WOW, thought I uploaded a while ago but I guess it didn’t work… So here it is!
Today was the annual Bills in Toronto game, so as a Torontonian I had to go if I wanted to catch any NFL action at home this year. The Bills were god awful and ended up getting destroyed by Seattle 50-17. Just like everyone else, Ryan Fitzpatrick’s miscues and Buffalo’s horrid defence caught my eye, but I honestly did not head to the Rogers Centre today to see the Bills. I went to see one of the most surprising teams in the entire league this year, the Seattle Seahawks.
Everyone remembers the controversy surrounding the Seahawks back in Week 3 with the whole Golden Tate and replacement ref fiasco during the game against Green Bay. Back then no one took Seattle seriously as a team, laughing at their undersized rookie QB, Russell Wilson, and not giving them a snowballs chance in hell on contending for the Super Bowl. Most didn’t even consider them to be playoff contenders. How things can change so much in so little time. Fast forward to Week 15 and the Hawks are 9-5 on the year and hold a playoff wild card spot. Their leader? None other than Russell Wilson himself, all 5-11 of him.
Russell Wilson has steadily made a name for himself all season long, pulling off huge wins against the Packers, Patriots, and Bears earlier on in the year, but his real coming out party has been the past two weeks. Coming off of last weeks 58-0 steamrolling against Arizona, not many people expected Wilson and company to replicate that game. So of course Seattle comes out to Toronto and destroys Buffalo 50-17. That’s 108 points scored and 17 let up in two games. They became the third team in NFL history to record 50+ points in consecutive weeks and the first in over 60 years. Suddenly the Seahawks are the talk of the league and third round pick Russell Wilson is Seattle’s hero. Wilson has been the difference maker this season, especially the last couple of weeks. Today he rushed for his first three TD’s of his young career and he also threw for another TD in the half, becoming the first player ever to accomplish such a feat. Although undersized and not as big of a name as an Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III, Wilson is winning games at the NFL level and powering Seattle to what looks to be a playoff spot.
Seattle is a decent team even without Russell Wilson. Guys like Marshawn Lynch, Sidney Rice, and Earl Thomas highlight a good Seahawks squad. However, the glue that is keeping the team together is Wilson’s consistency and his ability to pull out wins, particularly in close game scenarios. Without Wilson, Seattle would be struggling to squeeze into the playoffs, statistically speaking. Not to offend Matt Flynn, but I highly doubt that the Seahawks would win close games like the Patriots and Packers tilts without Wilson. That is what separates him from a lot of other QB’s and why Seattle is emerging as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. It’s his drive and will to win that propels his team into victory. The Seattle Seahawks have officially taken flight, the rest of the league has started to notice, and it’s all thanks to one of the top young quarterbacks in the game, Russell Wilson.
