Not sure if Seattle did anything to fix their oline woes, but if they did - they are a threat. I think it's easy to forget how good Wilson is given that his oline has been awful for the past couple years. His weird-PFF metrics go off the charts exponentially with each half second he has in protection. He just hasn't had **** for the past few years.
For reference, a comparison to Brady -
2018: 21
2017: 35
2016: 15
2015: 38 - We all remember how frustrating this year was
2014: 21
Wilson -
2018: 51
2017: 43
2016: 41
2015: 45
2014: 42
Over the course of the season, his likelihood of getting sacked under pressure is average
(ref:
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson doesn’t prevent sacks with his scrambling) - more on this at the end.
The same group (fieldgulls) did some pretty analytics in charting PPD for the 2018 Seahawks, in quarter season segments, in three catagories: drives with a sack, drives with a penalty, drives with neither. Results are somewhat obvious, in that drives with either a sack or penalty resulted in a lower PPD than drives without either (Except a random occurance in weeks 9-13 where drives with a penalty averaged out to a staggering
5.2 ppd - Kansas averaged 3.18 last year)
But looking at the data a bit closer shows that sacks absolutely destroyed the Seahawks, bringing their PPD down to 1.5 or lower (sometimes even 0.3). But with a penalty, it was sub 2.xx ppd, and without penalty or sack, it was around
3.8. By the end of the year, their
overall PPD was 2.6.
To quote the article's quick wrap up, here's what I'm getting at:
"Seahawks went from 0.3 to 1.1 to 1.0 to 1.6 en route to an overall 1.0 points per drive when a sack occurred. Short of a turnover, it was the worst thing that could happen to a Seattle possession.
Gving up 51 of them, the eighth-most in the NFL, is a crucial part of understanding the offense’s failures. More plays that get the ball out quickly, more (gasp) running plays when the defense expects pass, and more decisiveness from RW would cut down on the drive-killers. And raise points scored, dramatically, more than maybe any other tweak.
Easier said than done, though. Pete Carroll enjoys explosives, which demand time in the pocket. You can’t really run that often on 3rd and long, or even 3rd and medium. Wilson magic is going to come attached with costly sacks. They’re inseparable."
So how much of this is due to Wilson's play? And the turnstile that is the Seahawks o-line? If it's more on their offensive line, then patching that up makes them dangerous as all hell. I, of course, do not watch Seahawks games that often, so I'm unaware as to how much of a fault it is Wilson's.
That was a stupidly long post I didn't anticipate making, but whatever. There it is.
