Can We All Watch This Russell Wilson Touchdown Pass One More Time?
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- We all currently live in the era of immediacy. What is at one moment The Biggest Thing In The Universe™ very quickly becomes old news. There's always a new tweet, a new TikTok video (what is TikTok, by the way?) or another sideshow to steal our attention.
It is with that in mind that I ever so humbly request that we all take a moment to marvel at the touchdown pass thrown by Russell Wilson on Thursday night.
Sure, there are technically some more important things going on in the world. But, good golly, Miss Molly. Look at this pass!
Excuse me, but WHAT?!
If that looked like a pass destined to fall incomplete, that's because it was. According to the NextGen Stats (no, we commoners don't understand how they work, but just roll with it please), the pass had a 6.3 percent chance of turning into a completion.
Thanks to Tyler Lockett managing to somehow wrap his hands around the ball while navigating his toes within his two-square-foot window, the play went for six. It was utterly ridiculous.
Wilson ended up completing 17 of his 23 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns in a one-point victory over the Rams. He seemed to remind America that he is a perennial MVP candidate, and he looks capable of putting together one of the best seasons of his already-great career.
Allow Nate Burleson to talk about the man a little bit:
Best ever? Oh, who knows. But this year, he has thrown 12 touchdowns and zero (0) interceptions, while completing 73.1 percent of his passes. His 126.3 passer rating is best in the league, and his 9.0 yards per attempt is second only to Patrick Mahomes. He's also run for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries this year.
He deserved MVP love in recent years, when he was carrying the offense entirely on his shoulders, and he's certain to get some of that attention this year.
But the MVP Award is a long ways off. Let's go back to that pass.
Nobody's more spirited in the film dissection than Brian Baldinger. The man loves to BREAK DOWN THE FILM the way that a child loves to wolf an ice cream cone. Let's hear what Baldy had to say:
"Aaron Donald chasing him, Dante Fowler Jr. coming free," Baldinger said. "I don't know how he even got anything on this ball. Like, how do you even practice this throw? Chased like that ... look at the location of this ball. Look at that."
Baldinger rightfully gave a lot of credit to Lockett, because, well, that was an absurd catch. But can we get back to that throw?!
Russ was kind enough to hit us with a field-level view and some MJ to accompany the highlight:
A cool view, no doubt, and who doesn't love some MJ on a Friday morning? But that view obviously couldn't capture the absurdity of that throw.
Let's get a better view of that throw:
Nooooooo! Not that throw! Come on, man. Don't do that.
Back to this throw, which former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels said no other quarterback could make:
When probably 11 million people rushed to tell him that Patrick Mahomes could make this throw, Rosenfels replied succinctly:
Right on.
Wilson had a bunch of other throws that ranged from wildly impressive to outright ludicrous, and he also benefited from a fully bogus roughing the passer penalty. But this isn't a post about penalties, and it isn't a post about all those throws. This is a post about this throw.
"Surveys. ... Nowhere to go aaaaand .... back of the end zone, TOUCHDOWN!"
Marvelous stuff.
I could write some more words here on the internet ... or we could all just watch the football play a few more times.
That was a good use of four or five minutes.
And now, we may all move on to the next thing.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
