RENTON — It’s on me, Russell Wilson said Thursday. Then he said it again, and again, and again.
While plenty has gone into the Seattle Seahawks’ passing game struggles, their quarterback was taking full responsibility when asked what has gone wrong in a season that has seen Seattle’s passing attack regress from where it was a year ago.
“I think it’s on me more than anything,” the third-year quarterback said. “There’s a time and place to be big right now, and we’ve just got to make those plays, and we’re going to. I believe we’re going capitalize and I’m going to make the throws when I need to make them, and the guys are going to make the catches when they need to make them — they’re doing a great job, they’re showing up — so it’s just keep believing and keep delivering the football, and we’re going to do it.”
Seattle’s offense under head coach Pete Carroll is not intended to put up big volume numbers in the passing game, but at their best, the Seahawks are a very efficient team throwing the ball. This season, and especially of late, the Seahawks haven’t had that potent passing attack.
What stands out about the Seahawks’ passing game isn’t that they rank 30th in passing yards with 191.8 per game; Seattle was only 26th in yards last year (202.2). As long as the Seahawks rank near the bottom of the league in attempts (30th this year, 31st last year), then raw stats like yards don’t mean much.
But what is an issue for the Seahawks is that their yards per attempt, completion percentage and passer rating have all dropped from last year. Most notably, the Seahawks went from 2nd in the NFL in yards per attempt (8.4) in 2013 to 24th this year (7.0). Seattle also dropped from 5th to 15th in passer rating (102.4 to 91.1) and from 9th to 15th in competition percentage (63.6 to 62.7).
“I’ve just got to find a way to be clutch, and always be clutch,” Wilson said. “That’s something that I look forward to. It’s calling for that time right now, so I’m looking forward to it.”
While part of being a leader is taking the blame, it isn’t fair to put all of the passing game struggles on Wilson’s shoulders alone. Yes, he could be better, both in terms of accuracy and decision making, but there is also room for improvement in pass protection and from his receivers and tight ends.
“It all works together,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “We’ve had some real nice plays, and then we’ve had some plays that haven’t been there that we thought should have been, but it works together in terms of protection number one; number two is guys being on time, where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there; number three is the quarterback making good decisions, making good throws, putting the ball where it needs to be, when it needs to be there as well and all those things have to come together at the right time to be able to do that.
“So for whatever reason, it’s different things at different times — being able to stay in the pocket, trust your protection, trust your read, trust your throws, being able to get open down the field on time and then block the guy that’s in front of you. All those things cause that stuff to be off.”
One theory about Seattle’s passing game is that the team’s propensity to run the ball so frequently makes it harder to get into a passing rhythm, but the Seahawks managed to be efficient in the passing game last year while ranking near the bottom of the league.
“In terms of the rhythm of the passing game, because we run the ball so effectively and I’m running it and Marshawn’s running it, there’s no excuse for that hindering the passing game,” Wilson said. “That’s nothing, it’s just on me, I’ve got to get better.”
Regardless of who or what you blame for the decline in Seattle’s passing game this season, whether you think Wilson has taken a step back or that the Seahawks miss Golden Tate, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice and Zach Miller, or whether you think pass protection is to blame, everyone is in agreement that the passing game needs to be more efficient if the Seahawks are going to finish strong to make the postseason.
The Seahawks’ running game has undoubtedly been one of the strengths of the team, as is plainly evident in their 554 rushing yards in the past two games, but there will need to be more balance as the Seahawks enter a brutal stretch of games that includes some of the league’s top defenses.
“We will eventually need to get better in the passing game in terms of being efficient and making plays down field,” said Doug Baldwin, the team’s leading receiver with 44 catches for 485 yards. “Eventually teams will start putting more guys in the box and challenging us outside, and we need to be able to execute and perform well in those passing plays when we have the opportunity to do so. I think it’s going to be crucial for us down the stretch, but it’s a process right now.”
Fixing the passing game will be a group effort for the Seahawks, but if you ask Wilson, that process starts with him.
Injury update
Linebacker Bobby Wagner went from limited a day earlier to full participation Thursday, a good indication that he is on track to play Sunday after missing the past five games with a toe injury. Also upgrading to full participation Thursday after being limited or not practicing Wednesday were G James Carpenter (ankle), G J.R. Sweezy (thigh), CB Byron Maxwell (calf) and DE Michael Bennett (rest). C Max Unger (knee/ankle), CB Marcus Burley (hamstring), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (shoulder) and RB Marshawn Lynch (back) sat out a second straight day. Though in Lynch’s case, it’s worth noting that he sat out two days last week as well and still rushed for 124 yards against Kansas City.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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