Getty Russell Wilson struggled in the Seahawks loss to the Giants.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was once leading one of the NFL’s best offenses on his way to winning the NFL MVP award but those days feel like a distant memory. Wilson’s struggles were evident as the Seahawks failed to score a touchdown against the Giants until the fourth quarter, and social media is letting the star quarterback have it. Seattle 950 KJR’s Dave “Softy” Mahler put the blame for the Seahawks’ loss to the Giants squarely on No. 3.
“Don’t sugarcoat anything: By his standards, Russell Wilson has stunk the last month and a half,” Mahler noted on Twitter. “And don’t tell me it’s unfair to put it on him. He’s making 35 million. It’s totally fair. He needs to do more. Period.”
Wilson’s modest numbers against the Giants do not feel like an adequate representation of how bad the Seahawks offense looked for the majority of the game. The Seahawks quarterback finished with 263 passing yards, one touchdown and an interception while completing more than 62 percent of his passes.
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Wilson Was Sacked 5 Times Against the Giants
As KOIN News’ AJ McCord points out, it was the sacks that Wilson took in the game that did the most damage, consistently putting the team in long-yardage situations to move the chains. There were breakdowns in protection from a depleted offensive line, but Wilson also held onto the ball too long throughout the game.
“Seahawks Russell Wilson was sacked 5 times tonight for a total of 47 yards,” McCord tweeted. “That’s one shy of his season-high (6), but more total yards lost by nearly 20. Previous high yards loss due to sacks in a single game was 28.”
The Seahawks Failed to Convert on a Potentially Game-Winning Drive
For all the offensive struggles, Wilson had a chance with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to lead a game-winning drive as Seahawks fans have often seen throughout his career. ESPN 710 Seattle’s Mike Salk points to the final drive as the most surprising part of Wilson’s subpar outing.
“I can live with the 58 minutes of sleepwalking, the lack of identity, the horrible fourth down pass, the pick and the fumble,” Salk said on Twitter. “But when you get the ball with 1:48 and two timeouts, I expect my elite franchise quarterback to score. End of story.”
After the game, Wilson did not shy away from the criticism of his performance. The Seahawks quarterback admitted “it starts with me” when it comes to the offense playing better.
“We’ve just got to be better, we’ve got to be cleaner,” Wilson said, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson. “It starts with me.”
The loss dropped the Seahawks from the No. 3 seed down to No. 5 in the NFC playoff picture as the Rams hold the tiebreaker for the division lead. Seattle is now two games back from New Orleans for the No. 1 seed, which is looking less and less likely.
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