What did Richard Sherman have to say about Russell Wilson’s losing play against the Colts?
For the former teammate of the Broncos QB, Thursday night’s blunder which ultimately led to a loss, was just a little too close to home.
The NFL free-agent almost blew a fuse after watching the Broncos fall to the Colts, on a play that brought back some all-too painful memories for the cornerback.
Russell Wilson’s game losing play is a problem for Richard Sherman
On Thursday night, the Denver Broncos lost to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 12-9. The result in itself would have been cause for criticism, but it was the manner in which they went down that was a real issue for NFL free-agent Richard Sherman. Let’s set the scene for you. It was overtime and the Broncos were on fourth-and-1 at the Colts’ 5-yard line, with a real shot at victory. Rather than employ their running game, the Broncos chose to go with Russell Wilson who threw an incomplete pass. Indeed, Wilson targeted Courtland Sutton who was being attended to by former Defensive Player of the Year and Colts CB, Stephon Gilmore. As you can probably guess, Gilmore broke up the pass and that was that. Broncos lost and cue Richard Sherman’s rage.
“You gotta run the ball,” Sherman said postgame on ‘Thursday Night Football.’ “Again, I wish I had Marshawn (former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch) up here. Run the ball. You need 1 yard. Run the ball. Run the ball! All he has to do is run the football. ...Necessary criticism. I said enough criticism for him, but God dang it - run the dang ball!”
Why was Richard Sherman so angry about the Broncos loss?
If you didn’t know, Sherman and Wilson were actually teamates when they both played for the Seahawks and even went to Super Bowl XLIX together. That is in fact, what Sherman was reminded of and it appears it’s not a memory he likes to recall. Fans will recall, the Seahawks were at the New England Patriots’ 1-yard line trailing 28-24 with 25 seconds remaining in the game. On second-and-goal, Wilson decided to throw a slant over the middle which was subsequently picked off by Malcolm Butler. Broncos lost and cue Richard Sherman’s rage. For added context, that would have been the Seahawks second Super Bowl win in a row.
Why didn’t Wilson hand the ball off to the aforementioned Lynch, we’ll never be sure, but what we do know is that it created a rift in the locker room. Indeed, this is not the first time that Sherman has critized Wilson’s decision that day. At any rate, while we can say football is a game of inches, one can’t deny that when an error that costs as much as a loss is repeated, questions need to be asked. Against the Colts, Wilson could have targeted a wide open K.J. Hamler, instead he went over the middle. Worse still is the fact that RB Melvin Gordon - top notch in short-yardage - has a proven track record of 23 touchdown runs of 1-yard since 2016 - trailing only Derrick Henry for the most in football since the 2016 season. On the other hand, this could very well have been a coaching call, however the fact that Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett talked about getting the “got to go for it” would suggest it wasn’t. If that’s the case, then maybe Sherman might have a point about his former teammate.