Russell Wilson: ‘They beat us pretty good today’

SEATTLE – Russell Wilson had never seen a day like this as a Seahawk.

Not even close.

He has seen worse days statistically, and no loss will ever be more painful than Super Bowl 49.

But in terms of failing to compete, of getting blown out of a game that meant so much, Seattle’s 42-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in an NFL game Sunday at CenturyLink Field was a new low, by a million miles.

“This is the first time we’ve ever …,” Wilson said, unable to finish the sentence. “They beat us pretty good today.”

“Obviously, that was not the game we wanted to play or expected to play,” he said. “They came ready to play, and, unfortunately, we weren’t ready to play enough.”

This is Wilson’s sixth NFL season, and he has been Seattle’s starting quarterback since the first game of his rookie year.

In that time, prior to Sunday, the Seahawks had lost only one game by more than 10 points. That was last season, when they lost to Green Bay 38-10 at Green Bay.

Seattle’s worst loss at home under Wilson was seven points, which had happened three times, twice against Arizona and once against Dallas.

He has led the Seahawks on a remarkable run of being competitive in virtually every game and winning most of them.

Wilson is the only quarterback in NFL history to win at least 10 games in each of his first five seasons, and he holds the league record for most victories in his first six seasons with 64.

He also holds the record for most victories after two, three, four, and five seasons.

But all that seemed like another lifetime Sunday.

“This is the only game you’ve ever seen us play like that,” said Seattle coach Pete Carroll said, who took over the Seahawks in 2010 and thus predates Wilson by two years here.

“Our expectations were that we were going to be right in the middle of this thing,” Carroll said. “We were not right. We were not the way we play.”

Wilson’s stat line on Sunday wasn’t completely horrible. He completed 14 of 30 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. He was sacked seven times for 71 yards in losses, but, as usual, that was not primarily his fault.

Still, he is the leader of the offense, and on this day it never got going, at all.

“We were behind the eight ball the whole first half,” Wilson said. “There were a lot of third-and-longs and stuff and that’s really tough when you’re playing a really good team like that. That’s where I can start right now.”

Los Angeles led 13-0 before Seattle got its first first down, and in the first half Seattle had fewer first downs (4) than Los Angeles did scoring drives (6).

Some of that is on the defense, and a lot of it is on special teams, but the inability to do anything on offense may be the one overriding image to linger from this game.

“I don’t think it was a preparation thing,” Wilson said. “When I say that I think that we had a few plays here and there that could have really changed the game and tilted the game a little bit different. Those didn’t work, and I don’t think it’s a preparation thing.”

In the first half, Seattle’s offense had two turnovers, three sacks, three other negative plays, and three penalties. The Seahawks crossed midfield one time, to the Rams 49-yard line, and on the very next play Wilson fumbled while being sacked to set up the Rams (10-4) for a touchdown that made the score 27-0.

“The game kind of got out of hand really quickly,” Wilson said. “I’m not sure how many they had the first half. They got like 30 (points) or whatever the first half, and that’s rare.”

It was 34, to be precise, and it might as well have been 100.

When Wilson was sacked on back-to-back plays on Seattle’s first possession of the second half, it was clear that there would be no magical second half comeback on this day.

“We have struggled in the first half before of games,” Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. “We have struggled early, but we have always seemed to find our rhythm, and for whatever reason, today we weren’t able to do that.”

Seattle (8-6) is no longer in the conversation as a Super Bowl contender, and if that is to change during what should be the prime of Wilson’s career, the Seahawks will have to get better on offense, a lot better.

For the fifth time this season, Wilson was Seattle’s leading rusher with 39 yards on five scrambles. With 521 rushing yards this season, Wilson is Seattle’s leading rusher by more than 300 yards over Chris Carson, who has been injured since Week 4.

If it weren’t so sad it would be comical.

“In terms of where we need to get better on offense, I don’t really know where to start yet,” Wilson said.

He was speaking of Sunday’s game, but that comment could stand for the state of the franchise.

Nonetheless, Wilson said he still believes the Seahawks have a great and glorious future.

“The reality of the situation is no matter if we had lost by one or lost by the way that we lost it’s still a loss. It still is the same,” he said. “I don’t think the score really affects the emotion of losing.

“There’s no panic. There’s no panic by any means. More than anything it’s just keeping our head down and going back to work.”

“I have no doubt about the men that we have in the locker room and who we are as a team,” he said. “We’re all looking forward to coming back next week and having a great week.”