Russell Wilson’s NFL-record start? Time to finally credit Seahawks’ Brian Schottenheimer
Russell Wilson has broken Patrick Mahomes’ NFL record for most touchdown passes through three games to begin a season. He’s done it against what often appears to be zero defensive resistance.
DK Metcalf. Tyler Lockett. David Moore. Jacob Hollister. Even lead running back Chris Carson and rookie wide receiver Freddie Swain on his first career TD catch. Those Seahawks and more have been SO wide open on their receiving scores.
Like, bison-on-a-Yellowstone-prairie wide open.
Wilson has thrown for 14 touchdowns already this season for 3-0 Seattle. Most of those TDs have looked almost ridiculously easy.
That doesn’t happen by accident. Only a couple scores have been on complete coverage breakdowns by defenses.
Guys get that wide open against NFL defenses because of exquisite play designs and calls. By the play designer and caller.
The same man who had for two years been getting criticized more than weatherpersons across the Pacific Northwest for not calling the right games for Wilson to maximize the QB’s skills.
It’s time to say it: Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is having almost as good a season start as his quarterback.
“Scotty is kickin’ butt,” Wilson said after his play caller again, um, cooked up five more touchdown passes for his sizzling quarterback in the Seahawks’ 38-31 win over the Cowboys Sunday.
“Dialing up,” Wilson said.
Schottenheimer’s seriously dialing up.
Here’s an example from the first touchdown of Sunday’s wild game: He had the Seahawks go no huddle after a third-and-1 run for a first down by Carson, a nifty misdirection flip pitch by Wilson to the left. He then had Lockett hurriedly line up tight on right end, while fellow wide receiver Moore and tight end Will Dissly flexed on either side of and a yard behind Lockett as wings. Moore and Dissly stayed in to pass block. How many times has a foe scouted Moore, a wide receiver, tight inside pass blocking? As many times as you have.
Wilson faked a handoff to Carson to the left. That and the rare formation froze both of the Cowboys’ fooled safeties. Lockett ran straight past both of them as if they were telephone poles.
The closest players to Lockett on the 43-yard touchdown pass were Wilson and his Seahawks teammates — when they came to celebrate with him in the end zone.
Did you expect Hollister, a 240-pound tight end who often flexes out as a wide receiver, to line up as a fullback in front of Carson in a rare I formation, on a second and goal from the 1 in the third quarter? Dallas sure didn’t. There was no one from Hollister to Pioneer Square when he ran out of the backfield into the right flat for Wilson’s fourth touchdown pass brought to you by Schottenheimer Sunday.
Two weeks earlier Atlanta did not expect Schottenheimer to isolate Metcalf one on one outside left on fourth and 5 near midfield in the opening game, at least not to have Metcalf run a home-run go route past failed press coverage of cornerback Isaiah Oliver. Schottenheimer’s bold call on fourth down broke open the game in Seattle’s 38-25 win.
That was the day Schottenheimer went against his, Carroll’s and Seattle’s grain for years and surprised the Falcons defense with 28 pass play calls in the first 38 snaps.
In week two, reigning NFL defensive player of the year Stephon Gilmore didn’t expect Schottenheimer to dare challenge him with Metcalf alone on a deep post then flag route. That’s what he did on the touchdown pass that stunned the league’s best cornerback and gave the Seahawks control of their win over New England.
“Yeah, Schotty and I have been on the same page every day, just spending tons and tons of hours working,” Wilson said.
“Like I’ve told you guys, I think he’s one of the best coaches in the game. He knows the game. He understands it. He’s teaching it. He’s coaching it. He’s one of the best teachers I know.”
In the box now
Schottenheimer talked two weeks ago how he, Wilson and coach Pete Carroll talked this offseason about being more aggressive in play calling to take advantage of the 31-year-old quarterback’s exquisite skills earlier in games in the prime of his career.
But there is far more to this wondrous start by Wilson, and by his play caller, than simply Schottenheimer “letting Russ cook.”
For the first time this season, Schottenheimer is calling the plays from the press-box level instead of on the field next to Carroll along the sideline.
Schottenheimer explained before the Dallas game that he sees no negatives to calling games from the press box.
It’s like, why didn’t he do this before now?
“The main thing is the vision, the things that you see up there,” he said. “When you are down on the field, and you are calling plays and you are watching the game there are certain things you can’t see. Like, if the ball is thrown to the far side of the field you can see what happened, or did the corner jump a particular route, because you are looking 55 yards across the field and there’s people and you can’t see it. When you are up in the press box, you see everything.”
Schottenheimer sees other pluses that have added to his spot-on play calling this season.
He’s better organized.
“Up there, because you have space — we have more space now, being socially distanced — but you’ve got more space to have your call sheet, and your notes and reminders and things like that,” Schottenheimer said.
He didn’t have such printed information and reference guides at his fingertips when he was standing on the sideline holding just a play card.
“I think, the vision is obvious. You see things so much better,” Schottenheimer said. “You are able to have really a great feel for what is going on in the game. Whereas sometimes, when you are on the field, you have to go back and look at the pictures (from overhead still shots faxed down to the team bench after each offensive series) to know what happened. And I think just the ability to have my notes and sit there and cross off things that I liked, or even things ... for what I want to get to later in the game.
“No negatives.”
Home-run hitter
Another reason Schottenheimer is calling more home-run passes more often this season: he’s learned through the experience of coaching him now two-plus years that Wilson is the best and perhaps most accurate deep-ball thrower he’s ever seen.
And the former college quarterback has coached Brett Favre, Phillip Rivers and Andrew Luck.
Wilson was 3 for 5 with two touchdowns on passes of 20 yards or more against Dallas, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. It should have been three touchdowns, but Metcalf pranced instead of ran after he 50-plus-yard catch and fumbled out of the end zone for a touchback instead.
Last season, Wilson completed 36 such “deep” passes, with a league-best completion rate of 42.3% and a 119.2 passer rating.
“He really is tremendous,” Schottenheimer said.
“I honestly think it goes back to his ability to control the trajectory of the throw. It helps when you have fast receivers because you have guys that can run balls down. Like DK in the Atlanta game. He let it fly and we weren’t sure up in the box. You are seeing it and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to get there’ — and sure enough DK’s got the speed to go and get it.
“But I really think he knows when I have to put more air underneath it, when maybe I have to drive it a little bit harder. And that’s huge part of throwing the deep ball. Because the bottom line is, you want to make the ball catchable. So the trajectory he uses is the one thing that really jumps out at me.”
Schottenheimer has been around and coached quarterbacks who are good at lofting deep passes, and others who excel at throwing more line-drive cannon shots with supreme arm strength.
“He’s a guy who can do both,” Schottenheimer said of Wilson.
Wilson can’t say enough about his play caller during this best opening month of his — and of any NFL quarterback’s, ever — career.
“He really does an unbelievable job,” Wilson said.
“He’s got great confidence in who we are as a team.”
And, now, vice versa.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 7:41 AM.
