Russell Wilson MVP: Seattle Seahawks Win Again As Wilson Dominates Ravens
Russell Wilson is a true NFL MVP candidate now. The Seattle Seahawks improved to 8-5 as Russell Wilson threw for five touchdown passes on Sunday, December 13. Wilson lead the Seahawks to an impressive 35-6 victory in Week 14, helping the team move into the first wild card slot in the NFC. The Seahawks’ starting quarterback also put together another spectacular game statistically.
Wilson finished Sunday with 292 yards and five touchdowns on just 32 pass attempts. He hooked up with receiver Doug Baldwin for three touchdowns and rookie Tyler Lockett for two more. On the season, Wilson now has 3,289 passing yards and 26 touchdowns through the air. That already ties his career-high in touchdown passes and puts him close to his high-water mark of 3,475 passing yards in the 2014 NFL season. It is clear that Wilson is getting even more comfortable passing from the pocket.
Russell Wilson winning the NFL MVP Award might be tough when Cam Newton is leading his Carolina Panthers with an undefeated record so far. Newton’s completion percentage and quarterback rating don’t really stack up with what Wilson is doing this season, though, so there could be a lot of debate about how much team success plays into the MVP this season. Newton did have another really good game on Sunday, though, passing for 265 yards and three touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons.
For the season, Cam Newton now has 3,062 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions on his record. He now has a completion percentage of 59.1 on the season. Wilson is currently at 68.8 percent in completing passes and has just seven interceptions on his stat sheet. Newton has an additional 480 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, while Wilson has 456 rushing yards and one additional touchdown.
Two other quarterbacks are also in the race to win the NFL MVP and they are Carson Palmer of the Arizona Cardinals and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. Palmer has 4,003 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Brady is at 3,912 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and six interceptions through his first six games. Neither is the threat that Cam Newton and Russell Wilson are in the running game, but have put up many more passing yards. Palmer has completed 64.5 percent of his passes, while Brady has completed 63.7 percent.
Coming into the weekend, the quarterback ratings among the four elite candidates have been really good. Carson Palmer (107.2), Russell Wilson (106.2), Tom Brady (102.8), and Cam Newton (93.2) have all been very good behind center. Wilson and Newton improved their numbers when the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers won on December 13, but those updated quarterback ratings have not yet been revealed by the league.
Tom Brady plays against the Houston Texans on Sunday night and could finish the day leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns. If the Patriots can continue to win games and overcome a rash of injuries, it could be another MVP season for the four-time Super Bowl winner. The Patriots will be battling the Denver Broncos for the top seed in the AFC, possibly giving the team homefield advantage in the postseason again.
The Week 15 NFL schedule has the Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants, New England Patriots vs. Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks vs. Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Eagles. For all the NFL MVP candidates, it could become very important to put up big numbers of the next two weeks, because they could all be looking at rest in Week 17. Russell Wilson has now entered the conversation as one of the most deserving candidates to win the MVP award this season, but he will need to finish the season strong to get more national attention.
[Photo by: Patrick Smith/Getty Images]
