Russ Scores More Than 13.

[John63]

I used to be a big detractor of Wilson until I started watching other teams as well as the Seahawks on Sundays. Wilson surely is an unpolished passer, and he has some technical issues in the pocket. For example, if you compare Wilson to Brady in the pocket, watching Wilson is like watching a giraffe on ice skates when he tries to pocket pass. This year, as much as I hate Schottenheimer as a playcaller, he really came in and reinforced the basics. His footwork was markedly improved, and he actually stepped up in the pocket. Those are two things Schottenheimer stated he wanted to work on this year. There was more consistency, and less of those random flyers. The offensive line wasn't the only reason for it, a lot of it seemed to be a reinforcement of the basics.

So, how did Russ end up here? How come he didn't get proper development, and why are fans somewhat tepid on him? I assert that these fans are not really unhappy with Wilson, they're unhappy with a broken offensive system. Pete runs an odd system in that he wants to win the TOP battle, but he also likes to attack deep early and often. We send all of our receivers on really, long developing pass plays. These are low percentage, and they lead to inconsistent performance as a result. Certain routes that are the bread and butter of NFL schemes we refuse to run. It was that way with Hass as well, a player that thrives on timing routes, and throwing guys open, as well as manipulation at the LOS. Even though those were his strengths we didn't play to them in 2010, we kept doing the same thing. It isn't a Wilson problem, it is a Pete problem.

Another thing I noticed is Wilson doesn't have as much agency at the LOS as most QBs do. Often times the playcall comes at the last minute, and he doesn't seem to have much flexibility in his audible options. The way this offense is set up doesn't play well with traditional QB play. The offenses main goal is to avoid turnovers, and as such we're overly conservative (sometimes at the worst times). I just wish that Pete would have more faith in his franchise QB. I have never seen a competent 7 year QB handcuffed like Wilson is. It has held back his development big time.

While I don't agree with everything you say in the post, I do agree with most of what you say in the post. I too believe the system is the biggest issue with the offense. This is also why we seem to move the ball at will when we go more Uptempo and Wilson gets to run things. This is why we looked so good in latter 2015, but alas as soon as Lynch came back from injury back to the old stuff.

 

[KiwiHawk]

Another thing I noticed is Wilson doesn't have as much agency at the LOS as most QBs do. Often times the playcall comes at the last minute, and he doesn't seem to have much flexibility in his audible options. The way this offense is set up doesn't play well with traditional QB play. The offenses main goal is to avoid turnovers, and as such we're overly conservative (sometimes at the worst times). I just wish that Pete would have more faith in his franchise QB. I have never seen a competent 7 year QB handcuffed like Wilson is. It has held back his development big time.

I believe I've read that the Seahawks usually send in 3 plays, one of which being he one called in the huddle and the other two are audible options for Wilson.

I do disagree, however, that a QB has more credibility as a play-caller than an offensive coordinator. OCs generally have a lot more experience, and it's their business to strategise the entire game, not just the current play. Often they use plays specifically to show something they plan to use as a decoy later. I don't believe a QB thinking on the fly is capable of consistently making deeper strategic choices, particularly while taking shots to the head, whether from an opponent or the turf. Leave that to the fat guys on the sideline with the clipboards.

 

[KiwiHawk]

You don't think the question of whether Wilson is personnel-transcendent vs. requires a full team behind him to win another Super Bowl is a relevant point? I do. Brady carries his team to a greater degree than Wilson. That suggests to me that, like Wilson in 2013-2014, he's a great QB but also needs a full team, and that's going to get interesting with the shrinking salary cap coming up.

I'm sorry if you think that's "disliking Wilson", even though I have no particular record on this board of being a Wilson hater. But it's a relevant question.

Simple answer? Belichick carries Brady and the entire Patriots team. He's the best coach in football and has absolutely no morals with regard to taking every advantage he can possibly get even if it crossed the line of legality, because he knows that once a play is over, it's in the books forever. No team has ever had the result of a game overturned because of cheating.

His latest trick was completely shifting the defensive cover the moment the microphones were turned off to make Goff diagnose a new defensive front without any help from the sideline, taking advantage of his inexperience. It's a legal exploit of the communications rule, but I will be surprised if there aren't some rule changes coming around that area of the game.

However, Football is a team sport, and the QB doesn't play defense. Without the defense making a specific play, we would have won XL in spite of Brady doing whatever carrying you think he was doing. Sometimes, it's out of the QB's hands. Ask Manning after XLVIII. There was no way in hell he was winning that day with our team firing on all cylinders.

As for the other stuff, safe the self-martyrdom for those who care. I'm the one calling for discussion around here instead of wrapping players in cotton wool.

 

[chris98251]

Summing up Bill Belichek.



[youtube]PAswVl_KZVU[/youtube]

 

[mrt144]

Another thing I noticed is Wilson doesn't have as much agency at the LOS as most QBs do. Often times the playcall comes at the last minute, and he doesn't seem to have much flexibility in his audible options. The way this offense is set up doesn't play well with traditional QB play. The offenses main goal is to avoid turnovers, and as such we're overly conservative (sometimes at the worst times). I just wish that Pete would have more faith in his franchise QB. I have never seen a competent 7 year QB handcuffed like Wilson is. It has held back his development big time.

I believe I've read that the Seahawks usually send in 3 plays, one of which being he one called in the huddle and the other two are audible options for Wilson.

I do disagree, however, that a QB has more credibility as a play-caller than an offensive coordinator. OCs generally have a lot more experience, and it's their business to strategise the entire game, not just the current play. Often they use plays specifically to show something they plan to use as a decoy later. I don't believe a QB thinking on the fly is capable of consistently making deeper strategic choices, particularly while taking shots to the head, whether from an opponent or the turf. Leave that to the fat guys on the sideline with the clipboards.

Schotty, among his peers has always been average at best as an OC. Any appeal to Schotty as a more experienced, nuanced, insightful, positive adjective, still puts him at middle of the pack at best OC. Now I don't think a QB should be bearing the full brunt of the cognitive load of the offense but to be like "Schotty knows the game better than RW" and then realizing Schotty is still a limited OC who was handpicked by Pete for the exact reasons that raise Schotty's floor and cap his ceiling as an OC, is not comforting or inspiring.

I agree, RW shouldn't be calling the game from the QB position for a lot of reasons but one of the reasons I can't believe is that Schotty is a brilliant football mind with useful experience in elevating offenses above the sum of their parts.

RW isn't a cowboy and that's generally a very good thing to avoid being in a team game that involves several layers of coordination. On the other hand, watching someone flagellate themselves and own every team failure gets tiresome when you know it doesn't have to be that way and quite possibly is that because he's the ultimate team player milquetoast that would follow Pete into an ancient Egyptian tomb to be sealed forever if that was Schotty's call or Pete's call.

 

[mrt144]

Summing up Bill Belichek.



[youtube]PAswVl_KZVU[/youtube]

Dude, that mentality ascribed to the Terminator is exactly the mentality folks need going into a game. Any game.

 

[mrt144]

You don't think the question of whether Wilson is personnel-transcendent vs. requires a full team behind him to win another Super Bowl is a relevant point? I do. Brady carries his team to a greater degree than Wilson. That suggests to me that, like Wilson in 2013-2014, he's a great QB but also needs a full team, and that's going to get interesting with the shrinking salary cap coming up.

I'm sorry if you think that's "disliking Wilson", even though I have no particular record on this board of being a Wilson hater. But it's a relevant question.

Simple answer? Belichick carries Brady and the entire Patriots team. He's the best coach in football and has absolutely no morals with regard to taking every advantage he can possibly get even if it crossed the line of legality, because he knows that once a play is over, it's in the books forever. No team has ever had the result of a game overturned because of cheating.

His latest trick was completely shifting the defensive cover the moment the microphones were turned off to make Goff diagnose a new defensive front without any help from the sideline, taking advantage of his inexperience. It's a legal exploit of the communications rule, but I will be surprised if there aren't some rule changes coming around that area of the game.

However, Football is a team sport, and the QB doesn't play defense. Without the defense making a specific play, we would have won XL in spite of Brady doing whatever carrying you think he was doing. Sometimes, it's out of the QB's hands. Ask Manning after XLVIII. There was no way in hell he was winning that day with our team firing on all cylinders.

As for the other stuff, safe the self-martyrdom for those who care. I'm the one calling for discussion around here instead of wrapping players in cotton wool.

Yes, BB is a game player who stumbled across football. He's a Min/Maxer and a Rules Lawyer through and through. Many other guys are football guys who stumbled across a game.

 

[KiwiHawk]

Schotty, among his peers has always been average at best as an OC. Any appeal to Schotty as a more experienced, nuanced, insightful, positive adjective, still puts him at middle of the pack at best OC. Now I don't think a QB should be bearing the full brunt of the cognitive load of the offense but to be like "Schotty knows the game better than RW" and then realizing Schotty is still a limited OC who was handpicked by Pete for the exact reasons that raise Schotty's floor and cap his ceiling as an OC, is not comforting or inspiring.

I agree, RW shouldn't be calling the game from the QB position for a lot of reasons but one of the reasons I can't believe is that Schotty is a brilliant football mind with useful experience in elevating offenses above the sum of their parts.

RW isn't a cowboy and that's generally a very good thing to avoid being in a team game that involves several layers of coordination. On the other hand, watching someone flagellate themselves and own every team failure gets tiresome when you know it doesn't have to be that way and quite possibly is that because he's the ultimate team player milquetoast that would follow Pete into an ancient Egyptian tomb to be sealed forever if that was Schotty's call or Pete's call.

We've had this discussion, so we all know you disagree with the kind of offense Seattle runs. You're not going to change my mind, and I'm no going to change yours.

I find it interesting that people are big Wilson supporters and then turn around to rubbish Schotty.

The logic goes like this:

1: Schotty has been average at best everywhere he's been. Many statistics and analyses are shown in support.
2: Schotty has has crap QBs everywhere he's been.
3: Schotty now has Wilson.
4: Wilson is awesome.
5: Schotty will still be average at best.

Now, I think there is a fundamental disconnect in that logic. If he was average with crap QBs, and if Wilson is a better-than-crap QB, then it follows that his offense will improve because the QB position is upgraded. If Wilson is awesome, then the impact will be even more pronounced on the success of Schotty's offense.

I don't see how you can say Schotty will drag down the Wilson Seahawks to or below the level of the Sanchez Jets, because Wilson is light years better than Sanchez.

Thus I am willing to let the past be the past - just as I don't evaluate Carroll by his Patriots/Jets experience - and see how things go here. We already had a vast improvement over Bevell in a single season without major personnel changes, and Wilson posted some of the best numbers in his career: Lowest INT%, 2nd-highest TD%, highest passer rating, highest adjusted net yards per pass attempt, most TD passes, while the team had over 2,500 rushing yards at an average 4.8 yards per carry making it the #1 rushing attack in the league.

I'm just failing to see all the lukewarm banality that Schotty is supposed to bring.

 

[nwHawk]

His latest trick was completely shifting the defensive cover the moment the microphones were turned off to make Goff diagnose a new defensive front without any help from the sideline, taking advantage of his inexperience. It's a legal exploit of the communications rule, but I will be surprised if there aren't some rule changes coming around that area of the game.

Since we've watch Sean McVay do exactly the same thing to help Goff the past two years, I doubt the NFL steps in now that Belichick was identified as using a counter to McVay.

You know what Belichick's best move was? Installing a zone defense in 2 weeks after not playing zone at all during the regular season. They played man, and then presented Goff and McVay a big wrinkle they didn't expect. Now that's genius and daring. That's how you hold a high power offense to 3 points and rattle a young QB.

 

[John63]

Schotty, among his peers has always been average at best as an OC. Any appeal to Schotty as a more experienced, nuanced, insightful, positive adjective, still puts him at middle of the pack at best OC. Now I don't think a QB should be bearing the full brunt of the cognitive load of the offense but to be like "Schotty knows the game better than RW" and then realizing Schotty is still a limited OC who was handpicked by Pete for the exact reasons that raise Schotty's floor and cap his ceiling as an OC, is not comforting or inspiring.

I agree, RW shouldn't be calling the game from the QB position for a lot of reasons but one of the reasons I can't believe is that Schotty is a brilliant football mind with useful experience in elevating offenses above the sum of their parts.

RW isn't a cowboy and that's generally a very good thing to avoid being in a team game that involves several layers of coordination. On the other hand, watching someone flagellate themselves and own every team failure gets tiresome when you know it doesn't have to be that way and quite possibly is that because he's the ultimate team player milquetoast that would follow Pete into an ancient Egyptian tomb to be sealed forever if that was Schotty's call or Pete's call.

We've had this discussion, so we all know you disagree with the kind of offense Seattle runs. You're not going to change my mind, and I'm no going to change yours.

I find it interesting that people are big Wilson supporters and then turn around to rubbish Schotty.

The logic goes like this:

1: Schotty has been average at best everywhere he's been. Many statistics and analyses are shown in support.
2: Schotty has has crap QBs everywhere he's been.
3: Schotty now has Wilson.
4: Wilson is awesome.
5: Schotty will still be average at best.

Now, I think there is a fundamental disconnect in that logic. If he was average with crap QBs, and if Wilson is a better-than-crap QB, then it follows that his offense will improve because the QB position is upgraded. If Wilson is awesome, then the impact will be even more pronounced on the success of Schotty's offense.

I don't see how you can say Schotty will drag down the Wilson Seahawks to or below the level of the Sanchez Jets, because Wilson is light years better than Sanchez.

Thus I am willing to let the past be the past - just as I don't evaluate Carroll by his Patriots/Jets experience - and see how things go here. We already had a vast improvement over Bevell in a single season without major personnel changes, and Wilson posted some of the best numbers in his career: Lowest INT%, 2nd-highest TD%, highest passer rating, highest adjusted net yards per pass attempt, most TD passes, while the team had over 2,500 rushing yards at an average 4.8 yards per carry making it the #1 rushing attack in the league.

I'm just failing to see all the lukewarm banality that Schotty is supposed to bring.

So first I don't like the offense we run at all, I don't think we will win another SB with it because it requires a top 5 defense, a lot of luck, and leaves to little room for error. However I don't blame Shotty for it at all, I put that on the HC this is the offense he wants to run. I have seen Shotty with lesser QBs and in 1 year this offense is way better than any other he coached. A lot of that is the QB. That said I see nothing wrong with opening it up more combine what we did this year with some of what we did latter 2015, then we would have an offense that can move the ball, and scores not just in the 4th which is all our HC seems to think about, but in all qtrs, and when the run does not work we can still move the ball, when the pass does not work we can still move the ball. Also here is an idea rather than lining up and saying we're doing this, and we know you know but don't care. How about we line saying we know what you are trying to take away and that means you are giving up whatever and we are going to exploit it. We don't do that, if we did we would have beaten the Cowboys easily. Let's start playing not to wait to win it in the 4th as our HC preaches, but by starting that move to winning in the 1st. This way maybe we can have more room for error, allow our defense to play with a lead.

 

[mrt144]

Schotty, among his peers has always been average at best as an OC. Any appeal to Schotty as a more experienced, nuanced, insightful, positive adjective, still puts him at middle of the pack at best OC. Now I don't think a QB should be bearing the full brunt of the cognitive load of the offense but to be like "Schotty knows the game better than RW" and then realizing Schotty is still a limited OC who was handpicked by Pete for the exact reasons that raise Schotty's floor and cap his ceiling as an OC, is not comforting or inspiring.

I agree, RW shouldn't be calling the game from the QB position for a lot of reasons but one of the reasons I can't believe is that Schotty is a brilliant football mind with useful experience in elevating offenses above the sum of their parts.

RW isn't a cowboy and that's generally a very good thing to avoid being in a team game that involves several layers of coordination. On the other hand, watching someone flagellate themselves and own every team failure gets tiresome when you know it doesn't have to be that way and quite possibly is that because he's the ultimate team player milquetoast that would follow Pete into an ancient Egyptian tomb to be sealed forever if that was Schotty's call or Pete's call.

We've had this discussion, so we all know you disagree with the kind of offense Seattle runs. You're not going to change my mind, and I'm no going to change yours.

I find it interesting that people are big Wilson supporters and then turn around to rubbish Schotty.

The logic goes like this:

1: Schotty has been average at best everywhere he's been. Many statistics and analyses are shown in support.
2: Schotty has has crap QBs everywhere he's been.
3: Schotty now has Wilson.
4: Wilson is awesome.
5: Schotty will still be average at best.

Now, I think there is a fundamental disconnect in that logic. If he was average with crap QBs, and if Wilson is a better-than-crap QB, then it follows that his offense will improve because the QB position is upgraded. If Wilson is awesome, then the impact will be even more pronounced on the success of Schotty's offense.

I don't see how you can say Schotty will drag down the Wilson Seahawks to or below the level of the Sanchez Jets, because Wilson is light years better than Sanchez.

Thus I am willing to let the past be the past - just as I don't evaluate Carroll by his Patriots/Jets experience - and see how things go here. We already had a vast improvement over Bevell in a single season without major personnel changes, and Wilson posted some of the best numbers in his career: Lowest INT%, 2nd-highest TD%, highest passer rating, highest adjusted net yards per pass attempt, most TD passes, while the team had over 2,500 rushing yards at an average 4.8 yards per carry making it the #1 rushing attack in the league.

I'm just failing to see all the lukewarm banality that Schotty is supposed to bring.

I'm not trying to change your mind wanting the best possible output from Schotty's design, coaching, and game calling. We both want that.

I think you're getting some things wrong here.

First, I think you're using a reductive logic to foster expectations. The factors of football performance are not as clean and simple as Schotty struggling with inferior talent at every opportunity and being hamstrung or vice verse with the players to Schotty. Think about the opportunities he did get and then what he did with them. They were average at best. There were some pretty consistent things between seasons prior like low YAC and 3rd down conversion rates.


Second, by many metrics this was RW's best and credit to him and Schotty for turning maintaining that level of passing efficiency while getting the running game back in shape to a large degree. And yet YAC was consistent with Schotty's prior offenses and RW took 52 sacks.

Third, and this is the gut punch and I hate to do it but.... Schotty, in his first playoff game with the Hawks, who now has a QB worth his salt and is known to try and will a win out of nothingness...then doesn't utilize him until way too late, happy to sit on a lead with 3 and outs. I allow for the possibility that next season maybe Schotty won't be content avoid maximizing the chances of the offense when the running game is shut down wholly but the first go around with that situation was not fun and not good enough. But this conforms with the limits abilities as an OC to suss out more from his players. He has had average players and coached average offenses because he lacks the intuition to maximize both those things fully. If he was a better OC he wouldn't fall into a trap like that, he would recognize his talent at hand, that would be reflected in the aggregate of his OC tenures across a range of players and teams.

To your point about logic, it falls apart if Schotty doesnt use RW or acts like RW is an average QB.

I don't even care if the Hawks run an offense I enjoy watching - I just want Schotty to do his damn job better and rise above what I think he is - average at best. Can he do it? Hope so.

 

[nwHawk]

Playing with the lead... we'll we've done that (so have a ton of teams) and lost. We played with the lead in Sooper Bowl XLIX, should have one yet lost. We played the "here we are and we are going to run game" against Dallas. We had the lead to start the 4th quarter, the better QB, a solid defense (sans Griffen) and yup... we lost that one too.

I still have not had anyone answer this question. If Russ was able to dominate games from start to finish, game in and game out, WHY wouldn't the coaches allow him? Seriously? If so, wouldn't we win every game? Wouldn't we win championships hand over fist? ...if not, why?

 

[nwHawk]

I like Russell, so don't take that post as hate since I suspect you may interrupt that as so. But ask yourself that question and seriously consider both sides before replying.

 

[mrt144]

Playing with the lead... we'll we've done that (so have a ton of teams) and lost. We played with the lead in Sooper Bowl XLIX, should have one yet lost. We played the "here we are and we are going to run game" against Dallas. We had the lead to start the 4th quarter, the better QB, a solid defense (sans Griffen) and yup... we lost that one too.

I still have not had anyone answer this question. If Russ was able to dominate games from start to finish, game in and game out, WHY wouldn't the coaches allow him? Seriously? If so, wouldn't we win every game? Wouldn't we win championships hand over fist? ...if not, why?

Seriously? I mean Drew Brees is fully unleashed and they dont win every game. Nobody is seriously proposing the idea that a completely unheard of level of QB is around the corner if everyone would get out if RWs way and he had better everything at his disposal.

Thats lunacy.

Personnel is misused all the time by OCs everywhere. Good ones do it less but theyre always in debt to perfection but cmon, Schotty could make a small step in realizing he has RW and that he can probably squeeze even more out of him, if he wants to.

This isnt profound insight guys, this is a small tweak in an obvious circumstance to keep tabs on going forward.

 

[nwHawk]

Thank you. You are proving my point. I think it's crazy as well. My point was a response to John.

 

[KiwiHawk]

There were some pretty consistent things between seasons prior like low YAC and 3rd down conversion rates.


Second, by many metrics this was RW's best and credit to him and Schotty for turning maintaining that level of passing efficiency while getting the running game back in shape to a large degree. And yet YAC was consistent with Schotty's prior offenses and RW took 52 sacks.

Third, and this is the gut punch and I hate to do it but.... Schotty, in his first playoff game with the Hawks, who now has a QB worth his salt and is known to try and will a win out of nothingness...then doesn't utilize him until way too late, happy to sit on a lead with 3 and outs. I allow for the possibility that next season maybe Schotty won't be content avoid maximizing the chances of the offense when the running game is shut down wholly but the first go around with that situation was not fun and not good enough. But this conforms with the limits abilities as an OC to suss out more from his players. He has had average players and coached average offenses because he lacks the intuition to maximize both those things fully. If he was a better OC he wouldn't fall into a trap like that, he would recognize his talent at hand, that would be reflected in the aggregate of his OC tenures across a range of players and teams.

To your point about logic, it falls apart if Schotty doesnt use RW or acts like RW is an average QB.

I don't even care if the Hawks run an offense I enjoy watching - I just want Schotty to do his damn job better and rise above what I think he is - average at best. Can he do it? Hope so.

Don't you think poor 3rd-down conversion rates have anything to do with having crappy QBs? If Schotty was throwing the ball, then cool, blame him, otherwise you have to expect that to improve with a better QB - is that not logical?

Wilson's average yards per pass were the highest in his career. If he chucks the ball 40 yards downfield to Baldwin making a circus catch with toenails in bounds before going out of bounds, I don't give a crap there was no YAC - the 40 yards is enough. It's just a stat, and it's not as important a stat as average yards per attempt.

Wilson is going to take sacks until someone tells him to stop queuing up the Benny Hill music. It's part of Wilson's game. He's going to try to extend the play as long as he can, and when he does he's going to go for the homerun ball. There have been article after article written showing Wilson dismissing short pass opportunities and holding the ball before taking a sack.

However, by taking the sack he usually doesn't make the risky throw for an INT. Maybe it stalls the drive, but we can still punt.

The rushing offense is one you don't like or understand, and I get that, but it's what we run, and having a homerun QB makes it effective. The numbers showed it last season. Don't pin everything on one game with two injured guards against an aggressive and effective front 7. Opening up the passing game was not going to work, and we disagree there, but it is what it is. Wilson rarely had a clean pocket and as the game went on, the guards were wearing down.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I suspect 5 years from now, people will still be arguing over how good Russ is. He'll likely have another Ring by that point, but it clearly will be all because of the Running game or the Defense etc. :?
Will be very interesting when he's gone, because this team is going to lose a LOT of games w/out Russ.

 

[TwistedHusky]

I think it is the other way around Soulfish.

At some point, Wilson is going to leave here. I suspect it will be sooner than a lot of people here think.

(His agent is clearly watching guys like Mahomes boatrace Wilson and push him from the headlines. When guys like Dak Prescott are supplanting his client - I expect he would push his client to go somewhere that he has better numbers and a better chance in the playoffs)

I would not be surprised to see Wilson lighting it up when he hits his new landing place. At that point, I imagine a lot of us will be doing the 'if only' and 'what if we had just used him more' thing. I don't think Wilson cannot produce, I think he cannot produce effectively HERE because our system and coaches will not allow it.

Some other posters have pointed out issues with how much freedom we give him, our own OC being content to 3 and out when we have the lead, and the like. It is completely within bounds that bringing in average to below average OCs is going to result in average to below average results from your star QB.

We are going to find out that Wilson could do some of the things that people think he cannot, and that it was just sheer stupidity combined with Carroll being intractable that kept us from doing more in the playoffs. With a much better offensive system, more creative playcalling, and a willingness to let Wilson focus on his strengths...another team is going to get a lot of success with him.

It won't be here though, because Carroll is going to stick to low risk, low reward approaches and his retread OC isn't going to add much to offset that. If anything, more likely to reinforce it.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I have zero doubt he will be VERY good regardless what team he goes to. Because he is just that, very good. That being said, I'll believe he's going elsewhere when I see it.
Would be one of the dumbest moves in team history if they let him go.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

You don't think the question of whether Wilson is personnel-transcendent vs. requires a full team behind him to win another Super Bowl is a relevant point? I do. Brady carries his team to a greater degree than Wilson. That suggests to me that, like Wilson in 2013-2014, he's a great QB but also needs a full team, and that's going to get interesting with the shrinking salary cap coming up.

I'm sorry if you think that's "disliking Wilson", even though I have no particular record on this board of being a Wilson hater. But it's a relevant question.

Simple answer? Belichick carries Brady and the entire Patriots team. He's the best coach in football and has absolutely no morals with regard to taking every advantage he can possibly get even if it crossed the line of legality, because he knows that once a play is over, it's in the books forever. No team has ever had the result of a game overturned because of cheating.

His latest trick was completely shifting the defensive cover the moment the microphones were turned off to make Goff diagnose a new defensive front without any help from the sideline, taking advantage of his inexperience. It's a legal exploit of the communications rule, but I will be surprised if there aren't some rule changes coming around that area of the game.

However, Football is a team sport, and the QB doesn't play defense. Without the defense making a specific play, we would have won XL in spite of Brady doing whatever carrying you think he was doing. Sometimes, it's out of the QB's hands. Ask Manning after XLVIII. There was no way in hell he was winning that day with our team firing on all cylinders.

As for the other stuff, safe the self-martyrdom for those who care. I'm the one calling for discussion around here instead of wrapping players in cotton wool.

If you want to discuss, then discuss. Zeroing in on one game (XLIX) and ignoring a career's worth of Brady continuing to lift his team to the playoffs despite wildly varying qualities of defense, sometimes jaw-droppingly bad - like 2011 and 2017, both years they won the AFC - doesn't particularly qualify as discussing the point at hand.

Wilson isn't Brady. We've seen his ceiling with no defense, running game, or kicker - nine wins. Pretty damn impressive and the best this franchise has ever had or will have, but still not enough. In 2018 they gave him back his running game and the result was one extra win. The defense was mediocre all year despite some valiant goal-line stands, and in the playoffs it couldn't close.

Point being, if the GOAT still needed a defense to win in the playoffs despite his carrying capacity, then Wilson will even more, and Pete's chance to reload cheaply has pretty much passed with Clark and Reed about to get paid. That makes Wilson's affordability a problem. It's not a slam dunk that he leaves - his bond with guys like Baldwin and Lockett and the positive relationship he seems to have with Schottenheimer despite everyone else hating him will be factors in luring him to stay. He had one of his best statistical seasons under Schottenheimer. He's not looking at it the way fans are.

But it's still not unreasonable at all to think that the allure of a more productive passing game (and more money) will cause him to look elsewhere. The team has no leverage anyway. And whoever it was who made the point of "Wilson is a prove-it guy", well, it was a good call.