Seahawks' Richard Sherman says Russell Wilson better than Andrew Luck, RGIII

Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

CHICAGO — About 200 miles east of here, Andrew Luck was leading the Indianapolis Colts to an incredible comeback over the Detroit Lions, a victory that would garner plenty of national attention on Sunday.

Which is fitting, seeing as how Luck and Robert Griffin III have dominated the conversation about rookie quarterbacks in the NFL this season.

Not anymore.

Not if cornerback Richard Sherman has any say in the matter after Russell Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks on two long drives in the final two periods — one to take the lead with 24 seconds left in regulation and another to win this game 23-17 in overtime after the Chicago Bears had somehow tied it up.

"They're going to hype who they're going to hype, and you're in the Seattle market, and it doesn't matter what you do," Sherman said, referring to Luck and Griffin, the top two picks in this year's NFL draft, as opposed to Wilson, a third rounder. "He's beat the Bears, the Packers, the Patriots. You show me another quarterback with his resume, and I'll show you a great quarterback. But he doesn't get the credit because they don't want to give him the credit. They don't want to make him a big name. They make the guys a big name who they want to make a big name.

"He's a great quarterback, and he's probably a little better than those guys."

Wilson led touchdown drives of 94, 97 and 80 yards — the second being the one capped by a 14-yard touchdown to Golden Tate that gave Seattle the lead late in the fourth quarter and the third one the game-winner, with Sidney Rice taking a shot to the head and holding on to the ball long enough to cross the goal line.

Wilson completed 23 of 37 passes for 293 yards and did not throw an interception for the fourth straight game.

He ran for 71 yards and also scrambled for countless more to create time before delivering a pass.

He showed calm under pressure by throwing a 7-yard pass to convert a fourth-and-3 on the game-tying drive, then converted three third downs on the game-winning possession. He ran all the way to the sideline to recover what looked like a fumble late in the fourth quarter, even though replays showed it would've been ruled out of bounds anyway.

The only thing Wilson didn't do during Sunday was grow a few inches.

"No, he still looked short. But he looked like he could throw that thing," Sherman said of the 5-11 Wilson with a laugh. "Boy, he's a talent, man. He's fun to watch. Ninety-seven yards (on the game-tying drive), I just can't be more proud of the kid."

Nothing seemed to shake Wilson on Sunday.

The Bears defense, the road atmosphere for a team that had won only one game away from Seattle coming in, a holding penalty that negated a converted third-and-4 and forced Wilson to convert that fourth down on the fourth-quarter touchdown drive and Robbie Gould's 46-yard field goal at the end of regulation after Brandon Marshall caught a 56-yard pass in front of Sherman to set it up.

All of those events and elements were nothing but minor obstacles for an extremely confident Wilson, who told the offense in the huddle before that fourth-quarter go-ahead drive, "You know guys, this is what the season comes down to, right here, right now."

Now it seems the season is on its way to being extended. The Seahawks hold a one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings for the final playoff spot in the NFC, plus they have a better conference record than both of those teams, which means they hold the tiebreaker as well.

More importantly, they have a quarterback whose swagger is growing.

"I'm just so much more composed, I know the offense that much more, the experience of playing in the National Football League, the game moves fast and you have to be able to slow down the game, and it's definitely slowing down for me," Wilson said. "I'm getting to know my receivers better, my tight ends better, my offensive line better. I know the protections so well right now. I can check to whatever I want to.

"I could do that early (in the season), but now I know how to put the defense in a bad situation, a situation they don't want to be in."

There was even talk in the Seahawks locker room that the Bears knew what plays were coming from time to time.

"And they still couldn't stop it," Tate said, "because Russell made things happen with his feet."

Wilson did that with runs of 5 and 12 yards on the first two of the three third-down conversions in overtime. On the third one, he rolled left before hitting Doug Baldwin for 12 yards. One play later, after originally calling for a read-option run, Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell changed it to a crossing route to Rice.

Touchdown. Ball game. Statement most definitely made.

"We always knew he that about him. We were just waiting for him to show you guys," offensive tackle Russell Okung said. "He's the real deal. He's a catalyst. He's a straight game-changer."

No arguments here. Or by Sherman's locker.

"He's one of the best quarterbacks out there," Sherman said. "People tried to short change him because of his height or because of measureables or whatever it was. But show me a couple of rookies, against a No. 1 defense out there arguably, (who can) drive the ball 97 yards and score. And then, how about him going into overtime against the same defense and scoring again?

"This kid just went out there and played out of his mind. I'm so proud of him."