The Seahawks fell to 0-2 in a 24-17 loss to the Bears on Monday night and quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked six times on the way to that defeat.
Wilson was also sacked six times by the Broncos in the team’s Week One loss, which has led many to opine that the Seahawks have failed to fix their long-running problems on the offensive line. It would be hard to make a credible argument to the contrary, but head coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday that Wilson also bears some of the blame.
“I’m finding Russ over-trying a little bit,” Carroll said ESPN 710, via the Seattle Times. “He’s pressing in difficult situations to try and see if he can come up with a way to make something happen instead of just getting rid of the football. ... In the long yardage situations, he needs to throw the football a couple times. We need to get rid of the ball and just give up on a play because it’s not happening and not take an additional pressure. So that just adds up and it makes it hard on him.”
With dismal contributions from the running game and pressure almost every time Wilson is dropping back to pass, throwing the ball away more often would help the team avoid sacks without doing much of anything to help the team’s offense move down the field. How that becomes a positive for the Seahawks as they move forward is hard to see, but we may find out against the Cowboys next weekend.