BlueShoe":1zmg5z8r said:
Pandion Haliaetus":1zmg5z8r said:
Playoff team?
Please, the Seahawks were 2-6 to start the 2011 season. It wasn't until many of our veterans starting dropping like flies and the younger guys "stepping up" until we became even remotely competetive finishing strong in the 2nd half going 5-3. So don't act like the Seahawks had an easy path with Wilson, Seahawks started the season 4-4 in 2012 before going 7-1.
And you finished the 2011 season winning 5 of your last 8 in a very competitive division, with wins over the Ravens and the Bears. Your defense was already set as you ranked 7th in the NFL in points allowed.
We won 2 games in 2011, and I honestly do not know how. We were terrible.
We had a total rebuild in 2012 and we also had 40 million in dead cap space. On opening day 2012, we were ranked as the worst (32) team in the league by every ranking I saw on the internet (NFL.com, CBS, ESPN).
Both walked into different situations. Wilson started out on a ready-made team. Luck was on the Bad News Bears.
Any fan should be able to see this.
Wilson has done everything that has been asked of him and he deserves a lot of appreciation. No one is denying that.
I’m sorry but you aren’t going to convince me otherwise. This whole argument that Russell Wilson inherited a Pro-Bowl team is short-sighted media throw-up.
Let me throw you a quick (warning, it won't be as quick as you'd like) history lesson on the Seahawks.
2010, Seahawks Record: 7-9
Pete Carroll and John Schneider blow up the team making over 275 transactions in the course of that season.
>>>68 players were on the active roster that season. Many were injured, a lot of them was because the Seahawks were constantly churning the back-end of the roster, trying to find players.
>>>39 players were new to the team.
>>>40 players had 0-3 years of experience.
>>>Only 27 of 53 players in 2009 were kept.
Seahawks averaged 27.0 years in age and 3.9 years in experience.
2011, Seahawks Record 7-9
The roster is a little bit more stable, but Schneider still remains relatively active in the off-season sans the lock-out.
However, Seahawks had 69 players on their active roster mostly because of injury.
>>>36 of those players were new to the team.
>>>52 of those players had 0-3 years of exp.
>>>13 players remained from the 2009. And 33 from the 2010.
Seahawks Average Age: 25.5
Seahawks Average Exp: 2.4 YRs
2011, Colts 2-14, a lot of the Colts not being competitive had to do with the lock-out and Peyton Manning being your whole team, everything the Colts built revolved around him. With the lock-out shortening free agency and off-season workouts, the Colts had no time to prepare.
Colts Average Age: 26.2
Colts Average Exp: 3.1
2012: Seahawks Record, 11-5
Seahawks had a solid 58 players on their Active Roster indicating good health and their roster was finally stabilizing overall.
However, Seahawks still found room for 19 New Players.
>>>41 players still had 0-3 years of Exp. Only 7 players remained from the 2009 team, 18 from the 2010 team, and 40 from the 2011 team.
Seahawks Avg. Age: 25.6
Seahawks Avg. Exp: 2.6 yrs.
2012 Colts, 11-5
I know you guys had like what 36 new players in your roster churn but you guys hit on a solid draft in 2012 and most of your players were definitely better than the players they would replace.
Avg Age: 25.6 (Same as Seahawks)
Avg ExP: 2.3 Yrs (about 4 months less in average experience)
Before I even move on to Wilson and Luck. I want to make one more comparison.
2013 Colts, 3-1, Avg Age = 26.2, Avg Exp = 3.6 yrs
2013 Seahawks, 4-0, Avg Age = 25.4, Avg Exp = 3.3 yrs
Seahawks shouldn’t have been a playoff team in 2010, and the Seahawks weren’t a playoff team in 2011, and it took an infusion of rookies + younger players much like the Colts received in 2012 before the team became competitive with the team starting 2-6, and finishing 5-3 and establishing their identity as a ball-hawking defense and a power rushing offense. It was an ugly 7-9 season that saw young players step-up, fill the void, and control their own destinies on what they wanted to become as a team.
Going into 2012, I doubt the Seahawks could have cared less whether or not if the team made the Play-Offs because it was only year 3 in their 4 year building plan to be competitive. However, Carroll tends to set the ball pretty high anyway and the team bought into his philosophy. Yet, the team wasn't playoff caliber team 11 games into the season with a 6-5 record, It took a 5 game winning streak at the end to eventually put us in and a huge win over our biggest rival the 2nd to last game of the season to even secure a Wild Card spot. So stop with that whole the Seahawks were "Playoff Bound" nonsense because we were far from it. It was again a young team that controlled it's destiny, not the perception of talking heads in suits.
Now onto the QB comparison if you can continue to read further:
Luck: 6’4, 235, w/ 4.6 speed
Wilson: 5’10, 205, w/ 4.5 speed
Luck: 1st pick of the Draft, Started to learn the Colt's Play-Book about month before the draft, took #1 reps on the first day, was the leader from the get-go with a HOF go-to-WR in Reggie Wayne whispering in his ear and nurturing his progress. Wayne+Hilton crushed Rices+Tates number at least in yardage, just going on top of my head, for about 900 more yards collectively.
Wilson: 75th pick of the Draft, Learned Play-Book over 500 snaps in Rookie Camp, took #3 reps on the first day of camp sharing practice reps with 3 other players. Wilson didn’t captivate right away either, many of the Seahawks were divided between mostly Tarvaris Jackson or warming up to Matt Flynn. It seemed only Carroll was enthused with Wilson at this point. Jackson was then traded to the bemusement of his teammates, and it became Flynn vs Wilson. When Wilson was named the starter, he had about less than 50% of respect from his teammates. It was a struggle and up-hill battle to earn that respect and he had no chemistry what-so-ever with his receivers in the early going. By week 5, nobody was talking Wilson, it wasn’t until Week 6 against the Patriots where Russell finally took over and probably convinced his teammates that he could play in the Big Leagues. After a shoddy game in San Fran, Wilson went on a rampage the rest of the Season to force his consideration in the Offensive Rookie of The Year vote along with Luck and RGIII. Wilson accounted for 30 TDs, tying Manning record with 26 passing TDs, however, with only 10 ints, not 28.
Luck finished 2012, 11-6 overall: 339/627; 4,374 yards; 7.0 avg, 54.1 Pct, 28 Total TDs against 23 Total T.O. (18 Ints)for 76.6 QB rating + 62 rushes, 255 yards, 4.1 Avg, while being sacked 41 times.
Wilson finished 2012, 12-6 overall: 252/393; 3,118 yards; 7.9 avg, 64.1 Pct, 30 Total TDs against 13 Total T.O. (10 Ints) for a 100.0 QB rating + 94 rushes, 489 yards, 5.2 avg. while being sacked 33 times.
Sure, what Luck did was amazing but he was “destined for greatness” and was stream-lined to be successful from the beginning.
Wilson, had a mountain to climb more so than Luck, first being “too small” to play in the NFL, winning the starting job, winning the teams respect, and it wasn’t until mid-season before the Seahawks tailored the offense to Wilson’s strengths and let him off his leash. Yet, Wilson still had better numbers than Luck in about 230 less opportunities. Wilson would have had well over 4,400 yards (4,950 to be exact) + 41 passing TDs if you gave him the plus 234 more opportunities Luck got.
I’m not saying Luck isn’t good because he is great, , or that Wilson is the better QB, but you can’t tell me what Russell Wilson accomplished last year wasn’t more amazing when you look at the bigger picture. What he did in the Falcons game leading the charge to come back from 20-0 half-time deficit was of stuff of Legend.
