Seahawks vs Giants turning point: Russ can’t cook

The Seahawks lost to another team they should have easily handled. This game turned on more than one play, but a late Russell Wilson mistake stands out.

The Seahawks apparently thought Sunday was Opposite Day. The defense was ferocious, at least for a half, and Russell Wilson turned in another mediocre performance. The DangeRuss One inexplicably could not find his way around the kitchen. When Russ can’t cook, the prospects for the Hawks are dim indeed. He had plenty of miscues, but one stood out above the rest for me.

This game had more than its share of big moments that could have been turning points in another contest. One of Wilson’s miscues was a fumble in the 2nd quarter that killed a drive. The defense came up with a tremendous play with just 28 seconds left in the first half, but it could have been so much more. Ryan Neal blocked a Giants punt that barely made it out of the end zone for a safety. Had that been a touchdown, the score is Seattle 10, New York 0.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Hawks weren’t able to get anything going. Wilson was called for intentional grounding after a false start. That pushed the ball back to the Seahawks 36. Seven seconds left, and Wilson takes off for a nice 19-yard gain. And the clock runs out. Wilson can throw the deep ball, as we all know. What was the point in that run? He had to know he wouldn’t be able to pick up 15 yards after a bot of a scramble and get to the line with time to spike the ball. That was a terrible decision. Better to throw the ball up and hope something would happen. This is a very different situation than one that will come up shortly.

The end

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The defense finally got tired, with the offense coming up short so often. The Giants installed a feeder route off I-5 and ran all over the Hawks, taking a 17-5 lead. Seattle finally got it going and scored their first touchdown with just 6:09 left in the game. The defense came through again though and forced a New York punt with 1:48 to go. Ah yes, all good little12s know they’ll be happy; it’s time for Mr. Unlimited.

But it wasn’t. Wilson did drive the Seahawks to the Giants 46 with 1:04 left in the game. He nearly threw a pick on the very next play, a bomb that went five yards past Freddie Swain and bounced off the hands of New York defender Julian Love. An incompletion was followed by a sack on 3rd down. Now the Hawks had just 48 seconds. It was 4th and 18 from the Seattle 46. Wilson just needs to reach the NY 36 for a 1st down. Remember, there are 48 seconds on the clock. They still had a timeout, so there was plenty of time to get the first and run an entire set of downs.

Instead of making a play to pick up twenty yards or so, Wilson had to scramble deep, then threw a rainbow to the 13. This is despite having two trailers, one of them Tyler Lockett. The ball bounced off half a dozen hands, and Lockett dove, but couldn’t get the rebound. Had he done so, it would have been Seattle ball with 37 seconds at the Giants 16.

I’ll trade a 20-yard dart to Lockett for a 54-yard airball any day. There was plenty of time on the clock, unlike the situation at the end of the first half. That was the time Wilson needed to throw a rainbow and hope for the best. I’m well aware that Schottenheimer called this play, as there were three Seahawks under that ball. Russ knew better than to try for that play. There were several key plays in this loss, but that mistake sealed the Seahawks loss.