No refuting points made by QB Wilson
Leading up to his return to Seattle to face his former team, San Francisco 49ers defensive back Richard Sherman was less than complimentary of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
“Yeah, I’ve also seen him throw 5 picks in a game so you see what he’s capable of on both sides of it. You understand that he can be defended,” Sherman said about Wilson.
Danny O’Neill of KIRO-FM in Seattle wrote on the station’s website, mynorthwest.com, that Sherman was wrong about Wilson, like some scouts were when he was drafted in 2012.
“Seven years into his NFL career and people still don’t know how to measure Russell Wilson,” O’Neill wrote.
“That includes guys who should know better.
“He played well,” Richard Sherman said after Wilson’s Seahawks beat his 49ers 43-16 Sunday. “I think he threw for like 160, 170. Their running game was really effective, and they let him get to his spots and they kept the game plan simple.”
“As far as Sherman’s digs go, this ranks among the more subtle. You could even argue it was a compliment, though if that’s true, it was certainly back-handed. Sherman singled out Wilson’s least impressive data point from a blowout victory in which Wilson threw four touchdown passes and finished with a passer rating of 140.9.
“But Sherman got it wrong, and not just because Wilson’s actual passing total was 185 yards.
“It’s not that the numbers lie when it comes to Wilson, but that you have to know which ones to look at. And in a league where you throw to score, the most telling indication of Wilson’s effectiveness is found in the end zone, where Wilson remains among the league’s leaders in touchdown passes. (Wilson has 29 touchdown passes, which is good for fourth in the league.)
“No one in the NFL does more with fewer opportunities than Wilson. No one. And while that should cause everyone to stop and marvel at just how much he makes out of the throws he does attempt, people are still finding a way to miss the point. Well, actually, that would be points. Plural.”