Andy Benoit Back at it Again

[Scorpion05]

The guy who claimed last year Matthew Stafford is a better Quarterback has outdone himself this time with a gem filled with back handed compliments, while also justifying his opinion. Now, his new favorite is Patrick Mahomes, who's clearly better than Wilson:

Unfortunately, disciplined quarterbacking can look almost monotonous to television viewers. And so this year the NFL’s darling is the man Wilson faces Sunday night—Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. The second-year Chief actually is what people last year misguidedly thought Wilson was: a quarterback who can carry an offense week in and week out. Mahomes’s electrifying sandlot plays rarely come at the expense of Kansas City’s rhythm.

Translation: Russell is having a great year, but instead of giving him credit let me write this article with a mix of back handed compliments, obvious truths, and generic talking points.

The Seahawks’ offense no longer goes through Russell Wilson. He is a complementary piece in a smashmouth system, which makes the best use of his unique gifts. This was the approach the Seahawks took in the Marshawn Lynch heyday, when they went to back-to-back Super Bowls.

Translation: Russell is a game manager who's being carried by the run game

Here's the article:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/19/russe ... st-offense

Obviously, not all lies there. Plenty of truth. Some on here may even agree with several points I disagree with. Russell is playing better under Schotty, who has fixed some of Russ' poor habits. But it's funny, nowhere in that article does Andy acknowledge how poor our O-line was, how terrible our running game was, or that Russ was led the team in rushing and was responsible for virtually all of our TDs. Blair Walsh isn't mentioned either. Nope, instead Andy chooses to imply that Russ' "sandlot style"(again not special teams, the run game, or Cabevell) is the reason why we didn't succeed last year. And that Russell is reading simple defenses. He's complimented Wilson sparingly, but clearly(like some here) puts several QBs above him.

Anyway it's just his opinion, which he has a right to. Not grabbing a pitchfork. Just amazed at how media personalities will stick to their opinion no matter what. It also explains why Wilson missed the Pro-Bowl over Rodgers, many in the media are in love with their own biases and stick to it

 

[XxXdragonXxX]

Mahomes is fantastic. Might even be the best QB in the NFL right now...hard to say because he has a ton of talent around him and an extremely creative system that probably inflates his numbers beyond his talent. Wilson has spent his career behind crap OL's with schemes that are not built to win games by passing. And the past 2 seasons they couldn't run the ball either.

Put Wilson in Kansas City right now and he might break every record in the books, or I'd bet be at least as good as Mahomes has been.

 

[2_0_6]

Who?

 

[AROS]

Who?

Beat me to it.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Gonna' check real quick to see if I care what this guy says..brb.....
Nope, don't care, even a little bit.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

The Seahawks’ offense no longer goes through Russell Wilson. He is a complementary piece in a smashmouth system, which makes the best use of his unique gifts. This was the approach the Seahawks took in the Marshawn Lynch heyday, when they went to back-to-back Super Bowls.

Translation: Russell is a game manager who's being carried by the run game

I don't agree with your translation. Let's not allow defensiveness over our QB to blind us to his faults. He can still be elite and worth keeping without being as good as Mahomes.

This year, Wilson isn't scrambling for first downs every third play and then lateraling to Mike Davis. He's doing a lot less (and has also cut down on the dumb heroball plays). So I agree with Benoit's assessment. Wilson's doing less while still being essential; that's pretty much what complementary means.

Whether Wilson is able to carry an offense is an opinion that largely wavers week in and week out depending on whether Seattle wins or not. If they do, Wilson is a magician. If they don't, Wilson is struggling and needs better surrounding talent.

Last year, the Seattle Wilsonhawks went 9-7. That, to me, isn't carrying an offense. He did at times; he didn't at others. That's not a knock, because I myself was leading the charge about how Pete's playcalling was not adapting to the talent quotient on the team.

 

[Sac]

Andy Benoit can eat weiners and choke.

 

[Seymour]

Lions do not concern themselves with the opinion of sheep.
Richard Sherman

 

[Popeyejones]

Who?

Beat me to it.

He's a writer for MMQB who last year wrote a piece or two which was [my opinion] more or less accurate but very overstated [/my opinion] about the areas of strength and areas of weakness in Wilson's game.

If you're one of those fans who's scouring the internet looking for "disrespect" to justify a Rodney Dangerfield view of your sports fandom, it was a good site for that.

If not, it was basically a [my opinion] fairly accurate piece that went too far in its conclusions, and ended up being about Benoit's preference for drop back QBs who operate from the pocket and excel in running plays as they're written down in the playbook, with Wilson just standing in as the avatar for that preference, which is one I'm sympathetic too, but absolutely don't hold to the same degree that Benoit seems to hold it [/my opinion].

 

[Sgt. Largent]

We've had this conversation since Russell was drafted, can he be the focal point of an offense like Mahomes is now, and other throw first dynamic scheme type of QB's and offenses.

All I'd ask Benoit is this simple question, "do you think Russell would do well in Andy Reid's offense with their scheme and weapons they have?"

How could the answer not be anything other then yes? Russell is quick, smart, athletic and has a very strong accurate arm. Mahomes may be younger and more durable at this point in his young career, but I have no doubt Russell would do well in Reid's offense.

 

[djb28]

I hope Wilson goes off and we beat the Chiefs.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Even if he does, it won't be because of him of course. It will be the running game, or the D or something OTHER than him.

 

[HawkerD]

I am a fan of the team much more than a fan of the QB. I don't give a rats ass who the QB is as long as the team is putting up W's. Although I might take some issue if the jerk in North Carolina was our QB.

It is obvious that the KC offense is much better than the Hawks. They have a clear talent advantage (less so since the loss of Hunt) and Mahomes seems like the real deal. Andy Reid is offensive minded and wants to win the game with offense.

Win with D...win with O, makes no difference to me as long as you get to playoffs and can do damage with whatever scheme you chose.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

And that team is very beatable. I'm surprised anyone would pick us to get blown out. Extremely rare for this team to get blown out under Pete, let alone at home. Other than that Rams debacle last year.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Wilson has never carried the offense, but for one year and when the offense was very very bad. (In several instances, historically so). Even that one year, a lot of that was Baldwin.

Not really clear if carrying a terrible offense is any kind of accomplishment since the reason the offense is bad is that you are not enough by yourself to make it effective. That said, football is not a game that depends on or even should be about someone doing it all by themselves.

But Wilson is doing a very good job this year of being an important piece in a much better offense. That is leagues better than being the pivotal piece in a god-awful offense like we had.

We have a very good offense this year. That should be reason to celebrate.

Wilson doesn't have to be the reason for it and in many instances, isn't. But the offense is better and when Wilson has a bad game we don't have to automatically lose now. Wilson has always been streaky. When he is hot, he is better than any elite out there. When not, our wheels would grind to a halt.

Now that is no longer the case and I don't see why any Seahawk fan would have a problem with that.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Wilson has never carried the offense, but for one year and when the offense was very very bad. (In several instances, historically so). Even that one year, a lot of that was Baldwin..

I don't even understand what people like Benoit and you're saying when you say "carry the offense" or "focal point of the offense."

Other than pass attempts, Russell has been towards the top of the QB list in every statistical category since 2014.

- TD/Int ratio
- TD's
- Completion percentage
- QBR

Isn't running around and making explosive plays to the tune of 30+ TD's a season and being one of the most accurate QB's in the league year after year "carrying the offense?"

Why is everyone so fixated on yards and pass attempts...............NEITHER of which have shown to help a QB's team win anything, ever. In fact, most of the time it's a detriment to an offense.

 

[Sox-n-Hawks]

Wilson has never carried the offense, but for one year and when the offense was very very bad. (In several instances, historically so). Even that one year, a lot of that was Baldwin..

I don't even understand what people like Benoit and you're saying when you say "carry the offense" or "focal point of the offense."

Other than pass attempts, Russell has been towards the top of the QB list in every statistical category since 2014.

- TD/Int ratio
- TD's
- Completion percentage
- QBR

Isn't running around and making explosive plays to the tune of 30+ TD's a season and being one of the most accurate QB's in the league year after year "carrying the offense?"

Why is everyone so fixated on yards and pass attempts...............NEITHER of which have shown to help a QB's team win anything, ever. In fact, most of the time it's a detriment to an offense.

Two words: Fantasy Football...... if it doesn't add points to their "team" people don't value it.

 

[TwistedHusky]

For years, we were putting up historic numbers (as in historic for this decade) in being a terrible offense.

Wilson was 'carrying the offense'. Especially last year, with no run game. But he wasn't really carrying it, he was just the only one keeping it moving forward at all. He still sucked at 'carrying it' because the whole offense sucked.

Now, without him 'carrying it' the offense is much better.

Wilson is basically a much better Klay Thompson. When he is hot, he hits everything and does things that most people simply cannot. But he can go cold and he is not going to carry your team. In Wilson's instance, he was held back by a terrible line (or terrible OL coach) and terrible OC. But regardless, he wasn't carrying anything.

He was occasionally productive, occasionally very good in an offense that was literally putting up records for not scoring TDs (one of the missions of any offense in the NFL).

Now, he is one of several threats on a much better offense. Just like Klay is much better with Curry and Durant able to assure that he does not have to carry the weight of the scoring - Wilson is much better with his run game, the leagues best run game. And just like Klay can put up a 60 point night, Wilson can have a great game winning a shootout against another high scoring offense - but you cannot depend on it.

He isn't a Marino. Or even a Kurt Warner. He is a guy that can be great for stretches at a time but is going to have strings of bad quarters and strings of bad games regularly. But he is also going to have games where he is otherworldly good and can literally beat anyone.

It is very good to have but he cannot carry a team for more than a few games. This year he won't need to.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

He certainly can, and has numerous times. Especially in the 4th quarter.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Never heard of the writer before.