On Thursday night during their blowout 36-16 victory over the Packers, the Seahawks unleashed a deadly new offensive play.
On a read-option run, Russell Wilson faked the handoff into Marshawn Lynch's belly, kept the ball and right as he was about to run he stopped short and threw a pass to Ricardo Lockette, who promptly rumbled for a 33-yard touchdown.
To those who follow college football and the emerging offensive trends from that level of football, this play looked pretty familiar.
To the Auburn Tigers? It looked real familiar.
This play's called the "pop" play (ideally as an homage to Magnitude but more realistically because of how the quarterback stops quickly and pops off the pass) and it's devastating defenses at the college level.
Per usual the Seahawks were/are ahead of the curve and elevated it to the NFL game on the biggest stage of 2014. The effect was crippling for a Packers defense already in over its head but treading water decently to that point.
It's part of the reason Seattle looked unstoppable on Thursday night. I still think we should name it "stopping short" though.