Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson engineered his 34th game winning drive and as a result the Seahawks are 5-0 for the first time in franchise history. Wilson threw three touchdowns two to DK Metcalf in the Seahawks 27-26 win over the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night at CenturyLink Field. Here is what Wilson had to say after the game.
Q. The last drive, Minnesota made it a little tough for you at times in the game, 94 yards, two minutes left, what is going through your head?
RUSSELL WILSON: I feel like Sue Bird in the clutch, you know (laughter). Man, I felt like because our defense made that unbelievable stop on fourth-and-one, they just picked me up in that situation. We kept believing. I was cheering them on, everybody.
Sure enough, fourth-and-one we get a huge, amazing stop by the defense. Sure enough, here we go. Let’s go win the game.
We kept battling, kept battling. DK makes a great play on fourth-and-10. Keep dialing down the field. We had a couple chances at the end zone early on there. We could have scored on those.
Came down to a clutch moment. I don’t know, 15 seconds left. I just saw DK run across the field, tried to zoom it into there to him. Tight window. He made an unbelievable catch, unbelievable play. Offensive line blocked extremely well in that position. It was a special time, special moment for us right there.
Q. For you to be 0-7 on third down through the game, then two big fourth-down conversions on the last drive, how did you come up with those two plays?
RUSSELL WILSON: The first half, the reality is we didn’t have the ball. We had the ball a few times. We were in third and some long situations. They stopped a screen, stopped a couple plays early on. We had a sack, which was on me. We were trying to get the ball down the field. We almost had Tyler potentially on one play.
They had possession of the ball for a long time in the first half so we didn’t get discouraged. The score was 13-0. That is what I kept telling the guys. Stayed neutral.
Got the ball back in the second half. We were lights out in the three possessions in a row. It was just really special how we stayed the course. Guys kept believing. Dissly got back involved. Good to see Dis back. DK made a great catch. Chris Carson has a sweet run for the touchdown, kind of bulldozes over everybody. Next thing you know, it’s a new game. That fast, within a minute and 50 seconds probably, who knows.
That was a testament to the defense getting turnovers, making plays, causing havoc on on their offense. It was really special that we were able to just keep believing. That’s what I always told you guys, to have no doubt, just keep believing, something great’s going to happen.
Q. Can you take us through both the fourth down throws.
RUSSELL WILSON: Fourth down, fourth and 10, clutch situation. We got to make a play. Kind of looking across the board at everybody. Obviously DK was down the field. Just tried to give him a chance to put his hands on it. Sure enough he makes an unbelievable catch. I don’t think I even got to see it. I was on the ground maybe. I don’t know. I know everybody was celebrating on our sideline.
On the last one, end of the game, just kind of scanned the whole field, looked left, looked right, came back to DK. Boom, there he was. Tried to zip it in there to him just before the guy kind of got to me, the defensive lineman, No. 95 I think.
Just a great play by him. I don’t even know how to explain it. Just unbelievable.
Q. Take us through the conversation you and Schotty had during the timeout prior to the play. What did you discuss about your options? Did you have DK as the hot read?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, we just talked about trying to give us a great play where guys were moving around, trying to make a play. Obviously it’s fourth down, so we got to find somebody. If we had to throw it up, throw it up kind of thing.
DK did a great job of running away from his guy, closing off the window. All those reps that we’ve practiced in the offseason, in the summer, all the time just together one-on-one, it really showed up tonight for sure in that special moment.
Q. Did those plays to DK feel like Mexico, back in San Diego?
RUSSELL WILSON: It was special just the plays that he was able to make. That’s why he’s such a star. I think we had so many other guys that made great plays tonight, too. We have a really great team.
Q. For Will Dissly, what did it mean to see him get back into the end zone?
RUSSELL WILSON: Will is one of my best friends. I love Will to death. He’s amazing, just who he is as a person. We’re super tight. That tight end room is really amazing. I think it’s the best tight end room in football.
Dissly, the tough battles he’s gone through, he’s kept his faith in God, kept his faith in just the moment. He’s worked so hard. We kind of got to throw together in California together this offseason when he was ready to go. Just spend that quality time together.
He’s a special guy, I mean, special teammate. Obviously he had such an unbelievable year the first two years. For him to step up in that clutch moment, it’s tight, guys right on his back, makes a great catch. It’s good to see Dissly back.
Q. You talked about trust and belief this summer. The trust and belief during practice, how that carries over to the game, how important is that?
RUSSELL WILSON: I think we practice this stuff all the time. We practice moments. We’ve been in it. Bobby and I kept saying when we were down 13-0, started coming back, I told Bobby we were going to score a touchdown here. Next thing you toe, 13-7. Then they get a turnover. Next thing you know it’s 14-13.
Bobby and I, when we go do the field goal, when Jason makes the field goal, we were coming back off the sideline, we’ve been here before. Bobby and I kept talking, we’ve been here before. Calm and neutral in the moment. Our mind is not too high, not too low. We’re neutral, talking about we’ve been here before, we’ve been here before, we know what’s going to happen. Sure enough, it worked in our favor.
Q. What are the challenges of playing in a game that’s as wet as that one is? Anything you have to adjust in terms of what you do?
RUSSELL WILSON: It was pouring down pretty good out there. The Seattle rain hit us tonight. We were able to make a lot of great plays. We practice outside a bunch, just did a lot of things preparation-wise. I thought we were good in erring that we did. It didn’t affect us really in how we played.
I would just say in the first half we didn’t start the way we wanted to. It’s more situational football, third-and-longs, unfortunate, they had the ball. Other than that, the second half, I thought we played Seahawks football like we have been all year.
Q. In the last few years, how have you noticed the team internalizing the confidence that you have in those situations? Because you have done it so many times, there was a sense the defense would get the ball back to the offense and you’d win the game. Have you noticed in the last few years that confidence has gone across the team?
RUSSELL WILSON: I think that team unity, that team confidence, that team belief, that team keeping your neutral mind, not being too high, like I always say to you guys, is very real. We stayed neutral along the way.
In the midst of the great moments, we were celebrating when we were on a hot streak there in those three drives. Okay, it’s going to be a test, a battle, a great game. We just stayed the course.
I think it’s been so evident over the past few years of just how collectively we are together as a team. Everybody is sticking together. Everybody is believing in one another. Everybody is helping one another. It doesn’t matter who makes the play. It’s us. It’s about us and doing it together. It’s so cool when I see guys like Dissly make a great play, Ryan Neal step in the past few games, be unbelievable in his approach, his plays that he’s made.
It’s a really cool feeling just to know that everybody cares, everybody is dedicated to the process, everybody loves the game. Everybody remains neutral and everybody just believes in what we can do.
