Russell Wilson ()
Spotlight on… Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks
When: Seattle travels to Baltimore, looking to avoid an ice patch, in their race to the playoffs.
What’s up: The Seahawks dropped three straight, falling to 2-4, making their Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots even more poignant. It looked like selfishness, injuries and coaching changes would prevent another deep postseason run. Then, the defense figured it out, and Wilson began to sizzle, delivering the best stretch of his career. Over Wilson’s last three games, all wins, he owns 11 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 148.2 QB rating. His hot streak coincides with improved offensive line play, especially at center, and the emergence of undrafted free agent RB Thomas Rawls.
Background: As long as the The Legion of Boom exists, defense defines the Seahawks. However, Seattle didn’t reward Wilson with a four-year, $87.6-million contract with $61.5 million guaranteed this offseason to hand the ball off and cross his fingers for takeaways.
Renck’s take: Wilson wins. For all the talk of Pete Carroll’s transformation of the Seahawks, he was a mortal coach until Wilson took over. Wilson reminds me of Hall of Famer Roger Staubach. He scrambles and runs with purpose. Wilson is on pace to finish with a career-high 28 touchdowns and 3,996 yards. He remains 49-19 as a starter. The Panthers and Cardinals rank as the class of the NFC, but nobody wants to see Seattle and Wilson in the playoffs.
