Russell Wilson's Athleticism Saves Seahawks Again, but How Long Can That Last?

The Seattle Seahawks entered their Week 8 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys with a less-than-stellar 3-4 record.

After coming just one play short of winning the Super Bowl last year, the Seahawks have fallen flat in 2015, and it appeared as though that would be the story yet again on Sunday, trailing the Cowboys 12-10 with under seven minutes left on the game clock.

With a two-point deficit on the scoreboard and just six minutes and 41 seconds left to work with, quarterback Russell Wilson led the team a drive that lasted 5:35. The end result, a 24-yard field goal that netted the Seahawks a 13-12 victory, pushed their record to 4-4 on the year.

Wilson did most of his damage on that drive through the air, but the fourth-year quarterback extended the Seahawks' final drive several times with his legs.

Consider the situation, and result of the plays where Wilson ran during the Seahawks' final drive.

Starting Point	Down & To Go	Yards Gained	Result of Play	Time on Clock
Seattle 38	2nd & 10	7	3rd & 3 on Seattle 45	4:56
Dallas 28	2nd & 7	8	1st & 10 on Dallas 20	3:57
Dallas 17	3rd & 7	10	1st & Goal on Dallas 7	3:01
Dallas 11	3rd & Goal	5	4th & Goal on Dallas 6	2:00

Those two plays in the middle were huge for the Seahawks. Although the team was already well within field-goal range when Wilson picked up those first downs, they served a huge purpose in helping to run additional time off the clock and deplete the Cowboys' chances of mounting a serious comeback.

The book is out on the Seahawks, though, and one has to wonder how much longer Wilson can keep bailing them out solely with his athleticism.

Well, that's tough to answer.

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

His athleticism holding up isn't as much of a concern as the Seahawks continuously putting themselves in situations where Wilson has to bail them out.

The Seahawks have relied heavily on Wilson this season, and he currently sits in third place when sorting Seahawks players by rushing yards.

The telling stat, though, comes when you look at how many first downs Wilson has earned with his legs. Wilson has logged 15 first downs on the ground this year. That's more than the team's leading rusher, Thomas Rawls, and just five fewer than first-string running back Marshawn Lynch.

The need for Wilson to bail the Seahawks out points to a bit of a problem in the ground game as well.

Player	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	Touchdowns
Marshawn Lynch	21	71	3.4	0
Russell Wilson	6	32	5.3	0
Thomas Rawls	4	10	2.5	0

Sure, overall the numbers look OK, as the third-place Seahawks logged 113 yards rushing on the day, but a deeper look shows that Wilson was responsible for a whopping 28 percent of those 113 yards. Meanwhile, Lynch and second-string back Rawls combined for just 81 rushing yards and zero touchdowns.

If the team's run game falls flat, Wilson doesn't have the talent around him to make the plays with his arm.

Wilson praised his offensive line during the postgame press conference. "Guys just really stepped up tonight. They really showed up in a big way against a very, very tough defensive line, and that was really exciting, so their confidence just continues to grow."

Wilson was referencing the fact that the unit allowed no sacks on the night, but the reality of the situation is that the veteran QB was routinely flushed out of the pocket thanks in part to a shoddy O-line that has already allowed a ridiculous 31 sacks on the year.

In addition, his receiving corps—outside of Jimmy Graham—is nothing to get excited about.

Relying on Wilson and his athleticism to extend so many drives is dangerous, as it could easily result in an injury for the two-time Pro Bowler.

Wilson is smart and possesses a rather high football IQ, so he generally doesn't run unless it's totally necessary. However, a look at the stats tweeted out by the NFL Network earlier on Sunday paints the picture of a ticking time bomb and the possibility for a major injury:

It's not just the possibility of injury that should be of concern to the Seahawks. The fact that they're falling behind and then relying on Wilson to make plays with his legs is a concern moving forward as well.

Falling behind was never something the Seahawks had to worry about over the last few years, as the team's defense generally held teams to so few points that a bailout was never necessary.

This year, though, Seattle's defense hasn't quite lived up to the hype. It is already allowing 2.4 more points per game than in 2014 and 3.9 more points than in 2013.

Brandon Wade/Associated Press/Associated Press

It may be unrealistic to expect the team's defense to keep up its historical level of dominance, but it doesn't change the fact that additional pressure has been heaped on the offense, which forces it to do something that it doesn't do particularly well: score points.

This year, the Seahawks rank ninth in the NFC in points per game, averaging just 22 points over their first eight contests.

Speaking of offensive struggles, expect those to continue over the next few weeks.

Of their next eight games, four will come against teams that rank in the top half of the NFL in total defense—that includes two games against the Cardinals. Even worse for Seattle is the fact that six of those eight games will come against teams that rank in the top half of the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game.

These teams should be able to contain Wilson on the ground. This will force the Seahawks—who manage just 214 yards per game through the air—to throw the ball more often, exposing one of their biggest weaknesses on offense.

So, all told, when asked how long the Seahawks can rely on Wilson to keep saving them with his legs, the answer is: not long.

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