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More observations from studying the film
Pump the brakes on the Russell Wilson love from MNF: I get a lot of heat for not slobbering over Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson like a lot of other media members. I think he's good. They think he's great. One day, he might be. He isn't yet. You would have thought after his performance Monday night against the Commanders that he should have just taken off his pads and gone right to Canton. Why wait? Was Wilson good? Yes. He rushed for a career-high 122 yards and scored a touchdown and threw for 201 yards and two scores. It was an impressive display.
He made some magical plays that night on scrambles, the kind of plays that make the national media stand up and salute. I was impressed by some of them. But having quarterbacks who run for 100 yards isn't a good thing. This is a passing league. It always will be. And eventually Wilson will have to handle the pocket better. Most of you will say that a 16-yard scramble is a positive play, right? So would I. Only when I looked at Wilson's 16-yard scramble on Seattle's first series against the Commanders, I would have graded it as a negative play. There are reasons why.
Let's start with the end-zone look.
Why is he leaving this pocket? It's clear that the tackles have taken the outside rushers way up the field and the inside two players are getting handled by three Seahawks. There is no reason to run. He doesn't even have to move off the spot, to be honest. But he clearly feltRyan Kerrigan behind him. OK, so move up and throw. To who you say?
When Wilson first had his back foot hit the ground, he could have gone to the top to Doug Baldwin, who was open, or to Robert Turbin in the right flat. It was third-and-10, so I can't fault him for passing on Turbin against the Washington zone. But what happened next, I can find fault. He kept his head down and ran for a first down. Positive play for sure, but if he kept his head up he had a touchdown to Jermaine Kearse, who was wide open down the middle with his hand up.
This is the type of play where most will rave about Wilson, while I see two negatives. He's usually pretty good throwing when he's outside the pocket, but on this play he missed a sure touchdown and he left a clean pocket way too early.
More: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...chargers-philip-rivers-has-the-look-of-an-mvp
Pump the brakes on the Russell Wilson love from MNF: I get a lot of heat for not slobbering over Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson like a lot of other media members. I think he's good. They think he's great. One day, he might be. He isn't yet. You would have thought after his performance Monday night against the Commanders that he should have just taken off his pads and gone right to Canton. Why wait? Was Wilson good? Yes. He rushed for a career-high 122 yards and scored a touchdown and threw for 201 yards and two scores. It was an impressive display.
He made some magical plays that night on scrambles, the kind of plays that make the national media stand up and salute. I was impressed by some of them. But having quarterbacks who run for 100 yards isn't a good thing. This is a passing league. It always will be. And eventually Wilson will have to handle the pocket better. Most of you will say that a 16-yard scramble is a positive play, right? So would I. Only when I looked at Wilson's 16-yard scramble on Seattle's first series against the Commanders, I would have graded it as a negative play. There are reasons why.
Let's start with the end-zone look.
Why is he leaving this pocket? It's clear that the tackles have taken the outside rushers way up the field and the inside two players are getting handled by three Seahawks. There is no reason to run. He doesn't even have to move off the spot, to be honest. But he clearly feltRyan Kerrigan behind him. OK, so move up and throw. To who you say?
When Wilson first had his back foot hit the ground, he could have gone to the top to Doug Baldwin, who was open, or to Robert Turbin in the right flat. It was third-and-10, so I can't fault him for passing on Turbin against the Washington zone. But what happened next, I can find fault. He kept his head down and ran for a first down. Positive play for sure, but if he kept his head up he had a touchdown to Jermaine Kearse, who was wide open down the middle with his hand up.
This is the type of play where most will rave about Wilson, while I see two negatives. He's usually pretty good throwing when he's outside the pocket, but on this play he missed a sure touchdown and he left a clean pocket way too early.
More: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...chargers-philip-rivers-has-the-look-of-an-mvp
