The Seahawks already have lost as many games this year as they did all of last season, when they were on their way to a Super Bowl win. Quarterback Russell Wilson has had to deal with his best weapon getting traded, his “blackness” getting questioned and his accuracy going awry.
Getting every team’s best shot each and every game, if the Seahawks are going to repeat, they will have to do it the hard way.
“I think that’s just natural, an opportunity for other teams. That’s something you should expect,” said coach Pete Carroll, whose Seahawks host the Giants on Sunday. “I’m sure that we’re getting everybody’s best shot, and we wouldn’t expect it any other way.
“It’s been a bit of a different start for us. We’ve got a few losses, unlike last year. The games have been tough, very similar to last year Game 9 or 10, then we got going at the end. It’s been another challenging year. I don’t think I can compare until season’s over.’’
Wilson would not say it’s tougher to repeat than to win the first, but he admitted the Seahawks are having to fight their way through tough games made tougher by injuries.
“I think about last year, we were 13-3, but we won some tough games. We battled, and we fought through a bunch of injuries, and we hung together,’’ Wilson said. “That’s what we’re trying to do right now. We’re going through a lot of injury battles, and we’re trying to keep guys healthy, keep guys going, and keep winning football games, and play one game at a time. It’s not easy.
“You just got to get prepared the right way, have championship preparation every week, and that’s all you can handle. All you can do is get yourself ready to go. I always say, ‘If you want to be a champion, you have to prepare like a champion.’ That’s my mind-set. That’s our football team’s mind-set.’’
Seattle (5-3) hasn’t looked championship-worthy this season. They dealt Percy Harvin to the Jets, with the Bleacher Report claiming the receiver had split the locker room into pro- and anti-Wilson camps.
If true, they picked Wilson. But after notching a 100.0 QB rating as a rookie and a 101.2 last year, he has posted a 77.5 or worse in three of his past four games. He bottomed out with a 47.6 in a Week 6 loss to Dallas, and last weekend against Oakland he failed to throw or run for a touchdown for the first time all season.
“[It] was just basically me,’’ Wilson said. “I was high on some throws, which I’m normally not. I’m not normally high on throws. It was just an off day. You get back to the basics and the fundamentals of the game of football, keep growing and loving the game and doing whatever it takes to win football games.’’
That’s just Wilson falling on the sword. The fact is, he hasn’t had weapons or protection, “a fact that gets forgotten” according to Carroll.
Not only is Harvin wearing Jets green, but tight ends Zach Miller and Luke Willson have been out. They started the last game with two backup offensive linemen and finished with three after left guard James Carpenter got hurt. Wilson has been the NFL’s second most-harassed quarterback, according to Pro Football Focus, but he will look to get out of his mini-skid Sunday against the Giants.