Friday 15 December 2017 11:51, UK
What really defines the NFL's 'Most Valuable Player'?
Is it the player who does the most on his own? Or the leader who brings the best out of the team around him? How much should a team's win-loss record factor in?
For voters, it’s going to be a combination of those factors and more. And right now, the players emerging at the front of the pack are all standing out for different reasons.
Tom Brady’s New England Patriots are winners. They’re a well-oiled machine and the quarterback has managed to maintain his high level of play into his forties. Statistically, it’s hard to look past his 26 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions, but rather than winning with style points, he operates like a robot.
In Philadelphia, before injury in Week 14, Eagles QB Carson Wentz had taken a major leap from his rookie campaign, and elevated everyone around him at the same time. Outside of his play-making ability, he also worked with an improved receiving group and defense that jumped from 13th last year to third in 2017.
But over in Seattle, there’s a QB who seems to single-handedly carry his team each and every week - Russell Wilson. He’s a one-man band, having racked up mind-blowing percentages of his team’s yards and touchdowns this year.
The Wilson show
It’s not an exaggeration to say Wilson is 'doing it all'. In 2017, the Seahawks have scored 33 offensive touchdowns and he has been directly involved in 32 of them (29 through the air and three on the ground).
If he continues at his current pace, he'll also break the record for percentage of yards on a team by one offensive player. He is accounting for over 85 percent of the attack, which is a mind-blowing number.
While the Eagles and Pats both have over nine rushing touchdowns from a variety of runners, rookie J.D. McKissic is the only Seattle player outside of Wilson to find the endzone as a rusher. He did that in Week Four, meaning it’s been 10 weeks since anyone not named Wilson scored for last year’s NFC West champions.
McKissic managed the lone rushing score, but he’s part of a running back committee severely deprived of talent. The team’s leading runner? Wilson, with 482 yards. In second? Chris Carson, who has less than half the yards of Wilson (208) and he hasn’t played since Week Four through injury.
That leads a group including Eddie Lacy, Thomas Rawls, McKissic and newcomer Mike Davis, and none have gone over 70 yards rushing in a game all season. It’s still all Wilson, all the time.
In Neil Reynolds’ pick-six column for Sky Sports this week, he commented: "I genuinely feel that if you take Wilson out of the equation, these current Seahawks are a four-win team." It’s hard to argue with that view.
All despite the line play
Whether it's Pro Football Focus or Football Outsiders rankings, or simply the naked eye, it’s clear this Seahawks' offensive line struggles to keep their quarterback clean. Every week, you’ll see rushers breaking through the line and causing havoc in the backfield.
The amazing thing is: while most QBs handle pressure badly and start to 'see ghosts' as they anticipate it, Wilson thrives. He has a way of drawing in defenders, forcing them to lose discipline and allowing his receivers more time to get open downfield.
While the line hasn’t been great, it’s getting better. Seattle made a trade deadline move for left tackle Duane Brown for second and third round picks, and he’s slotted straight in and had a positive impact.
According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson was pressured 37.2 percent of the time without Brown (30th in the NFL), but that has dropped to just 22.8 percent since he joined the line-up (sixth). As defensive oppositions grow stronger towards the playoffs, this protection will become even more important.
Ridiculous numbers
Wilson has had an outstanding start to his career, and this season is only adding to it. In the Week 13 win over the Eagles, he had a three-touchdown, no-interception game for the 16th time in his career, which is the most by any quarterback in his first six seasons. He’s already two ahead of Dan Marino with four more games to go this year.
Similarly, he’s racing up the rankings for games with a passer rating over 100. The Eagles effort was his 44th, putting him in the top 40 players of all time and tying him with Troy Aikman, Steve McNair and Warren Moon - all three of whom played for at least 11 seasons.
Head coach Pete Carroll said that Wilson 'had one of the best games that I’ve seen him play' against Philadelphia and heading into the most important part of the season, we can expect more from a team that knows when to produce.
In the clutch
Seattle are the NFL’s December team. Since 2012 when Wilson took over the starting role, they are 20-6 in December and January regular season games - the best record in the NFL.
Not only does Wilson come alive late in the season, but he’s one of the premier performers late on. With his 16th and 17th in defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, he broke the record for fourth-quarter passing touchdowns in a single season.
Final push
Heading into the last month of the year, there will be even more on Wilson’s shoulders as the team scrap for a strong playoff position against tough opponents.
They next host the Los Angeles Rams, face the Cowboys in Dallas (with a returning Ezekiel Elliott) and finish up at home against the Arizona Cardinals. Can Seattle, led by their MVP candidate, go on another Super Bowl run?
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