Seahawks have another hit on Russell Wilson to send to NFL
Pete Carroll has another hit on Russell Wilson he’s sending to the NFL.
The Seahawks’ coach is going to ask the league this week about Marcus Davenport beginning a tackle a couple yards inside the sideline boundary Sunday on one of Wilson’s many scramble runs in Seattle’s 33-27 loss—then the Saints defensive end continuing his tackle of the Seahawks quarterback yards beyond the out-of-bounds line.
“Drove him into the turnbuckle other there,” Carroll said Monday, going WWE wrestling lingo.
Seahawks veteran linebacker K.J. Wright was incensed after the play. He came off the sideline and was barking at officials, at Saints, at anybody not wearing home blue over what he and his team felt was an excessive tackle out of bounds on their $140 million QB.
Davenport’s play wasn’t egregious. He began his tackle when Wilson was still running on the field of play.
But in a league that calls penalties and fines defenders for contact on quarterbacks most see as routine football hits and/or unavoidable and inherent to the game during plays, Wilson has gotten smacked after plays in consecutive games. Neither was flagged.
In Seattle’s previous game, at Pittsburgh, Steelers pass rusher Bud Dupree lowered the top of his helmet into the side of Wilson’s head after the quarterback threw a pass down the field. Officials did not throw a flag for this:
Carroll said referee Carl Cheffers and his crew told the Seahawks coach on the field they didn’t see the hit.
The league eventually last week fined Dupree $21,056 for the hit. That was after Carroll asked the NFL for an explanation on the play. The league told him Dupree’s play was illegal.
How much does Wilson’s unique ability to consistently escape sacks, scramble and extend plays work against him with officials in judging such hits?
“Yeah, I wonder about that, really,” Carroll said Monday. “You know, I’m anxious to hear what thought about the hit on the sidelines (by Davenport).
“I see what they saw. They saw the contact with him.”
Carroll said Wilson believes his elusiveness makes officials less likely to view him being as vulnerable as a more strict, less mobile pocket passer is. Cam Newton in Carolina is another NFL quarterback who seems to get smacked far more often with far fewer flags.
Another way to put it: Would referee Ronald Torbert have thrown a flag on Davenport for the same play against Tom Brady?
“I know Russ feels like that a little bit, you know,” Carroll said. “He feels like he’s kind of subject to, you know...he’s kind of ...because he’s moving around, there’s a little more latitude, you know?
“There have been some other quarterbacks who have spoken to that, as well. I don’t know if that’s the case at all. I can’t tell you that. But he has taken some shots. That one last week was legit.
“This one might not have been. This one was pretty close. It’s a hard one to call. It’s just that the follow-through on the tackle was so far out of bounds. It’s the question, I guess.
“We’ll ask.”
Wilson had nothing to say about Davenport’s play following Sunday’s game, nor was he asked.
Too many other things went wrong for the Seahawks, though right for Wilson, against the Saints. Wilson had 32 completions in 50 throws for 406 yards, the most pass attempts and the second-highest yardage total of his career. He had two passing touchdowns, including to Will Dissly on the final play. He had another 43 yards with two rushing scores, another 100-plus passer rating.
Yet Wilson’s brilliance could not mask fumbles, turnovers, more penalties, special-teams breakdowns and all-around poor play by the Seahawks in losing at home to the Drew Brees-less Saints.
“Obviously, this is an unfortunate game. Coming home and excited to play at home, and obviously, we didn’t play our best football,” Wilson said. “We gave them a touchdown with the punt return (to end the opening possession), and they had a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
“We had some other miscues, too. We’ve just got to play smarter. We just have to play sharper. We’ve got to be cleaner. We’re a little young, so we’ve got to make sure that what it takes to win in this league is detail, detail. Little things. All those little things matter.”
Including two passes Carroll said Wilson wants back.
Third quarter, New Orleans leading 27-7. Seahawks are at the Saints 13-yard line after recovering a muffed punt. On fourth and 5, Wilson sees a linebacker blitzing unblocked at him up the middle. That forces a somewhat rushed throw wide left of open Tyler Lockett on a route to the left corner of the end zone for what would have been a touchdown and a two-score game with 17 minutes still to play.
Fourth quarter, Seattle within 27-14, Carroll goes for it again on fourth down and 1 at the Seahawks 28 with 10 minutes left; the coach said again Monday he was trying too hard there and should have punted and played more defense in a two-score game with that much time left. Wilson sees the Saints with no safeties in the middle of the field, “zero” coverage, and changes the play to a deep pass with double long routes, by Tyler Lockett and Malik Turner.
Lockett got grabbed in the middle of the field, but Turner is breaking open on the right side on a flag route to the sideline. Wilson’s pass sails well beyond Turner incomplete.
The Saints took that turnover on downs and put the game away with a touchdown that upped their lead to 33-14.
“Big day, obviously. Scrambled beautifully, for big plays,” Carroll said. “Made good decisions. Hit on almost everything he threw in the first half of the game. His numbers evened out a little bit.
“There are two huge plays in the game: the corner route to Lock for the touchdown, on fourth down. Just missed it, by a hair. And he got spanked pretty good on that one. And then the other one, did a great job and had the ball up to Malik...
“I know it’s killing him that he didn’t get those. ...
“He’s really controlling the game. He’s in control of it.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2019 at 5:36 PM.
