How 49ers will counter Seattle’s Wilson, who’s off to hot start
SANTA CLARA — Things are about to get much more difficult for the 49ers’ defense that’s continued to play well despite being nearly drowned by injuries.
Sunday’s opposing quarterback, Seahawks star Russell Wilson, has tied Peyton Manning’s NFL-record pace with 22 touchdown passes over six games, he leads current starters by averaging 315 yards per contest and he’s the leading MVP candidate.
“Russell’s always been the man,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said this week.
But this season has been unique. There’s a noticeable difference between Wilson’s current season and what he’s been asked to do in years past. He’s throwing far more than when the Seahawks were constructed around their running game and a top-flight defense. The changes are a result of Wilson’s career-long progression to super stardom paired with Seattle’s current historically bad defense.
Wilson leading Seahawks offense — This season, Wilson is averaging a careerhigh 36.5 passing attempts per game. That’s up from 26.1 over his first three seasons, and 33 from seasons four, five and six. The nineyear pro’s also completing passes as the high
est rate of his career (71.2 percent) and leading the NFL by averaging a robust 9.4 yards per attempt.
The former game manager has molded into the engine that drives the train. His current 119.5 passer rating would be the highest of any quarterback since Aaron Rodgers in 2011 (122.5).
As Shanahan said this
week, Wilson had been known for his play in the fourth quarter. But now he’s playing like it’s the fourth quarter all the time.
“Usually, they keep it close until the fourth and then Russell kind of takes over and that’s why they’re hard to beat,” said Shanahan.
Wilson is also reaching the point of his career where his feel for the position, reading defenses and anticipating throwing lanes, are at the highest levels
of his career, which is a biproduct of starting 134 straight games since he entered the league.
His head coach, Pete Carroll, believes Russell is playing the best ball of his career.
“I think he is better. I know he’s better,” Carroll said. “He’s just in better command of everything that we’re doing than he’s ever been. That’s just how it goes from year to year. You can keep getting better a long time at this position.
The position is so complex, it just calls for so much, there’s room to improve, and he is just in absolute command of what we’re doing in all aspects, and can fix plays, fix protections, adjust calls, read things and change from one thing to another with such freedom. It’s just because he’s capable of it and he owns it.”
Wilson also has 237 rushing yards on 29 attempts, including 13 that have gone for first downs. His 39.5 rushing yards per game is the second-best clip of his career.
With any mobile quarterback comes the balance between being productive as a passer while being able to make plays with his legs. Quarterbacks can use scrambling as a crutch that prohibits their development. But Wilson uses his elusiveness to create new throwing platforms and he’s developed into arguably the best deep-ball thrower in the NFL. He also avoids taking big hits, which has allowed him to continue his impressive starts streak.