Russell Wilson's Mobility Remains Key to Seahawks Orchestrating Deep Playoff Run

While Wilson may have lost a step or two since entering the league, his athleticism still creates headaches for defenses and game planning to get him on the move as both a passer and runner could be critical for Seattle's offense to perform at peak levels in the postseason.

Heading into halftime against the Rams last Sunday at Lumen Field, the Seahawks once again found themselves mired in a rut offensively. Converting on just three out of nine third down opportunities, Russell Wilson and his counterparts produced 116 total yards and were held to a pair of Jason Myers field goals as the the two teams entered their respective locker rooms tied at 6 apiece.

Coming out of the break, Seattle received to open the third quarter and the first two offensive snaps of the half didn't fare much better. Chris Carson was stuffed on a first down run for just a one-yard gain and then Wilson threw the ball to his running back for another minimal one-yard pickup to set up 3rd and 8.

After briefly scanning the field, Wilson took the third down snap from center Ethan Pocic and took a three-step drop. With the Rams sending a fifth rusher, the pocket collapsing quickly, and no receivers open, the star quarterback bailed to his right while keeping his eyes downfield.

Russ on the money to David Moore 💰

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/QXn2lJM1FL

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 27, 2020

As Wilson approached the hash mark and numbers, he wound up to throw on the scramble. Lofting the ball downfield, he connected with a backpedaling David Moore for a 45-yard completion along the sideline to the Rams 32-yard line, easily the Seahawks longest play of the game.

"I think you trust your guys. I trusted David Moore completely in that play," Wilson told reporters on Thursday. "He's been great for us all year and he came up with a great catch. You trust him all the way in those kind of moments and just give him a chance to catch it and just try to hit back shoulder room so he could catch it and tuck it in."

Three plays later, Seattle faced another 3rd and 9 situation against Aaron Donald and Los Angeles' vaunted pass rush. Wilson took the snap and after initially pump faking a bubble screen to rookie Freddie Swain, he once again was forced to roll out to his right due to interior pressure from defensive tackle Morgan Fox.

Three Rams defenders converged on Wilson as he approached the line of scrimmage, but after buying himself additional time, Carlos Hyde transitioned from blocker to receiver and came wide open. The quarterback dumped the ball off to the veteran running back, who had plenty of running room in front of him and bowled over a defender to put the Seahawks at the four-yard line after an 18-yard reception.

On the ensuing snap, Wilson capped off the drive perfectly by using his legs to his advantage once again, sliding to his left after the play fake to Carson and eventually tucking and running for a four-yard touchdown to put Seattle out in front 13-6 less than five minutes into the second half.

By the time the final horn had sounded, Wilson had orchestrated one more touchdown drive against the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense, hitting Jacob Hollister for a 13-yard touchdown inside three minutes left to play and extending the Seahawks lead to 20-9. Moments later, he would take a pair of knees out of victory formation as the team locked up an NFC West title. 

After barely completing 50 percent of his passes in the first two quarters, Wilson closed out the game completing 10 out of 13 passes for 141 yards with two total touchdowns. What was the key to the turnaround? While he only had nine rushing yards on three carries, there's no question his mobility provided a much-needed spark for a sputtering offense.

"I'm not sure if it helps us get into more of a rhythm, but it definitely helps us get into a rhythm and I think it helps us cause some controversy for the defense," Wilson smiled. "They gotta figure out what to do. It's really hard on those plays because there's no script to it, you know? Once it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and it's not there or something like, then I move or have to go, it's like we're all young and playing in the backyard getting open. It's always challenging on the defense."

Throughout his career, Wilson has been one of the NFL's best dual-threat weapons. Earlier this season, he joined Steve Young as only the second quarterback in NFL history with 30,000 career passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards. Even though his wheels aren't what they once were when Seattle picked him in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, his ability to extend plays as both a passer and a runner after escaping pressure still makes him a nightmare worthy of keeping defenders and coordinators up at night.

Now 32 years old, Wilson has enjoyed one of his most successful seasons as a runner in 2020. Carrying the ball 78 times, he's rushed for 484 yards - his highest total since rushing for 586 yards in 2017 - while averaging 6.2 yards per carry, tied for the second-highest mark in his nine-year career. He also has six runs of 20-plus yards compared to four such runs combined in the previous two seasons, displaying plenty of burst.

As evidenced once again versus the Rams, Wilson's penchant for scrambling and inflicting damage throwing on the run may still be his greatest asset. While he downplayed how much such plays impact his overall rhythm and performance, the signal caller seems to come to life once he's rattled off a long run or connected on a deep ball outside of the pocket.

Set to play in his eighth postseason in nine years, the Seahawks don't need to suddenly start using Wilson like the Ravens use Lamar Jackson. He doesn't need to carry the ball 10-plus times in a game for his legs to create problems for defenses.

However, especially when pitted against talented defenses such as the Rams or the Saints, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer needs to keep his toolbox open in regard to options to get Wilson on the move early. That's not simply running bootleg action every play - defenses catch onto such predictability, as the Giants illustrated in Week 13 - but mixing in slide protection play action and read option runs to create conflicts for defenses.

By utilizing Wilson's running ability from the outset in a myriad of ways, the Seahawks become tougher to scheme against. And whether he wants to admit it or not, while there isn't necessarily a way to quantify it statistically, doing so seems to bring out his best as a passer, which will be necessary for the team to advance past the Divisional Round for the first time since 2014.