There's a lot going on that i've noticed since Rice went out.
1. Receivers aren't getting separation. We see it on the slants, we see it on the designed bootlegs, we see it on the play action passes for deep plays. Russel holding the ball, looking downfield and either running it back to the line of scrimmage/throwing it away or taking a coverage sack.
2. The playcalling hasn't facilitated getting Russel Wilson into a rhythm. What do I mean by that? How many hot reads do we have? Short passes? Screens? We ran a lot of slot plays on 3rd down today, but we've been lacking in the short-intermediate passing game the last half of the season and defenses have been exploiting this.
3. In the case of this game, we did very little passing except on 3rd down and the occasional 1st or 2nd. Throughout the 3rd quarter and into the 4th, the playcalling gave Wilson no ability to get into a throwing rhythm.
4. We aren't utilizing our Tight Ends in the middle of the field. Miller and Willson are targeted maybe 3 times tops in the game, which allows the secondary to cheat their coverage on our WRs. We're not exploiting the open space in the middle of the field and we haven't all year.
5. We're a run-first offense right now. We have been all season. Sometimes quarterbacks need a game where the team needs them to throw in order to get back into a season rhythm. Wilson hasn't had that since the game against the Bucs probably.
6. Wilson has taken far too many hits this season. He's keeping his hands up on read-option plays, so he gets decked by the spy. Receivers aren't separating so coverage sacks are a problem. We've had offensive line issues all season. He does not feel comfortable in the pocket and I don't blame him.
7. Bevell in this game made very few adjustments to what the Saints defense was giving them in the 3rd quarter. A majority of Wilson's passes were OOB when no one was open, or it was to a slot receiver. No screens, no checkdowns to Lynch in the flat, nothing to keep the Saints secondary honest.
All of these points lead me to believe that there is something wrong scheme-wise with what we are doing in our passing game. It's become very predictable and pedestrian. 3rd down? slot. Play action bootleg? looking for the long ball. TE's are extra blockers and not a threat to coverage most of the game. Our WRs have difficulty separating from DBs. We're not spreading the ball out as much as we should and need to.
We had a balanced attack for about 3 weeks on offense. It involved everyone getting involved. Tate, Baldwin, Miller, Kearse, Rice. Rice gave the other receivers that needed separation because he commanded attention on the field due to his size, speed and athleticism. Harvin gave us that in the 1st half. Without throwing our offensive playbook in the trash, we need that Harvin/Rice level receiver to command some attention and force the secondary to gameplan around that, instead of Tate and Baldwin. They are not, nor will they ever be, #1 receivers. They are utility receivers that are great in space.
So it's an amalgamation of a lot of things that is hampering Wilson's efficiency. At least he's not turning the ball over...
