Seahawks lose by the double-edged sword of Russell Wilson holding onto ball too long
Remember that wild play in Arizona a few years ago? The one when Russell Wilson spun around, and around, ran around and finally found Doug Baldwin for as improvisational a big play as the Seahawks have had in the last decade?
Remember his equally double-spin, chuck-it-up throw to Luke Willson for a key two-point conversion late in the 2015 NFC title game that ensured overtime and eventually the win over Green Bay?
Wilson does, too.
That’s why he was holding onto the ball so long and taking sacks for losses up to 15 yards Sunday. That’s why he was a prime contributor to Seattle’s galling, 17-12 loss to the sub-.500 New York Giants.
It’s the same it’s-never-over, improvisational mentality that has given the Seahawks some of their most thrilling plays since Wilson became their franchise quarterback at the start of the 2012.
It’s why he’s getting sacked more now than he should be, even behind a makeshift offensive line.
“Obviously, you always want to eliminate sacks,” a tired-, or sick-—or sick-and-tired sounding Wilson said following Sunday’s game. “You also don’t want to eliminate the key moments.
“For example, go back to Arizona game (last month), one I kind of scrambled, hit DK (Metcalf) on for the touchdown. You know, a lot of people would say probably go down and just throw it away or whatever it is. And you hit it for a touchdown.”
“So there’s give and take, you know,” Wilson said. “Just give and take.”
The Giants took from all of Wilson’s waiting on Sunday.
Taking too long
Seattle’s offensive line was down to its fourth-string right tackle by the end of the game. The O-line gets easily and widely blamed for the 40 sacks Wilson’s taken this season, including Sunday’s five sacks. Those sacks resulted in 47 lost yards. That’s a huge chunk out of an offense that only gained 327 yards against New York’s bracketing man-and-zone coverage, well below Seattle’s average of 395 yards entering the game.
But Wilson was also to blame, for three of his five sacks and 31 of his 47 yards lost trying to pass against the Giants. This, during a game in which the Seahawks did not score a touchdown until 6 minutes remained.
He held onto the ball staring into New York’s coverage of top cornerback James Bradberry on Metcalf (five catches, eight targets, 80 yards, one huge drop in the fourth quarter inside the 10-yard line) with a safety bracketing over the top, and zone most everywhere else.
The first sack Wilson took was when Giants rookie linebacker Tae Crowder was one of only four defenders to rush on a third and 4 in the first quarter. Wilson could see Crowder loop around standing-still left guard Mike Iupati then running at the QB. Instead of throwing the ball, Wilson held it for 5 seconds. He tried to spin away. Crowder tackled him easily for his first career sack, a loss of 11 yards to end of Seattle’s second offensive possession.
Wilson’s second time sacked came on the first play of the second quarter. He had no chance to avoid it. His running back Chris Carson got run over trying to pick up blitzing Giants safety Jabrill Peppers.
The third sack was absolutely on Wilson. He dropped 6 yards after he received the shotgun snap from Ethan Pocic. Then he hopped three times in place. Then, as Crowder finally closed in on him, Wilson tried to spin away from the Giants linebacker. The spin sent him directly into Leonard Williams. The defensive tackle devoured Wilson for a 15-yard loss. The quarterback had the ball for 6 seconds that time.
Wilson helped create his fourth sack, too. He ducked and felt pressure that really wasn’t there yet, taking off from a decently formed pocket. He ran directly into where fourth-string right tackle Chad Wheeler had shoved his man inside him, edge rusher Jabaal Sheard. Sheard got the look-what-I-found, 5-yard sack.
On third down during Seattle’s final, desperate drive while trailing 17-12, Wilson had no chance. Williams raced past fill-in guard Jordan Simmons for his second half to go with a shared one on Sunday.
Wilson finished with 48 drop backs yet just 216 net yards passing. The five sacks were one off a season high. The 47 lost yards were 19 more than his most taken in a game before Sunday.
Asked how much Wilson was culpable for the passing game’s malfunctioning, and specifically the sacks, coach Pete Carroll said: “Well, maybe. He’s in the middle of it all.
“There was a...you need, I need to look at the protection and see how long we were hanging onto the ball. It felt like, you know, he was taking a good look down the field. Like, we weren’t immediately rushed.
“So, we’ll see. I need to talk to Russ—haven’t even visited with him, at all, yet about it.
“We’ll talk about it.”
‘It starts with me’
Wilson also had an 11-yard intentional-grounding penalty late in the first half, when he threw deep outside and Tyler Lockett ran a post inside. He lost a fumble on third and short when he and Pocic fouled up a direct snap while Wilson was under center.
Once again, when he makes mistakes, Seattle loses. He’s committed 12 turnovers while getting sacked 18 times in the Seahawks’ four losses. He’s turned the ball over just three times and been sacked 22 times in Seattle’s eight wins.
As he did after Seattle’s overtime loss at Arizona in late October when he threw three interceptions and the 23-16 loss at the now-division-leading Rams when he was sacked a season-high six times and committed three more turnovers, Wilson took responsibility for this latest loss.
“If anybody’s critical, I’m going to be critical of myself first,” Wilson said, “and see where we’re going to get sharper and cleaner. ...
“We’ve got to bet better. We’ve got to be cleaner. It starts with me. ...I always start with me firs, because you’ve got to look at yourself first. And I think for me, just trying to find a couple more drives here and there, that’s the reality.”
Also reality: the Seahawks control where they will end up in the division. Beat the New York Jets (0-12) at home Sunday, win at Washington (4-7), win the rematch with the Rams (8-4) in Seattle and win against the 49ers (5-6) to end the season and Seattle will win the NFC West and be home to begin the playoffs. For a change.
“We’re still super zoned in,” Wilson said. “We still feel like we have everything in front of us.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 6:57 AM.
