What was the “after action” report following the Seahawks’ “stunning” loss to Arizona yesterday? I decided to break my boycott of the first show on the local ESPN affiliate, the personalities involved I won’t name because they are simply an embarrassment of uncritical thinking. Everything that happened in the game was everyone’s fault except Russell Wilson’s. The offensive line didn’t block; Wilson didn’t have any “time”; the running game wasn’t working; Arizona had the bad manners to play man-to-man coverage against a rookie quarterback; no obvious dropped balls, but a few were still “catchable.” They threw softball questions to Pete Carroll, and let him get away with softball answers; of course Carroll is not going to criticize his quarterback and deflate him—when did you hear him criticize Charlie Whitehurst, for chrissakes? They are told that Wilson’s height is not an issue—and they believe it.
What we saw in reality was a quarterback who did not play smart—or rather, prefers to “think” with his feet; no amount of film study is going to change that—it’s all mental. Wilson—and his coach and his various partisans--seems to believe that his instinct to run will save him from failures to adequately work the passing game when the real bullets are flying. As I mentioned yesterday, the Seahawks longest drive before the last one was a mere 33 yards. The last drive was a fluke; how could it be otherwise when Wilson had eight official incompletions? A pass interference call on fourth down, and another on third-and-ten were the “key” plays of the drive.
Absent from all of this was a discussion of what Matt Flynn would have brought to the table in the same situation; most quarterbacks in league are, after all, similar to Flynn in “style,” not Wilson. You know what a smart, NFL-trained quarterback does to overcome a deficient offensive line and defeat a pass rush? Exactly what Flynn did during the preseason: Go to the line, see what the defense is giving you, and take it. That is what he did during those two long TD drives in the fourth preseason game; that is how this team is going to score points. He won’t misfire on eight passes on a drive and need to “survive” by two gift interference calls. Flynn showed that he is adaptable, playing for Green Bay’s high-powered offense, and this questionable offense. Wilson clearly showed he is a one-note quarterback, who was fortunate to be able to shine one year on a Rose Bowl team when he was likely to go undrafted if he had stayed at NC State. Can he change his mentality and adapt? I didn’t see that; all I saw was someone who thinks he can run his way out of every problem, and all a defense needs is a linebacker or safety to spy him. He is simply too small to play effectively the way he does over the long-run. Unless Wilson adapts, the reality will be that he is no more than a back-up who might be effective for a few games if teams are unfamiliar with his style and don’t game plan for it, as occurred during the preseason. The question is just how long it will take for some people to accept reality—if at all.
One of two things can happen here: Either Wilson improves his judgment dramatically—which will require a complete change in his approach—or try to salvage the season by installing Flynn as the starter, as he should have been. It may take some DeMarcus Ware in Wilson’s face next week to force some people to eat humble pie and at the very least “consider” the possibility.
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