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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE – Russell Wilson’s 2020 season starts at a record pace and talks about his first MVP award in his career. It suddenly ends with a rumble and a question: What happened to the quarterback and the highly regarded Seattle Seahawks offense that could not be stopped for the first two months?
The fight for Wilson and Co culminated Saturday when the Seahawks lost 30-20 in the wild card round against the Los Angeles Rams on an empty Lumen Field, which was the third longest winning game in the NFL national season. . The Seahawks have not lost a playoff game since the 2004 season and won all six tries under Pete Carroll before Saturday.
“I hate this feeling,” Wilson said postgame, still two hours after the final whistle unshaken.
Wilson threw for 174 yards, two touchdowns and an interception returned for a Rams score. His 40.7% completion rate at 11 to 27 distances was tied for the second-lowest in his career, while his 17.6 Total QBR was his weakest in 16 playoff games in the career, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
It didn’t help that he was sacked or forced under half of his backs, even with All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald for much of the second half. The Rams’ 50% pressure percentage was the highest Wilson faced this season and the second-highest he encountered in the playoffs. He was fired five times.
“They did a pretty good job, of course. They got me a few times,” Wilson said. “I think we just did not play our best game. We were not as much in our thing as we should have been.”
Carroll did not blame Wilson for his selection in the second quarter, which came to DK Metcalf with an attempt at a screen pass, which Darious Williams, corner line, read perfectly.
“I thought it was really hard,” Carroll said of Wilson that afternoon. “They make the fantastic interception for a touch, which is a great play by the kid. He took a shot and got it, and it was a big play in this game because it threatened all the time, seven points. It’s not a mistake on Russ’s part at all. It’s just a great game from them. But it was difficult. If you’re chased like that, you have to be fired five times against the group, it’s just hard. . ‘
Wilson was also fired five times when the Seahawks beat the Rams 20-9 in Week 16 to win the NFC West.
“It’s no surprise,” Carroll said. “This is how they played against other people. We had to keep this game like we played last time, where we maintained it, where they scored nine points and we found a way to score 20. “
Wilson captured the first four games through the NFL record while crowning himself as the frontrunner for the MVP. Over the first nine weeks, the Seahawks’ attack led the league by scoring 34 points per game, while Wilson led the league 28 times. But during the final eight weeks of the regular season, Seattle’s average points per game dropped to 22.6 (which was 16th), while Wilson threw 12 TD passes (tied for 13th).
His average per attempt went from 8.56 meters (fourth) to 6.4 (28th). He also scored 6.4 yards per attempt on Saturday.
Carroll regrets that the Seahawks did not adapt better to the way opponents defended their deep defense in the game-action game, which has traditionally been a big part of Seattle’s offensive success.
“That does not mean we throw the ball over their heads all the time and just go for bombs,” Carroll said. “But there’s a lot of space we’re creating in the game-passing game, and it seemed like we were so early in the course of the season, so half effective, that people had a way of staying back and trying to bleed and make us have to throw the ball down, and we really worked harder for it than we needed and did not use to shift the gears as slightly as there was. “
Wilson’s 40 passes and 13 interceptions in the regular season were both a highlight of his career.
The veteran pointed to injuries along the offensive line as one of the reasons for the Seahawks’ struggles after their hot start. They had their preferred starting five from Duane Brown, Mike Iupati, Ethan Pocic, Damien Lewis and Brandon Shell for their first four games, but only once in the second half.
However, the top five were reunited on Saturday, and it was no game for the Rams’ defensive front … with or without Donald. The Rams produced six pressure and two sacks after Donald left with just over ten minutes left in the third quarter.
Seven of the Seahawks’ nine accepted penalties were against the offense, with five on their offense. One got off to a bad start in the fourth quarter when Seattle let the tampering break, despite having extra time when Lewis was examined on the field for an injury – and rushed him to a fourth-and-1 in time. to get play-off battle. . The Seahawks stepped up.
Carroll said they discussed plays and that he was in the middle of it, which contributed to the delay. He said he did not mind stepping into the penalty area because it was initially a consideration.
Wilson threw both of his passing passes to Metcalf at a standard four-pass rate, but was only 8-of-18 for 130 yards on those plays. His 44.4% completion rate versus standard pressure was his lowest in a game since week 15 of the 2017 season against the Rams (44.0%), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Seahawks finished just 2-out-14 on the third, starting 0-for-8 before their first conversion with less than four minutes left in the third quarter. They ran 136 yards on 25 attempts.
“I wish we would have found the way to make the ball run more, to slow them down and stop us from chasing,” Carroll said. “… When Donald went out, we wanted to try to throw the ball without him being chased and we could not get enough out of it.”
The Seahawks won 12 games in the regular season for the first time since 2014 and the NFC West won for the first time since 2016.
“We have an excellent football team. Don’t get me wrong,” Wilson said. “You can write whatever you want, but the reality is we have a great football team and I think we have guys, but we did not play well today. That’s what matters most.”
It was the second time in three seasons that the Seahawks jumped into the wild card round and the fifth time in their last five trips to the playoffs that they did not have the NFC title game.
“We will heal, but it’s unfortunate because it’s hard to achieve these years,” Carroll said. “It’s hard to get 12 wins. It’s hard to be home with a playoff game. We won a lot of playoff games at home, and it’s hard to give one away. We won each of them playoff games with a “Hard, wild, crazy fan base, and not today, we needed you. I wish we could have had you. That’s not an excuse, it’s just a pity.”