FanPost

Wilson - Putting IT to words

There is more to QBs and sports psychology then spending time with the wide receivers and getting the communication straight. With Russell Wilson, I simply believe he can walk in the huddle and say, "Look guys, I'm a baller," and the team around him will respond. The kid has a history of proving that kind of leadership. He backs it up with the kind of playmaking ability other playmakers notice, and if they notice, maybe everyone else is working harder than they have ever worked before because they notice Wilson never gives up on the play.

Personally, I just don't care about being cautious when all the signs point to Wilson having the most talent on the field. This is football. This is war. Just like a soldier moving from basic training to the front, there is a certain amount of gibberish between what gets drawn up on paper versus the real fight. Sure the training takes over, but the fight is analog, raw, and has none of the digital, predicable, essence found in iPad app playbook.

I believe the heart of Seahawks right now rests with Lynch. The Beast Quake is legendary, but that legend is weaved into the backbone of this team. Make no mistake, it is part of what motivates this offense as Tom Cable teaches his line to fight for every yard on the ground. This line, this group of men, take from these lessons with heart knowing Lynch is about to explode through the holes they make, then he is going to make some holes of his own. They feel every defensive lineman punching them in the gut, driving with their legs, and every evasive move when it's time to push the pile.

This is why T-Jax is so beloved by this team. Toughness. Grit. Determination and the heart to play through pain these athletes all understand. This is why Carroll focused here last year. It was a rallying point, a perfect complement to a defense capable of landing in Normandy on D-Day. When Pete Carroll says he admires the heck out of this guy, he isn't just whistling Dixie. Despite TJ's lack of production, he was accepted by this team because of his determination to remain every Sunday.

I have heard it said here, and other places on the web, this sandlot style, playmaking ability of Wilson doesn't mean all that much if he doesn't comprehend the core. Yep, nobody wants an idiot throwing the ball, but dismissing the broken playmaking ability of a leader on the team dismisses the effect it has on those around him as well. It also dismisses how smart Wilson is already and ignores how much smarter he will become.

Put it another way, if TO dropped the same pass from Wilson last Sunday, do you think that would have been Wilson's only chance at a big play?

Because I really believe the intuition of the big play draws a lot from the same type of awareness that it takes to make something from nothing. I am sure Flynn is an excellent choice as a Quarterback, but I truly think there is a separation, a big one, between Flynn and Wilson. Flynn is very good standing in the pocket, pre snap read, step, step, step, and throws in rhythm. Disturb this and the rhythm disappears.

Wilson is another animal. Break his play, he will break you. Don't break his play, the same thing happens.

This makes some people uncomfortable because there isn't a formula attached. It is new, lacks the mechanical comfort of a system, even though it's the same playbook. It requires understanding the bond men build in the trenches.

Two games into preseason and the stat sheet favors Wilson. Before you yell, "IF," remember "IF" works both ways. "If" excludes as much as it includes. If that defender caught that pass it would have been an interception is just as valid as if TO didn't drop that pass. At some point reality has to be defined by the results no matter how uncomfortable it feels.

This team has already shown what it will do for those capable of producing toughness and grit at the quarter back position. Imagine what this team will do when combining that toughness with the tenacity to make a play, no matter what, and having the moxy to actually make the play. That sort of stuff is contagious.

Drops are going to happen, missed assignments are going to happen, and the defense is there to make them happen. When its two minutes left in the game, eighty yards to go, and the Hawks need a touchdown to win, what does it take to make it happen?