Wilson walks on water in the Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl was fun, at least for Seahawks fans.

Athletes on both sides played harder than usual in the Pro Bowl yesterday, but the NFC clearly wanted to win more.

Several Seahawks played impressively.

Free safety Earl Thomas started and played full speed nearly every defensive down into the third quarter, flying all over the field and hitting hard. The lone delegate from the Legion of Boom made a great read, jumped a route, and grabbed a clutch interception in the second quarter at the expense of Matt Schaub. The AFC struggled to score as long as Thomas stayed on the field. After Thomas exited sometime in the third quarter, the AFC finally managed to put together some long scoring drives

The AFC defense shut down Adrian Peterson, but could not stop Marshawn Lynch. He busted out some Beast Mode on a spectacular 12-yard run, backpedaling through a pile of AFC defenders who weren't expecting physical running in the Pro Bowl. Lynch later scored a touchdown.

Max Unger played well at center. Russell Okung saw action at both left and right tackle, and dominated except in a couple of cases where J.J. Watt manhandled him. Watt is a beast.


I don't think I saw Michael Robinson on the field at any point.


As predicted, Russell Wilson rose to the occasion.

Just like last year, the two veteran NFC quarterbacks made the rookie play most of the second half.  Russell Wilson responded by upstaging Eli Manning and Drew Brees.

Wilson completed 8 of 10 passes for 98 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of those scoring throws would have been sacks for most other NFL quarterbacks, but Wilson scrambled out of trouble and found receivers downfield.

After Wilson's third touchdown, the NFC protected their large lead by running out the clock.

Only one quarterback has ever thrown for more than 3 touchdowns in a Pro Bowl (Marc Bulger threw four in 2004).

And Wilson's a rookie.

And a third round draft pick.

Somehow, Wilson didn't win the MVP award. It went to Kyle Rudolph, the NFC's leading receiver, even though Vincent Jackson and A.J. Green had better receiving days.
But no one on the field played a better game than Wilson.

When is he going to get some respect?