The Seattle Seahawks offensive struggles are no secret, the team’s inability to establish a running game leaves the Seahawks clinging to for their playoff lives needing a win against Arizona on Sunday at CenturyLink Field and an Atlanta Falcons loss to the visiting Carolina Panthers.
The Seahawks offense is ranked no. 16 overall the running is ranked 21st and the Hawks passing game is ranked 15th. The one stat that puts the Seahawks offense woes in perspective is that the teams leading rusher is quarterback Russell Wilson with 550 yards. Wilson also leads the Hawks with 3,762 passing yards.
Wilson is fourth in total offense with 4,016 yards. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots leads the league with 4,226 yards and is followed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith ( 4,190 ) and Pittsburg’s Ben Roethlisberger is behind Smith and ahead of Wilson with 4,159 yards. The Seahawks have gained 4,990 offensive yards and Wilson has accounted for all but 974 yards.
The Seahawks quarterback met with the media on Thursday and here is what he had to say about his personal accomplishments and the teams focus on Sunday afternoon.
RUSSELL WILSON
(On what his individual stats from this season mean to him and at this point in his career)
“Well I think the only thing that matters, the only record that matters is that we win. That’s always been my mentality, so I think for us all we want to do is have a great week this week, get prepared for a championship-style football game, and it’s going to be a tough battle and we’re looking forward to that opportunity. We have a lot of respect for the Arizona Cardinals and how they play. We know it’s going to be a good matchup.”
(On how he has carried the offensive load this season more than any other year in his career and if it feels like that to him or if it is like any other season to him)
“It’s felt like we’re doing what we need to do to win for the most part. I think that we always could be a little better, that’s always the case. That’s how I always think and how our football team always thinks, but at the end of the day, we want to go home as winners. We want to be able to find a way to win, so I think that this season, there has been a lot to it, obviously. I think that guys have been making a lot of great plays and doing a lot of special things. That’s not me; it’s really the other guys making great plays.”
(On how different this playoff scenario is since it’s out of their hands with needing Atlanta to lose to Carolina on Sunday to help get into the playoffs)
“Well for us, it’s kind of one of those things that is still in our hands in the sense that you control what you can control and it’s the last regular season game of the year, and we don’t know what is going to happen after that. All I know is that we want to put our best foot forward and try to play our best game because it’s the last opportunity of the regular season to accomplish something that we want to accomplish, and that’s to continue to progress and be better. We want to be great come Sunday.”
(On if he will want to monitor the Atlanta-Carolina score on Sunday)
“No, I won’t pay attention to it. I’ll make sure that I am very locked in on what we’re doing. It’s something that I always try to focus on and not pay attention to other scores going on or anything like that.”
(On how the passing-game numbers have been down the last few weeks and if he sees any theme there as to why they’ve been down)
“I think we can be a little bit better and I think I can be a little bit sharper. Other than that, we’ve been very successful throwing the ball all year. I don’t think it’s anything that we’re doing or anything like that, I think we just have to be a little bit sharper. That’s the part we look forward to; that’s why we practice and that’s why we play. Last week especially, it was one of those games where I think we only had three or four minutes in the first quarter of possession.
They had it the rest of the quarter and in the second quarter, I don’t think we really had a chance, I don’t think we had the ball until later in the middle of the second quarter or whatever. I think the thing is that we made the plays that we needed to make, we made the plays that we needed to make to win, and like I said, winning is the only thing that matters.”
(On why these games against the Cardinals in particular are so physical)
“I think the Arizona Cardinals are a great football team across the board; you think about their cornerbacks, you think about their safeties, you think about their defensive line and linebackers, they’re really, really talented players. They’re some of the best that you can find. It’s going to be one of those things that we’re going to have to be prepared to play great football. We had a tough matchup against them last time on the road, so we know that they’ll be ready to play.”
(On how winning is the only thing that matters to him and what it means to him that he has now had a winning record in every season that he has played since his rookie year in 2012)
“I think it’s a testament to the hard work and a testament to everything that you put into everything that you do; from the off-season to during the season, and to the constant thought process that you put into each game and each day in and the preparation that you out into it. At the end of the day, when my career is over a long time from now hopefully, all I want to be able to look at is the winning part, and that’s the thing that really matters to me more than anything else.
I wake up every morning to win; I don’t worry about anything else in the sense of stats or anything else. I’m sure there’s guys who may have better stats, I don’t know, but at the end of the day, all I know is that I want to win every time I step out on the field.”
(On the 22-yard sack he took against the Cowboys last Sunday and what the balance there is when he has made so many plays by extending plays like that)
“Well, I think you always want to get the ball out quickly. There’s some times where a game kind of dictates itself and you’re trying to make a play and everything else, but you also have to be smart. I think that we have been pretty great at that in terms of extending plays and guys making plays down the field and everything else. For example last week, they got me on one.
I think it was [DeMarcus] Lawrence who got me on that one, so he’s pretty talented, so getting away from him is not easy. I think that we’ve had a lot of those successful plays too, so you just want to have more good ones than bad ones I think, and just trust that you’re going to make the right decision. I definitely want to try to throw the ball away if you can, but if not, then you try to find a way to make a play.”
(On what in particular he has to be aware of when it comes to Arizona’s defense) “Arizona has always been great, they really have.
Their defense is stellar, they can really fly around, and they call a bunch of blitzes and everything else. We’ve picked them up a lot of the times pretty well, and then sometimes not. We want to make sure that we pick them up all the time if we can, and like I have always said, there is a lot of green grass behind it if you do.
We have to make those plays and I think we’re going to be prepared for everything that they have. They have a lot of different things that they do, so we have tons of studying and tons of preparation. That’s really where you make or break the game right there; is the preparation and everything that you do to study and get ready, and finally go execute it on Sunday.”
(On knowing that this is the last game at home this season and if it makes it anymore special to be in front of the 12s for that last game)
“Yeah, for sure. Obviously, playing at home means a lot to us. We want to be able to end the season on a positive note at home, and hopefully get a chance to continue on. I’ve always said this, but you always want to get to December with a chance. I know there’s a lot of teams with no chance right now, and I think for us, we have a great chance.
We control what we can control in the sense of how we play and how we step on the field in the white lines, and then see what happens down the road. I think for us, we just want to have a great week of practice and be in the moment now. Today is a great day; today is a great day because it’s the only day we have.
It’s the only day that God has given us today to make the best of what we have today and we’re having a great week of practice so far, but we have to make sure that we have a great day today. That’s what we look forward to, that’s what I look forward to is going out and practicing with the guys and having a lot of fun while doing it and loving the game.”
(On what he makes of the comments by Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians that CenturyLink is their ‘home field’)
“I don’t think you pay attention to it too much, I think that for us, we just want to play a great football game. We want to play a great football game and we know it’s going to be a tough challenge and we’re looking forward to that challenge. We’re ready to play some ball.”
(On Thomas Rawls’ performance against Dallas and how that can help the team going forward this weekend and hopefully into the playoffs)
“Well Thomas Rawls’ perseverance has been great all year. He’s battled, he’s battled, he’s battled, and his resilience has been unbelievable. He’s fought through the times that he hasn’t had the opportunity and everything else, and I think that shows the testament as to who he is as a person and who he is as a ballplayer, and in the way he comes to work.
He practices as hard as he can go every day and every time he touches the ball, he runs to the end zone and does all of that stuff that you want him to do. He’s a true professional and I think that Thomas has been a great teammate, a great friend, and a great football player for us for a while now.
It was good seeing him get back out there and just do a great job; he really ran the ball really hard last week and he was physical and made the right decisions and everything else, so hopefully he will get another chance to be successful again.”
(On how he had that double-spin move against the Cardinals if he thinks he has a triple spin in him this time around)
“Do I have a triple-spin in me? I’m sure I do somewhere; I don’t plan it, but yeah I think like the question earlier, I think that there are times where you make some great ones and sometimes, you’re like ‘Oh man, I wish I just threw that ball away,’ but there have been some really cool ones too when you just keep playing ball and keep fighting for what you want to fight for. Hopefully, something else will happen. Thank you guys. Go Hawks.”
