Russel's "Decline"

[Seahwkgal]

In the post game russ made a comment about "the weather".
As you could clearly tell drew breese through some horrible ones also possibly due to the wind.

"threw"?

 

[oldhawkfan]

If memory serves me well, off the top of my head I remember at least 3 or 4 drops by receivers. Catch a few of those and his stats look a whole lot better.

 

[akscoundrel]

Yeah there were some bad throws, understandable due to the weather. I think this was his worst throw (a good ball in the sense of catchable, terrible in the sense that it lead/allowed the safety to take off the wr's head)

Probably excited that Percy was back and was just trying to force him the ball, but as the quarterback you gotta protect your wr's.

 

[hox]

#1 Psychological. It all started after the MVP talk began. He's on the cusp of greatness and he knows it. He just needs to grab it by the balls and take that next step. He needs to play like there's nothing to lose. This next game against a championship caliber defense will tell us a lot about Russell Wilson.

#2 I think we miss Rice and McCoy. Wilson seemed to have good chemistry with those guys. They were big targets over the middle, something we are severely lacking right now. Miller has been MIA for whatever reason.

#3 No rhythm passing game to speak of. This is an off season priority, IMO. Either call or install some plays that can get Russell in a rhythm. The backyard scrambling style isn't sustainable against good defenses who spy and contain well.

#4 He needs to trust other players to make YAC plays more. Yes, he is always looking downfield for the big play but sometimes a dump off or bubble screen works even better. Percy was wide open on the screen play, and could have been an TD if Russell just trusted that play more.

 

[Polaris]

#4 He needs to trust other players to make YAC plays more. Yes, he is always looking downfield for the big play but sometimes a dump off or bubble screen works even better. Percy was wide open on the screen play, and could have been an TD if Russell just trusted that play more.

That actually was the right decision. Look at the tape and look at the wind direction. An errant gust would turn a forward screen pass to Harvin into a backwards lateral and a very bad play. Russell (IMHO correctly) decided under the conditions, it wasn't worth the risk. Take the sure thing.

 

[SomersetHawk]

I'd be worried if Russell was. But he wasn't, so I'm not. He shrugged it off in his presser yesterday and I know that if he had legitimate concerns with his performance he'd have told us what he needs to work on.

Because we were running the ball so much, Russ had very limited chances to throw the ball, and when he did he missed a few, though a lot of these were in third down situations and ultimately killed our drive. When we're clutch on third down, drives are extended and Russ gets more opportunities to shred a defense.

Our offense is built as good as any to tire defenses; when Marshawn's not running around, Wilson is. But in order to do this then we need to be clutch on third down, and yesterday we weren't really. It's why we can go from looking like crap one week, to an offensive juggernaut the next, and then back again. It comes down to third down, and we weren't given much yesterday, a couple of missed throws on slants to marginally open receivers, not to mention in blustery conditions, with an injured Percy and #4 defense.

Saints played similarly too, and it's why by half time Brees' stat line was worse than Wilson's despite the fact they have the best catchers in the league. They had to open it up second half and it worked, let's not judge Wilson against Brees when they had entirely different game plans.

We've seen what Russ is capable of, and I'm ready to see it next week.

 

[Giblien]

#3 No rhythm passing game to speak of. This is an off season priority, IMO. Either call or install some plays that can get Russell in a rhythm. The backyard scrambling style isn't sustainable against good defenses who spy and contain well.

:13:

I Think we need to get some more quick passes a la 2005 Seahawks. IF we can execute some quick passes, it negates the blitz and makes this offense much more versatile.

 

[Seeker]

Looks like they just started playing more conservative to me. Kinda understand in those weather conditions. percy looked good out there.

 

[lobohawk]

#1 Psychological. It all started after the MVP talk began. He's on the cusp of greatness and he knows it. He just needs to grab it by the balls and take that next step. He needs to play like there's nothing to lose. This next game against a championship caliber defense will tell us a lot about Russell Wilson.

Anytime I see someone on the outside judging a player's mindset, I call bunk. No way to know what's in a player's head and trying to define their character from the seat of a couch is silly.

The other points are all valid assumptions.

 

[hawkfan68]

I'm not sure Russell has been around long enough or risen high enough to have a "decline."

I agree. Russell hasn't declined at all, IMO. He has put up numbers consistent with what he did last year. That's not declining....it's called being consistent. Secondly, he has led his team to an NFL best record of 13-3, #1 NFC seed, and home NFCCG game. If that's declining, then I hope he continues to decline in this manner. Russell is ok. Can he improve? Yes he can. Will he? To be determined but one I do know is that he'll put the effort to improve. He's the hardest working guy on the team. I wish more guys had his work ethic and determination.

 

[Hawks46]

While I agree he seems to lack a little confidence,the reality is the weather and defenses are a lot tougher now than in the first 3/4 of the year.How many QB's are going to have impressive numbers this weekend?Russell is not alone even amongst the best in the NFL right now.

Indeed. You know who else had a no-touchdown pedestrian day in the weather yesterday and had to be 'rescued' by his running game?

Tom Brady

Seriously ? His running game had 6 TD's. That's not "rescuing" anybody, that's DOMINATING somebody.

The problem is, as fans, we blame the WRs. This is the NFL. There is always somebody open. In the 1st game here, Brees had open WRs but he missed them. In the last game, Wilson had open WRs but he missed them. He also missed a couple of throws that any NFL QB nees to make if he wants to keep his job.

I think everyone has a bad game. I just hope he doesn't have one next week.

 

[Missing_Clink]

My take on what is happening is that defenses have adjusted to him going outside of the pocket. Everyone knows he loves to roll out and chuck it down field to the streaking WR or take off with the ball. When I watch the DBs of the opponents, it seems like they have been coached to fight the tendency to go to the ball when it looks like Wilson may take off, and just stay with their WR no matter what.

Our WRs just have not been creating the separation we were seeing earlier in the season and last season. I think teams are playing Russell's scrambling plays differently. Russell also seems less inclined to run the ball than previously. Russell is not a great pocket passer yet, so there is no bread and butter for the pass game to turn to right now.

 

[Anthony!]

#4 He needs to trust other players to make YAC plays more. Yes, he is always looking downfield for the big play but sometimes a dump off or bubble screen works even better. Percy was wide open on the screen play, and could have been an TD if Russell just trusted that play more.

That actually was the right decision. Look at the tape and look at the wind direction. An errant gust would turn a forward screen pass to Harvin into a backwards lateral and a very bad play. Russell (IMHO correctly) decided under the conditions, it wasn't worth the risk. Take the sure thing.

agreed and add in a defender running right into his throwing path he made the right call.

 

[Anthony!]

My take on what is happening is that defenses have adjusted to him going outside of the pocket. Everyone knows he loves to roll out and chuck it down field to the streaking WR or take off with the ball. When I watch the DBs of the opponents, it seems like they have been coached to fight the tendency to go to the ball when it looks like Wilson may take off, and just stay with their WR no matter what.

Our WRs just have not been creating the separation we were seeing earlier in the season and last season. I think teams are playing Russell's scrambling plays differently. Russell also seems less inclined to run the ball than previously. Russell is not a great pocket passer yet, so there is no bread and butter for the pass game to turn to right now.

agree with all but last statement he is 64% completion in the pocket, he is very good in the pocket. Problem is he rarely has a pocket or receivers getting open when he is in the pocket. Some of that is WR, some is play calling. What some of you need to realize is sometimes when he runs it is to help his WR get open, as they are nto doing it on their own, This is something Millan said today on KJR

 

[The Radish]

I've noticed teams are trying to keep the outside sealed off so he can't run. Then the next layer fills in the holes in the middle.

I noticed several times he started to run and they covered the lanes up quickly. To me he is much better breaking out of the pocket when he runs backwards or out to the side. Those are something that is much harder to cover. Plus when he does that he wears out the defenders in the last quarter of the game.

So I guess I think they need to let him clear out more.

:les:

 

[vant]

I'm OK with Russell's performance. He definitely should not be taking unnecessary risks when the Seahawks are in the lead.

Fieldgulls are reporting that he was off on 4 or 5 throws. Considering the weather, I'm not upset about it. The key is, we did not turn the ball over.

They walked into this game with the running game in mind more so than any other game in the season. We came into this knowing that we would have very low pass attempts, and even lower deep pass attempts.

The best part of all? If Russell did get removed from the game, we were still going to win it.

We do not ride on one player like some other teams do.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

I've noticed teams are trying to keep the outside sealed off so he can't run. Then the next layer fills in the holes in the middle.

I noticed several times he started to run and they covered the lanes up quickly. ................

:les:

This, and actually they are spying him with a LB in the middle. That's how those middle lanes are being covered up so quickly.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I don't think Russell's "declined." But I do think he's over thinking and gripping a little too much lately, which worries me. Trying to be TOO PERFECT.

I counted at least 3-4 times Saturday that he hesitated on running for good gains and not keeping the option on read plays with Marshawn. He's gotta get back to the loose dynamic balls out player he was at the end of last season and most of the first half of this. Sometimes I think Russell's too analytical for his own good, he's gotta just loosen up and not worry about whether he's making a mistake.

 

[Basis4day]

I'd worry more about Saturday's performance if it wasn't for the wind/weather. Pretty clear we weren't trying to throw the ball.

 

[Brett]

Russ needs a haircut