Written by Staff Writer at CNN
Russell Wilson was the offensive story of this season’s Monday Night Football game in Seattle. The star Seahawks quarterback lit up the NFL average in the season, passing for 4,065 yards, the eighth most in league history.
On Thursday night however, he misfired in a 41-38 loss to the lowly Rams, finishing the game with 193 yards. Wilson did find wide receiver Tyler Lockett for a 72-yard touchdown pass in the game and had an additional 39 yards rushing.
Russell Wilson posted an Instagram photo to praise Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright. Credit: @rogerwilson/Instagram
But Carroll felt Wilson’s throwing accuracy needs to be sharpened and appeared more irked by the quarterback’s interception late in the fourth quarter which Los Angeles converted into a touchdown.
In his post-game press conference, Carroll suggested Wilson had not properly checked with his coach, targeting offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, and felt he made a “characteristic error.”
“Russell knows that he has to do better, we all got to do better,” Carroll said. “I’ve got to do a better job, Brian and his staff, I’ve got to do a better job calling plays. … I’m good in sharing the responsibility, that’s where I come in — I’ve got to be better there. We’re all in it together. And that’s what it is. That’s on all of us.”
Carroll was also clearly frustrated that the Seahawks defense did not completely keep the pass rush off Wilson, saying “we weren’t able to get the pass rush when we needed it.”
Wilson had one NFL quarterback passer rating point above 100 on the year. Credit: @NFL Research/Getty Images North America
In 2016, he posted a passer rating of 111.9. But at this time last year, he was sitting at 82.7.
Russell Wilson posted a second Instagram photo alongside his adoring family. Credit: @rogerwilson/Instagram
After the game, the quarterback posted a second Instagram photo with his adoring wife and two young children, offering up a side-by-side comparison of his stats on the following day. “Today wasn’t my day…” he wrote. “Forget the stats… the most important stat is the W! Good game Rams. Felt like we were gonna win it. We got close.”
In his post-game press conference, he explained why Wilson felt more accountable for the loss and seemed to blame the Rams’ defense.
He said: “At the end of the day, it’s on the offense and myself. At the end of the day it falls on me. We weren’t able to get the pass rush off when we needed it. And that’s me. If you don’t get the pass rush off, you can’t be effective. At the end of the day, the defense stepped up, I’m happy for them.”