Huard: Wilson, Seahawks played complementary ball for 1st time in 2020

The Seahawks bounced back from a tough and surprising 17-12 loss to the New York Giants in Week 13 with a resounding 40-3 win over the New York Jets in Week 14 and it was evident that Seattle was dominant in all phases of the game.

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Seattle built such a commanding lead that many key starters, such as quarterback Russell Wilson, sat out the fourth quarter, which is a very rare sight for any Seahawks game.

Wilson in particular was under the microscope ahead of the game after a head-scratching performance against the Giants that saw him hold the ball too long, miss open receivers and take too many hits. That was far from the case on Sunday against the Jets, and former NFL quarterback Brock Huard told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant that he loved what he saw from Wilson and how the team played as a whole.

“Pretty darn good yesterday. Pretty amazing what some good protection and time back there and not getting hit and just being able to be free and easy (will do),” Huard said of Wilson, who completed 21 of 27 passes for 206 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. “They started fast, which was tremendous to see. I think you could sense that Russell could have thrown seven touchdowns against that team if he wanted to and had he stayed in.”

Huard used one of Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll’s favorite words when describing the offense’s play as well as the play of the entire team against the Jets.

“It was just complementary, as Pete said over and over again,” Huard said. “… For the first time (in 2020), they played complementary football. They matched special teams with defense, with offense, put it all together and still left three interceptions and still left points out there. But it was a dominant, complementary performance and that is where this quarterback is the very best in the NFL and has been the last decade.”

In addition to Wilson throwing four touchdowns, the Seahawks’ offense rushed for 174 yards and converted two field goals. On the other side of the ball, the defense held the Jets to under 200 yards and to just three points.

The defense has played well the last four weeks, but Wilson’s play has dropped off since a hot start to 2020, most notably his poor performance against the Giants. Danny O’Neil wanted to know what changed for Wilson from Week 13 to Week 14.

“I think accuracy, Danny,” Huard said. “I think versus the Giants the week before (he wasn’t as accurate) and he kind of had one ball that got away from him yesterday (on the interception), but even some of the incompletions were (on the money or were on screen plays, which Wilson isn’t the best at) … I thought yesterday you could just see he was accurate.”

Huard thinks the clear improvement from Week 13 to Week 14 for Wilson is a good sign going forward.

“I think there was a focus after the Giants game where there were five or six (passes) where ‘that’s not Russell, he doesn’t miss.’ And he didn’t miss much yesterday,” he said.

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