Wilson vs. Newton: battle of the top NFL quarterbacks

RENTON — Ding! Ding! Ding!

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a heavyweight NFL quarterback bout.

In the light-blue corner, measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, the presumptive NFL MVP, the Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton.

In the dark-blue corner, measuring in at 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds, the late-season upstart, the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson.

Let’s get it on!

When the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers meet in the NFL divisional playoffs on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., the game will be a knock-down, drag-out affair between the two players who arguably have been the league’s best this season.

Newton seems to be the MVP-elect, with almost all the national buzz already placing the trophy in his hand.

He’s earned those accolades. Newton had a career year, going 296-for-495 for 3,837 yards with 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The passing numbers only tell half the story for Newton. He also ran 132 times for 636 yards to lead the league in rushing among quarterbacks, and he scored another 10 TDs with his legs.

Even Wilson was impressed with Newton’s season.

“I think when it comes to MVP, he probably deserves it,” said Wilson, who told Carolina media earlier this week that if he had an MVP vote he’d vote for Newton. “They’re 15-1, that’s hard to do. I think he’s had a great year. There’s been a lot of great players this year, but they asked me a question and I think he probably deserves it.”

But while all the MVP momentum seems to be swinging Newton’s way, the numbers may actually back Wilson.

Wilson had a career season of his own. He went 329-for-483 for 4,024 yards and 34 touchdowns versus eight interceptions. More importantly, he had significant edges on Newton in completion percentage (68.1 vs. 59.8), yards per attempt (8.3 vs. 7.8) and passer rating (110.1 vs. 99.4). Based on pure numbers, Wilson had the better season throwing the football.

While Newton also can point to his running numbers, it’s not like Wilson is far behind in that regard. Wilson finished third in the league in rushing among quarterbacks with 554 yards, and he actually gained more yards per attempt than Newton (5.4-4.8), though he scored only one touchdown to Newton’s 10.

“For sure,” Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin answered when asked is Wilson deserves MVP consideration. “Russell Wilson is playing at a very high level, he’s been playing at a very high level. I think he would definitely garner some attention for that.”

But regardless of how the MVP voting turns out, both teams know they have their hands full this Sunday with the opposing quarterback.

Newton presents a challenge just in terms of his sheer size and speed. It’s one thing trying to bring down a standard NFL quarterback when he runs the ball, it’s another thing trying to bring down one who’s built like a linebacker and runs like a receiver.

“He’s just a bigger Russell Wilson, I think, which makes him a little more difficult to tackle, I guess,” Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril said about Newton. “He’s just a big guy, a big guy who can do a lot of different things. He’s a heck of an athlete, he presents a lot of issues. When you think you have him, what you’d do with a normal quarterback, you’ve got to actually bring your hips through with that big guy. He presents a lot of different problems.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers are also concerned with Wilson’s running ability. Of late Wilson has done most of his damage throwing from the pocket. But throughout his first four seasons Wilson has made a living by eluding the rush, getting outside the pocket and improvising throws downfield. That was never more evident than in last Sunday’s 10-9 victory at Minnesota in the wild-card round. His 35-yard pass completion to Tyler Lockett, which came after the ball was snapped 15 yards behind him, led to the game’s only touchdown and was largely responsible for the Seahawks winning.

“This is a guy who’s been a very elusive player, he’s made a lot of plays,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said when addressing Carolina media this week. “And I’ve said it before, I think he’s one of the better quarterbacks in this league in terms of winning. To me it’s really about winning, and he’s proven that.”

Both players got better as the season progressed, too. Over the final seven games Wilson received a lot of attention for throwing 24 touchdowns with just one interception. But Newton was nearly Wilson’s equal, throwing 20 TDs against one interception over the same span.

Now they get the chance to settle the MVP debate on the field, mano a mano.

“Seattle doesn’t owe us anything, we don’t owe Seattle anything,” Newton said. “It’s going to be a hard-nosed game. They’re a physical team, that we know. Playing those guys a lot in the last couple years, we know that it’s going to be a game to watch.”

And no one will be worth watching more than the quarterbacks.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.