Russell Wilson report card Week 13: A needed bounce-back game

The Seattle Seahawks needed a win for morale as much as anything in Week 13 versus the 49ers. They got it and Russell Wilson played well in the 30-23 victory. Heck, 12s needed Seattle to win as well. I for one thought they might not win another game this year as bad as the offense was playing.

Seattle was far from perfect – 3 turnovers, 6 penalties – but they looked much more like their 2020 version than most of 2021. Seattle, in fact, led time of possession by a little over 5 minutes – 33:12 to 26:48. Who would have thought that possible?

Thankfully, Russell Wilson had by far his best game since returning from injury and possibly his second-best game of the season so far.

Russell Wilson has a fantastic game in Week 13 versus the 49ers

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first because there were a lot more positives for Wilson in Week 13 than bad stuff. Wilson did get sacked 4 times, one or two of which were his fault when he held on to the ball too long, and he also overthrew DK Metcalf in the first half when Metcalf seemed to have a step on his defender in the end zone. Other than that, Wilson’s good numbers should have been even better except for Gerald Everett.

Everett likely owes Wilson some of his paycheck this week. If not for Everett’s two fumble and cause of Wilson’s interception, Wilson could have had 2 more touchdown passes and certainly one less interception. Everett touched a pass thrown by Wilson at the one-yard line, should have caught it for an easy touchdown, managed to pop the ball in the air and the 49ers intercepted it.

Later in the game, Everett fumbled a shuffle pass at the two-yard line. This play likely wasn’t going to end in a touchdown but Seattle would have still had the ball with a chance to score. Instead, the 49ers recovered.

But Wilson let none of this rattle him and as the game wore on, Wilson was sharper than he had been in weeks. Later in the third quarter, Wilson threw a beautiful touch pass to Tyler Lockett for a touchdown that ended up leading to the final score. Few quarterbacks throw as well with touch as Russell Wilson does when Wilson is on.

I do think it was important that Wilson targeted DK Metcalf early in the game. This seemed to help Wilson get into a rhythm with Metcalf. Metcalf finished with his best game in weeks as well with 5 catches on 8 targets for 60 yards. Lockett caught 7 of his 8 targets for 68 yards and the touchdown above.

It was also nice to see Russell Wilson hit receivers across the middle as well, especially his throw to Rashaad Penny on a crossing pattern in the second half that went for 27 yards. Wilson hit Penny in stride. It was a beautiful thing to watch.

Overall, Wilson was 30 of 37 with 2 touchdown passes and 1 interception and 231 yards. He really should have been 31 of 37 with 3 touchdown passes except for Everett’s horrible play. Wilson also ran 3 times for 15 yards. This may not have been 2016 Russell Wilson but it was close enough and good enough for the Seahawks to get a win on Sunday and move Wilson to 16-4 lifetime against the 49ers.

Grade: A