Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s elusiveness, style earns Chiefs’ respect

As Tamba Hali watched Russell Wilson escape the pocket and roll toward the sideline late in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 24-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, he knew absolutely knew this could be trouble.

Hali, who was hot in pursuit, did not care that the odds of Wilson converting the fourth-and-18 play were slim. He had, after all, spent four quarters watching Seattle’s superstar quarterback use his legs to evade pressure all day and make something out of nothing, right?

So with the game on the line — and the Chiefs nursing a four-point lead with a little over one left — he was going pursue him as hard as he could, just one last time. Wilson managed to uncork a floater before Hali could chase him down, however, so when Hali saw the pass finally land incomplete, he felt just one emotion.

“Yeah, it was a relief,” said Hali, who had already corralled Wilson once Sunday. “He’s magical when he gets out of that pocket.”

Prior to the last play, the Chiefs learned this firsthand several Sunday. Despite the fact they spent the entire game actively working to keep the 5-foot-11, 206-pound third-year pro in the pocket, Wilson still managed to complete 20 of 32 passes for 178 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions and rush eight times for 71 yards.

“You’re not going to stop him,” safety Eric Berry said. “That’s reality. Only thing you can do is slow him down and when he gets out the pocket, if he doesn’t slide, just try to put a hit on him and make him think twice about.”

The Chiefs didn’t get many big hits on the elusive Wilson, who was sacked twice, but they did do enough to get the last laugh. They regularly spied him with an extra man during the course of the game, and linebacker Justin Houston said the Chiefs’ pass rushers were forced to switch up the way they got after him.

“We did more bull (rush), more power (rush) to keep him in the pocket,” Houston said. “We didn’t want to give him running lanes.”

Sometimes, however, it did not matter. Many times Sunday, the Chiefs played excellent coverage, only to see Wilson step up in the pocket or scramble away from pressure to buy more time for his receivers. And on the occasions nobody came up, he simply scrambled for a nice gain.

“His legs,” cornerback Sean Smith said of Wilson. “The guy has a cannon of an arm to be that small. It’s getting out quick and he has the ability to get out the pocket and extend the play.

“There were so many times we were covering for hours and tight ends would start blocking and they’d just release out because it was a scramble drill and (get) 30-yard gain. It forces you to be disciplined and really play your guy.”

Smith said Wilson proved to be as elusive in person as he was on tape, but Smith said it’s something that is hard to prepare for.

“The running game draws so much attention that it kind of forces you to go one on ones on the outside,” Smith said. “And when you’ve got a like Russell who can get outside the pocket and still make those throws, it makes covering more difficult.”

Wilson showed what he can do early on the Seahawks’ final drive. Facing a third-and-9 and backed up deep in their own end, Wilson sensed the oncoming pressure, stepped up in the end zone and lofted a gorgeous ball to Doug Baldwin down the left sideline for 23 yards.

Smith had this in his mind four plays later, when Wilson attempted to make a similar pass to Richardson in front of him down the same sideline on fourth down.

“I just made sure I stayed on top,” Smith said. “I was aware the sticks were right there, and I played the comeback.”

At least one other pass-rusher, in addition to Hali, was in pursuit on that final play. Even though Wilson had 18 yards to go, the Chiefs still respected his legs enough to call a spy with Houston, who had Wilson in front of him the whole time.

“He wasn’t going too far,” Houston said with a laugh. “I was right there.”

So was Hali, who was relieved the turnover on downs officially ended a long day of chasing Wilson around, though he admits he was still left a bit wanting afterward.

“I was wishing I got there,” Hali said.

This story was originally published November 16, 2014 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s elusiveness, style earns Chiefs’ respect."