Countdown to training camp: Russell Wilson lights up Lions

Today is Wednesday, July 17, meaning that today is the day the rookies for the Seattle Seahawks are to report to training camp, with veterans set to report just a week from today. Yes, just one more week until the Hawks will have their entire 90 man roster in house for camp, which means just eight days until they officially open training camp and get everybody on the practice field.

It’s been a long offseason since the Hawks dropped the Wild Card game to the Dallas Cowboys, and a lot has changed. The opponent Seattle defeated in Week 17, the Arizona Cardinals, is where the 2018 starter at left guard, J.R. Sweezy, is set to play during the 2019 season. Meanwhile, the team’s sack leader last season, Frank Clark, is slated to suit up for the opponent the Hawks played in Week 16, the Kansas City Chiefs. The upset loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15 still stings for some fans, while others worry about the offensive stagnation that began to show itself in Week 14 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Interestingly, there were no issues with the offense stagnating in Week 13 the 49ers the first time around, or in Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers, in spite of a slow start. Week 11 started poorly because of a Chris Carson fumble, but the Hawks managed a comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers. That winning streak came after a short losing streak to teams from Southern California, as the Hawks lost to the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers back to back in Week 10 and Week 9, respectively.

Thus, the countdown to training camp has arrived at the Week 8 game against the Detroit Lions. The game started slow, with the Lions jumping out to a 7-0 lead on a 13-play, 91 yard drive. It appeared as though the Hawks could be in for a long day if the defense didn’t step up and slow down Detroit, however, the Seattle D instantly tightened up, and the offense scored on four of five drives starting in the second quarter if one ignores the last drive of the first half when the offense was simply running out the clock. It would have been five scores in five drives if Nick Vannett hadn’t stepped out of bounds before catching a pass on fourth and goal from the one, however, that would not be the case.

That didn’t stop Russell Wilson from having an absolutely phenomenal day. His statline against the Lions was ridiculous and warrants being pointed out, even nine months later.

Seriously, that’s not the type of line one expects to see in the box score from an actual NFL game. That’s got to be a line someone pulled out of Madden and uploaded to ESPN. Seriously, Wilson’s three incompletions on the day were on a throwaway while he was avoiding pressure, a ball to the corner of the end zone where Doug Baldwin uncharacteristically was unable to get his second foot down and the illegal touching by Vannett. That’s it.

So, as we get ready for training camp to open this season, it will certainly be interesting to see how much the Hawks ask of Wilson after having made him the highest paid player in the NFL during the offseason.