That's just how Wilson is wired and partly why the Seahawks were
the first team in the NFL to clinch a playoff spot with their
34-7 manhandling of the Saints on Monday night.
"That
preparation was big," Wilson said. "I really think it showed up
tonight."
Seattle is the first team bound for the postseason. They need
to go 2-2 in their final four games to wrap up home-field
advantage and make the NFC playoffs go through Seattle.
Wilson finished with 310 yards passing and attempted only
three passes in the fourth quarter for 13 yards. His first three
quarters were so good he could have become a spectator in the
fourth. He threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to Zach Miller and
4 yards to Doug Baldwin in the first half as Seattle built a
27-7 lead. Wilson added a pinball 8-yard TD pass to Derrick
Coleman in the third quarter.
Wilson completed 22 of 30 passes and finished with a
quarterback rating of 139.6. He is 14-0 at home and has 22
regular-season wins in his first two seasons, tied for the most
ever by a second-year QB.
"They definitely played the run well tonight, we didn't run
the ball as well as we'd like," Carroll said. "It allowed us to
hit a bunch of other stuff."
New Orleans (9-3) again failed to earn a signature road
victory to prove it can win outdoors on the road late in the
season. Drew Brees finished 23 of 38 for 147 yards. Jimmy Graham
had three catches for 42 yards. Darren Sproles led New Orleans
with seven catches, many of them on check downs. The seven
points matched the fewest scored by the Saints since Sean Payton
became coach in 2006 and the 188 total yards were the fewest in
his coaching tenure.
The Saints were just as flustered by their defense and the
inability to slow Wilson.
"I don't even know what to tell you. I don't even know what
happened out there," Saints linebacker Junior Galette said. "We
better watch the films and see what we can adjust."
Here are five things we learned from the Seahawks' dominating
win over the Saints:
BAFFLED BREES: It's rare to see Brees confused and unsure of
where to go with his passes. But he was regularly double
clutching his throws and being forced to move around the pocket.
Seattle used unusual coverages with its linebackers to try and
make Brees hesitate with his timing, and the Seahawks pass rush
was able to make him uncomfortable in the pocket.