The Seattle Seahawks are playing a season to forget. After the loss to the Washington Football Team, Head Coach Pete Carroll’s nerves are on edge. Quarterback Russell Wilson in particular comes under fire after the next poor performance.

Munich/Seattle – Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Does it still fit?

A question Seahawks fans couldn’t have dreamed of asking before the season now seems a bitter reality. The quarterback delivered the next horror game against the Washington football team, and no one in Seattle has been talking about playoffs for a long time.

At first glance, there are no real reasons for the sudden collapse of the playoff perennials. Surely Wilson’s finger injury plays a role in why the superstar has declined so much. If this is the case, the question at the moment is why the 33-year-old is playing at all?

Wilson is no help to the Seahawks right now

Despite the never-younger Tom Brady, despite the great potential of Patrick Mahomes and despite the brilliance of Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson has seemed like the most complete quarterback in the league in recent years.

No matter what problem was thrown at the playmaker’s feet, he still ended up leading the Seahawks to the playoffs with his magic arm. This season of all seasons, however, his “mojo” seems to have deserted him. For the first time in his career, he lost three games in a row.

Against the Washington football team, he put up decent numbers with 247 passing yards and two touchdowns, but they belied an extremely inconsistent performance. He failed to hit wide-open receivers several times, and the balls flew well past the pass receivers at times.

Wilson “we had a good first half” Curious comment. Yes. Hit a couple big plays but only found the end zone once. pic.twitter.com/7eppDlccVI

– Ian Furness (@IanFurnessSea) November 30, 2021

The biggest problem: The performance against the football team was probably still one of the best since his return. After the game, Head Coach Pete Carroll had some strong words that cut deep.

Coach Carroll counts quarterback out

While there has been discord between Seattle’s two alpha animals on and off in recent years, Carroll has rarely been so outspoken when there was something negative to say about Wilson: “He’s got to play better. We all have to,” a visibly battered coach declared after the game.

He was particularly annoyed by the missed opportunities. In the closing seconds, the Seahawks had the chance to equalise, but Wilson made a hair-raising interception: “I mean, we had some people open today and good opportunities. Unfortunately, then we didn’t finish it,” Carroll said.

“Videos don’t lie. We’re missing something, but I don’t see any of that in training,” Carroll continued. He sees the finger injury as less of a reason because Wilson played good passes in several scenes. Nevertheless, it remains to be said: “Three or four plays just got out of hand. Those were supposed to be easy plays for him,” Carroll concluded.

The quarterback also admitted after the game, “I passed a few balls today. But it wasn’t like I lacked confidence,” Wilson said after the game. Still, he can’t match old performances at the moment.

Wilson just a victim of the system?

During the first half of last season, Russell Wilson experienced one of the best periods of his career. Under the motto “Let Russell Cook”, the superstar basically had fool’s freedom and fired from all guns. Due to his success, he was considered an MVP candidate for a long time.

Later, however, came the slump: Coach Carroll’s Seahawks chose a more conservative approach that emphasised the running game. Then it was indeed often up to Wilson to keep the drive alive after two unsuccessful run attempts.

Because it’s not just Wilson who seems to be struggling in the offensive system these days. Top receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are also regularly diving in games. While both were part of one of the best receiver duos in the league last season, their individual class has only been seen in spots this season.

Since Wilson’s return, Metcalf has caught just eight balls from Wilson, which he converted into just 70 receiving yards. At least Lockett is moving in the right direction again, with over 234 receiving yards in the past three games.

What’s happening with Wilson?

With a record of three wins and eight losses, the playoffs will almost certainly be without the Seahawks. The last time this was the case was in 2017. The goal in Seattle can therefore only mean damage limitation. “We have to give everything we have now,” Wilson also concluded.

The question will be how long Wilson will have the opportunity to do so. Finally, Coach Carroll answered the question in the affirmative whether he would also put Wilson on the bench for his own protection in the absence of improvement: “Yes, he has to make the plays when he gets the chance. But I can’t imagine that he won’t be able to do it,” the head coach clearly stated.

This does not diminish the rumours that the Wilson era is coming to an end next summer. After surviving differences in the offseason, a trade seemed to be off the table for good. However, due to the new circumstances, this scenario is becoming much more present again.

In the coming weeks, the Seahawks may not only be playing for redemption, but possibly for the medium-term future of the franchise. The damage doesn’t seem irreparable yet, but if Wilson and Co. don’t get on track, the Seahawks face a long, cold winter.