After months of wait, the2022 NFL season is finally here. Week 1 had a number of highly anticipatedgames, but one of the biggest storylines was undoubtedly the return of Russell Wilson to Seattle with another uniform.
In a shocking turn of events, the Seahawks parted ways with the franchise legend by sending him to the Denver Broncos in one of the biggest trades of the offseason. Curiously, the schedule determined that the veteran quarterback would face his former team in his very first game since the trade.
Many thought it would be Wilsonâs night, but it was Geno Smith who took all the limelight.Though things could have gone differently had Nathaniel Hackett didnât made a controversial late-game decision, Pete Carroll took pride in the way his team executed the game plan to stop its former quarterback.
Pete Carroll reveals how Seahawks tried to stop Russell Wilson
âWe really were focused in on Russâ play with our pass rush. Thatâs really the way to play him. You can move him and you can make him go,â Carroll said, via SeattleSports.com. âI think he moved 10 times and he completed two passes on the times we moved him out of the pocket and moved him around like we were trying to. Itâs a hard dynamic to have. Thereâs so many factors in there, but weâre trying to push him in directions.
âWhen he moves to his left, itâs hard for him numbers-wise and all that, so we just we were able to do some stuff,â Carroll added. âIt wasnât perfect at all, but it was effective and we felt like we were controlling it. It wasnât always just getting clean to get the sack, it was to try and make him go where we wanted him to go, and guys did a good job.â
When you look at Wilsonâs stats, itâs not like he had a bad game or anything like that. He threw for 340 yards, but only had one touchdown and completed 29 of 42 passes. But inthe end, he wasnât comfortable enough to give his team the win.
