate a pass rush. Purdy had the time to wait for his deep crossing receivers to come open. That time usually came from play-action or double-team protections Shanahan had for his rookie quarterback in his first postseason start.

“Kyle did a fantastic job,” Carroll said.

“Yeah, we were geared up to stop the running game, in hopes that we would be able to do that. (San Francisco rushed for 181 yards).

“The passes did get in behind us on a couple, in some zone stuff.”

Upon the Seahawks’ return home, Woolen talked on locker clean-out day Sunday about what he learned from his first NFL playoff game.

“Just keep your head high. Just keep playing,” he said.

“You know, you are going to make mistakes in the game. But you’ve just got to play through it, because those are the times your team needs you the most. Especially in a game like that. It’s a playoff game. Those are the type of games that you want and you need. And you’ve got to have experience in, too.”

What the 49ers did

The 49ers’ first pass completion Saturday was to Deebo Samuel crossing inside Woolen into huge, empty space in Seattle’s zone coverage. That wasn’t Woolen’s man. But when there was no receiver in his zone, he was the only Seahawk to react to the route. It was a 19-yard gain.

On the next play, Shanahan had wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk block Woolen from a tight left slot position. Aiyuk pushed Woolen outside. Samuel, lined up as a tailback in I formation, took a toss sweep around left end, inside Aiyuk’s block on Woolen and behind fullback Kyle Juszczyk’s block on Seattle strong safety Ryan Neal. That 22-yard gain set up the game’s first points, a 49ers field goal.

The first play after Seattle cut San Francisco’s lead to 10-7 early in the second quarter was another example of how Shanahan designed his deep crossing routes. Purdy faked a handoff and rolled left on a bootleg. Seahawks rookie linebacker Boye Mafe, holding the right edge of the defense, crashed down hard reacting to what he thought was a handoff right to Christian McCaffrey. Tight end George Kittle and a tackle double-teamed Mafe, stonewalling the only defender who could have affected Purdy’s time to throw.

The quarterback had 5 seconds to wait for Aiyuk to run from outside left to his right across the middle, 20 yards downfield. Woolen, in what appeared to be man-to-man coverage, trailed behind Aiyuk’s crosser. Purdy calmly pitched the ball onto Aiyuk’s hands ahead of Woolen for a 23-yard gain to midfield. That set up another 49ers field goal.

Late in the second quarter, with the Seahawks in zone, Cover 3, and only three pass rushers, Purdy again had the time to wait for Aiyuk to run a long crossing route 20 yards downfield. With no receiver deep outside in his zone, Woolen again was the only defender to react, and late, to the 31-yard gain. That set up San Francisco’s third field goal of the half for its 16-14 lead.

San Francisco schemed at Woolen, and horizontally instead of challenging his size and speed vertically, more than any other Seattle opponent all season.

The touchdown that sealed San Francisco’s win in the fourth quarter also targeted Woolen’s side. Aiyuk cleared out Woolen with a deep go at him down the sideline. No Seahawk picked up Samuel on his shallow crossing route 15 yards up the field. Aiyuk then locked up Woolen on a block the cornerback couldn’t get out of. Samuel covered 25 yards untouched past them on his way to a 74-yard score. That put the 49ers ahead decisively, 38-17.

NFL NextGen Stats said Purdy had 10 throws where his receivers had at least 5 yards of separation on a Seahawk. On those passes Purdy was 9 for 10 for 179 yards and three touchdowns.

The Seahawks lost by three touchdowns.

The long crossers succeeding is an indictment not on Woolen or the secondary as much as on the crushing lack of a consistent pass rush from the Seahawks, not just Saturday but all season. For two seasons, in fact. That is an offseason priority for Carroll.

“I think that’s just part of guys attacking certain coverages and certain things. Like I said, he drew up some great things,” Diggs said of Shanahan. “They did some things that they normally didn’t do.

“But for us, we’ve got to be better in all aspects of the game. And (Saturday) we weren’t.”

A day of learning

Woolen said long crossing routes, in general, don’t pose specific challenges for him. He noted many of his NFL co-leading six interceptions this past season came on crossing routes.

There were times he came out of his vacant zone and stole a pass thrown toward a teammate’s man, such as Woolen’s interception he returned for a touchdown at Detroit in October.

“Honestly, they aren’t hard. Those are the plays I feel like those were my interceptions, making plays on the ball,” Woolen said. “Any in-breaking routes.

“I was just, (Saturday at San Francisco), shoot, it was just we were in Cover 3 and there were different things. I could have played the routes even better, too.

“That’s the thing about just seeing it from TV, or just seeing it from social media or just seeing it from the outlooks of the game. Because we get a play call inside the huddle, but to the media they think it’s one-on-one coverage because they see a guy around a dude (a receiver) that catches the football, you know what I’m saying? It’s just pretty funny to me.

“But at the same time, I don’t really care about it. I know what goes on on the field. I know what’s called. I know what my teammates are seeing and trusting me.

“At the end of the day, those are plays I could have made. But, hey, that was yesterday. Today is a new day.”

Woolen has three seasons remaining on his rookie contract. He’s already been selected to a Pro Bowl. He’s already received All-Pro votes.

His best is yet to come. Given how good he’s already been, the Seahawks can’t wait.

“I’m glad that it was one of my first ones, and that it was early in my career, so that way in years to come I know how it will feel,” he said of his first postseason game and lessons.

“Shoot, we are just going to make another run and just have a chance at it again.”