{"id":3603,"date":"2017-01-07T19:22:07","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T19:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/?p=3603"},"modified":"2017-01-07T19:22:07","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T19:22:07","slug":"for-a-deep-playoff-run-the-seahawks-need-russell-wilson-to-be-russell-wilson-by-mark-arnold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/2017\/01\/07\/for-a-deep-playoff-run-the-seahawks-need-russell-wilson-to-be-russell-wilson-by-mark-arnold\/","title":{"rendered":"For a Deep Playoff Run, the Seahawks Need Russell Wilson to be RUSSELL WILSON! \u2013by Mark Arnold"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3604\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3604\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wilson.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3604\" src=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wilson-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"The Seahawks need Russell Wilson to be RUSSELL WILSON!\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wilson-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wilson-768x564.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Wilson-1024x752.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3604\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Seahawks need Russell Wilson to be RUSSELL WILSON!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Note: After a 2016 season remarkable for its rollercoaster ride, our Seattle Seahawks have made the playoffs for a 5<sup>th<\/sup> consecutive season and have another shot at the Super Bowl. To make that happen the Hawks MUST defeat the Detroit Lions in this weekend\u2019s Wild Card game\u2026They will if Russell Wilson plays like\u2026well\u2026 RUSSELL WILSON! Please read on\u2026MA<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>I know I can\u2019t speak for all of you <em>\u201cTwelves\u201d<\/em> out there, but for this diehard <em>Seahawks <\/em>fan this has been one frustrating season. When I look back at it now, considering all that has happened across the 17 weeks, it is hard for me to fathom how this team made it to a 10-5-1 record, an <em>NFC West<\/em> title and a <em>Wild Card<\/em> playoff berth against the <em>Detroit Lions<\/em>. Whether because of the green and porous offensive line, the lack of a consistent running game, <em>Russell Wilson\u2019s<\/em> various and assorted injuries, or the season ending injuries to<em> Earl Thomas <\/em>and <em>Tyler Lockett<\/em>, it has seemed to me that this team spent the whole season running just one step ahead of disaster. Sometimes the \u201cdisaster\u201d caught up with them (witness the <em>Tampa Bay<\/em> and <em>Green Bay<\/em> games), and occasionally they looked like the world-beaters of three years ago (witness the wins over <em>Carolina <\/em>and <em>New England<\/em>). On balance, however, what we have seen is the most inconsistent <em>Seattle Seahawks<\/em> team of the <em>Pete Carroll<\/em> era, and when you look at it that way we should all be reveling in the fact that here we sit at the start of the playoffs with another shot at the <em>Super Bowl<\/em>, while twenty other NFL teams will sit home and watch with the rest of the country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3358\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3358\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Beast-Quake-2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3358\" src=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Beast-Quake-2-300x209.jpg\" alt=\"The Seahawks miss Marshawn Lynch\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Beast-Quake-2-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Beast-Quake-2-768x535.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Beast-Quake-2.jpg 919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3358\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Seahawks miss Marshawn Lynch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are many apparent reasons for that inconsistency, but the biggest has got to be the decline of the Seahawks as a power running team. In many games this year the Hawks running game has been microscopic and the team, based on this season\u2019s stats, has become a bottom tier NFL rushing team\u2014something unheard of for a Pete Carroll unit. If anyone ever did doubt the greatness of <em>Marshawn Lynch<\/em>, that greatness is now apparent by his absence. Players like Lynch don\u2019t come along very often, another fact made apparent by the Seattle\u2019s struggle to replace him. With his <em>\u201cBeastmode\u201d <\/em>style and resultant yards after contact, Lynch could, and did, make offensive lines look good; and if there ever was an offensive line that needed an image enhancement it would be this season\u2019s Hawks edition. The five Seattle O-line starters include two rookies (left tackle <em>George Fant<\/em> and right guard <em>Germain Ifedi<\/em>), a second year player getting his first extended playing time (left guard <em>Mark Glowinski<\/em>), a center in his third year who had never played the position before (<em>Justin Britt<\/em>), and a right tackle (<em>Gary Gilliam<\/em>) who as recently as 3 weeks ago was benched for inconsistent play.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3605\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3605\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Germain.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3605\" src=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Germain-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Rookie right guard Germain Ifedi\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Germain-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Germain-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Germain.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rookie right guard Germain Ifedi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To be fair, with a group like that it would be a miracle if there WEREN\u2019T inconsistencies; but, boy is it hard to watch\u2014and harder still to see your franchise quarterback get battered like he was in the first half of the <em>Cardinals<\/em> game and in other games this season. The resultant injuries Wilson sustained greatly limited his mobility, which was another factor that hurt the Seattle rushing attack. Wilson rushed for only 259 yards this season, less than half of last year and a third of the year before that, when he carried the ball for 849 yards and a 7 yard per carry average. (Russell\u2019s yards per carry this season was a career worst 3.2)<\/p>\n<p>Like dominoes falling, all of these running game woes affect the whole team\u2014offense and defense. Without a running game it becomes much more difficult to sustain drives, there are more 3<sup>rd<\/sup> and long situations and more 3 and outs. It is tougher to pass protect because the opposing defense can ignore the run and just \u201cpin their ears back\u201d and get after the quarterback with the pass rush; yet the team is forced to pass more and more, which is what happened to the Seahawks this year, and which plays right into the hands of the defense. This means, of course, that the Seattle defense has to spend more and more time on the field and becomes more exhausted (remember the first Arizona game this year?), which leads to breakdowns and mistakes. It is true that great defense wins games and championships, but an offense that sustains drives and converts its 3<sup>rd<\/sup> downs and gets touchdowns in the \u201cred zone\u201d goes a very long way in assisting that championship defense; and the Seahawks just haven\u2019t had that offense consistently this year.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3606\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3606\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/RussellWilsonsacked_MA3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3606\" src=\"http:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/RussellWilsonsacked_MA3-300x150.jpg\" alt=\"Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) is sacked by Arizona Cardinals \" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/RussellWilsonsacked_MA3-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/RussellWilsonsacked_MA3.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3606\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wilson being battered by the Cardinals a couple weeks ago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So now, here our team sits, with all of the situations described above while getting ready for this home playoff game against the Detroit Lions. I was looking at the playoff brackets recently and realized that we probably have as favorable a path to the Super Bowl as we could expect, given the season we\u2019ve had. If we beat Detroit we would then go to Atlanta to face a Falcons team we have already defeated once this year. I know the Falcons have an awesome offense and quarterback <em>Matt Ryan<\/em> has had a stellar season, but the Falcons don\u2019t scare me. I actually think the Hawks could beat them. Meanwhile, Green Bay takes on the <em>New York Giants<\/em> in the other NFC Wild Card game this weekend, and the winner goes to <em>Dallas<\/em> in the divisional round to play the <em>Cowboys<\/em>. The Packers are hot and the Giants have already defeated Dallas twice this year. Either team has a decent shot at beating Dallas, I think, and if that happens, and the Hawks beat Atlanta, then guess what? We have another NFC Championship game at <em>\u201cThe Clink\u201d\u2014<\/em>and, after all we&#8217;ve been through this year, wouldn\u2019t that be something?!<\/p>\n<p>But to make all that happen, or even have a chance of happening, the Seahawks MUST defeat Detroit. To accomplish that I think Hawks quarterback Russell Wilson is the X factor. It looks like he is fully recovered or almost fully recovered from his ankle and knee injuries. If so he needs to shit-can the knee brace, as I have heard he is contemplating doing, and just cut it loose. A mobile Russell Wilson will go a long ways towards off-setting the inconsistencies described above. We aren\u2019t going to remedy fully this offensive line or our running back situation in time for this playoff game or this playoff run; but Russell Wilson playing with the mobility, elusiveness and verve we are accustomed to IS, I think, possible; and that is what the Seahawks need him to do.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, for a deep playoff run this year the Seahawks just need Russell Wilson to be RUSSELL WILSON!<\/p>\n<p>I have a feeling he will be.<\/p>\n<p>Go Hawks!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Copyright \u00a9 2017<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>By Mark Arnold<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>All Rights Reserved<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Note: After a 2016 season remarkable for its rollercoaster ride, our Seattle Seahawks have made the playoffs for a 5th consecutive season and have another shot at the Super Bowl. To make that happen the Hawks MUST defeat the Detroit Lions in this weekend\u2019s Wild Card game\u2026They will if Russell Wilson plays like\u2026well\u2026 RUSSELL WILSON! [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3603"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3610,"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3603\/revisions\/3610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromanativeson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}