Pete Carroll Teases Sean Payton’s Mistake Regarding Russell Wilson
The Denver Broncos have fans waiting for them to finally disclose their quarterback strategy with Russell Wilson. Considering that Wilson and the Broncos recently reached a temporary cease-fire, it might be worthwhile to investigate if Wilson ever had the opportunity to play in a system built with him in mind.
A trip back to Seattle is inevitable when trying to solve the Wilson conundrum, which seems to have no answers. Pete Carroll, who recently resigned as the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach (though he is reportedly staying on as an advisor), had the quarterback’s best years when he was younger and more dynamic.
The Seahawks made eight postseason trips and went to two Super Bowls, winning one (Super Bowl XLVIII) during the ten-year Carroll/Wilson tenure. Carroll’s renowned “Legion of Boom” defense and Marshawn Lynch’s brutal rushing style were complementary to Wilson.
Still, Carroll finds it frustrating that he didn’t get more out of his collaboration with Wilson. Throughout their ten seasons together, Carroll and Wilson were rumored to have had disagreements. However, no one had the same understanding of his explosive protégé as the seasoned coach.
After serving for 14 years in Seattle, Carroll is stepping down, and the vivacious 72-year-old shared some wisdom on how to make the most of Wilson, who gave him his only Super Bowl ring.
“As we got coming out of that phase where we really could run it a lot, and there was an emphasis on the passing game, we did go too far,” Carroll told Seattle Sports earlier this week. “I wish we would have kept the blend more in the mixture because I think we were more difficult to deal with that way than trying to out-yard them in the passing game.”
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Isn’t it strange, even ironic, that a coach with Carroll’s level of experience would still be regretting the areas where he miscalculated in his strategy with his former quarterback? We might be hearing Broncos Country yelling from the playoff rooftops if Sean Payton had picked up the phone and attempted to bend Carroll’s ear last summer.
But the best science is hindsight. If Payton’s first season with Wilson hadn’t seen Javonte Williams return from a season lost to a horrific multi-ligament knee injury, the Broncos offense might have looked very different.
The Broncos began the season 1–5, with Payton letting Wilson pass on 61% of the offensive plays that were run, while Williams recovered to play. Russ has never been good at the straight drop-back game, so opposing defenses made Denver pay for it.
As they dug further, they lost the crucial element of surprise and found themselves in a hole they had dug for themselves. Gameday offense telegraphed by Payton and Wilson gave opponents in Denver an idea of what to expect.
In the past, Carroll was always aware that when you have a mobile running quarterback like Wilson at the controls, you have to work off the run. This is nothing new, either.
“In the game, when your quarterback is a runner, and he’s mobile and he can escape, that’s a [factor] in the game that really neutralizes a lot of stuff,” Carroll explained. “And when you have that and you use it well, it can be both a surprise and a threat. The surprise comes when you scramble, and the threat comes from the running plays’ cunning. If you can control it, that factor is actually quite important in the game.”
Wilson is not Drew Brees, as Payton learned the hard way, but who is more to blame for that apparent realization? The standings showed that Wilson was less of a drop-back passer when the Broncos’ running game was performing better, including an
Playing to your quarterback’s proven strengths while also being aware of his limitations is essential to building an offense. Strangely, during Payton’s broken first year in Denver, that got lost in translation somehow.
“Often, that type of player isn’t really the most proficient type of passer; he’s an athlete type of passer, more so,” Carroll explained. “And when you have that blend, which we had for a number of years—just look at Russ’ rushing numbers when he was around 500 yards a year.”
Wilson averaged 468.9 rush yards per season during his ten years in Seattle, scoring 23 touchdowns on the ground overall. Granted, the bulk of that production came in his first six seasons, with his career-high being 849 yards in Year 3 (2014) — the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl.
Wilson arrived in Denver at the age of 33, and he turned 34 midway through the first year. Since Wilson’s birthday was in November, we can refer to this past season as his age-35 season. In 2022, he gained 3 touchdowns and 277 yards through rushing. That was in fifteen starts.
Wilson made 15 starts for Payton and ran for 341 yards and three more touchdowns. Wilson’s rushing production did decline, to be sure, but coaching and scheme also had a part in it. We can blame some of it on the whims of Father Time.
In situations involving short yardage, Payton enjoyed running Wilson on quarterback dives, but that was the only thing the coach had in mind for his usually reliable running quarterback. Wilson was spotted moving around the backfield a lot this season, but it only seemed to hurt Payton’s play-calling ability and produced little output above the line of scrimmage.
Think back to the heyday of Carroll’s Seahawks teams, or even consider Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, to see how a smart coach can take advantage of the dynamic rushing threat at quarterback.
You’re at the top of the charts because of that complement to the rest of the running game. That’s the factor, Carroll remarked. And it is currently visible to you. Lamar is most likely rushing for 700–800 yards, or something similar. And that element neutralizes extremely effective defense(s).
