Greg Olsen reveals that Pete handcuffed Wilson last year

It starts at around the 5:40 mark. Greg Olsen talks about how they chose to rely on Russ because they had no choice given how bad the defense was. But the moment that Russ had a couple of bad games, the handcuffs came out...and there was more of a conservative approach. Russ avoided risky throws for that reason.

There were different reactions when Brandon Marshall (who is friends with Russ) said this..but there's no doubt that Olsen is considered a pretty reasonable guy. This adds further context as well to the overall drama of the offseason. What does everyone think?

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Shouldn't have thrown multiple picks per game for that stretch. Team won 6 of its last 7. Seems the formula works, to an extent.

Regardless, Waldron is here and looking pretty damn good at implementing a modern offense. If Russ starts chucking it to the other team, I expect Carson to be ridden hard.

Well it's hardly a stretch to assume a coach where "it's all about the ball" and protecting said ball would become weary once Russ' cookin' started to cause a fire on the stove. I can understand the frustration on both sides. Pete can't stand by and watch turnovers mount, and Russ wants to continue cookin'. There has to be a middle ground and I think we found it in the form of Shane Waldron.

Not sure why this is a surprise

I posted about his after one of the pressers. PC was very clear after I think the first game we lost or just about lost that there was a change coming and can't pass like that or something to that effect. Buried it now, but it was stated by PC in press conferences and then all the blame was put on Schotty when we kept playing like crap the rest of the season

Maelstrom787":36h2fbgl said:

Shouldn't have thrown multiple picks per game for that stretch. Team won 6 of its last 7. Seems the formula works, to an extent.

Regardless, Waldron is here and looking pretty damn good at implementing a modern offense. If Russ starts chucking it to the other team, I expect Carson to be ridden hard.

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I don't disagree with you from a winning standpoint. It worked, I just don't think that works in the playoffs. Although, I also think the Rams just whooped us in general.

I think the main thing is, how much has this mindset influenced our offense in the last 10 years? When Brady, Brees, Allen, etc. throw picks, the coaches don't panic. They let them play through it as quarterbacks because it happens to the best of em. That's my take on it anyway, chucking it to the other team shouldn't stop that. As they say shooters shoot.

I'm surprised that Pete let it go on as long as he did.

My biggest problem with Pete as it pertains to Russell and the Offense, is that he interferes with the play calling.

IMHO, the reason the offense started off so well last year, was because Schotty moved upstairs where Pete couldn't get at him.

And this year, Pete is refraining from going all OCD on his Offensive Coordinator and QB, and look at the results...20 seconds on the Play Clock when the come to the line of scrimmage! :2thumbs:

I agree that this is no surprise. We all knew that they put the handcuffs on. However, let's keep in mind it was not only just because of the 1 or 2 bad games. IT was also because the defense got better. I believe even if Wilson would not have had the 1 or 2 bad games as soon as the defense started coming around he would have put on the cuffs. You only have to go back to 2015. Lynch goes down all of a sudden Wilson has free reign. Lynch comes back and the cuffs come on.

In the end that is PC MO. He knows Wilson can carry the team but in order to do that PC has to play a style he does not like.

That said we will see what happens this year, so far so good, we will see.

Maybe the coaches saw Wilson missing the open receivers or something like that. What if they didn’t do it. Would Russ have gotten really bad and had things really fall apart.

Really who knows. But if Russ continued to throw bad throws what would we be saying now. So maybe Pete saved Russ from looking awful.


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HawkinNY":1ad76smt said:

Maybe the coaches saw Wilson missing the open receivers or something like that. What if they didn’t do it. Would Russ have gotten really bad and had things really fall apart.

Really who knows. But if Russ continued to throw bad throws what would we be saying now. So maybe Pete saved Russ from looking awful.


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well, PCs MO tells you which and why that said, and what if he works out of it, and instead of 12-4 we go 13-3 and actually win a playoff game. A lot of what-ifs. I would think after 9 years of stellar play he deserved the right to see.

PC has had his defense have huge lapses but let them play out of it. Carson has had games of multiple fumbles and he was allowed to play out of it. Wilson deserved a chance to play out of it. But again all What ifs what we know is PC has a history of putting the cuffs on at the first sign of trouble, or when his run game or defense starts looking decent.

That said let see what this year brings.

It is always amazing me how many people would rather look good and lose than play conservatively and win.

Wilson's turnovers literally cost us home field advantage. If we didn't pull the reins on Wilson and his hubristic interceptions we may not have even made the playoffs.

BASF":5jcyccg2 said:

If we didn't pull the reins on Wilson and his hubristic interceptions we may not have even made the playoffs.

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Those pulled in reins sure didnt help in the playoffs.

This isnt news, its 'Pete Ball'. Happens every year at some point. It'll happen this season too.

pittpnthrs":1mlo6u8s said:

BASF":1mlo6u8s said:

If we didn't pull the reins on Wilson and his hubristic interceptions we may not have even made the playoffs.

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Those pulled in reins sure didnt help in the playoffs.

This isnt news, its 'Pete Ball'. Happens every year at some point. It'll happen this season too.

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If it wins us six of the last seven games so we aren't eliminated in December, I am all for it.

We tried passing in the playoffs last year. The reason we lost is Iupati getting owned constantly forcing Pocic to try to help him which allowed him to get owned. You can't handcuff your offense by allowing an old slow unhealthy lineman to come back for the playoffs and expect the offense to perform better. Pete allowed it two straight seasons. Let's hope that Iupati doesn't announce that he is unretiring for Pete to decide we can use him for our playoff run.

So it went from "let Russ cook" to "Russ, just use the microwave".

Spohawks":2kepfwbe said:

So it went from "let Russ cook" to "Russ, just use the microwave".

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:lol: :2thumbs:

Spohawks":g90tp97r said:

So it went from "let Russ cook" to "Russ, just use the microwave".

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Haha, more like the toaster oven. Nice and slow :2thumbs:

Pete haters, please start charting FIRE PETE FIRE PETE FIRE PETE FIRE PETE.

BASF":2p1j8ioo said:

It is always amazing me how many people would rather look good and lose than play conservatively and win.

Wilson's turnovers literally cost us home field advantage. If we didn't pull the reins on Wilson and his hubristic interceptions we may not have even made the playoffs.

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or he may have worked his way out and we make the playoffs and maybe we win a game.

As far as "handcuffing" goes, what do people define as handcuffing?

It seems some people equate providing structure for a floundering quarterback (the ugly midseason stretch where 2 high defenses broke the offense) to "handcuffing." I'd argue that, while not perfectly executed, that it's simply an example of responsible coaching, as was the decision to make a change on offense so that he wouldn't have to step in and take the offense back to basics to keep the team from throwing games away.

The team rebounded and, while not flying high like in the beginning of the season, went 6-1 to end it. Let Russ Cook was good for a while, and then it really wasn't.

There's a weird dynamic thats taking place here where people don't think the head coach should be.. ya know.. coaching.

Stubbornly sticking to a very neutralized Let Russ Cook attack would be just as bad, if not worse due to turnovers, than a stubborn adherence to Peteball.(which, by the way, didn't happen as the team remained a fairly pass happy team after the "handcuffs" were slapped on.) Not only that, but it'd be just as irresponsible for the good of Russell to keep him plugging away in an attack that had obviously been figured out instead of protecting him by taking some pressure off.

I’m trying to argue in good faith here and I hope others are as well. I think this all starts with whether you believe Russell Wilson is a Top 5 QB.

If you do not, then okay fair. Pete is totally justified and what he did was good coaching. Basically, treat him like 2012-2014 Russ. Treat him like a game manager who isn’t capable of leading the team to victory. Since he won’t be able to overcome tough stretches like other elite QBs in the past.

But if you do consider him a Top 5 QB, then what Pete did is absurd. Trusting your QB is essential in this league. Last year, Tom Brady threw a pick six in THREE straight back to back games. Three. Drew Brees once threw 7 interceptions in a 2 game stretch.

Turning over the football does not make you a floundering QB if you have a strong track record of great QB play. Again, this goes to how you view Russell Wilson and if you don’t view him as an elite QB, then you’ll believe it was right for Pete to treat him like Andy Dalton. I actually respect that opinion because it’s okay to debate QB play…it’s healthy sports debate. But for the great QBs, coaches should allow their great QBs to make mistakes.

Scorpion05":17wg64w4 said:

But if you do consider him a Top 5 QB, then what Pete did is absurd. Trusting your QB is essential in this league.

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I don't think it's anywhere near that simple. What matters is why the QB is turning the ball over. Good decisions can lead to turnovers if the receiver bobbles it or the defender makes a great play, and QBs get away with bad decisions all the time when the defender does not make the play. Russ's turnovers in the GB playoff game were fine because they were mostly Kearse's fault, and they kept on going that way because they felt it was a fluke.

If any QB is throwing bad INTs, Brady and Brees included, then that is cause for concern and adjustments. Most of Russ's turnovers over his career have been relatively excusable because he has been careful with the football.

Between week 6 and week 9 last season Russ had 10 turnovers and the team lost three games. Many people, including myself, argue that a key reason for these turnovers was that the opposing defenses shifted to more cover 2 in order to limit our extremely successful deep passing attack and our offense continued to try forcing big plays instead of adapting. It doesn't matter whose fault that is, the point is that there was a clear problem that the coaching staff needed to address.

Whether the coaching staff fixed things in the right way or not is obviously a matter of debate, but I find myself agreeing with Maelstrom that it is really weird that some posters here think our coaching staff should not do obvious coaching things.