Russell Wilson excels, even as Seattle Seahawks lose

Published on January 13, 2013 by NFL DOTCOM

tempRM1_7177--nfl_mezz_1280_1024

The Seattle Seahawks watched a near miracle morph into a crushing playoff defeat to the Atlanta Falcons, but Sunday’s 30-28 loss highlighted just how far this team has come in one season.

Russell Wilson capped a rookie campaign for the ages with a furious second-half comeback that boiled down to a final Hail Mary that wound up — this time — not in the hands of Golden Tate, but Julio Jones, the Falcons wideout doubling as a defensive back as the clock struck midnight on Seattle’s season.

Wilson threw for 386 yards on 36 passes, turning a 27-7 deficit into a 28-27 lead with 31 seconds left. It was the rookie’s first 300-yard game of the season, but his calm presence in the pocket was nothing new.

The Seahawks have a big-time quarterback on their hands.

It wasn’t a perfect performance. Wilson was off his game early as Seattle marked its second consecutive playoff outing without points in the first quarter. Atlanta dominated time of possession through the first 30 minutes, but that category wound up nearly even for both teams, a sign of how Wilson and the Seahawks dominated the second act.

No stage has been too big for Wilson. He brought his team farther than any other rookie passer this season, a remarkable feat considering that group includes Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck. When they were drafted back in April, Wilson was an afterthought, a third-round pick lost in the Seahawks’ signing of Matt Flynn.

Few expected Wilson to overtake Flynn or even Tarvaris Jackson, much less capture the imagination of a town that fell hard for the Seahawks in 2012.

“He’s an amazing football player. I think he proved it again,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “… It’s so unheard of for rookies to do something like that. He ain’t a rookie. … I can’t even imagine how he can get better.”

Said Wilson: “When the game was over, I was very disappointed, but right before I got back to the tunnel, walking off the field, I got so excited for the next opportunity, next year. Looking forward what we have in the future. We have a great football team.”

In a season that started as a mystery — especially under center — the Seahawks have walked away with plenty of answers and hope for tomorrow.

via Russell Wilson excels, even as Seattle Seahawks lose – NFL.com.

Seahawks 12th Man Army has now gone mobile! Go to http://www.noticeorange.com/r/Seahawks12thManArmy to get an app for your phone. It's free and it has alerts so that you'll know whenever Seahawks 12th Man Army has anything new. What could be better?

Tags: Afterthought, April Wilson, Atlanta Falcons, Big Time, Clock Struck Midnight, coach pete carroll, First 30 Minutes, Football Player, Hail Mary, Julio Jones, Matt Flynn, Morph, Remarkable Feat, Robert Griffin, Rookie Campaign, Rookies, Russell Wilson, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Second Act, Yard Game

Fair Use Notice This website may at times present copyrighted material, the use of which might not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available in an effort to advance understandings of democratic, economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. The author believes that this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U. S. Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the articles published on this website are distributed without profit for research and informational purposes. In most instances a link is placed to originator of Article and it is never expressly mentioned as written by, we use published by certain entities who write or publish for this said Blog..