Texans – 38

Seahawks – 41

If you thought that what we witnessed on Sunday afternoon felt more like watching someone play Madden on “rookie” mode than an actual NFL football game, we would agree. Because no one on God’s green Earth thought that a game between the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks would have ended up being a shootout for the ages.

This was supposed to be a battle in the trenches defined by two of the League’s better defenses. A battle between Russell Wilson, a quarterback who is perennially overlooked and criminally underrated, and Deshaun Watson, the electrifying rookie who everyone expected his hot start to finally cool down in the temperate Northwest.

Instead, Deshaun Watson cemented his claim to rookie of the year and Wilson’s performance demanded that he is deserving of being a part of the MVP conversation. There have only been two times in NFL history where a quarterback has had 400+ yards passing, at least 30 yards rushing, and four touchdown passes. Both of them were playing in the same game.

Russell Wilson versus Deshaun Watson became one of the best quarterback duels in recent memories, maybe one that might be considered an all-time showdown someday. Sunday’s game was nothing short of a treat. A treat that allowed us to overindulge in wild plays, star power, four fourth quarter lead changes, an unforgettable finish, and an instant classic. Seattle and Houston combined for 988 total yards of offense and 10 touchdowns. It was a game so good it will make an otherwise mediocre NFL Sunday seem like one that should never be forgotten. A game so good it almost makes you feel sorry for those who have decided to boycott the NFL this season. Almost.

Coming into Sunday, Texans rookie Deshaun Watson was setting the League ablaze. Watson had tied Tom Brady and Alex Smith with 15 touchdown passes on the season and nearly knocked off the Patriots in New England earlier this year. Despite this early success, Watson was headed to a place where most rookies go to die: Seattle. Since 2002, rookie quarterbacks were a combined 2-10 at Seattle. The only wins coming from Josh Freeman in 2009 (who is no longer in the League) and Andy Daulton in 2011 (meh).

The first drive of the day, Watson bombed it to Will Fuller, who had escaped past Shaq Griffin and Earl Thomas, for a 59-yard touchdown. On the following possession, Earl Thomas found redemption for his earlier mistake by flying out of nowhere to snag an interception from Watson and return it for a 79 yard pick-6. Such an early mistake would have broken most rookies in Seattle. Not Watson. For the rest of the game, Watson absolutely took charge of his offense en route to 402 yards passing, 67 yards rushing, and four touchdown passes.

Keep in mind this wasn’t the Indianapolis Colts he was playing, but the Legion of Boom in Seattle. Watson was unphased by sacks, turnovers, pressure, or not much help from the run game.

He simply delivered and almost snagged a monumental upset statement win. Deshaun’s performance was historic, but he was only the second-best player on the field. The first was his opposing counterpart in navy and neon.

I mentioned earlier that Wilson has to be in the MVP conversation. I’m not saying he is the MVP, nor am I saying he should win the award… not yet at least. But if you watched that game and tell me he doesn’t deserve to be at least mentioned alongside Carson Wentz or Alex Smith then you aren’t allowed to watch football anymore.

On Sunday, Russell Wilson was a one-man weapon. He was the Seattle Seahawks. For six years now we have been accustomed to Russell Wilson magic, that feeling of knowing any time he could break loose with something incredible. Against Houston, we saw something magnificent. The Wilson magic had been amplified as he put forth an absolute clinic to save the Seahawks at home. Wilson’s biggest doubters are those who say he is only good because of his defense and run game.

Well, the Legion of Boom gave up 38 points for only the sixth time in the Pete Carroll era (three of which came during his first year in 2010), and all Seahawk ball carriers not named Wilson combined for five yards on sixteen carries. Russell accumulated 482 of the Seahawks’ 479 total yards of offense. Yes, you read that right and no it is not a typo, he actually accounted for 101% of Seattle’s offense. His 452 yards passing was a Seattle single-game record as well.

Wilson’s four touchdown afternoon was his second such game of the season, pushing his total this year to 15. Compared to last year’s injury-plagued campaign where he only had five through the first seven games.

But the real testament to Wilson came at the very end of the fourth when he showed why he has that “it” factor. After being manhandled all day by Houston’s offense, the Legion stepped up with one critical stop on third down. Trailing 38-34, Wilson had gotten the ball back with a chance to win the game. Even for someone as clutch as him, the task ahead was a daunting one, to say the least. Seattle had to drive 80 yards in 1:39 with no timeouts. Turns out, that was more than they needed.

Wilson showed why he is DangeRuss once more by delivering a touchdown in only three plays as if it were nothing.

A 43-yard deep strike to Paul Richardson, a 19-yard pass to Tyler Lockett, and the 18-yard game-winner to Jimmy Graham who recorded his second score of the game. Wilson didn't just have his 23rd fourth quarter comeback to win the game, he also secured the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award, his sixth time earning such honors.

The poise, determination, and brilliance of Wilson showed the detractors and doubters that not only can he be successful from the pocket, but also thrive. Not only can he win a shoot-out, but can do so in dramatic fashion. Not only can he be a good quarterback, but perhaps elite. He is not someone whose success is entirely beholden to a run game or defense, this is no longer 2012. In 2017, the Seattle Seahawks are undoubtedly his squad. This is his franchise.

The Good

It would be easy to just make this segment another opportunity to talk about Russell Wilson, but instead, I’ll talk about how well the receiving corps played on Sunday. Eight different Seahawks caught a pass, one of the highest total number of players to do so in a single game this season for Seattle.

If you were to tell me that the Seahawks won a shootout and scored 41 points, but Doug Baldwin was only our fourth leading receiver of the day I would have scoffed.

Although he had a solid outing with 6 catches for 54 yards, he was overshadowed by the stellar afternoons had by Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson. Lockett led the day with a career-best 120 yards, with Richardson with 105 and two touchdowns. Fullback Tre Madden even had 66 receiving yards. Richardson’s two scores placed him firmly in the lead for most receiving scores for Seattle this season.

The oft-criticized Jimmy Graham continued his hot streak in the red zone, scoring his third and fourth touchdowns of the year in that part of the field. His third straight game with a score. Through seven games, the only Seahawks team that has accumulated more yards was the 2005 Super Bowl squad, and that’s with our struggles on the ground. Speaking of which…

The Bad

Sixteen carries by ball carriers other than Russell and only managing to gain… five yards. FIVE. YARDS. It’s no secret that Seattle has struggled to run the ball ever since the departure of Marshawn Lynch, but this was by far the worst in the post-Beast Mode era. The net yards gained was 33, but 30 of those came from Russell scrambling. JD McKissic had 6 yards on 4 carries, Eddie Lacy had 0 yards on 6 carries, Rawls -1 yard on 6 carries as well, and Lockett had -2 yards on a single failed end around attempt.

I would also like to point out that the only Seahawk to record a rushing touchdown ALL SEASON is, you guessed it: Russell Wilson, the quarterback. These statistics would be laughable if they weren’t so atrocious. Neither Lacy nor Rawls have taken command like we would have hoped they would, as both have struggled mightily thus far. However, to be perfectly fair, the running lanes have not been there due to our struggling offensive line. Hopefully, the addition of Duane Brown (more on him in another piece this week) will help open things up a bit more for the stable of backs.

The Ugly

The Cleveland Browns. “But they didn’t even play Seattle, shoot they weren’t even in North America, how can they be in this segment this week?” Let me explain. After dropped their eighth straight game this season in London, it is evident they still do not have a quarterback. The problem that has sunk this franchise ever since their re-entry into the League in 1999 is alive and well as they are constantly rotating between rookie DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan. Why does this matter? Well, during the 2017 NFL draft the Browns had not one but TWO opportunities to draft Deshaun Watson.

Instead, they went with two defenders, both of which haven’t played more than three games. After watching Deshaun Watson go supernova against the Seahawks, the perennially frustrated Browns fans probably had collective aneurysms knowing their team yet again whiffed badly on the most important position in all of sports.

Looking ahead

Seattle stays at home again as they prepare for the Washington Redskins, their first meeting since 2014. The Redskins, who had aspirations to compete for another division title have fallen to a disappointing 3-4 record following two straight losses to division opponents.

Unfortunately, injuries have played a major role in Washington’s struggles this year. After last week’s 33-19 loss to Dallas, Coach Jay Gruden announced that 13 players were injured. Nine starters and four key backups. Four of which were starters on their make-shift offensive line, a line that allowed the Cowboys to sack Kirk Cousins four times.

If that line was pushed around by Dallas, Cousins should be taking out life insurance before facing the likes of Michael Bennett, Frank Clark, Sheldon Richardson and Dwight Freeney.

Free safety Earl Thomas injured his hamstring on the last series versus Houston. Although he said it didn’t feel as bad as his hamstring injury from last year, reports are that it is unlikely that he will play against Washington. Even if Earl would be cleared, I would strongly advocate sitting him not only this Sunday but next Thursday as well when Seattle travels to Arizona. The Seahawks have somewhat of a mini-bye week coming up because after they play the Cardinals they don’t play again until the following Monday night at home against Atlanta. Seattle should have enough talent to beat the Redskins at home and the Carson Palmer-less Cardinals without Earl.

After all, that’s why we went out and got the former starting safety from Tampa, Bradley McDougald.