Wilson’s ability can stand on its own

• There was a quote in John Blanchette’s column this morning from a Denver Bronco player. It said something to the effect Wilson was better than Andrew Luck, no question. But I do have a question. So what? Why do we have to rank them? Just recognize what Russell Wilson is. He’s a solid quarterback who is only going to get better. OK, solid might be understating it a bit but that’s in tribute to Wilson himself. He understates just about everything. He’s really good. Better than anyone could have imagined when the Seahawks drafted him in the 133rd round or whatever it was. What he did yesterday in overtime can’t be overstated. All game long it looked as if the read-option keep was available. But the Hawks didn’t use it. Little did anyone know is they were saving Wilson’s legs for overtime. That’s when they were going to utilize them, if needed. It was like the pass patterns the Broncos saved for the last drive. Then they used them three times in a minute and scored the tying touchdown. After they played that card, the Hawks countered with Wilson running the ball. It turned out to be trump.

• I’m glad I was able to facilitate a conversation with my column yesterday. I hope people didn’t misunderstand me. It didn’t matter who won the game. When a play like we opined about shows up on national television with the outcome in doubt, the conference’s credibility loses. I would have written the same thing even if the Cougars had rallied to win. As soon as I saw the play, I knew I had to do it. It was the straw that broke this camel-like guy’s back.

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• WSU: The Cougars have already put Saturday night’s outcome behind them and have turned their attention to undefeated Utah. Jacob Thorpe was at practice last night and had this report . He also has a follow-up story on and grades from the Oregon game as well a morning post with links. … Ernie Kent received a commitment from a 6-foot-8 wing yesterday. Jacob has more in this story and blog post . … The Cougars are still 12th in ESPN.com’s Pac-12 power rankings after last weekend’s results . … I interpret this story as Oregon coach Mark Helfrich feels the same way I do about the conference’s officiating. He just can’t talk about it.

• EWU: When you rally in the final seconds on the road to win the game by a point, that’s fun. At least it was this weekend for the Eagles, as Jim Allen’s follow-up story shows. And, yes, Vernon Adams (pictured) is really good as well. Just thought I would add that. Mainly because it’s true, but also because I needed to say a little more to wrap around the photo of Adams scoring the game-winning two-point conversion.

• Seahawks: Besides Blanchette’s column, linked above, we can offer you the opinions of Art Thiel , Jerry Brewer , Dave Boling , Woody Paige and Larry Stone . That’s one way to give you a bunch of links concerning the 26-20 Hawk win in one sentence. … You know, for about 58 minutes , the Legion of Boom was at its best . Then Peyton Manning did what he does . Thanks to Wilson and the offense, Manning never touched the ball in overtime . … If I had to give a player of the game award, I might have given it to punter Jon Ryan . Wow. He kept flipping the field position all game. … Pete Carroll was up, he was down, but as usual, his quotes afterward were all pretty positive. So were the comments from Wilson . … Ricardo Lockette made plays on offense and in special teams. Plus, he turned defender one time and saved an interception.

• Mariners: I’ve wondered this for a while. Maybe Hisashi Iwakuma is one of those guys who is better on normal rest, even if he’s tired. It seems the more rest he gets between starts, the worse he does. He’s been pretty poor lately as Lloyd McClendon has been giving the starters more time off. … Iwakuma was poor again yesterday as the M’s feel farther behind in the race , losing 8-3 to the Astros . … James Paxton will pitch in his home country tonight.

• Sounders: Thanks to the loss in New York, the Sounders were caught in the standings by Los Angeles. Seattle, however, has played one fewer match.

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• Hope your Monday goes OK. It’s always better after a Sunday win by the team you root for, right? Unless, of course, your fantasy team got smoked. Until later …