Seattle Seahawks: The dud and stud of game 8 – L.A. Chargers

Dud of the Week

2nd dishonorable mention – Referees. As a former referee, I’m hesitant to criticize officials. It’s a hard job and no matter what you call half of everyone watching will disagree. But I can’t let this go. What game were they watching?

First of all, Chargers receiver Mike Williams clearly stepped out of bounds on his 30-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. Additionally, the personal foul call against Justin Britt in the fourth quarter was ridiculous, he was defending a teammate who was being mugged by L.A. If the zebras had to throw a flag, then it should have been offsetting penalties.

1st dishonorable mention – David Moore. This one is frustrating. Emerald City Swagger wrote a nice article on him leading up to the game. He let us, and the 12s down. Moore dropped two touchdown passes including one that would have put the Seahawks in position to tie with a two-point conversion. That last pass was slightly tipped but it hit Moore in the hands. He has to make that catch.

The Dud – Russell Wilson. The Seahawks quarterback didn’t have a bad game overall. He was 26 of 39 passing for 235 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. On the ground, he ran eight times for 41 yards. Someone who just read the box score would think Wilson doesn’t belong on this list, let alone at the top. What made him the Dud of the Week, isn’t in the numbers.

One of RW3’s chronic bad habits came back to bite him and the Seahawks in the butt on Sunday. Wilson just wouldn’t get rid of the ball. No amount of screaming by the 12s at the stadium or at their television sets could change it.

He is what he is, a quarterback trying to make plays. Wilson tried to win and in his effort to extend plays, he held the football too long. A quarterback needs an internal clock that tells him time is up and he has to get rid of the ball because the play isn’t working.

The above goes to Wilson’s decision making. One other play where his decision making was faulty was his fourth-quarter pick six. L.A.’s Desmond King read Wilson throwing a 10-yard sideline pass to Jaron Brown. King left his man and jumped the route. It was one of the few times Wilson had all day to throw. Watch the replay below, Brown was covered the tightest.

Almost any other receiver on the play would have been a better option, but Wilson didn’t check down. King’s man, Doug Baldwin (lined up to the right of Brown), found a seam between three defenders. Tight end Nick Vanett was wide open across the middle five yards from scrimmage, an ideal gain on first down.

Tyler Lockett drew single coverage on the right side of the formation and had step to the inside of his defender, the deep safety wouldn’t have had time to help. Finally, although the other safety had an eye on Mike Davis out of the backfield, a quick pass to him would have been a five-yard gain and if Vannett could have gotten a block, much more.

Wilson made the worst decision possible. As a matter of fact, unless he threw a bullet to Brown toward the outside, which is a difficult throw, the corner would have defended the pass. It probably wouldn’t have been a pick six, but it’s unlikely the play would have resulted in a completion either.

The final piece of the equation has to do with urgency. There was none, and it has nothing to do with him calling an audible to a run play. It was that Wilson couldn’t get his team to the line quickly and call a play. The clock was ticking down and Seattle looked oblivious. Two-minute drills are practiced all the time, it’s up to the quarterback to make it work. Wilson didn’t.