The Seattle Seahawks run game this season hasn’t been nearly as successful as coach Pete Carroll could have hoped for.
Through 15 regular season games, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson leads his team as the top ground-gainer with 550 yards.
Carroll said he’s missed his consistent running team on offense this season, but he’s impressed with Wilson’s ability to carry his team through the rushing draught.
“I would not have thought that that would be possible with the guys we had coming out of camp going into the season,” Carroll told Dori Monson of KIRO Radio 97.3. “I thought we were going to be really a big running team. Chris Carson was the guy we had our sights on, and there’s a bunch of guys – Thomas (Rawls), and everybody we thought would have a shot – but as it’s turned out, because of the way the season has gone. And really, fortunately, Russell’s health and the marvelous offseason that he had to be prepared for it.
“He’s taken full advantage of it, but it’s not at all the way we had scripted it and wanted it to go.”
Per NFL Research, Wilson needs just 238 more passing yards to become the first player in league history to have multiple seasons with 4,000 plus passing yards and 500 plus rushing yards. The Seahawks haven’t had stability in the backfield all season long. Rookie Chris Carson took over the lead back duties earlier this season, but was placed on Injured Reserve after suffering a leg fracture in Week 4 against the Colts.
Since then, Eddie Lacy, Thomas Rawls and J.D. McKissic have all rotated in as featured back. But each player struggled, and Wilson took matters into his own hands.
Mike Davis took over Seattle’s starting back duties in Week 13 after he was promoted from the team’s practice squad. He has 192 yards on 58 carries heading into the Seahawks final regular season game against the Cardinals on Sunday.
