Note: I haven’t written too much about the Seattle Seahawks lately. To be honest, the break-up of the Legion of Boom and that first Pete Carroll Super Bowl Championship team left a very sour taste in my mouth. I acknowledge the greatness of individual players like Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett and Earl Thomas, and I’ll always remember that incredible Super Bowl victory over the Broncos, as well as the loss to the Patriots the following year; I agree that the Seahawks squandered the opportunity to be a Patriots-like dynasty with multiple Super Bowl trips and victories. That said, what I found hard to take was the backbiting, bitterness and fault-finding, epitomized by Earl Thomas’s middle finger salute to Carroll last year on national TV, that characterized the departure of the players I’ve mentioned here. It was all just too small-minded and human, and I didn’t like it. As a fan, perhaps I am naïve, but I expect better from our sports heroes. Don’t get me wrong, I still love football and the Seahawks, and I never miss a game; but for the last couple seasons I just haven’t been up to publishing anything about them. However—after watching the continued development of quarterback Russell Wilson, especially as it is manifesting this year, as well the verve and joy this new and young bunch of Hawks are playing with, I find myself motivated again. With their thrilling 30-29 victory over the Rams a couple days ago, Seattle is now 4-1 on the season and the team appears to be coming together. In that Rams contest Wilson was nothing short of exquisite the whole game through, but there was one play that I think defines what he is becoming. For the anatomy of that play please read on…MA  

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Considering how great a quarterback Russell Wilson obviously is, it is difficult for me as a Seahawks fan to watch any of the national media sports shows, whether FOX, ESPN or NFL Network, in their various assessments of the top quarterbacks performing on today’s NFL stage. If you watch and listen to these pundits much, then you know what I am talking about. The amount of time they spend on their shows lauding the excellence of Tom Brady (Patriots), Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Drew Brees (Saints), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs) and even Dak Prescott (Cowboys), while often failing to acknowledge Wilson in the same breath, just leaves me shaking my head. I realize that these quarterbacks, except for Prescott, who has never even taken his team to the Super Bowl, much less won it, are great; but based on Wilson’s stats alone, and the fact that he is so obviously a winner, there is no way that he should be left out of the conversation.

To be fair, the national media perception and estimation of Wilson is starting to change, and lately it seems he is finally getting his due as a legitimate NFL MVP candidate. It is Wilson’s incredible play, production and excellence on the field that is forcing this perception shift, and never has that excellence been more evident than in this 2019 season, and specifically in the Rams game just played. The stats tell the tale. The Seahawks quarterback is off to the best season start in his career; completing 73% of his passes for 12 TDs, a 126.3 passer rating, with zero interceptions, all of which lead the league. Against the Rams he was stellar, completing 17 of 23 throws for 268 yards, 4 touchdowns, no picks and a nearly perfect passer rating of 151.8. Add to this the incredible fact that Wilson has not missed one single start in his NFL career—a stretch of 117 consecutive games extending back to his rookie season. And if you think that is impressive, consider these facts: across Seattle’s last 21 regular season games Wilson has thrown for 47 touchdowns against only 7 interceptions; he has won more games (75) as a starting quarterback across his first 7 seasons than any other quarterback in NFL history; he has the 2^nd highest career passer rating (100.1) of any quarterback in NFL history (minimum 1500 attempts); he is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for 30 or more touchdowns and 4,000 or more yards WHILE ALSO rushing for 500 or more yards in a season, and it just goes on and on. Along the way, his success as a “short” quarterback has altered how quarterback talent is evaluated in the NFL, a fact other young and smallish QBs such as Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray can thank him for.

But, if Wilson’s stats tell the tale of his greatness, the “eye-test” is, if anything, even more impressive. How many times across the last 7 plus seasons have we seen him do things on the football field that just left us slack-jawed in wonder? If you are like me, you have lost count; but whatever the number, you can add to it the touchdown pass he threw to Tyler Lockett late in the first quarter of last Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams—a throw that may well be the greatest of the Seahawks quarterback’s career.

The play started with one minute left in the first quarter and Seattle trailing 6-0. Wilson had just completed a beautiful 38-yard pass to tight end Will Dissly to give the Hawks a first and ten at the Rams 13-yard line. As he brought his team to the line of scrimmage for the next play Wilson found himself looking at a 7 man Rams defensive front, clearly designed to stop the powerful charges of Seattle’s young running back Chris Carson. To counter this, the Seahawks formation had tight end Luke Willson split wide to the left with wide receiver DK Metcalf in the slot to Luke’s right, just a couple yards from left tackle Duane Brown. Meanwhile, receiver Tyler Lockett was split slightly to the right side while Carson was stationed in the classic tail back position, 7 yards behind Wilson, who had lined up under center to take the snap. As the Hawks quarterback called the signals, Luke Willson went into motion to his right, ultimately placing himself in the space between Metcalf and Brown on Seattle’s left side. With the snap of the ball Wilson faked a handoff to Carson and retreated to about the 25-yard line to pass. To that point in the game the Rams awesome defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Dante Fowler, and linebacker Clay Mathews, had been getting consistent pressure on Wilson; but on this play the Seattle quarterback found himself surveying the field from a clean pocket. As the seconds went by Hawks receivers Metcalf and Lockett ran their routes—basically crossing patterns, with Metcalf moving left to right across the field towards the end zone and Lockett doing the same from right to left; the only problem being the Rams defensive backs had them both blanketed.

Since Thursday’s game I have watched and re-watched this play from multiple angles, and the Rams coverage indeed was superb. The only options, it seemed, were for Wilson to throw the ball away, or to try to run. So, the Hawks QB did what he always does—he took a third option and extended the play. With the Rams defense finally closing in on him, he rolled to his left while keeping his eyes downfield, looking for even the smallest of windows to deliver the ball. But there were none. By rolling left, Wilson had removed Metcalf from the equation, as the big receiver was all the way over on the right side of the field. Effectively, that left one receiver, Tyler Lockett, as the only option to try and make something of this play. By then Lockett had arrived at the back of the end zone on the left side, directly in front of Wilson, about 33 yards downfield from him. But, Rams safety Eric Weddle was also there, in front of and facing Lockett in tight coverage, his back to the Seattle quarterback. The shifty Seahawks receiver tried his best to get some separation from Weddle, feinting first to his left, and then to his right, but all to no avail—so it seemed.

Time is a funny thing on a play like this; apparently standing still while in fact ticking rapidly away. From the snap of the ball to the point where Lockett was dancing with Weddle in the back of the end zone trying to free himself, about 7 seconds had passed; not long in fact, but it seemed an eternity. It was then that the hours of practice; of throwing and catching pass after pass; of coaching and film sessions; of discussing routes and options, all came together in a miracle. Though about 33 yards of space separated them on the field, Wilson and Lockett were suddenly in each other’s heads, thinking and moving as one—both knowing there was only one way this pass could be completed. Understanding now what he had to do, Tyler Lockett made one last feint to his left, toward the center of the end zone, gave Weddle a little push, and then broke to his right, toward the end zone’s rear corner; the Ram’s safety just inches behind.

Russell Wilson, meanwhile, at last had seen the window he needed, and once he did he wasted no time. The toughest pass for a right-handed quarterback to throw is when he is rolling to his left. His momentum is carrying him in that direction, and to make an accurate throw down field he must square his hips to the horizontal yard lines on the field, and do it on the run. It’s a bit like you see infielders in baseball do, fielding a ball that takes them in a direction away from first base, and then having to make that throw across their body back to first. It’s a difficult pass to make, but Wilson has long since mastered it, and is one of the few quarterbacks who can do it well. That skill came in handy now, as Wilson squared his hips and released the pass, impelling the ball on an arc toward the only place it could go if it was to wind up in Lockett’s hands.

Keep in mind that the line of scrimmage on this play was the Rams 13-yard line, and that when he released his pass Wilson was at about the Rams 25. With Lockett nearly 10 yards deep in the corner of the end zone that meant Wilson’s pass would have to travel just over 35 yards to get to the Seattle receiver. With Weddle’s tight coverage behind Lockett, and the sideline in front of him operating almost as another defender, the window for Wilson’s throw was incredibly small, probably no more than a foot square. Factor in that the Seahawks quarterback, was on the move, rolling to his left when he made the throw, the most difficult pass for a right hander, and you can understand why advanced football metrics would indicate that the chance of such a pass being completed was only 6%. You can also understand, then, that when Lockett leaned out over that end zone sideline to haul in the perfectly thrown ball, while somehow keeping his toes on the ground and in bounds by no more than an inch or two, no one watching could believe what they were seeing. That included the announcers on the FOX broadcast of this game, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who both were flabbergasted at what they had just witnessed. Aikman, in particular, was impressed, commenting excitedly after the play to the national TV audience:

“That is unbelievable! If you had told me that his (Lockett’s) feet were in play, I would have said there is no way that this ball is caught with his feet in the field of play. I mean there was great coverage—I don’t even know how Russell Wilson thought he could fit that ball in there, but sure enough, he’s got possession, both feet clearly in the end zone. It was unbelievable! There was no pressure on Russell Wilson, but you go back and you see the coverage across the boards, there was nowhere for Russell to throw the football; and even when he threw it, there was nowhere for him to throw the ball! When you look at the coverage that the DBs (defensive backs) had across the board…Eric Weddle (Rams defensive back) is wondering, “How in the world did that just happen?’”

Aikman’s summation of Wilson’s and Lockett’s amazing pitch and catch reflected well what all of us who saw this play unfold were thinking and feeling as it happened. The FOX announcer and former Super Bowl winning quarterback is correct—it WAS unbelievable! From start to finish this remarkable play consumed only about 11 seconds, but in the mind of any “Twelve” it is already immortal.  Years from now we’ll still be shaking our heads incredulously, as we think about it and wonder, along with Eric Weddle,  “How in the world did that just happen?”

Go Hawks!

Copyright © 2019

By Mark Arnold

All Rights Reserved