As a passer, Russell Wilson was under siege and underwhelming on Sunday at Houston. As a rusher, though, he was pretty darn good.
Wilson amassed 77 rush yards on 10 carries, many of which came in the second half. Wilson likely ran more to catch the Texans defense off guard -- the Houston pass rush was constantly in his backfield as he played behind an O-line sporting three backups.
As a passer Wilson was a disaster. He barely completed half of his passes for 123 yards with an interception.
I'm nervous to start him going forward for a couple of reasons: One, he's not typically running for 77 yards a game -- the matchup dictated it this week. Two, it's clear he's not going to throw a ton no matter the flow of a game. He played nearly five 15-minute quarters and attempted just 23 passes. That's the second-highest amount of passes he's thrown this year. And with him throwing that little every week it's hard to count on him to throw a touchdown or two (or four), especially with his receiving corps being a mess. The Seahawks' leading receiver on Sunday was Marshawn Lynch; no receiver has had more than 91 yards in a game this year. It's as if Wilson needs a very favorable matchup in order to keep his passing stats from being poor. Or so it seems for now.
He might have to throw a decent amount next week at Indianapolis, but there's no telling just how great he'll be.