Now that the Seattle Seahawks are without their star rusher Marshawn Lynch for their second week in a row, it’s time for newly paid quarterback Russell Wilson to step up his level of performance.
Lynch’s injured hamstring is something that could linger and cause him to miss more time beyond Week 5 which is why Wilson’s skills as a passer and a rusher will be relied upon more heavily than ever. Unfortunately, it won’t come easy because the offensive line has struggled to keep him protected, and Wilson has since been sacked a ridiculous 18 times in four games.
Wilson must continue improving on his pocket awareness and do a better job of getting rid quicker, because he can’t continue relying his feet to stay out of harm’s way and hope to stay healthy.
Offensively, the Seahawks have tallied the sixth-least amount of passing yards (217.75) on average per game this season, and Wilson has passed for only five touchdowns. Lynch’s absence, especially if it is extended, will continue to impact Wilson’s lowly passing stat. Last season, Lynch totaled 37 receptions for 367 yards and four touchdowns and was responsible for the third-most catches on the team.
By default, without Lynch, all focus and pressure will be on Wilson to find creative ways to gain more yardage and lead Seattle’s offense to score more points. As it stands, the Seahawks rank 19th in points scored with only 87. Included within these points are 10 field goals the two return touchdowns scored by rookie Tyler Lockett.
Why the Seahawks and Wilson are not targeting pass-catching tight end Jimmy Graham appears to be anyone’s guess and is clearly one of the more puzzling storylines of the season.
As for Wilson’s ground game this season, it’s dipped by nearly nine yards per game. He’s averaging 44.25 yards per outing this year compared to his average of 53.06 yards last season.
In examining the Seahawks current 2-2 record, they lost in Week 1 to the St. Louis Rams, whose defense and offense dominated. Next the team lost to Green Bay, thanks to the dominance of Aaron Rodgers and crew.
A win was a earned against a beat up Chicago Bears squad with terrible backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen in Week 3. However, in Week 4, Wilson and team struggled to gain substantial headway over the Detroit Lions, who could have possibly pulled off a win if the referee hadn’t made a bad play call in favor of the Seahawks near the end of the game.
Overall, despite a weak O-line, Wilson is completing 71.7 percent of his passes, which is impressive. It’s in scoring that the team will continue to lag even further if Lynch continues to miss time. At this time, the Seahawks have yet to produce one rushing touchdown in four weeks. After their first four games in 2014, the Seahawks had five rushing scores.
In order for the team to solidly keep winning Wilson needs to step up because the team isn’t always going to post a “W” by its defensive talents alone.