95 UNTIL INFINITY

I feel comfortable saying Russell Wilson has become the best player drafted in 2012. Sure, you could argue for Andrew Luck, Luke Kuechly or Alshon Jeffery but none of them have had the impact or instant success like Wilson. He has won 11+ games each of his first 2 seasons (28 games total) in the NFL and already has 1 Super Bowl trophy as well. I’m sure many people would still take Luck over Wilson due to their height disparity and Luck has the “prototypical” physique of an NFL Quarterback but last night’s game showcased Russell’s true importance to the Seahawks and their offensive gameplan. Early on he recognized the Washington Redskins weren’t spying him so he took advantage of their oversight and ran for 122 yards (most by a QB all-time on MNF) and a touchdown on 11 carries. Time and time again the Redskins let him break containment and rush for large chunks of yardage. I doubt Pete Carroll wanted Wilson running this much but it was the most effective way for Seattle to move the ball. At times he had enough time to stay in the pocket and let his receivers work to get open but those chances were few and far between. The Offensive Line once again played poorly but the Seahawks QB still managed to go 18 of 24 for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Seattle Seahawks will go as far as Russell Wilson takes them, he is the undisputed leader and the player who sets the tone for the entire locker room. Let’s get into the breakdown of Seattle vs. Washington.

Right before kickoff I jotted down some keys to the game in my notes. First, I wanted the Seahawks defense to force Kirk Cousins into at least 2 interceptions because if the New York Giants could pick him off 3 times surely the Legion of Boom could do the same. Second, Marshawn Lynch needed to carry the ball at least 20 time to take some of the pressure off  Russell Wilson. Third, Wilson needed to get all the receivers involved. Specifically, Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse because both of them were integral parts to the Super Bowl 48 winning team. Fourth, Luke Wilson needed to step up and become a threat in the passing game due to Zach Miller being out for a few weeks. Fifth, Richard Sherman has done much more talking then actually production this season. Listen, I don’t mind if he talk trash’s but please back it up with some pass breakups or interceptions. Finally, the Offensive Line needs to give Wilson some time to drop back and let the receivers get open. It looks like this unit will be the weak point of the team once again. I don’t know if it’s the players on the O-Line or the coaching staff but somewhere there is a disconnect and it needs to be fixed immediately if the Seahawks are expecting to have any chance at repeating. On to the game recap.

The Seattle Seahawks came out of the gate on fire. Their first offense possession went smoothly with Russell Wilson making a couple of nice runs and then threw a TD pass to Jermaine Kearse. The weird thing was Marshawn Lynch didn’t see the field until the 2nd drive due to some equipment problem but the cameras on the sidelines caught him on the exercise bike and getting heating pads put on his back. It ended up not being a big deal but I’m still curious about the heating pads and exercise bike. Seattle’s 2nd drive was an omen for how much of the night went for the offense. Luke Wilson dropped an easy completion then the Center-Quarterback exchange was botched two times in a row resulting in negative yardage plays. For one reason or another the O-Line never looked fulled into the game besides a couple of drives. The Redskins started the game very slowly. Cousins’s didn’t look comfortable in the pocket against the Seahawks pass rush especially end’s Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. Their Right Tackle was completely over-matched by the speed of Avril. Alfred Morris was completely shut down by the Hawks. The quarter ends 7-0 in favor of Seattle.

The 2nd quarter starts out the same for the Washington Redskins, Cousins is under fire in the pocket and Alfred Morris can’t get the running attack going but their defense is playing much better and getting to Wilson much more frequently. The penalties in this game were killer for Seattle. On back to back plays penalties negated a Percy Harvin score. The first penalty was a holding call on James Carpenter which took away a Harvin rushing TD. The very next play Wilson sets up a screen pass for Harvin but the WR get flagged for a false start penalty yet the referees let the play happen instead of just whistling the play dead. So far this season the Seahawks have been pretty good about the penalties but a combination of rust and mental lapses led to all the yellow hankies. Thanks goodness for Cooper Helflet and his 37 yard catch which set up Russell Wilson’s 10 yard read option TD run about 2/3 the way through the quarter. At the 4:37 mark in the 2nd quarter the Redskins had 27 total yards, at this point Washington needed a big play and did they get one. DeSean Jackson ran an outside vertical route on the right hashmark and ran right past Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman. It looked like the Legion of Boom was playing some combination of zone coverage with Chancellor playing the short to medium route and Sherman playing the deeper routes. The problem with this was no one jammed Jackson at the line of scrimmage who got a free release and put on the afterburners. Also it looked like Sherman cheated on the inside route and overestimated Chancellor’s ability to keep pace with the much faster Jackson. This was one of the few blemishes by the defense but it was a huge mistake that I thought at the time would breath some life back into the Redskins and their crowd. The Halftime score was 17-7 with the Redskins receiving the 2nd half kickoff.

The 3rd quarter was a defensive affair with both offenses looking sloppy besides a couple big plays here and there. DeSean Jackson had a 57 yard catch right after halftime which set up a Washington FG, making the score 17-10. On the following kickoff the Redskins surprised the Seahawks with an onside kick which Cooper Helfet luckily recovered. Seattle started at midfield but couldn’t get anything going due to a Russell Okung holding penalty and a Percy Harvin dropped pass which hit him in the hands. I don’t know what causes it but sometimes the Seahawks offense shuts down and cannot move the ball. They had 3 offensive drives in the quarter and 2 of them resulted in 3 and outs. Going into the 4th quarter the score was 17-10 Seahawks.

I’ll be honest I was a little nervous about the Seahawks going into the 4th quarter because their offense played so poorly in the previous quarter. A questionable personal foul call on Left Guard James Carpenter took away yet Percy Harvin TD. At this point I was furious with Seattle and their lack of discipline but I was also a little bit excited because they finally sent Harvin on a deep route and let him run by the defender instead of using him on short/intermediate passes. Hopefully this trend will continue because the Hawks lack any kind of deep threat at the moment. I fully expect Paul Richardson to develop into the speed/deep receiver but it won’t be this season. During the same drive Pete Carroll pulled out the fake punt on 4th down. Jon Ryan, who has played fantastic all season and is the best punter in the NFL, ran for a 1st down. I actually thought if he could have broken a tackle or two he could have run for a TD. A couple plays later Marshawn Lynch snuck out of the backfield, caught a pass and literally walked into the endzone for a TD. At this point it was 24-10 with 7:33 to go in the game and I was feeling much better about the game but Kirk Cousins led the Redskins down the field for a TD, making the score 24-17. All the Seahawks needed to do was convert a couple of 1st downs and bleed the clock. A heavy dose of Marshawn Lynch was in order but the Redskins knew this and blitzed on every play to stop him. Which they did a decent job on but on 3rd and 4 Russell Wilson made an incredible play. He dropped back and was immediately swarmed by Redskins players so he rolled to his left, kept his eyes downfield and somehow found Lynch for a 30 yard gain which pretty much iced the game. I can’t properly describe how amazing the play was but there are only a couple QB’s in the NFL who could have made that play. The Seahawks end up winning 27-17 but it was a much closer game than I expected.

Going back to my keys to the game the Seahawks didn’t really achieve any of them. Kirk Cousins ended up having an OK game throwing for 283 yards, 2 TD’s and, most importantly, didn’t throw an interception. I was disappointing because the Hawks had a couple chances to force a turnover but couldn’t quite complete the job. I’m not sure what is up with Richard Sherman but once again he didn’t look like the best CB in the league. After watching the Patriots Darrelle Revis the night before chase A.J. Green all around the field and hold him to 5 catches, 81 yards and 1 TD (which came when the score was 34-10) was mighty impressive. The best thing about Revis is he doesn’t go around after every game and tell the world how great he is. I still can’t believe after Monday’s game Sherman had the audacity to tell the media Pierre Garcon, “doesn’t matter in this league“. I’m seriously getting sick and tired of his talking, I don’t mind if he wants to talk trash on the field but don’t go keep it going in the media, it makes him look very unprofessional and egotistical. Even after missing the 1st drive Marshawn Lynch still had 17 carries for 72 yards and 5 receptions for 45 yards and 1 TD. At the beginning of the season I thought he was the engine of this offense but it looks like Russell Wilson has taken that distinction from him. Needless to say Lynch is still a huge part of this offense and the more touches he gets the better. Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse had a couple of moments but still aren’t playing up to the standards of last season. That’s not saying they aren’t running the right routes or aren’t finding the holes in coverage it mostly has to do with the Offensive Line and their inability to give Wilson time to survey the field. Once again the O-line is the weak unit of this team, especially the left side. Russell Okung and James Carpenter have played beneath their capabilities all season, both have had  multiply silly penalties and have been easily beaten by opposing DE’s. Okung missed a large portion of training camp and preseason but he needs to work himself into midseason form as quickly as possible. Talent wise he is a top 10 Left Tackle so I can only hope he ends up playing up to these standards. I don’t think the Seahawks should give James Carpenter an extension at the end of this season. He just hasn’t played up to the potential of the 25th overall pick. At times he has shown flashes of being a very good run blocker but those have been few and far between. Luke Willson did not have a great 1st start in place of Zach Miller. He had a couple of drops that should have been caught and when he did catch the ball he was dropped immediately with no yards after the catch. Cooper Helfet had more receiving yards on 1 reception (36 yards) than Willson did on 3 receptions (28 yards).

In the end Seattle should have blown the doors off of Washington but the offense was so up and down. One drive the Seahawks looked unstoppable and the next drive they went 3 and out, I’ll attribute this to having a bye week but they need to play much more consistently against the Dallas Cowboys.