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Is it his finger?

doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

It's pretty bad when you have to pick Washington to beat Seattle and your pick turns out to be right, Russell Wilson and Seattle.......what the heck happened to them?

Pete Carroll on Russell Wilson’s struggles: “We’re missing some stuff.”

Russell Wilson is currently a shell of the quarterback he’s been at the peaks of his career with the Seattle Seahawks.

Monday night against the Washington Football Team, Wilson had multiple misfired throws on passes to open receivers. He had three passes sail high or wide of tight end Gerald Everett alone on the night.

While some of Wilson’s struggles could likely be attributed to his speedy return to action from a mangled finger that required surgery last month, it can’t be considered as the sole explanation for Wilson’s problems. Especially when Wilson himself and head coach Pete Carroll say that the finger is not causing Wilson any issues.

At the end of the day, the Seahawks need more from their star quarterback.

“The film doesn’t lie, you know. We’re missing some stuff,” Carroll said after the game. “I don’t know what to make of it. Other than the fact we got to keep battling and keep trying to figure it out. I felt like there’s some guys open tonight with some chances and unfortunately didn’t pick it up.”

The Seahawks’ offense has had its issues with time of possession, third downs and sheer lack of offensive plays run throughout the season. Those numbers have gone from bad to worse over the last three weeks with Wilson back in the lineup. Seattle ran a season-low 49 offensive plays last week against the Arizona Cardinals only to follow it up with a new season-low 45 plays against Washington on Monday night. They had just 10 total first downs with five consecutive drives going three-and-out.

They’ve lost the time of possession battle by essentially a 40-to-20 margin in each of the last three games with a season-low 18:20 against Washington.

Wilson is the worst quarterback in the NFL on third down this season (minimum 15 attempts) from a completion percentage standpoint on third downs. Wilson is completing just 36.9 percent of his throws on third down (17-of-46) for 299 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He’s also been sacked 12 times and has a passer rating of just 72.6 on third downs.

“He needs to make his plays when he gets his chances,” Carroll said. “I can’t imagine that he won’t. I can’t imagine that he won’t get it done.”

Some of that could certainly be attributed to Wilson’s injured finger and his rush back into the lineup coming out of the team’s bye week three weeks ago. But the Seahawks offense, and Wilson himself, are just not what they used to be.

Comments

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's pretty bad, right now I'd seriously consider picking the damn Jets to beat Seattle.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,244 ✭✭✭✭✭

    the finger has to be part of it.

    additionally, has Wilson lost "it"? sometimes guys get the yips, or just lose their effectiveness at younger ages than normal.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don't think Seattle will ever recapture the magic they had when they made those Super Bowl runs, and these guys were dominating.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    And they had a solid running game.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,244 ✭✭✭✭✭

    you are correct. that is why dynasties are so difficult to have.

    Seattle during those years wasnt even a dynasty.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • 1951WheatiesPremium1951WheatiesPremium Posts: 6,363 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Most quarterbacks success is tied to the offensive line. When Wilson arrived in Seattle, they had one of the best lines in football. They won, Wilson got paid and there was no money left for anyone else.

    So in another year or two, as the same thing happens in KC, Mahomes won’t have lost it either.

    Football is won in the trenches but the skill position players get the most money from most teams. The teams that have resisted the urge to pay skill position players have largely been consistently good for long periods of time and those teams that pay up for the stars go to salary cap bell and can’t get out.

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  • charliej2356charliej2356 Posts: 316 ✭✭✭

    I watched the entire game last night, but I was watching it from an entirely different perspective than "the finger". I wanted to see what it was like to watch a "nameless team" on its home field. How sad. No "Hail to the Redskins" being played by a band; no wild fans in the stands dressed in feathered head gear; no crazy "hog faces"; just a pitiful-looking "W" as the mid-field marker; and simply not much emotion from the normally-rowdy crowd. [Kinda reminded me of what happened to Jack Nicholson after his frontal lobotomy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.]

  • thisistheshowthisistheshow Posts: 9,386 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @charliej2356 said:
    I watched the entire game last night, but I was watching it from an entirely different perspective than "the finger". I wanted to see what it was like to watch a "nameless team" on its home field. How sad. No "Hail to the Redskins" being played by a band; no wild fans in the stands dressed in feathered head gear; no crazy "hog faces"; just a pitiful-looking "W" as the mid-field marker; and simply not much emotion from the normally-rowdy crowd. [Kinda reminded me of what happened to Jack Nicholson after his frontal lobotomy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.]

    ................
    Interesting points. Yes, the Redskins were a long-storied franchise. Fans too young to remember will not know.

  • HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Over the years, Russell Wilson has been my favorite player to watch. His (former) ability to avoid defensive linemen etc., WAS so much fun to see. But......those days are over. He's lost a step or two. Last night, he was not the Wilson of old. He was doing straight drop back passes and staying in the pocket. Something he rarely ever did before. Oh, well.....those legs don't last forever. I don't think his finger is the problem.

  • HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @charliej2356 said:
    I watched the entire game last night, but I was watching it from an entirely different perspective than "the finger". I wanted to see what it was like to watch a "nameless team" on its home field. How sad. No "Hail to the Redskins" being played by a band; no wild fans in the stands dressed in feathered head gear; no crazy "hog faces"; just a pitiful-looking "W" as the mid-field marker; and simply not much emotion from the normally-rowdy crowd. [Kinda reminded me of what happened to Jack Nicholson after his frontal lobotomy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.]

    I felt the same. Pity.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There's no excuse for Washington not to have a team name by now, no excuse, I sent them a suggestion for a team name, and even sent them my design for the helmets, but they wouldn't listen.

    The Washington Red Rats.

  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,061 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The pattern for Wilson has been to get off to hot starts to seasons and then fade. Remember last year? He had 26 TD passes after 7 games - and finished with 40. And four of those came in one game. In the other 8 games, he had 10 combined.

    He looked awful last night but I don't think it was just the finger. He didn't look great before the injury either other than in week 1.

  • VikingDudeVikingDude Posts: 1,343 ✭✭✭

    The defense has also lost their bite.

  • galaxy27galaxy27 Posts: 7,840 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Carroll will be gone after the season, and so will Wilson

    moral of the story: when you're a yard away from winning the Super Bowl, don't get cute. you may never find yourself in that position ever again.

    it has been a slow fall from grace for Seattle ever since that play, and now almost 7 years later they are on the verge of shaking hands with ground zero

    you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @galaxy27 said:
    Carroll will be gone after the season, and so will Wilson

    moral of the story: when you're a yard away from winning the Super Bowl, don't get cute. you may never find yourself in that position ever again.

    it has been a slow fall from grace for Seattle ever since that play, and now almost 7 years later they are on the verge of shaking hands with ground zero

    Dumbest play call in the history of sports, hands down, and it's not even close!

  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,061 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @doubledragon said:

    @galaxy27 said:
    Carroll will be gone after the season, and so will Wilson

    moral of the story: when you're a yard away from winning the Super Bowl, don't get cute. you may never find yourself in that position ever again.

    it has been a slow fall from grace for Seattle ever since that play, and now almost 7 years later they are on the verge of shaking hands with ground zero

    Dumbest play call in the history of sports, hands down, and it's not even close!

    I will defend that play call till the day I die. It was a bad throw by Wilson. Having said that...

    Think about what it says about a team's quarterback when fans wish their quarterback had NOT been the one making a play.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Tabe said:

    @doubledragon said:

    @galaxy27 said:
    Carroll will be gone after the season, and so will Wilson

    moral of the story: when you're a yard away from winning the Super Bowl, don't get cute. you may never find yourself in that position ever again.

    it has been a slow fall from grace for Seattle ever since that play, and now almost 7 years later they are on the verge of shaking hands with ground zero

    Dumbest play call in the history of sports, hands down, and it's not even close!

    I will defend that play call till the day I die. It was a bad throw by Wilson. Having said that...

    Think about what it says about a team's quarterback when fans wish their quarterback had NOT been the one making a play.

    Obviously it was the wrong call because just look how it turned out, I'm handing that ball to beast mode and if he fails to get in, I can live with that, but what I can't live with is calling a pass play on 2nd down and having it get intercepted and losing a shot at becoming one of only a handful of teams to repeat as champions.

  • galaxy27galaxy27 Posts: 7,840 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 1, 2021 2:17PM

    @Tabe said:

    I will defend that play call till the day I die. It was a bad throw by Wilson. Having said that...

    Think about what it says about a team's quarterback when fans wish their quarterback had NOT been the one making a play.

    Tabe it was never a damning indictment of Russell Wilson's inability to make a play there; it's called having situational awareness when you're one yard away from reaching the sport's pinnacle.

    when it's 2nd down with 26 seconds remaining and you have a timeout in your hip pocket with one of the best backs of the era behind the quarterback, you turn around hand him the ball unless both of his legs are broken. period.

    that is, unless you want to pull a Pete Carroll and stand up against a wall blindfolded with an apple on your head and take on unnecessary risk by calling a pass play when there are 11 opposing players within a few yards of the line of scrimmage. it gets very, very congested down at the one, so if you try a pitch-n-catch and are not 110% accurate, then you're just asking for an outcome that will live in your nightmares until the day you die

    all things considered, easily one of the worst play calls -- if not THE worst -- i have seen in my lifetime........in any sport

    you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet

  • Alfonz24Alfonz24 Posts: 3,101 ✭✭✭✭✭

    should have kicked a FG. ;)

    #LetsGoSwitzerlandThe Man Who Does Not Read Has No Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read. The biggest obstacle to progress is a habit of “buying what we want and begging for what we need.”You get the Freedom you fight for and get the Oppression you deserve.
  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,061 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @galaxy27 said:

    @Tabe said:

    I will defend that play call till the day I die. It was a bad throw by Wilson. Having said that...

    Think about what it says about a team's quarterback when fans wish their quarterback had NOT been the one making a play.

    Tabe it was never a damning indictment of Russell Wilson's inability to make a play there; it's called having situational awareness when you're one yard away from reaching the sport's pinnacle.

    The fact that they were 0 for the season in that exact situation no doubt played into the decision. And, again, THE THROW WAS THERE. The guy was open, Russ just didn't make the play.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm taking my chances with Lynch, he was more than capable of finding the endzone again.

  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,061 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @doubledragon said:
    I'm taking my chances with Lynch, he was more than capable of finding the endzone again.

    I actually don't disagree. Personally, I would have given Lynch a shot there. I have no problem with the play that was called whatsoever. But I would given Lynch the ball.

  • thisistheshowthisistheshow Posts: 9,386 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It would have worked if not for Malcolm Butler, and Brandon Browner, and Ernie Adams, and Bill Belichick, etc

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 23,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Tabe said:

    @doubledragon said:
    I'm taking my chances with Lynch, he was more than capable of finding the endzone again.

    I actually don't disagree. Personally, I would have given Lynch a shot there. I have no problem with the play that was called whatsoever. But I would given Lynch the ball.

    It's a fun topic to talk about, and people will probably still be talking about it decades from now, we'll never know what would have happened had Lynch gotten the ball, one of the biggest "what ifs" in sports history, and it will forever remain a mystery.

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