Russell Wilson and the Seahawks played their divisional matchup against the Carolina Panthers at home. The Seahawks took the lead in the 2nd quarter and never looked back beating the Panthers 31-17, while advancing to the NFC Championship. Wilson was efficient with the football completing a high percentage of his passes and throwing with anticipation. Outside of some great plays made by Wilson, he struggled with deep ball accuracy underthrowing it on multiple occasions. Even though this was the case, Wilson made the important throws and had flawless decision-making all evening allowing his wide receivers to make the plays necessary for the win.
Stats
Wilson - 15/22, 268 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 1 fumble, 7 rushes for 22 yards, 2 sacks for 20 yards
Let’s take a look at some plays where Wilson was efficient with the ball and made the necessary throw to keep the drive going.
Play 12
Situation: 2nd and 10 at SEA 34
Description: Q2 - (5:47) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass short middle to M.Lynch to SEA 37 for 3 yards (L.Kuechly; M.Addison).
In this play, Wilson’s first read is the slant on the right side of the field, but there is a linebacker sitting in zone coverage underneath ready for the interception. Instead, Wilson pump-fakes and feels the pressure through RG64 Sweezy who was getting bull-rushed backwards by DT92 Edwards into the pocket.
Wilson feels the pressure and dumps the ball off to RB24 Lynch for a short-gain to set up a more manageable 3rd down. In this play, if the pocket didn’t collapse through Sweezy, Wilson could have moved on to the other side of the field and found his left outside wide receiver open for the same throw with a perfectly formed throwing lane between LT76 Okung and LG77 Carpenter. Good, quick decision to get rid of the ball though instead of potentially being taken down by Edwards for a sack.
Play 14
Situation: 3rd and 3 at SEA 27
Description: Q3 - (13:41) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass short middle to P.Richardson to SEA 48 for 21 yards (T.Boston).
Wilson snaps the ball and goes through his reads starting on the right side of the field where he eventually finds WR10 Richardson on the in-route. Wilson sees the linebacker and fires it to Richardson who was in-between three zones for a first down.
http://i.imgur.com/7zQicpI.jpg
This is a very risky throw that requires an extremely accurate pass into tight coverage. Panthers’ LB59 Kuechly is watching Wilson and reacting to his eyes. He shifts across the field to follow the shallow cross and then shifts back to almost intercept the ball. If Wilson instantly looked for the in-route then Kuechly would have picked the ball off, but it would have created a different opportunity with the shallow cross.
Play 25
Situation: 3rd and 6 at SEA 46
Description: Q4 - (11:46) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass short right to L.Willson to CAR 25 for 29 yards (R.Harper; L.Kuechly). CAR-B.Benwikere was injured during the play. His return is Questionable.
Offense Formation: Shotgun Trips Left Near
Offensive Grouping: 11
Defense Formation: Cover 3, 4 Underneath zones
Wilson starts left and looks back right at TE Willson running a hitch from the right side of the line of scrimmage. This is a very tight window that requires a well thrown ball. Wilson throws it perfectly to TE Willson with excellent anticipation hitting him right as soon as he turns on his route. Wilson looking left and then back to the right was enough to move LB59 Kuechly out of his throwing lane for the throw.
Normally a group tackle by a cornerback and Kuechly would take down any player, but Benwikere gets injured on the play and Kuechly can’t wrap up properly allowing Willson to escape for a larger gain on the 3rd down play.
Play 27
Situation: 3rd and 10 at CAR 25
Description: Q4 - (10:33) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass short right to L.Willson for 25 yards, TOUCHDOWN. S.Hauschka extra point is GOOD, Center-C.Gresham, Holder-J.Ryan.
Offense Formation: Shotgun Trips Left Near
Offensive Grouping: 11
Defense Formation: Cover 3, 3 Underneath zones
Willson on the right outside runs a slant route and is instantly open between zones of DE97 Addison who drops into underneath coverage and CB23 White. This play goes for a touchdown because White takes his angle too aggressively and flies right by TE82 Willson. If he took a more conservative angle, this probably would not have been a touchdown. Good quick decision by Wilson on this throw taking advantage of the gaps between the zones.
Although Wilson played very well throughout the game, his deep ball accuracy left something to be desired against the Panthers in plays 6, 11, 15, 21 and 26.
Play 6
Situation: 3rd and 12 at SEA 36
Description: Q1 - (6:16) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass deep right to J.Kearse to CAR 31 for 33 yards (C.Jones).
Offense Formation: Empty-set Shotgun Trips Left
Offensive Grouping: 01
Defense Formation: Cover 2
http://i.imgur.com/2zkfvEK.jpg
Wilson starts his reads looking left and determines they are all covered. He then looks right and scrambles to the right side of the field eventually finding WR15 Kearse running a deep-in route from the middle of the trips bunch on the left.
This play is possible due to the excellent blocking provided by the Seawhawks offensive line. They give Wilson a clean pocket for far too long rendering the Panthers’ four man rush ineffective. After Wilson escapes the pocket he has another clean look down the field to find his target.
http://i.imgur.com/2LQR9XQ.jpg
Wilson sees Kearse crossing the field for a wide-open pass since, FS33 Boston left his deep zone to cover WR83 Lockette’s dig route. Wilson lauches the ball downfield high, but catchable for Kearse. Watch Wilson’s feet as he releases the football. He is sliding right as he releases the ball. This is why the ball sails on him. Wilson had plenty of room to plant and throw an accurate pass, which would have allowed Kearse to take it for a score as opposed to a long gain on the play. Overall, great offensive-line protection led to this play, but Wilson needs to maximize these opportunities because they are rare in the NFL and the Seahawks ended up punting a few plays later in the drive.
