Pete Caroll has been met with quite a bit of criticism for the Seahawks' gameplan against the Cowboys in a 24-22 loss on Saturday. The team rushed for 113 yards on 39 attempts (2.9 yards per attempt) against a stout Cowboys defense, while throwing for 182 yards on 26 attempts. The main criticism is that it played into the hands of the Cowboys, a team that loves to slow its game down.
Russell Wilson, a quarterback who made about $30 million this year, threw the ball well. He had a pair of passing touchdowns and the Seahawks were in the game most of the way. And even though he agrees that the Seahawks had to run the ball to succeed, he still appeared to have some thoughts about how the game was managed.
"I think that when you reflect back on it, we were throwing it pretty well in the game," he said, per The News Tribune. "I think we could have kept doing that some more. But also, you want to stay true to running the ball, too ... They did a pretty good job of stopping us on the run and in that game we had to throw the ball and make some plays ... But I think also too: We could have been better. We could have been better on some of the runs and some of the things we were doing. That's part of the game. Sometimes you shoot, sometimes it doesn't go in. Sometimes you shoot and it keeps going in."
The Seahawks went 10-6 this year behind a stubborn running game, but the fact is the Cowboys were horrible matchup for that style. They nearly beat the Rams that way, and they did beat the Chiefs -- which is to say, the Seahawks could play with anyone this year. However, in Wilson's (who had only two carries himself) case, perhaps a bit more malleability on offense would have been beneficial.
