Seattle Seahawks: The Dud and Stud of Game 1 – Atlanta
Ed Stein
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Chris Carson, Seattle Seahawks.
2nd Honorable Mention – Chris Carson
This one will be tough. So many Seattle Seahawks played well on Sunday. Special shout out to Ethan Pocic who did a great job in his first start at center.
The Atlanta defense made it difficult for Seattle to run against them. Chris Carson gained 1,230 last year, but all he could muster on Sunday was 21 yards on six carries. The entire Seahawks team had 84 rushing yards which included a 28-yard RW3 scramble.
Instead of benching one of his top offensive weapons, Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll took advantage of Carson as a receiver out of the backfield. He caught six passes for 45 yards. More importantly, Carson found the end zone twice. That’s the ultimate goal, it doesn’t matter if his scores come via handoff or catch.
1st Honorable Mention – Jamal Adams
It sure felt like new Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams was everywhere. Would anyone be surprised if he was in Matt Ryan’s locker at halftime? Seriously, Adams covered the field from sideline-to-sideline, and from center field to behind the line of scrimmage.
At any given time, Adams could be guarding a receiver in man coverage, coming up to stop the run, or blitzing Ryan. He was a joy to watch.
Adams brings a completely different dimension to an already solid defense. His ability and enthusiasm are contagious. He leads by example and it’s clear that Adams earned his teammates respect in a very short period of time.
The All-Pro goes where ever he needs to be, to make plays. Every defensive player is better when he’s on the field. Ryan probably has nightmares about the Seattle Seahawks number 33. Other quarterbacks on the Seattle schedule now lie awake at night worried about how Adams will beat them.
Stud of the Week – Russell Wilson
All offseason, talk about the Seattle Seahawks offense centered around: will Pete Carroll let Russ cook. The Seahawks had to open up the offense and let Wilson go to town with deep passes. On Sunday, Russ did some cooking. He was a near-perfect 31-of-35 passing for 322 yards and four touchdowns.
He just didn’t cook in the way 12’s expected him to. During the game, FOX analyst Mark Schlereth had it right when he said let Russ simmer, like a slow cooker. The meal is just as good, but it takes a little more time.
In the Seattle Seahawks case that means, keep a balanced attack and let Wilson do what he does best, win games. He does a great job of getting the skill position players involved in the offense and gets the most he possibly can out of them. In those rare cases when Wilson can’t find someone to throw to, he is perfectly capable of taking off downfield with the ball.
Seattle doesn’t need to air it out every series to be effective.
.@DangeRussWilson wanted it all ?
A perfect throw to @dkm14 for the touchdown on fourth down!
Q3: SEA 21, ATL 12 pic.twitter.com/gK6r0Nzgqk
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 13, 2020
It gets harder next week for the Seattle Seahawks as they host New England at Century Link Field.