On Sunday night the country was treated to a spectacular duel between two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, including presumptive league MVP Patrick Mahomes. While Mahomes was stellar, it’s hard to claim he was the best quarterback on the field.
That distinction belongs to the opposing signal-caller, Seattle’s Russell Wilson.
Wilson played lights-out to take down one of the best teams in the league, and in doing so he guided his Seahawks back to the postseason in a year when hardly anyone thought they would. This season has been nothing short of remarkable for Wilson. He has already tied his career best for touchdown passes (34) and is on pace to set a career high in passer rating (112.7) and a career low in interceptions (six).
With the year Wilson is having and the fact he led a rebuilding roster to the playoffs, he deserves to be in the MVP discussion. Although it is hard to envision a scenario where he ultimately wins — especially when considering how explosive Mahomes has been all year — Wilson is still a legitimate contender.
A year removed from leading the NFL in touchdown passes, Wilson is third in the NFL behind Mahomes and Andrew Luck, who only has two more scores than Wilson. Wilson is also joined by MVP candidates Mahomes and Drew Brees as the only quarterbacks to have a passer rating over 110.
Seahawks fans — and media figures from the Pacific Northwest like Fox Sports 1’s Colin Cowherd — feel as if Wilson is constantly overlooked in every way, shape and form. However, in the grand scheme of things, awards are mostly overrated. They aren’t worth nearly as much as what the media make them out to be.
What matters most is on-field production and what players like Wilson mean to a team, a franchise and a city. In that regard, Wilson’s value can never truly be quantified.
