Seattle Seahawks: 3 Big takeaways from loss vs. Chargers in Week 9

Somehow Russell Wilson needs to stay upright

Two things played into Russell Wilson hitting the deck so often during Week 9. First of all, the offensive line is clearly not fixed — it still crumbles against stiff pass rushes. Second, Wilson refuses, for some unknown reason, to throw the ball away when under intense pressure.

Maybe he wants to salvage every play with his legs, but that won’t work in the NFL and it’s disturbing that a seventh year starting quarterback hasn’t accepted that yet.

During the game on Sunday Wilson was sacked four times for a combined loss of 33 yards and six quarterback hits occurred as well. The Chargers were averaging less than three sacks per game going into the contest.

I know the Seahawks have brought in a bunch of new offensive linemen within the last year and a new offensive line coach, but that doesn’t change the fact that Wilson looked fairly uncomfortable in the pocket on Sunday. And sometimes when he tried to escape or extend the play he actually made things worse and took long sacks.

Usually Wilson is better off when the Seahawks run the ball well, but the team put up 154 rushing yards and he still faced consistent pressure. At this point, besides getting the ball out of his hand quicker, there’s no short term fix. Clearly the offensive line needs more new faces or shuffling. If the Seahawks want to be a real playoff contender then they need to protect their quarterback.