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I know it's only the preseason, that teams do not normally game plan against each other, that there's a lot of players on the field that won't be on a roster when the bell rings, but Russell Wilson has been nothing less than spectacular this preseason. Here's his stat line:

33-42, 78% completion, 437 yards, 3 TD's, 0 interceptions. His rating of 133.8 was the best in the league by a long shot. He also carried the ball 9 times for 61 yards and scored 3 rushing TD's.

Plus in my mind, it wasn't just the stats that impressed me, it was his pocket presence and decision making. Every decision he made, with the possible exception of not keeping a few read-options instead of handing off, something I'm sure he was instructed to do, was the exact correct decision for the situation.

I think we're looking at Russell at his absolute peak. I don't see how he can get any better. That was as close to a perfect performance that anyone is going to turn in.

Reaching his peak in his 3rd year is a pretty bold statement.
If you asked him he would probably say he still has a lot to work on, and would probably be right.
What we saw in the preseason in my mind is a QB who knows not only the plays, but why and when they can be successful.
As well, the game has slowed down to the point that recognizing Defenses and understanding how the called play can take advantage of matchups or being able to audible out to a better play is a lot easier. When you fully understand something, you can be far more efficient, and we saw that in the preseason.
Let's hope the OL can meet the challenge GB will give us. Peppers and Matthews off the edge or Matthews up the middle is something we don't need.

NorthHawk wrote:Reaching his peak in his 3rd year is a pretty bold statement.
If you asked him he would probably say he still has a lot to work on, and would probably be right.
What we saw in the preseason in my mind is a QB who knows not only the plays, but why and when they can be successful.
As well, the game has slowed down to the point that recognizing Defenses and understanding how the called play can take advantage of matchups or being able to audible out to a better play is a lot easier. When you fully understand something, you can be far more efficient, and we saw that in the preseason.
Let's hope the OL can meet the challenge GB will give us. Peppers and Matthews off the edge or Matthews up the middle is something we don't need.

Statistically he can't get any better, at least in terms of completion percentage and passer rating, nor can I honestly challenge any decisions he's made during the preseason. I don't think you'll see any better play out of him than what we've seen the past 4 weeks. And of course, every player is not going to be satisfied no matter how they play. The only work I see him as having to do is the week-to-week preparation for the next opponent. I don't see anything that sticks out as a flaw in his mechanics or his decision making.

Of course, one always has to keep in mind that it's only preseason, but I get the sense that this season is going to be Russell at his finest. And I hear you about the pass rush. It could be a real problem, especially when we go on the road.

Maybe peak maybe not. I'm not going to predict that in only his third year. However, I can't disagree about his performance. If the way he (and by extension the offense) performs close to the level we saw in the preseason, I would be hard pressed to pick anyone else to go to the Superbowl.

I know that people were upset over the way the defense played against the Raiders but in the only drive the first team was offense was on the field, they looked so comfortable and precise that it almost radiated a feeling of boredom (if that makes any sense). It was almost felt like there wasn't a defense out there and they were just playing against air. They went 70 yards on three big plays but it was matter of fact. It felt a little similar in the Bears game as well.

I've heard all the talk of the goal for Wilson this year is to complete 70% of his passes. This preseason made that feel realistic and that should be scary for the rest of the league.

I think we'd also be remiss in not acknowledging how the "worst trade in the history of the franchise" being on the field changed everything. Several times I watched Harvin take the entire back end of the defense with him and created all kinds of space in the middle of the field for other receivers to operate.

I'll wait until the season starts and people are game planning to be completely confident but the offense looked really really good. And that was without Marshawn.

RiverDog wrote:

NorthHawk wrote:Reaching his peak in his 3rd year is a pretty bold statement.
If you asked him he would probably say he still has a lot to work on, and would probably be right.
What we saw in the preseason in my mind is a QB who knows not only the plays, but why and when they can be successful.
As well, the game has slowed down to the point that recognizing Defenses and understanding how the called play can take advantage of matchups or being able to audible out to a better play is a lot easier. When you fully understand something, you can be far more efficient, and we saw that in the preseason.
Let's hope the OL can meet the challenge GB will give us. Peppers and Matthews off the edge or Matthews up the middle is something we don't need.

Statistically he can't get any better, at least in terms of completion percentage and passer rating, nor can I honestly challenge any decisions he's made during the preseason. I don't think you'll see any better play out of him than what we've seen the past 4 weeks. And of course, every player is not going to be satisfied no matter how they play. The only work I see him as having to do is the week-to-week preparation for the next opponent. I don't see anything that sticks out as a flaw in his mechanics or his decision making.

Of course, one always has to keep in mind that it's only preseason, but I get the sense that this season is going to be Russell at his finest. And I hear you about the pass rush. It could be a real problem, especially when we go on the road.

He never really had much of an issue with mechanics although I wonder if it's correct to 'chicken wing' his throwing elbow when he sets up to pass. I always think that's an unnecessary target for pass rushing DL, but it's a very minor concern.
Statistically, I suppose he could throw for 4500+ yards this year which would probably require him keeping his QB rating far above 100 all year if we are to run as much as we have in the past. A number of big yardage plays to Harvin or Richardson could bump that yardage up pretty quickly, though.

kalibane wrote:Maybe peak maybe not. I'm not going to predict that in only his third year. However, I can't disagree about his performance. If the way he (and by extension the offense) performs close to the level we saw in the preseason, I would be hard pressed to pick anyone else to go to the Superbowl.

I know that people were upset over the way the defense played against the Raiders but in the only drive the first team was offense was on the field, they looked so comfortable and precise that it almost radiated a feeling of boredom (if that makes any sense). It was almost felt like there wasn't a defense out there and they were just playing against air. They went 70 yards on three big plays but it was matter of fact. It felt a little similar in the Bears game as well.

I've heard all the talk of the goal for Wilson this year is to complete 70% of his passes. This preseason made that feel realistic and that should be scary for the rest of the league.

I think we'd also be remiss in not acknowledging how the "worst trade in the history of the franchise" being on the field changed everything. Several times I watched Harvin take the entire back end of the defense with him and created all kinds of space in the middle of the field for other receivers to operate.

I'll wait until the season starts and people are game planning to be completely confident but the offense looked really really good. And that was without Marshawn.

I wasn't really concerned about the Raiders game, either but I was disappointed with the Defensive depth. Of course I have to consider those guys wouldn't all be on the field at the same time so individually they may be able to contribute if inserted into the 1st team.

70% might include a lot of short passes and bubble type screens to Harvin. These are typically higher percentage plays so it might be attainable.

He is right now as nearly perfect as I have ever seen a QB in the NFL. Not a bad way to start the season.

c_hawkbob wrote:He is right now as nearly perfect as I have ever seen a QB in the NFL. Not a bad way to start the season.

My point exactly. I haven't followed every NFL quarterback the way I've followed Russell, but he's performing now as well if not better than any quarterback I've ever seen. I'm not even sure which quarterback from the past that I'd throw out there as performing as well as he is now.

RiverDog wrote:I know it's only the preseason, that teams do not normally game plan against each other, that there's a lot of players on the field that won't be on a roster when the bell rings, but Russell Wilson has been nothing less than spectacular this preseason. Here's his stat line:

33-42, 78% completion, 437 yards, 3 TD's, 0 interceptions. His rating of 133.8 was the best in the league by a long shot. He also carried the ball 9 times for 61 yards and scored 3 rushing TD's.

Plus in my mind, it wasn't just the stats that impressed me, it was his pocket presence and decision making. Every decision he made, with the possible exception of not keeping a few read-options instead of handing off, something I'm sure he was instructed to do, was the exact correct decision for the situation.

I think we're looking at Russell at his absolute peak. I don't see how he can get any better. That was as close to a perfect performance that anyone is going to turn in.

You never want to get ahead of yourself or say things like Riv said based on preseason play, but what he said above had to be said by someone. Lol.

He looks like he is in total command. Hard to imagine his play not continuing to escalate. Obviously you never know, but you will not find a lot of people betting against it at this point.

I am hoping RW3 gets to that 30 TD mark this year and keeps his INT's to under 8, while getting somewhere around the 4000 yard mark. It will come at the expense of the run game numbers, but you gotta believe he is worthy of those kind of numbers if given the leash to do it.

Of course, he has only lost 1 game in his career when throwing under 20 times in a game, so you never know what the game plan will be.

The really great players master the game first, but also tend to make the players around them better. He may master the game in the near term, but there is still plenty to learn. I love this whole team, but Russell has provided a ton of excitement for me as a fan. I really hope he can keep the balance and continue his march towards greatness. I am truly excited to see what he does this year.

Oddly, I don't even look forward to the playoffs/superbowl/whatever anymore because I just want to experience each game for what it is. The golden age of Seahawk football. I want it to go on and on, but I also understand the complexities of a team competing at the highest level. I rewatched the superbowl the other day. Such a dominating performance on D, but we scored on 6 of 8 possessions and honestly, we could have score easily on the other 2. We really did take our foot off the gas. As Donald 'duck' Dunn said in the Blues Brothers, it's powerful enough to turn goat piss in to gasoline. If this team can carry that offense forward in to this season. I mean think about that.

He looks less frenetic to me, with a better grasp of where his receivers are going to be. Whether that carries over into the regular season at the mind boggling pace, I doubt, but he has indeed improved with how fast he is getting the ball out, has indeed thrown the ball away instead of taking needless shot attempting to extend a play, overall, he simply looks more polished than even last season. If his pieces can remain relatively healthy, he is going to have a great season IMHO and I said so before the pre season.

The OLine will have as much to do with this as any other reason.

The first game against GB, with their 2 outstanding rush ends, will tell us a lot about where we are going this year with Russell. Give him time and we may not lose.

js

jshawaii22 wrote:The OLine will have as much to do with this as any other reason.

The first game against GB, with their 2 outstanding rush ends, will tell us a lot about where we are going this year with Russell. Give him time and we may not lose.

js

GB's D is horrible. You'd hope a QB can light them up, if in fact that is the direction they are going this yr on O. A good percormance is a good performance though, regardless.

Futureite wrote:GB's D is horrible. You'd hope a QB can light them up.

Funny, last I saw them play on the road they held the QB to 50% completion, 220 yds, 1 TD 1 Int. They held a pro bowl RB to 20 rushes for 60 yards. And they led the game going in to the fourth quarter. Maybe not the best D in the NFL, but a pretty respectable day.

FolkCrusader wrote:

Futureite wrote:GB's D is horrible. You'd hope a QB can light them up.

Funny, last I saw them play on the road they held the QB to 50% completion, 220 yds, 1 TD 1 Int. They held a pro bowl RB to 20 rushes for 60 yards. And they led the game going in to the fourth quarter. Maybe not the best D in the NFL, but a pretty respectable day.

Then add they have added some, but that is Future making light of anything that does not help his SF, if they were playing GB, he would say GB has a great defense. Fact is GB defense started bad but by end of the season was pretty good. They held Kap to QB rating of 73. 53% complt, which is the game you were talking about,

The only thing that worries me about the GB defense is how well the O-Line handles Peppers and Matthews. Other than that if they are a factor we should be worried.

RW has exceeded my expectations by a long shot this pre-season. I fully expected him to have continued his evolution in his understanding and performance of the position and the game. What he has shown has been season, polish, and startling athleticism. His intelligence is leading him to make even better decisions than before and it is obvious that the game is slowing down for him. The Bears pre-season game looked as if he were just trying things out for fun. If it translates to the regular season I believe the rest of the league is in trouble, particularly in light of the fact that, IMO, the weapons at his disposal are greatly improved. If all goes according to plan the Seahawks may have a historically balanced and efficient offense this year.

As far as GB is concerned, their edge rush is problematic. However I have seen some very nifty blocking of DE's this pre-season from our RB's and TE's which I didn't see consistently enough last season. And that pirouette thing that RW does still seems to mystify rushers as they close the gap. Oh, I do think that the Pack will be out for blood. But I don't think they are able to fully match up to this offense. Now AR and the rest of the Pack offense gives cause for concern, particularly Lacy. Our starting 4 DL got gashed more than once and Lacy is quite good at exploiting openings. I don't necessarily want Earl to lead the team in tackles, particularly on run plays. And as much as I love the LOB, it does appear that they are not playing as aggressively as they did last year due to the new "emphasis" calls. We didn't get flagged in pre-season, but we didn't dominate either. Yes, pre-season, I know.

Anyway, I need to grow new fingernails as I am biting the sh*t out them in anticipation.

kalibane wrote:The only thing that worries me about the GB defense is how well the O-Line handles Peppers and Matthews. Other than that if they are a factor we should be worried.

I agree 100%. I actually think both SF and Seattle go surprisingly run heavy this week to attach the soft interior of both Ds. To the disappointment of both fanbases.

In any case GB's secondary has been terrible and was ugraded only with Clinton-Dix. If Seattle's pass O is truly dominant as some are projecting, this is one game where they can prove it. My guess is still.more run, though.

FolkCrusader wrote:

Futureite wrote:GB's D is horrible. You'd hope a QB can light them up.

Funny, last I saw them play on the road they held the QB to 50% completion, 220 yds, 1 TD 1 Int. They held a pro bowl RB to 20 rushes for 60 yards. And they led the game going in to the fourth quarter. Maybe not the best D in the NFL, but a pretty respectable day.

You cannot hype your QB in one paragraph and what he can do and then turn around and say GB had a pretty good D. If RW and the pass O is at that level, he should light up their pourus secondary. Especially in that stadium. I honestly do nit know ehat to expect from RW or or pass game, so it will be a fun game to watch. But in any case this usn't a steep test for him per se', just ss the Cowboy D should not be for our pass O.

Futureite wrote:

FolkCrusader wrote:

Futureite wrote:GB's D is horrible. You'd hope a QB can light them up.

Funny, last I saw them play on the road they held the QB to 50% completion, 220 yds, 1 TD 1 Int. They held a pro bowl RB to 20 rushes for 60 yards. And they led the game going in to the fourth quarter. Maybe not the best D in the NFL, but a pretty respectable day.

You cannot hype your QB in one paragraph and what he can do and then turn around and say GB had a pretty good D. If RW and the pass O is at that level, he should light up their pourus secondary. Especially in that stadium. I honestly do nit know ehat to expect from RW or or pass game, so it will be a fun game to watch. But in any case this usn't a steep test for him per se', just ss the Cowboy D should not be for our pass O.

You mean like Kap did in the playoffs, oh wait he did really bad against them in the playoffs at least passing. Now as to the point why not, they are better on Defense fact, we are better on offense fact, so we can say both very easily and since you are the king of talking out of both sides of your mouth you should be use to it. Now this is were you ignore me because I am right and you have nothing as usual

THX-1138 wrote:it is obvious that the game is slowing down for him.

This is what separates the evolutions of qbs. Wilson and Luck will continue to improve. Kap and and Cam Newton and possibly RG3 will remain mired in a middle tier where physical gifts alone limit their upside.

After this season, no one will refer to RW as a game manager.