With the announcement that Russell Wilson’s game jersey has been added to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s collection after he became “the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to finish a game with at least one touchdown pass, three rushing touchdowns, and 90 yards rushing” in the Seahawks’ 50-17 win over the Bills last Sunday, I thought it might be fun to take a quick look at how Wilson’s rookie season to date compares to some other notable performances by rookie quarterbacks throughout the years.

To keep things manageable, I limited my search to quarterbacks who threw at least 15 touchdown passes in their first pro season.  After eliminating players who sat on the bench for a year or more before seeing their first season of action (Carson Palmer, Charlie Conerly, etc.) and guys who played in other pro football leagues before joining the NFL or one of the two leagues that eventually merged with it, the AAFC and the AFL (Jim Kelly played in the USFL, Butch Songin in the CFL, etc.), I was left with a list of 24 quarterbacks¹:

Currently, Wilson is tied with Cam Newton for third most passing touchdowns by a rookie QB with 21, and Andrew Luck isn’t far behind him with 20.  Wilson needs five more TDs to tie Peyton Manning, but seeing as how his next two opponents the 49ers and Rams have allowed just 14 passing TDs all season long (tied for fourth fewest in the NFL), his chances of meeting or exceeding Manning’s record are pretty slim.

Next, here’s how Wilson stacks up when we add in rushing touchdowns:

Unless the Seahawks are going to be starting every drive over the next two weeks at their opponent’s one yard line, Wilson is not likely to rack up the 11 touchdowns it would take to match Newton’s inhuman record of 35.

If nothing else, this table really emphasizes just how special this 2012 rookie QB class really is.  I mean, Luck, Wilson, and Robert Griffin III are all firmly ensconced in the top five, and they still have two games left to play – how many more times do you think we’ll see that happen in our lifetimes?

Still, rookies aren’t perfect, and they’re going to make mistakes.  Here’s how Wilson stacks up in terms of their ratio of passing touchdowns to interceptions:

Finally, here’s how the ratio shakes out when we add in rushing TDs and fumbles:

I don’t have much to add to this one, other than to point out that all three players listed above Wilson and Griffin in this last table are all in the Hall of Fame.  Not a bad start to a career, I’d say.

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¹ I found it interesting to see how the names are grouped by time period and league.  It’s no surprise to see multiple rookie QBs managed the feat in the freewheeling offenses of the AFL IV² in the 1960s, but I didn’t expect to see quite so many names from the AAFC (and before you assume that result was because of a handful of strong teams like the Browns beating up on weaker competition, it bears noting that the Colts teams Tittle played on were pretty awful). 

In the more conservative NFL, it was traditional for QBs to go through an apprenticeship period where they sat on the bench for a few seasons of development before being trusted to start, and even when they did play their rookie year the run-heavy offenses that dominated the league for most of its history didn’t offer much in the way of scoring opportunities for young signal callers.  Either way, it isn’t hard to understand why so few NFL rookies met the 15 TD mark prior to the early 1990s.

² Yes, there really were three other American Football Leagues.  The first one played for just one year back in 1926 and was only organized in the first place so that C.C. Pyle could strong-arm the NFL into awarding him a franchise (it worked, by the way).  The second one lasted two years, 1936-37, before going bankrupt (apparently the middle of the Great Depression isn’t the best time to organize a new sports league).  The third AFL was successful enough that it began to show a profit by the end of its second season in 1941, but they suspended operations when the United States entered World War II (they fully intended to resume play after the war, but for whatever reason they never did).

Wilson,Luck vs. same 8 opponents-NFC WEST Blog-ESPN 

Two weeks ago, we provided upon request a look at how Seattle's Russell Wilson and Indianapolis' Andrew Luck fared against seven common opponents. The two impressive rookies have faced eight common opponents now that Seattle has also played the Buffalo Bills. The Seahawks and Colts have no additional common opponents during the regular season, which means we can now compare their season-long numbers against common opponents.http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/85192/wilson-luck-vs-same-eight-opponents

The Seahawks have arrived-blog-Mynorthwest.com

The 2012 Seahawks have arrived. I don't mean as a national contender. Yes, the pundits may now start to take notice, but they won't really take this team seriously until it beats San Francisco next Sunday. I'm not sure they'll believe Canadian wins count 100 percent anyway. No, the 2012 Seahawks arrived because they now know exactly who they are and how they want to win.http://mynorthwest.com/422/2155558/Seahawks-setting-themselves-apart-as-wellbalanced-team

High-scoring Seattle turns focus to San Fransisco-Seahawks news-Mynorthwest.com

As the Seahawks flew back from Toronto late Sunday night, nearly every person on Seattle's charter was glued to what was happening in New England – watching to see if the Seahawks could be playing for the NFC West division lead this weekendhttp://mynorthwest.com/275/2156079/Highscoring-Seattle-turns-focus-to-San-Francisco-

Primed for primetime

The Seahawks slapped a 50-17 win over the Buffalo Bills at the Rogers Centre on Sunday to set the stage for next week’s rematch with the NFC West-leading 49ers at CenturyLink Field.http://www.seahawks.com/news/articles/article-1/Primed-for-primetime/23eab84d-bbc8-4bcc-92bb-5b96643be5ed

49ers led by 21 when Justin Smith went out -NFC West Blog-ESPN

The San Francisco 49ers held a 31-10 lead over New England when Pro Bowl defensive end Justin Smith left the game with an elbow injury.http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/85270/49ers-led-by-21-when-justin-smith-went-out

The timing of Richard Sherman's appeal - Mike Sando

No word yet on if a decision will come down that day or be pushed out further.  I can see the league holding off until Monday on a decision to protect the brand for the Sunday primetime game. I do not see the Hawks being very competitive Sunday without Sherman in the game.

Your thoughts?

Three rushing touchdowns by Wilson, 2.5 sacks by Clemons, a pick-six by Thomas, and 11.3 yds/att for Lynch.  Add it up, and you get a crushing 50-17 win in which the only real blemish was Hauschka getting blocked on a point-after try.

Right now I can't even begin to put into words how much I'm looking forward to the game next week against the 49ers.  Feel free to discuss how awesome this team is playing right now in the comments below.

WR Deon Butler was signed to the roster to fill Charly Martin's role as the fifth wide receiver on the active roster, but he's been listed as inactive for the game.  And as expected, Walter Thurmond has joined Marcus Trufant as an injury scratch on the sideline along with CB DeShawn Shead.  The four cornerbacks who will be active for the game are Richard Sherman, Jeremy Lane, Byron Maxwell, and Ron Parker. 

Lane will get the start opposite Sherman, but he and Maxwell are slated to share duties at the right cornerback and nickel back positions, so don't start worrying that there's been another injury to a CB if at some point you see Maxwell's #41 on the field but not Lane's #20.  Parker played in two games for the Seahawks last year before suffering an injury that landed him on injured reserve, but in that brief span he looked like a rather promising addition on special teams -- and unless someone else gets hurt, that's the only time he'll see the field today.

The biggest news for the Bills is that starting cornerback and star return man Leodis McKelvin is inactive for the game with a groin injury.  Aside from C.J. Spiller's running, McKelvin's heroics as a punt retuner have been one of the few bright spots for them this year.  Without him on the field, this gets a lot harder for Buffalo to win.

The last team with the best regular season record to win a super bowl was New England back in 2003. That could be good news for the Seahawks that looks to be playing their best football just before the playoffs. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8737193/nfl-watch-potential-playoff-underdogs

I’ll get to the good stuff in a moment, but first I just wanted to say hello and welcome to all the new folks who have started to migrate this way in the wake of the announcement that the Seahawks Insider, along with the rest of the Tacoma News-Tribune, will be disappearing behind a pay wall.  If any of you have an interest in doing some writing yourselves (or if you just have a question or response you don’t want to post for all to see) feel free to contact me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  I read every email that gets sent my way, and I do my best to respond to queries within a day or two.

As for the comments, I try to stay as hands-off as possible with the moderation, so I won’t step in and delete stuff unless someone is getting abusive or overly disruptive.  I don’t mind off-topic discussions either; the way I see it, conversations are going to go in whatever direction they want to go, and that’s fine with me.  Really, all I ask is that the obscenities are kept to a minimum outside of the R-rated threads I put up after every game.

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Man, what a difference a few wins makes.  Early in the season, many of us were fretting that the Seahawks’ problems on offense were going to negate the efforts of what was shaping up to be a truly elite defense.  A few weeks after that, the cause of worry was that the team’s ascending offense was going to waste because the defense was incapable of holding on to a fourth quarter lead.

The win over the Cardinals doesn’t really prove that the defense is fixed by any means.  Arizona’s offense is about as dysfunctional as it gets, and just the week before the Hawks’ defense couldn’t stop the Bears from moving into field goal range to send the game into overtime.  Still, the 58-0 blowout seems to have settled everyone down just enough to shift the topic of conversation over to the playoff hunt.

At this point, the Seahawks are in control of the five seed, and the other teams in the hunt for an NFC wild card berth are pretty weak competition.  The Bears (8-5) currently hold the six seed, but they’ve lost four of their last five games and could miss the playoffs altogether.  The Redskins (7-6) may have to make their final push without their star rookie quarterback as Robert Griffin III is nursing a sprained knee.  The Cowboys (7-6) and Vikings (7-6) are both dealing with near-crippling problems on defense and offense, respectively.  In fact, the above four teams have so many issues that the Rams (6-6-1) could end up stealing the final wild card slot out from underneath all of them.

What’s more, if the Seahawks run the table through the last three games, they could end up with more than just a wild card berth.  If the 49ers lose to the Patriots this Sunday, the Hawks would win the division – and with it home field advantage for at least the wild card round – by beating Harbaugh’s team in week sixteen.  And if the Packers and Giants each lose one of their remaining games, then the Seahawks would leapfrog both of them in the standings (Seattle owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Green Bay) and end up with the number two seed and a first round bye.

But for that to happen, Seattle needs to take care of business in Toronto this week, and they’ll be doing it without two players that were expected to see significant playing time.  CB Walter Thurmond has been playing lights-out fantastic since his return a few weeks back, but he’s been ruled out this week with a hamstring injury.  In his place, CBs Jeremy Lane and Byron Maxwell will share time at both the starting right corner and nickel back positions.  Neither is as good as Thurmond, but they both played well last week when they were given a chance to step in for a significant number of defensive snaps.

The other player is WR Charly Martin, who was placed on injured reserve today with a calf injury.  Had Sidney Rice not been able to play against the Bills after injuring his foot in the Cardinals game, Martin would have been the choice to start at flanker in his stead.  Luckily, Rice was upgraded to probable when he returned to practice today after sitting out on Wednesday and Thursday, so the loss of Martin doesn’t hurt the team as much as it could have.  Still, the move leaves the Seahawks with just four wide receivers on the active roster: Rice, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, and Jermaine Kearse.

The team hasn’t made an official announcement, but it sounds like they might be bringing back Deon Butler to take Martin’s place on the roster.  I would have expected them to just activate another receiver off the practice squad (Phil Bates and Lavasier Tuinei would both be interesting choices), but Butler knows the offense and should be able to step in right away and provide a limited number of snaps.  However, Butler doesn’t appear to have traveled with the Seahawks to Toronto, so who knows.  Also, S Winston Guy is scheduled to return from his four game suspension next week, so a roster spot will need to be opened up for him unless the team plans on putting him on waivers.

Anyway, on to the stats.

(Note, for explanations of some of the stats included in this piece, please see the first article in the series.)

Rushing Averages
 

The rushing stats for the offense just keep getting better every week, in no small part because the added threat of the run option forces the defense to split their attention between Russell Wilson and his running back on every handoff.  Also, the mere threat of the option run has an effect on opponents similar to the 46 defense Buddy Ryan ran with the Bears back in the ‘80s – sometimes Ryan only used it for a couple of snaps a game, but offenses had to devote some of their practice time each week to figuring out how to beat it.  Likewise, any time opposing defenses spend practicing to stop the Seahawks’ option game is time taken away from practicing to stop everything else the Seahawks’ offense does.

Granted, neither of the last two teams are known for their ability to stop the run (Chicago’s run defense is ranked 25^th and Arizona’s is 18^th), but it’ll be interesting to see how well the Bills hold up against their former teammate Marshawn Lynch.  Buffalo was awful at stopping the run earlier in the year (the 49ers racked up 311 yards on the ground against them back in week five), but they’ve now held their last four opponents to under 100 rushing yards.

The Seahawks’ run defense managed to hold the Cardinals to below three yards per carry, but as I said earlier stopping Arizona’s offense isn’t much of an accomplishment these days.  As you can see, they’re now ranked 21^st in the league against the run, which is a far cry from the top five ranking they enjoyed through the first few weeks of the season.  I think the Seahawks are going to win this one, but after watching them give up 6.75 yds/att against the Dolphins, I have to admit to being a little worried about how well they’re going to fare against C.J. Spiller, who currently leads all running backs with 6.6 yds/att.

(To continue reading, please click on "Read More" below.)

Recently, I agreed to do a Q&A  with Joe Pinzone, who covers the Buffalo Bills and Sabres at his site, Buffalo Wins.  Below you'll find his answers to my questions, and I'll update this article with a link to the responses I gave him once they go up on his site (UPDATE (12/14): Pinzone posted the article today -- click here to read it).  Enjoy!

1) Statistically, C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson have been one of the best running back tandems in the NFL this year.  Now that Jackson is out with a knee injury, how will the running game be affected? Can Spiller handle the workload on his own, or will the team need Tashard Choice to step up?

It's funny, albeit harsh, but fans are kind of happy that Spiller will be getting more carries now. It has been a constant bitchfest this season about Spiller not getting enough carries. The guy is averaging 6.6 yards a carry, yet he's only carried the ball an average of 12 times a game. He's on pace to have the best yards per carry for a running back with more than 100 carries in the last 80 years. Yet, Gailey is an idiot and elects to pass more than he should. Plus, he takes Spiller out for reasons we don't get. This week, he made it sound like Spiller was "winded" a few times after carrying the ball two times in a row, which prompted him to go to the bench for a series. CJ, of course, scoffed at the notion. Spiller is a unique talent who always seems to have the ability to take it to the house on any given play. He should be getting the ball 20-25 times a game. Gailey's excuse has been that he's got Fred Jackson back there and wants to split carries. I think there's some truth to that, but I think it goes back to Gailey trying to pass his way to the HOF. Since 2010, when Ryan Fitzpatrick attempts 27 or fewer passes, the Bills are 10-2 and are averaging 145 yards on the ground. When he throws more than 27 passes, the Bills are 5-28. Enough said.

2) How would you grade Chan Gailey's tenure as head coach?  What's kept him and his team from producing more than 4-6 wins per year?  Do you believe the team would benefit from giving Gailey another year or two at the helm, or is it time for him to go the way of Dick Jauron before him?

Oh, we hate him here.  It is really up in the air at this point if gets another chance. . The Bills have never been an organization to have a short leash on coaches when they fail constantly. Dick Jauron was the last coach and he survived three straight years of 7-9 seasons to go along with a fan base that wanted his head on a platter.

If the Bills lose out, I can't see how they'd let him come back. To this point, he's 15-30 as their head coach. However, if they finish 7-9 or 8-8 -which is very possible because they have an easy schedule -- I think he comes back. Should he come back? No.

He is too arrogant as a coach and believes in passing way too much when he doesn't have a QB for it. He's Hardheaded. As for Gailey's shortcomings: He loves to pass too much. He has a running back that is averaging 6.5 yac but only 12 carries per game. He doesn't know when to be aggressive or passive. He's stuck in the 90s in a lot of his philosophy. He just isn't a good game day coach. He's a retread who has been fired from 3 of his last 4 jobs.

Last week, he sent in Rian Lindell to attempt a 52-yard FG when he didn't know the length of the kick. When he found out it was a 52-yard FG instead of a 50-yarder, he called a timeout and decided to punt. His reason was that there's a big difference between 50 and 52 yards. Um, okay.... This is what we deal with here.


3) Now that you've had four years to evaluate him, what are your thoughts on Ryan Fitzpatrick?  Is he just a placeholder, or is he franchise quarterback material?  How likely is he to reach the end of that seven year, $62 million contract he signed in 2011?

Fitz is pretty much on his last leg as the Bills' starting QB. Buddy Nix (GM) has said he plans on drafting a QB this April. Obviously, the Bills made a mistake when they decided to extend Fitzpatrick for 59 million dollars as his numbers have gone south since signing the deal. I don't blame the Bills for re-signing him at the time. During a 21 game span, Fitzpatrick had 40 touchdowns, 4,984 yards passing, and 22 interceptions. Why wouldn't you re-sign him for those numbers? However, since he signed that deal, Fitz has been either really bad or average. In his last 9 games of last year, Fitz threw for just 10 touchdowns and an eye-popping 16 interceptions. The word was out on how to defend Fitz. The Bills like to run a lot of 6-yard slant patterns and if you take away those underneath routes, you end up forcing the Bills to go over the top, which they can't do because Fitz doesn't have the arm strength/accuracy to make those throws. For this year, Fitz has been inconsistent. He has 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, but he's ranked 26th in yards per attempt. His best games this year statistically speaking have been against the Pats twice (6 TDs), Titans (3TDs) and the Browns (3tds), who don't exactly have stellar defenses. However, when Fitz has gone against a defense currently ranked in the top 10 (49ers, Texans, Rams, and Cards) the offense has scored just TWO touchdowns.  I think Fitz can start in the NFL, but it has to be on a loaded team. He needs to be a game manager. Put him on the 49ers and I don't think they miss that much of a beat. However, if you are asking him to win games for you, it becomes a tall ass task.

4) Over the last few seasons, the Bills have drafted a lot of defensive players in the first three rounds of the draft, but the defense still ranks in the bottom third of the league in points allowed, rushing yards per attempt, and so forth.  Are those draft picks not working out, or is there something else at work here?

The Bills defense has actually played better in the last month. They haven't allowed 100 yards rushing in a game in a month. I think a lot of it is due to Mario Williams being healthy and the fact that it took the team sometime to gel going from a 3-4 to a 4-3. Of course, their offensive competition has been lesser as of late (Rams, Jags and Miami). As for their younger guys, Marcell Dareus has been much better over the 2nd half of the season. He lost his brother to a shooting after the first game of the year and you have to think that had something to do with his slow start. Advanced Stats has Dareus ranked as the 14th best defensive tackle in the league and he's tied for 5th in sacks (5) at the position. He will be a good one. Cornerback Aaron Williams (2nd rounder in 2011) has been a disaster. He was the opposite starting corner at the start of the year and he's been burned on a consistent basis. He just has no coverage skills and is always 2-3 steps behind WRs. You can beat him deep. The other corner, Stephon Gilmore (1st rounder 2012), has had an impressive rookie season and has gotten better as the season has gone on. He's a real physical corner and the Bills have started him since day 1. He's currently tied for 6th in the NFL in passes defended with 16. Defensive tackle, Alex Carrington (3rd rounder in 2010) is finally doing something for the team. He's got a few sacks this season and is a nice addition in the DL rotation. Overall, I think the Bills have talent, but the jury is still out when they go against better offenses in my opinion.

5) Are there any lesser-known Bills players that Seahawks fans should keep an eye on this Sunday?

Offensively, check out Scott Chandler. I'm not the biggest fan of his, because I think you'd want more out of TE when you consider the position has blown up, but all of his catches this season have been for either 1st downs or touchdowns. He's a decent redzone target for Fitz. Defensively, I'd look at the younger guys I mentioned previously, but would throw in Kyle Williams. The guy is a stud. He can get after the passer and always seems to disrupt running plays in the backfield. If here playing in a major market, he'd get a lot more attention.

It's a damn good time to be a Seahawk fan.

After an inspiring Week 14 victory over a Cardinals team who appeared to quit in every aspect of how anyone could ever define the word, the New England Patriots unleashed hell on an opponent who was supposed to put up a damn good fight. They beat the Texans on national TV by a score of 42-14, coming off the 58-0 shellacking the Seahawks dished out agains the hapless Cardinals.

Why is it a good thing if the Patriots win, you ask? 

Next Sunday night, they host none other than the San Francisco 49ers. And to keep alive the Seahawks' chances of winning the NFC West, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that yes, the Patriots need to beat the 49ers. The 49ers are still arguably the best team in the NFC, and already beat a young Seahawk team by a score of 13-6 earlier in the season at Candlestick Park. 

But how much have the Seahawks grown since then? And how tenuous is the grasp the 49ers have on the division lead right now? 

San Francisco is 9-3-1, with the tie coming off a home game against the St. Louis Rams, who later beat them in OT in Week 13. The Niners previously got thumped at home by the New York Giants, just four days before the Seahawks came to town on for a Thursday night game. 

That Niners team was angry, hungry and ready to make a statement. They were ready to destroy a rookie quarterback who was on the rise. They were ready to exploit a defense that was lauded as being better than they were. Above all, they were fired up to put the hurt on a division rival after an ugly home loss. 

Meanwhile, the Seahawks had just come off a last-second home victory over none other than the New England Patriots. They were tired, but felt as though they could ride that momentum into San Francisco on such a short week. Unfortuantely, they were wrong. 

Since then -- Week 7 -- the Seahawks have gone 4-2, winning a tough road game in OT against the Chicago Bears, and coming home to CenturyLink Field and laying a historic ass-beating on the Cardinals. Since then:

• QB Russell Wilson has thrown 12 touchdown passes to just two interceptions; one of which came on a tipped pass last Sunday that gave Arizona its one lucky break all day
• The lowest point total the Seahawks have put up is 21, with the highest being 58
• RB Marshawn Lynch has put up four 100+ yard games, scoring seven touchdowns. 
• TE Anthony McCoy was the first Seahawk to reach 100 yards receiving in a game

Make no mistake about it - this is a team on the rise. The surge they've been on in the past two weeks, with some minor exceptions, has been the most convincing I've seen of any Seahawk team I can remember. I think they may be an even more complete team than the 2005 NFC Championship team, but time will tell if that's the case or not. 

The 49ers, meanwhile, are a mixed bag. Coach Jim Harbaugh made the call to switch his starting QB to second-year man Colin Kaepernick. We don't know who this guy is just yet. He's had flashes of brilliance. In other times -- namely in the botched reverse in the Rams game two weeks ago -- he's looked like a rookie. 

Even after the switch, the 49ers still rank only 26th in total passing yards, but defense has been the focal point of this team, as expected. It'll be interesting to see how this defense fares against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at Gilette Stadium in Foxborough. ESPN's Mike Sando put together a chart giving the matchup a preview here:

The matchup will occur just after the Seahawks travel to Toronto to take on the Buffalo Bills, an inferior opponent that the Seahawks should beat. If the Seahawks get the road win, and the 49ers fall to the Patriots next Sunday night, it'll be safe to say that the momentum in the NFC West will have shifted, making the Dec. 23 game at CenturyLink field between San Francisco and the Seahawks nothing short of a bloodbath with the division title on the line. 

This weekend -- Week 14 -- was encouraging. Seeing the Seahawks get brutal and relentless on a division rival, no matter how inept they are, is a promising sign for how much damage they can dish out to anybody. In this league, a 58-0 win doesn't come often. The Seahawks should be able to ride this wave of confidence and KNOW they can handle anything in front of them from here on out. 

With eight takeaways and a final score of 58-0, the Seahawks didn't just beat the Cardinals, they razed them to the ground and salted the earth where they once stood.

Better still, the Hawks did it by dominating in all three phases of the game, which bodes well for their chances of beating the Bills in Toronto next week and the 49ers at home the week thereafter.

Celebrate to your heart's content in the comments below.