When preparing to face the Seattle Seahawks, it starts and ends with Russell Wilson. He’s the engine that makes this team go, masking any other deficiencies this team has. It’s his playmaking ability that has overcome one of the worst pass defenses in NFL history, helping Seattle to the No. 1 scoring offense in football.
The Rams will be the next team to attempt to stop Wilson, hosting him on Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium. They have the talent to slow down the Seahawks offense, but Brandon Staley knows just how well Wilson has been playing this year and made a bold statement about the veteran quarterback.
“As big of a challenge as you’re going to find in the NFL, that’s what type of challenge he presents,” he said Wednesday. “I think his track record speaks for itself, but I think he’s playing the quarterback position as well as it’s been played in the last 10 years – certainly since I’ve been following that position. He’s playing at a really high level, full command of his fundamentals, their scheme, situations. He’s been in so many big games and so many big moments for that team and you can tell that team has really taken on his identity.”
Wilson leads the NFL with 28 touchdown passes and even though he’s thrown eight interceptions already – just three off his career-high in a season – he’s on pace to throw for more than 5,000 yards and has a passer rating of 117.1, the best of his career.
Everyone knows how dangerous he is with his legs, too, and he’s already rushed for 265 yards on 37 carries this season. Staley pointed out how difficult Wilson is to tackle and track down in the backfield, but it’s something the Rams must do a good job of if they want to slow down Seattle’s high-powered offense.
“It’s a tremendous point. He’s a really tough guy to tackle,” Staley said. “I think that he’s got a really strong lower body. He’s a very strong player. He is a big guy for the position. He’s not tall, but he’s big and he’s elusive. He’s got great quickness. He’s got tremendous strength and then he’s got tremendous instincts and pocket awareness. So, you put those two together and you’ve got a tough guy to handle. I think that what he does a really good job of is his eyes are always downfield. Then what he does is, his receiving corps, receivers, tight ends, backs, they’re so tied in to when he moves they are a professional operation moving in sync with him. So, you’re defending the first play and then you’re defending the second play a lot of times. Our rush will be at a premium – how we do it, how we coordinate it, the way we do it. It’s going to be an 11-man operation on the field. It’s going to be 22 guys that need to play in the game. When you play against the guy like this, you’re going to have to be fresh in the fourth quarter because against guys like this, that’s what it comes down to.”
The Rams have sacked Wilson a whopping 22 times in their last six games since Sean McVay arrived in 2017, limiting him to under 300 yards passing each time; the only time he threw for more than 300 yards against the Rams was in 2014.
He hasn’t rushed for a touchdown against L.A. since 2014, either, so they’ve done a nice job containing him and not allowing him to pick up big yardage or find the end zone on the ground. That’ll have to continue this weekend with Wilson playing the best football of his career.
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