It’s no secret that the Seahawks’ passing attack has been a bit off of late, though they did show signs of improvement against Kansas City last week. There are plenty of factors that have played into the struggles this season, from the absence of last year’s leading receiver Golden Tate and the midseason trade of Percy Harvin, to inconsistent though improving pass protection, but quarterback Russell Wilson says that ultimately the improvement has to start with him.
“I think it’s on me more than anything,” Wilson said. “There’s a time and place to be big right now, and we’ve just got to make those plays, and we’re going to. I believe we’re going capitalize and I’m going to make the throws when I need to make them and the guys are going to make the catches when they need to make them. They’re doing a great job, they’re showing up, so just keep believing and keep delivering the football, and we’re going to do it.”
Asked what he meant by the “it’s on me” comment, Wilson said, “I’ve just got to find a way to be clutch, and always be clutch. That’s something that I look forward to. It’s calling for that time right now, so I’m looking forward to it.”
What stands out about the Seahawks’ passing game isn’t that they rank 30th (191.8 yards per game) in passing yards. Seattle was only 26th in yards last year (202.2), and as long as they rank near the bottom of the league in attempts (30th this year, 31st last year), then raw stats like yards don’t mean much.
But what is an issue for the Seahawks is that their yards per attempt, completion percentage and passer rating have all dropped from last year. Most notably, the Seahawks went from 2nd in yards per attempt (8.4) in 2013 to 24th this year (7.0). Seattle also dropped from 5th to 15th in passer rating (102.4 to 91.1) and from 9th to 15th in competition percentage (63.6 to 62.7).
One theory about Seattle’s passing game is that the team’s propensity to run frequently makes it harder to get into a passing rhythm, but Wilson said that isn’t the case.
“In terms of the rhythm of the passing game, because we run the ball so effectively and I’m running it and Marshawn’s running it, there’s not excuse for that hindering the passing game,” Wilson said. “That’s nothing, it’s just on me, I’ve got to get better.”
And if anything, Wilson noted, when asked if defenses are doing anything different this year, that his running ability should make it easier to throw the ball.
“I don’t think there’s a huge issue, I just think that we’ve had a few games in the passing game where we could have been a little bit better,” Wilson said. “Like I said, that’s just on me. I don’t think there’s any issue, I don’t think defenses are doing anything different. Defenses are paying a little bit more attention to me in terms of putting an extra guy down there, but that’s a good opportunity for us in the passing game, so I’m looking forward to that, and if that’s the case, we’ve got to make big-time plays.”
Another issue, especially last week, has been Seattle’s red-zone efficiency, or lack there of. The Seahawks got just two touchdowns on five trips into the red zone in Kansas City, twice settling for short field goals and once getting stopped on a fourth-and-goal pass.
“I just think I’ve got to play better in the red zone,” Wilson said. “And I’m looking forward to it. We’ve got however many games left, but this one’s the one that counts right now. It’s just capitalizing. We’re doing a tremendous job running the football; Marshawn’s having an unbelievable year, so we’re trying to give him the football. In terms of the passing game, we’ve capitalized at good moments when we needed to, and sometimes we haven’t. The times we haven’t, it’s really more on me. That’s something I believe I’ll fix, and something I believe will happen for us this week and in weeks to come. You just keep working at it, you never rest at it.
“Whenever you get in the red zone, the passing game it gets a little quicker, a little tighter. So you’ve got to make quick decisions down there, you’ve got to get the ball out and just trust what you see.”
Wilson still likes the mindset of his team despite some struggles and a 6-4 record: “I think we have that same resilience, that same championship mindset. You think about last year some of the games we won, even though we were 9-1, we had to come back from behind against Houston and we had to do some miraculous things, and that’s what it calls to now this week and the weeks to come; just playing big-time championship football and having that championship mindset.”
And Wilson, like the rest of his teammates, knows that a schedule back-loaded with division games means the Seahawks are very much still in contention despite being three games behind the Cardinals heading into Sunday’s game.
“I kind of like it personally,” Wilson said of a schedule that features five NFC West games in the last six games. “It’s something you look forward to whenever you play your rivals. It’s going to be a good opportunity for us to step up. We’ll see, the story’s not told yet. We’re going to have to write our own story, and we’ll see what happens.”
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