Russell Wilson picked the wrong time to cool off, as Lamar Jackson continues MVP form

Russell Wilson has led the Seattle Seahawks to a victory over two very good NFL franchises in back-to-back weeks, and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters.

But those two games have been extraordinarily average for Wilson by his own standards. Statistically, they are two of his least impressive games of the season, and he’s thrown an interception in each. The iron-faced comeback hero who was once the flyaway favorite for the MVP race is currently on a cool stretch.

Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson has caught ablaze, as the Ravens continue to tear behind his MVP-caliber season.

People took notice after Wilson’s tepid Sunday afternoon, and the concern was that Russell may have left the door open for Lamar Jackson to leapfrog into the favored position.

Jackson just absolutely obliterated the Los Angeles Rams, who have apparently decided to be a Jeff Fisher team once again. While they may not be the impressive defense they once were, Lamar continues to do things.

Jackson just put up his second five-touchdown performance of the 2019 season. That’s passing TDs, not even the kind on dry ground. Russ has never had two such games in a season; in fact he’s only had two in his career.

For all the talk about how efficient Russell Wilson is, even he has not quite done what happened on Monday night, in the first three quarters.

So what does this mean? Let’s start with the obvious: my fantasy team absolutely killed this week, and playoff hopes have resurfaced.

Back in the NFL, Russell has already been paid so the MVP isn’t going to make a future contract negotiation any more difficult than his agent already makes them. If he wins, it’s great. If he doesn’t, we’ll all be sad for an hour or two, and go back to work. If Jackson wins, he’s going to set up a nightmare of a deal when his time is up.

But any sane Seahawk fan will take a Super Bowl over an MVP, because they don’t make as cool of shirts for the MVP as they do for the winners of the big dance. At the moment, I would still rather have Russell Wilson heading up late-game drives than Lamar Jackson. While Jackson has only thrown five INTs thus far, he’s already had three games with zero passing touchdowns.

By season’s end, it may come down to style points to determine an MVP winner. Unfortunately, Jackson may have the edge in that arena if it’s a close race. He’s more inconsistent but also has more monster performances. He’s also a member of an impossibly small club of QBs that are better runners than Russ. He’s already over 800 yards rushing, which is a thing Wilson has only done once in his career. His ability to break tackles can seem like a cooler X-factor than Russell’s ability to read defenses, change plays, and basically just make stuff up for big plays.

Jackson finished 15/20 for 169 yards and the five TDs before Baltimore took him out for Robert Griffin III. He added 95 yards running, and will probably be the subject of many a “MVP favorite” conversation until Wilson works some more magic.

Regardless of how this award shakes out, these are undeniably the two quarterbacks I want to see throughout the playoffs. Not sure I feel confident enough to hope for a rematch, but these are two of the most exciting players to watch on the planet.