With Week 13 of the NFL season wrapping up Monday night there are now only four more weeks of the 2017 NFL regular season. With the end of the regular season right around the corner speculation of who will win the NFL MVP will ramp up. Most experts and fans believe the MVP race is between Tom Brady and Carson Wentz (aka Prince Harry’s twin) and both quarterbacks deserve the attention they are receiving. Each signal caller has their respective team at 10-2 and in position to contend for home field throughout the playoffs.
This season Brady has thrown for 3,632 yards while completing 68.5 percent of his passes and he’s tallied 26 touchdowns to four interceptions. Wentz has thrown for 3,005 yards and completed 60.7 percent of his passes while throwing 29 touchdowns and six interceptions. Both quarterbacks are certainly worthy of being named MVP this season. But Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson also deserves serious MVP consideration.
Russell Wilson Should Be NFL MVP Front Runner
The Numbers
This season Wilson has completed 62.4 percent of his passes while throwing for 3.256 yards and he’s tossed 26 touchdowns to only eight interceptions. The former NC State and Wisconsin quarterback is on pace to throw for 4.341 yards and have 35 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Wilson’s quarterback rating is 96.9 as of now and he has been instrumental in his team achieving an 8-4 record (one game behind the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West) thus far and being in a position to win the division or at least make the postseason as a wild card team.
Here’s an incredible statistic. The Seahawks have scored 30 touchdowns this season and Russell Wilson is responsible for 29 of them. Of the 30 times Seattle has found pay dirt Wilson has thrown for 26 and rushed for three more. There is only one other Seahawks player who has been responsible for a touchdown this season. J.D. McKissic has rushed for one touchdown and that is the only Seahawks score that Wilson is not directly responsible for this season.
No Help
Wilson is doing almost everything on offense by himself. Seattle’s offensive line is not performing well and Wilson’s mobility is a large reason why he hasn’t been sacked more than the 28 times opposing defenses have gotten to him. There’s very little in the way of a rushing attack in Seattle. This season the Seahawks have rushed for 1,233 yards and Wilson has 432 of those yards, which means Wilson has accounted for 35 percent of Seattle’s rushing yards this season while not losing a single fumble. Only Chris Carson, who has been on IR since Week four, has even rushed for 200 yards (he has 208). Wilson has accomplished all of this even though the Seahawks offensive line as a group is horrible at run-blocking.
But Wilson is also being responsible for moving the offense through the air and Seattle’s offensive line isn’t exactly the best pass-blocking unit in the league. Wilson is his team’s starting quarterback and top running back. As of now Wilson has accounted for 85.7 percent of the Seahawks yards gained this season. That is simply amazing. Wilson is responsible for over 96 percent of his team’s touchdowns and 85.7 percent of the yardage the Seahawks have gained. Without Wilson the entire Seahawks offense would have crumbled this season.
Last Word
While the Seahawks defense is still talented and formidable, the Legion of Boom isn’t exactly what it used to be and the Seahawks have dealt with injuries to key personnel on that side of the ball this season. Cornerback Richard Sherman is out for the season with an Achilles injury and Earl Thomas has been banged up as well, and they aren’t the only players Seattle has been missing, including Kam Chancellor who might be out for the season with a neck injury.
Brady and Wentz have certainly been incredible impressive this season, but no one has done more for his team and had less help this season than Wilson. He should be the front runner for MVP right now.
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