The Seattle Seahawks’ insistence on running the ball hindered the team in its 24-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card game on Saturday night.
Seattle entered the game as the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL with 160 yards per game. Run defense was actually the strength of Dallas’ defense, which ranked No. 5 in the league entering the game. Dallas’ pass defense was weaker, yet Seattle entered with a gameplan of trying to establish the run, and they failed to adjust even when it was clear their plan was not working.
The Seahawks rushed 24 times in the game for just 73 yards. They were getting stuffed consistently on runs, and only advanced the ball in the first half on passes. When they came out in the second half, they repeated the same trend and kept insisting on running the ball on first down with little success.
Warren Sharp of Sharp Football was all over the situation on Twitter:
Seahawks fans, we're going to have a long talk about Brian Schottenheimer.
Seattle doesn't have Blake Bortles or Case Keenum at QB.
This is Russell Wilson.
16 Wilson passes @ 8.3 YPA vs
21 non-Wilson runs @ 2.8 YPC
One of the worst called games w a good QB I can remember.— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 6, 2019
Russell Wilson finished the game 18/27 for 233 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a score. The best things happened for the Seahawks when they opened things up and let him run around and make plays. By the time they finally did that, it was too late.
Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer need to reexamine their plan and failure to adapt.
