Russell Wilson… under the radar. Week 9 Wookies

Russell Wilson, flying under the radar, he is. In some conventions, Russell Wilson’s passing statistics are so far off the radar one might believe he’s the radar operator. After all, how else would he escape detection? Jamming the radar. The image above gives a mathematical equation for how Russell Wilson avoids the hype. Beam height has a lot to do with it…I think.      “I don’t get what he’s doing, and I’m smart. Not book smart or street smart or brain smart, but…somethin’.” -Lenny Leonard of The SimpsonsLenny, he’s avoiding the “radar sweep.”     Here’s a cumulative stat line from after Week 9′s Sunday games: Ranking for yards passing - 28. Russell Wilson  SEA  QB  145 completions,  234 attempts I purposefully omitted the rest of that stat line. See for yourself. Click the NFL.com link in the previous line. For those who don’t want to, I’ll at least tell you, he’s completing a respectable percentage of his passes, in spite of the fact he throws less passes per game than ANY OTHER QB. Let that be the only hype I contribute to this post. Russell Wilson appears well composed. I could take a lesson from him. His passing game isn’t watered down. I like being able to recall most of his pass attempts by heart after viewing the game only once. After a second viewing via my NFL Game Rewind subscription, I can remember how many 3-, 5-, & 7-step drops, how many shotgun formations and audibles he calls. Try doing that with the average QB who’s throwing more than 34 passes per game. I kid of course. Russell Wilson’s numbers are moderate. This is why analysts don’t invest their entire savings in numbers. I can play with the numbers until they work to make my point. But if I just let the numbers make their impression, as-they-are, they’d explain just how Russell Wilson avoids the hype, by flying under the radar. Let’s not forget the help of the defense. Their performances are notable. I’ll get around to them in another post.   I’ll give you this, though; Bruce Irvin got just enough of an arm on Percy Harvin for Marcus Trufant’s hit to knock the ball loose.     Inevitable, mostly. Quarterbacks are often revered for their passing stats. Ultra-mobile quarterbacks are criticized for the limitations their running presents; loss of playing time through injuries, for example.   Limiting factors: How to avoid radar detection. Beam path and range Noise Interference Clutter Jamming Beam path and range: I really don’t know how to apply the above reference to my Russell Wilson radar analogy, so I’ll improvise. Beam path and range; I think that refers to the fact that Russell is behind the radar, kind of like a camera operator. You don’t see camera operators, do you? Noise: This one’s a “gimme.” Seattle’s crowd noise emphasizes their opponent’s offensive failings and de-emphasizes their own. Interference: I’m still researching this, but Seattle has benefitted well from opponents’ penalties. Currently, per the great stat-keeping of Footballdb.com, Seattle has gained the 3rd most 1st Downs (21) in the league by way of opponent penalties. I don’t know how many of those penalties were defensive pass-interference, but those passive gains do interfere with Russell Wilson’s own stats, I’m sure. Clutter: This must refer to the amount of other QB stories being reported in the media. There’s RGIII, Andrew Luck, Matt Cassell, Sanchez & Tebow or Tebow & Sanchez (depending on which news market’s reporting), Eli & Peyton Manning, Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan, Drew (consecutive games with a passing-TD record) Brees and Cam (sophomore slump) Newton. So many stories, so little time to report. So you hear Russell Wilson’s name a lot, but can you remember why? This shouldn’t be a problem though. I’m sure he’s very comfortable the way things are. Jamming: Of course, I’m a novice interpreting radar technology, but this one’s simple. The Seahawks’ defense is creating their own RF signals that are saturating the media. I have a hunch they’re using metaphorical “pulse jamming.” I’m doing some jamming myself. Mine is of the decoy variety. *- Is Russell Wilson’s passing stat-line simply a stylistic collaboration between Darrell Bevell and Wilson? While Russell’s name may appear frequently in the sports news, it avoids hyperbole. Portraits of Wilson still seem to … provide room for ellipsis, rather than hyperbola.   Want another headline? Sidney Rice vs Tim Tebow The Jets are coming to town. No, not the Puget Sound Jets of Puget Sound semi-professional football lore! The New York Jets, lords of NFL media, are coming to town with their QB monopoly. Here’s a thorough contextualization of the “reserve” quarterbacks. Sidney Rice’s passing numbers: 100% completion rate, 119 passer rating. Tim Tebow’s passing numbers: 67% completion rate, 102 passer rating.   How about these obscure rushing numbers? Tim Tebow: 23 rushes, 78 yards, 0 TDs, longest run-22 yards. Average rush, 3.4 yards. Sidney Rice: Average rush, 3.0 yards.   In closing, why doesn’t Sidney Rice get the same press coverage as Tim Tebow?   NFL WEEK 9 WOOKIE WEVUE Well since I’ve already paid ink to Russell Wilson, I have a couple of other Wookies to Wevue. Sometimes it’s better to wait until mid-season of your wookie season to thwow for over 400 yards. Andrew Luck       What’s his name? Doug Martin                   Andrew Luck needs more press, right? Doug Martin earns a mention in my WEEK 9 WEEDEN WOOKIE WEVUE. Coming into Week 9, Martin was ranked in the respectable neighborhood of top-10 rushers. Week 9, in a familiar locale (Oakland) Martin was propelled into the neighborhood of top-3 rushers.   In the Wookie shadows Shhh. Don’t tell anybody about Alfred Morris.   Can I apologize to Alfred Morris for taking 9 weeks before I “Wevued” him? —HE’S RANKED 4TH IN THE NFL IN TOTAL RUSHING YARDS—. There, I’ve apologized. Alfred Morris, has an impressive 4.8 yards-per-rush average. Morris may have only rushed for 76 yards in the Washington Redskins’ controversial loss to the Carolina Panthers, but he’s still in the top-5 among the league’s rushers. They may have lost, but the Redskins still have a chance to make a Wild Card playoff run. Look at the 3 – 5 Saints. Of the best 4 teams in the hunt for the NFC playoffs (via the Wild Card), the Saints could beat any of them. Take a look. Is there a chance the Seahawks could face New Orleans in the playoffs? I’m getting ahead of myself. The Saints have at least enough talent to get to 8 – 8. I can see the Vikings at 8 – 8, given their remaining NFC North schedule and their trip to Houston. I can also see Detroit at 8 – 8 or worse. The Lions have the Packers twice, the Texans, Falcons and Bears before their season ends. The Buccaneers have the Falcons twice, the Broncos and the Saints to beat to do better than 8 – 8. And the Arizona Cardinals? Has their offensive line gotten better than the Eagles’ offensive line? They get the Falcons, Seahawks, Bears and 49ers before the season’s done. I can see 7 – 9 for them if they don’t turn things around. So when we talk about Alfred Morris and RGIII and their chances at the playoffs, they could be 8 – 8 after facing the Eagles and Cowboys twice, and the Browns once in their next 7 games. Vikings (5-4-0) Projected: 7th Seed Lions (4-4-0) Projected: 8th Seed Buccaneers (4-4-0) Projected: 9th Seed Cardinals (4-5-0) Projected: 10th Seed   Final focus. The Seahawks will need to remain focused. Cliché as it sounds, every win counts. Every win helps prepare the Seahawks to be strong playoff qualifiers. I’ll return to review NFL Week 10 for Seahawks followers. I’ll try not to be too long before I feed you nuts…more nuts. Take this with you…ellipsis beats hyperbole…OR hyperbola.   Go Seahawks!!       .