Official Seahawks vs Stealers POST Game Thread

[RiverDog]

I don't love quarterback rating either, it has to be taken with the whole picture in mind, like his increased stats across the board. I agree his is going to be higher because of those things, although when he takes a sack it does lower his rating. At the same time that is an aspect of the rating system. If he throws the ball away, it decreases his rating. If he takes a sack it decreases his rating. If he ticks it and runs, a positive play, it doesn't increase his rating at all. It could also be argued the rating system benefits quarterbacks who throw bubble screens and short passes designed to give recovers a ton of YAC yards. A bubble screen that goes for 50 yards and a TD does a quarterback rating good!

I haven't seen a ton of people making excuses for him. IMO I have sen more people being a little harsh on him actually, and as you put it when the team isn't performing, especially the offense the quarterback has to shoulder that blame.

I'll have to admit that I am not familiar with all the components of the QB rating system or how they are weighted. I'm not really into stats as much as others are, particularly the individual ones, except when it comes to my fantasy team. Football can be pretty hard to quantify vs. baseball and basketball, and being that I don't really care that much about individual performances nearly as much as I do about team results, I tend to ignore them until I have to use them in arguments such as those we get into in this forum. If it wasn't for this forum, I wouldn't be able to tell you if Russell's QB rating was 100 or 50.

Perhaps I had misjudged your opinion on this matter. Your last post doesn't sound like we're that far apart.

[mykc14]

My mistake Myck, though I could douche out and claim it was below after game one...

No problem, I re-read my post and I can see why you took it to mean 1 game. That would be a douche move, especially because his rating that game was 90, lol. I don't disagree with most of what you are saying. He needed to play better there is no doubt, as did the offense as a whole. Where we differ is how bad you felt he was playing compared to me. I would say he has been the same basic player he has been if not a bit better in some areas, and a little worse in other areas. At the same time I don't know that these two games mean he is really playing better. I saw a few changes in his game, like I mentioned above that I have been wanting to see, an adjustment because defenses had clearly adjusted to him. If those things continue (stepping up in the pocket when his first/second read isn't there, throwing on time more often) then I would say he has taken a major step forward, but putting up 5 TDs against one if the worst pass Ds/tackling teams in the league isn't proof enough.

[mykc14]

Perhaps I had misjudged your opinion on this matter. Your last post doesn't sound like we're that far apart.

The problem with forums in general. It's great to get the opportunity to talk football with somebody on the other side of the state but there is no replacement for face to face interaction. If we were to be sitting on a couple bar stools drinking a beer I am sure we would be agreeing on more than we disagree about this topic. My only issue with what I thought you were saying was the idea of a major regression or terrible season. I think he basically is who he has been but he is paying for his mistakes more this year, teams have adjusted to the way he plays, and he had gotten a bit skiddish behind our oline. I also think at least part of this was schematic. I think the hawks like to hit the big play when RW scrambles so those quick 'on time' throws were not a major part of the game plan. RW has always 'missed' open receivers early in his progression but was usually able to scramble outside of the pocket and make a big play. I think this was just what the hawks like to do and it worked well. Now teams just aren't allowing him to break contain, when he tried early in the year he would run into sacks, which looked really bad but was exactly what he had been doing for his entire career. Seeing this philosophy shift/adjustment from him to counteract what defenses have been doing is encouraging, IMO, but I want to see it work against a good defense before I would be willing to say he/the offense has taken a major step forward.

[Hawktawk]

If you read what I wrote I suggested one person should eat crow, Savvy. That's due to him within the last week using words like "greedapalooza" to describe Russell's contract negotiations, also saying he is the most disruptive prescence in the locker-room due to his new deal and his celebrity lifestyle. I think both those statements are over the top. He has not personally defended those remarks for whatever reason following the type of success Russ is having recently.

I've been plenty critical of aspects of Wilsons play this season so I get that. I attended the AZ game and my voice is still Fd up from yelling at the officials and pretty much every player on my team for their ineptitude. Russ didn't play well that day but he was under constant duress too. NOBODY on this team has played like themselves right on down to Hauschka so far. But Russ has been very good 3 of the last 4 games, minus one really bad throw vs the 9ers on the road and I think he's going to turn it on now. People who like to b**** about him should watch some other games BTW. Numerous GM's and fan bases would kill to have him.

Give this amazing player his due and be thankful for his contributions, that's all.

[HumanCockroach]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0a ... -s-big-day

Kind of echos what I was seeing and have been saying for three full years in regards to the line play. Doesn't mean the line isn't culpable, but it does highlight why I made the statements I did. I really DO hope both facets have "turned a corner" and can and does improve from here on out with more consistent play.

[Hawktawk]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap3000000591788/What-was-secret-behind-Russell-Wilson-s-big-day

Kind of echos what I was seeing and have been saying for three full years in regards to the line play. Doesn't mean the line isn't culpable, but it does highlight why I made the statements I did. I really DO hope both facets have "turned a corner" and can and does improve from here on out with more consistent play.

Great link.I always appreciate Baldys analysis and he is spot on. I wish I was proficient at pasting links but I read elsewhere that Wilson is completing over 80% of his passes from inside the pocket in the last two weeks and also has a perfect QBR vs. the blitz over these 2 games. He's getting red hot at the perfect time.
The change at center has led to a dramatic improvement in line play overall. PC has basically admitted he should have yanked Nowak sooner.
Now if the defense can at least show something of its former self.....I think they will.

Zimmer is a really good coach and I respect him but I think if Seattle can solve the Dui Kings next Sunday its going to get fun the rest of the way.

[NorthHawk]

The middle of the line was brutal early in the year and often flushed Wilson out of the pocket. That they have shored that up is key to his passing from the pocket.
The Vikings use a somewhat unusual blitz with 2 LBs pressuring the A gaps. They sometimes have a double A gap blitz, sometimes 1 LB, and sometimes they drop back.
This is going to put some pressure on the OL to perform well and if they have trouble, we might see Wilson being flushed out again and having to throw on the run.
Hopefully Bevell has put in some plays to take advantage of those types of blitzes, and Cable is coaching them to limit the effectiveness of that type of blitz.

[RiverDog]

The problem with forums in general. It's great to get the opportunity to talk football with somebody on the other side of the state but there is no replacement for face to face interaction. If we were to be sitting on a couple bar stools drinking a beer I am sure we would be agreeing on more than we disagree about this topic. My only issue with what I thought you were saying was the idea of a major regression or terrible season. I think he basically is who he has been but he is paying for his mistakes more this year, teams have adjusted to the way he plays, and he had gotten a bit skiddish behind our oline. I also think at least part of this was schematic. I think the hawks like to hit the big play when RW scrambles so those quick 'on time' throws were not a major part of the game plan. RW has always 'missed' open receivers early in his progression but was usually able to scramble outside of the pocket and make a big play. I think this was just what the hawks like to do and it worked well. Now teams just aren't allowing him to break contain, when he tried early in the year he would run into sacks, which looked really bad but was exactly what he had been doing for his entire career. Seeing this philosophy shift/adjustment from him to counteract what defenses have been doing is encouraging, IMO, but I want to see it work against a good defense before I would be willing to say he/the offense has taken a major step forward.

One of the adjustments that I think defenses are making is that their DE's are taking wider rushes, knowing that he likes to break the pocket to the outside vs. step up. There's been a lot of times he's tried to use that reverse spin move of his and runs smack dab into a sack. That's really not the OL's fault, he's running into pressure. Another seems to be that we're not nearly as effective running the read option. He's well behind his 2014 rushing pace, by an average of nearly 17 yards per game less than his 2014 total.

I never really thought that Russell had taken a major step backwards, certainly not to the same degree some of his younger counterparts like Kaepernick and Luck have. I just thought that he hadn't taken that next step forward, that he hasn't adjusted to what defenses were taking away from him, that he'd lost his ability to improvise. He just wasn't finding ways to win like he used to, seemed quite a bit different from the RW we had come to know from the past 3 seasons. I've come to expect more.

I attended the Cincy game in person, from a very high vantage point, and we saw on multiple occasions where Russell had open receivers at the 10-15 yard range but wasn't going to them. I don't know if he couldn't see them or if he was looking for a bigger play. But he was doing that when we had a 17 point lead and should have been looking for first downs. I don't recall him exercising that kind of bad judgment in previous seasons.

Hopefully these last two games are an indication that he's gotten over that hump. We'll see how he does this weekend, on the road against a playoff contender.

[burrrton]

I wish I was proficient at pasting links but I read elsewhere that Wilson is completing over 80% of his passes from inside the pocket in the last two weeks

I heard Justin and Gee talking about that, and I thought they said that was for the *season*.

Either way, it's completely consistent with what those who watch the Hawks know (and talking heads and Future don't): RW is *better* from the pocket than elsewhere, ie. he's an outstanding "pocket passer".

It's just that he's also deadlier when on the run than most that that became the moniker to hang on him for those who knew nothing about him.

[edit]

Regarding pasting links, what is it that's throwing you?

You can either just highlight what you see in the address bar, and copy/paste it:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0a ... -s-big-day

or if you want to be fancy, you can use URL tag (hover over the button at the top of the window and it shows you how to format it) so text you define is linked:

Wilson's Big Day Wooohooo!