Article: What St. Louis thinks of seattle's passing game

[Grahamhawker]

Key points that for me can't be overlooked:

1. It's one game- at a time and place we should be used to the O struggling. Russell needs to get the ball out quicker, what else is new?

2. I saw an offense that played well enough to win against an obviously tough defense. Ain't like it was all bad. Take away the return tds (wash) and the Cary Williams td if you must. But then you need to take away the gimmee Rams plays the defense gave up and what you have is a typical Hawks-vs-Rams kind of score.

3. I'm more concerned with what I saw on defense (see #2).

 

[Northwest Seahawk]

Key points that for me can't be overlooked:

1. It's one game- at a time and place we should be used to the O struggling. Russell needs to get the ball out quicker, what else is new?

2. I saw an offense that played well enough to win against an obviously tough defense. Ain't like it was all bad. Take away the return tds (wash) and the Cary Williams td if you must. But then you need to take away the gimmee Rams plays the defense gave up and what you have is a typical Hawks-vs-Rams kind of score.

3. I'm more concerned with what I saw on defense (see #2).

The defense is the strength of the team yes and if it takes a step back we don't have the offense to compensate right now. That's Pete's dilemma and they need Kam . It is only game one so they could still have a great season agreed on that.

 

[Tical21]

Wilson4MVP, you do realize that every single NFL team has this play in their playbook, often for this very situation, right? It was the right playcall. He had two receivers that were WIDE OPEN for easy 5 yard catches that could have easily led to bigger plays.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

When he's "on it" as Pete likes to say, there is ZERO hesitation..........and I saw a LOT of hesitation yesterday, especially in the 2nd half. IMO the Rams rattled Russell.

Actually, I saw far less hesitation from Wilson in the fourth quarter when Seattle started playing hurry-up, and that's noteworthy because Wilson was calling the plays there. It actually feeds RIGHT into the Bevell narrative.

I wish there was a way to confirm how much Russell is calling his own plays.

I re-watched the 4th quarter and it looked to me they were playing an up-tempo, no-huddle offense where Russell is still getting plays from the sidelines and/or headset, NOT the hurry-up offense you see in two minute drives where Russ does call his own plays.

 

[nanomoz]

To those saying having a long roue mixed with short routes would result in more sacks: not categorically true.

Somebody pulling a defender further afield could open things up for an underneath route/YAC. It's the principle of route combinations, which is something Bevell just doesn't seem to implement all that often (or all that effectively)

 

[DavidSeven]

You can pick apart the screen grab all you want, but the truth is that the play does exactly what it's designed to do. I don't know if Russell ultimately had enough time to read and react, but there are two wide open options for him in quick order. Based on how far off the DB is playing off Lockett, you assume Russell might make him #1 on his presnap progression knowing that everyone is going to curl. The play should've been there if he had any time at all.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

This picture right here is why Bevel should be fired..wtf is this play design?

First and 17..............defense is going to play 10 yards off the line + we can't block anybody = short routes to try and gain 5-7 yards so it's not 2nd and 3rd and long.

You guys all want deep routes and more explosive plays, but those take time to develop. Which Russell didn't have, ever yesterday.

So if you want longer routes downfield, then you're saying you also wanted 5-6 more sacks cause that's the trade off.

I think the issue people have, right or wrong, is that it seems like Bevell and Wilson were on different pages of the playbook.

Bevell's playcalling was actually fine overall. He did what made sense with an inexperienced online against a overpowering dline . . . he called a lot of short/quick passes.

The problem is Wilson didn't take them.

I watched Brady on Thursday, and the difference is striking. Brady is boom boom boom throw. He could have the crappiest line in the world and it wouldn't matter. Wilson drops and holds and waits and rolls and . . . when it works its beautiful and ugly at the same time, but when it doesn't its infuriating.

Exactly.

That ball needed to be either half way to Kearse or half way to Locket at the time of this snapshot. This sack is 100% on RW and it's just incomprehensible if people can't understand that.

Bevell has a weird offense to start with…and Wilson makes it "infuriating" with mistakes like this. It's inexcusable for a top-5 guy to not pull the trigger on this play.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

You can pick apart the screen grab all you want, but the truth is that the play does exactly what it's designed to do. I don't know if Russell ultimately had enough time to read and react, but there are two wide open options for him in quick order. Based on how far off the DB is playing off Lockett, you assume Russell might make him #1 on his presnap progression knowing that everyone is going to curl. The play should've been there if he had any time at all.

He's staring right at Lockett…what gives?

THROW THE BALL RUSSELL.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

When he's "on it" as Pete likes to say, there is ZERO hesitation..........and I saw a LOT of hesitation yesterday, especially in the 2nd half. IMO the Rams rattled Russell.

Actually, I saw far less hesitation from Wilson in the fourth quarter when Seattle started playing hurry-up, and that's noteworthy because Wilson was calling the plays there. It actually feeds RIGHT into the Bevell narrative.

But then again…was it Russell's play calling, or was it a sense of urgency? It seems like the hesitation gets thrown out the door when our back's are against the wall.

 

[Hawk-A-Loogie]

Just tired of seeing 1st and 10. Then 2nd and 6. Then 3rd and 1. --- the whole game it seems like.

 

[SalishHawkFan]

When he's "on it" as Pete likes to say, there is ZERO hesitation..........and I saw a LOT of hesitation yesterday, especially in the 2nd half. IMO the Rams rattled Russell.

Actually, I saw far less hesitation from Wilson in the fourth quarter when Seattle started playing hurry-up, and that's noteworthy because Wilson was calling the plays there. It actually feeds RIGHT into the Bevell narrative.

Yep, once we go to hurry up offense, Wilson immediately gets more confident, his play calling is excellent, the team picks right up and everything that was going bad disappears. Which points directly to the problem being Bevell. It's time to give Wilson the keys to the Porsche.

 

[scutterhawk]

unfortunately, this is nothing new, and is what many in here were saying during the midst of the Wilson negotiations.

I was literally screaming at the TV the whole game, the same thing. Sometimes I have to wonder what Wilson sees when we look at screen shots like that.....

This.

It's why I thought we should wait a year to extend Wilson.

- bsd

Yeah, that John Schneider is such a dumbass for not getting on here at .NET, well ahead of entering negotiations and pick the brains of some of us know-it-alls before signing guys like that.
ABSURD.

 

[redhawk253]

With this short passing attack..the most ive ever seen us do...we STILL got sacked 6 times....so..it obv didnt work very well since he still got sacked the same ammount of times he always does against them. What did they say last night he had been sacked 36 times in 7 games..that is rediculous

So you're saying the reason the Rams have sacked Russell so many times is playcalling?

You'd think it has more to do with our horrible pass protection + the Rams having the best front 7 in the NFL. That makes more sense.

The Rams do what they always do because they have the personnel to do it, crowd the line, get pressure with just their front four and force us to dink and dunk. They dictated the game on that side of the ball.

Let me ask you a question. Shouldn't 31 pts be enough to beat the Rams? Why is everyone wanting Bevell's head? Aren't we suppose to have the #1 defense in the league? I put this on the D, not Bevell or playcalling.

Correct me if im wrong but 14 of those 31 points were by defense/special teams.. and no 17 pts is not enough points to beat an improved rams team that has a real qb for once in the past 5 or more years and has been stock piling talent on both sides of the ball.

People dont realize the rams are gona be damn good this year with foles at the helm.. they been showing glimpses for awhile now.

We would have won that game however if the play calling wasnt so damned awful.

 

[bigskydoc]

Yeah, that John Schneider is such a dumbass for not getting on here at .NET, well ahead of entering negotiations and pick the brains of some of us know-it-alls before signing guys like that.
ABSURD.

Thanks for that meaningful and insightful addition to the conversation

If it was such a no brainer to extend the guy, as you seem to imply, why did it take almost the entire offseason to come to an agreement?

It may be years before we know if it was the right decision or not, although next year's extensions, combined with Wilson's performance this year, will give us a clue.


-bsd

 

[Spin Doctor]

This is something that I have been saying about Wilson for a long time. He does not anticipate routes very well, and as the years roll on he is looking more, and more hesitant. There is something else this article did not touch on -- picking up on the blitz. There was multiple instances of more rushers coming at Wilson than blockers, and they were all too obvious. Wilson needs to make them pay when they decide to blitz him, I have not seen him do this throughout the duration of his career.

 

[Donk70]

They used Lockette just like they used Percy Harvin with almost the same result. Nothing has changed. You wanna see a better passing game? Get a different play caller, and I don't mean #3. You gotta just wonder what Tom Cable is doing to the play calling. With him being in charge of the Offensive side of the ball, he's probably got handcuffs on most of everything.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

This is something that I have been saying about Wilson for a long time. He does not anticipate routes very well, and as the years roll on he is looking more, and more hesitant. There is something else this article did not touch on -- picking up on the blitz. There was multiple instances of more rushers coming at Wilson than blockers, and they were all too obvious. Wilson needs to make them pay when they decide to blitz him, I have not seen him do this throughout the duration of his career.

The article alluded to it, but you're dead on.

 

[Spin Doctor]

They used Lockette just like they used Percy Harvin with almost the same result. Nothing has changed. You wanna see a better passing game? Get a different play caller, and I don't mean #3. You gotta just wonder what Tom Cable is doing to the play calling. With him being in charge of the Offensive side of the ball, he's probably got handcuffs on most of everything.

I'm not exonerating Bevell by any means, but we had favorable matchups, such as Graham getting covered by a D-lineman and Wilson did not exploit them. He has to learn how to take advantage of favorable situations like this or he is never going to take the next level as a passer.

 

[SalishHawkFan]

Basically, the thing all the people who were worried about the crappy oline feared most may be coming to pass. That revolving door of an oline is ruining our franchise QB .

 

[HuskerHawk]

This is something that I have been saying about Wilson for a long time. He does not anticipate routes very well, and as the years roll on he is looking more, and more hesitant. There is something else this article did not touch on -- picking up on the blitz. There was multiple instances of more rushers coming at Wilson than blockers, and they were all too obvious. Wilson needs to make them pay when they decide to blitz him, I have not seen him do this throughout the duration of his career.

New Orleans and Arizona just off the top of my head. I also seem to recall some stats floating around the time of that NO MNF game that showed Russell was one of the best against the blitz. That was some time ago, however, and I will grant you he has become more hesitant recently. Funnily enough though, that just about perfectly coincided with a decline in O line play, and the loss of very dependable options in the form of Miller, Rice, and Tate. In my opinion, lesser quarterbacks would've folded if placed in his situation, and for him (as a still young player mind you) to weather that storm and continually get back up and produce when most needed really speaks volumes about RW as a player. It is my hope and belief that the Graham and Lockett additions in combination with what could potentially be a SOLID line at some point, Russell will get more comfortable and decisive as the year progresses.

I follow the Pats nearly as closely as the Hawks (was rooting against them in the SB though ) and Brady went through a very similar stretch through the 13 and early 14 seasons. Remember, Brady's done etc. Once Gronk and Amendola were back on a consistent basis, and the O line got sorted, voila, he's back. It didn't happen instantly, but slowly and surely he was back to putting up consistently great numbers. Nothing really changed with him, just the other 10 guys didn't suck anymore (and boy did they friggin suck. Dropson, Thompkins, Boyce, Sudfield, Who? Baldwin, Kearse, Lockette, Willson. Exactly) Still, it takes A LOT of mental toughness and fortitude to not go in the take in such a situation. Brady's the best there every was in that category when it comes to qb's. RW, in my opinion, is right there with him. Never discount Tom Brady. Never discount Russell Wilson.