What's going on with Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks?
Russell Wilson took full accountability after the Seattle Seahawks' rough outing on Sunday, but is it too late to save Seattle's season?
Wilson was back in action for Week 10 after missing three games due to a finger injury suffered against the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 7, but things didn't go according to plan.
The Green Bay Packers shut out the Seahawks 17-0, Seattle's first shutout loss since Week 2 of the 2011 season and the first of Wilson's NFL career. He went 20-for-40 for 161 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
It was also just the fifth time in 150 career starts that Wilson had failed to throw a touchdown while tossing two or more interceptions. And his 39.7 passer rating? That was the fourth-worst of his career.
But according to the veteran QB, his injury wasn't to blame, and the Seahawks still have what it takes to perform at a high level.
"My finger felt fine," Wilson said postgame. "The problem with tonight was I just had two bad plays. That's what it really was. I felt like we were moving the ball pretty well. … I threw one high to Tyler (Lockett) there that maybe I was trying to throw it a little too hard."
"I've got to play better and that was on me," Wilson continued. "Those two (interceptions), that was really the game. I don't second-guess anything. I have 100 percent confidence in our team and what we can do and what I can do and what we're going to do. That's really what my mindset is."
Wilson, who has two years left on his four-year, $140 million extension with the Seahawks, averaged just 4.0 yards per attempt in Sunday's contest and has now been held below 175 passing yards in three straight starts for only the second time in his career. The only other time was the first four starts of his NFL career, which came in Weeks 1-4 of his 2012 rookie season.
Wilson is averaging only 154.0 passing yards per game over his last three starts (Weeks 4-5 and 10), and the Seahawks currently rank 22nd in scoring offense (20.1 points per game). What's more, Seattle has been held to 17 points or fewer four times already this season after being held to 17 points or fewer only twice last season.
Colin Cowherd reacted to the shutout on Monday's "The Herd" and broke down why the Seahawks are "a mess" this season.
"Seattle is just increasingly getting worse every year and more desperate," he said. "The play calling is predictable, none of their three draft picks have any impact, they have a safety in Jamal Adams who's a terror against the run but can't cover in space. It's a poorly kept secret that Russell Wilson is frustrated. DK Metcalf, who's talented, is unhinged. What a shock."
"As Greg Olsen told us — former Seahawk — on this show. Pete (Carroll) runs a loose ship. Players get unhinged. They get noisy. This is what they are. They're not good at anything beyond Russell Wilson," Cowherd added. "The Seahawks feel outdated on both sides of the football. … What do they do when Russell's not good? Nothing."
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Colin Cowherd shares his thoughts on Seattle's struggles — "What do they do when Russell Wilson isn't playing well? Nothing."
On Monday's "Undisputed," Skip Bayless echoed Cowherd's thoughts and shared why he thinks Aaron Rodgers "was very fortunate" to have had Wilson as his opponent on Sunday.
"I have never seen Russell Wilson play that poorly," Bayless said. "I got it, you gotta give him the surgery pass because he rushed back from surgery on the middle finger of his throwing hand, and I give him all of the above. But that was horrendously bad because he continued to wing it, and wing it and wing it, bomb's away downfield. He had 10 off-target passes downfield … eight of them were overthrows. He had a QBR of 13 on a scale of 0-100."
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Aaron Rodgers made his return to the field to face off with Russell Wilson, but it turned out to be a defensive slugfest in Green Bay as the Packers won 17-0 against the Seahawks.
Heading into Week 11, the Seahawks are in last place in the NFC West at 3-6, their worst start to a season since 2011 when they also started 3-6 before finishing 7-9.
Seattle now has just a 16% chance of making the postseason this year, according to FiveThirtyEight. The Seahawks will need Wilson to improve to increase their odds.