Russell Wilson having career-best season despite anomaly vs. Packers
Most space is given to the battle between Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense against the Seattle Seahawks secondary- and for good reason- but watching Russell Wilson trying to unlock the Patriots also-elite defensive backfield will be just as thrilling. While Wilson is coming off of the worst game of his career, he’s also coming off of the best season of his career, even if the statistics don’t necessarily show it.
Think about it. Even though the Seahawks didn’t have a real No. 1 receiver and were stuck with just two legit receivers in Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, who were the only non-running backs to have more than 30 receptions, Wilson still managed to average a career-high 217.2 yards per game. His yards per attempt average went down to 7.7 due to a need to play more steady ball, but he flourished in this role, throwing just seven interceptions on a career-high 452 attempts.
Wilson was asked the throw the ball more this past season despite having less talent around him, and he showed once again why he is one of the NFL’s smartest quarterbacks, meaning that Richard Sherman was on point with that part of his rankings. The Wisconsin product rarely ever makes poor decisions, and that’s what made his performance against the Packers all the more surprising.
The problem with the Seahawks lies in the fact that they simply don’t have good enough pass-catchers, and they ask Wilson and Marshawn Lynch to do too much, as both have to carry this offense. The Seahawks elite defense obviously gives them plenty of help, but Wilson and Lynch clearly have to do much of the work on their own. Outside of Russell Okung and Max Unger, the offensive line is underwhelming.
Baldwin is a smart, reliable possession receiver, but he and Kearse and No. 2 and 3 receivers at best rather than the clear-cut top two options in the passing attack; it’s also telling that Lynch has to be the team’s third-leading receiver with the fourth-leading pass-catcher a rookie who received just six regular season starts in Colorado product Paul Richardson.
We always talk about how Brady has to achieve great things with little around him, and it’s true that the Patriots legend has “little” in comparison to the wealth of weapons that Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees have been blessed with during their careers. But if you want to look at a guy who has done a lot with not much around him, then look no further than Wilson, who would probably be ecstatic if the Seahawks picked up a true No. 1 receiver in another deep WR draft class.
Dec 28, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws a pass against the St. Louis Rams at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Kearse and Baldwin can do some nice things, but when the Packers defense clamped down on them two weeks ago, the ‘Hawks had issues moving the ball. Without the defense’s elite play against Rodgers and Lynch’s insane 150-yard performance that came with 14 missed tackles forced, the Seahawks would never have won that game. Wilson was simply left with no options, and this was in stark contrast to his easy day against the Carolina Panthers burn-prone secondary.
Wilson clearly has a tough battle ahead of him against the Patriots elite secondary, as Devin McCourty and Co. managed to make T.Y. Hilton a complete non-factor two weeks ago, shutting down all of Andrew Luck‘s other weapons in a truly phenomenal display of defensive dominance. That’s what Baldwin, Wilson, and Kearse will be going up against.
Just as the Patriots must try to wisely generate mis-matches and spread the ball around against the Seahawks elite secondary, so too must the Seahawks be creative with the way they attack the Patriots defense. They need to use some dump-offs to 37-reception running back Lynch, as well as some plays to the uber-athletic Luke Willson, who did leave some plays on the field against the Packers. The Seahawks don’t have much versatility as the Patriots on offense, but the Patriots defense isn’t as good as the ‘Hawks defense either.
When you talk about the versatility of an offense, the focus usually settles on pass-catchers and the different places they can align, but one key element of versatility lies in Wilson’s rushing ability, which is always a huge focus for the opposition. Even when Wilson isn’t running for big chunks of yardage, you always have to keep someone spying him or do your best not break contain, because it’s when you lose focus that he takes advantage as a rusher. Wilson is known for his vision and decision-making as a passer, but those of those traits clearly transition to his ability to run the ball.
That said, Wilson has run for just 54 yards on 20 carries in his past three games, meaning that the Packers, Panthers, and rival St. Louis Rams have maintained to contain him as a rusher after he obliterated the Arizona Cardinals in a famous Sunday Night Football victory. The Cardinals didn’t handle his rushing ability appropriately a week after Vic Fangio and the San Francisco 49ers did, so they were victimized by a QB who ran for 849 yards and six touchdowns, including a league-high 7.2 yards per carry. Yes, 7.2. There are QBs who would envy averaging 7.2 yards per pass attempt.
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On the surface, it seems like it’s just about impossible for Wilson to break his streak of three straight disappointing games as a rusher, since Bill Belichick and the Patriots will most likely be fully prepared for his rushing ability. Of course, it comes down to execution, and the Patriots do have the ability to contain running QBs.
They didn’t face anyone like Wilson, but, no quarterback had significant success against them on the ground. Not only are most of their defenders safe tacklers and smart in contain, but they have a monster of a linebacker in Jamie Collins whose ridiculous quickness and closing speed makes him the perfect defensive weapon to defend the Seahawks star QB.
Russell Wilson will head into Sunday with his work cut out for him against what is probably the second-best secondary in the NFL, and he’ll have to do it, as he has for the entire season, without a true No. 1 wideout. Of course, he has the uber-dangerous and consistent Lynch at his disposal, and Baldwin and Kearse have risen to the occasion when called upon. Wilson himself has lead the league with five game-winning drives in back-to-back seasons, so his knack for coming up huge in the clutch continues to be of immense value.
We’ll see if he can work some openings as a rusher, and we always know that’s a threat on those critical third down plays. Even though he had just 25 rushing yards against the Packers, he did take one in for a TD and constantly made the opposition worry about his legs. We’ll see if he can show off his deep arm again despite the Patriots work in deep coverage lately, and we all know that Wilson is smart and athletic enough to beat Belichick, Darrelle Revis, D-Mac, Collins, and the Pats top-notch defense.