Seattle Seahawks

Manziel has no doubts on Seahawks' Wilson: 'Russell is a top-tier guy'

Published Dec. 20, 2015 8:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine may not think Russell Wilson ranks among the league's elite quarterbacks.

Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, on the other hand, has no such doubts after watching Wilson throw for three touchdown passes and zero interceptions as the Seahawks wrapped up a playoff berth and extended their winning streak to five games with a 30-13 rout of visiting Cleveland.

Russell Wilson is the 1st QB in NFL history with 3+ pass TDs & 0 INTs in 5 consecutive games pic.twitter.com/WFaQGHflhQ
— Randall Liu (@RLiuNFL) December 21, 2015

Wilson's performance came four days after Pettine said that Wilson sits a notch below the top-tier quarterbacks in the league. Manziel saw it differently after watching Wilson become the first player in league history to compile five consecutive games with three or more touchdown passes and zero picks.

"In my opinion, I think Russell is a top-tier guy," Manziel told reporters after Sunday's game. "He has 20 touchdowns and no interceptions, or shoot maybe even more, over the last five games. Find another guy around the league that's doing that. There's not many of them. There's not five or 10, I know that."

Apologies in advance if you melt while reading this tweet. R?ss?ll W?ls?n just won't stop throwing TDs. #CLEvsSEA https://t.co/nmVFrk7Oll
— NFL (@NFL) December 20, 2015

Manziel's math was off just a bit but his point was well-taken. Wilson has 19 scoring passes and zero picks during the spectacular five-game stretch, He has completed at least 70 percent of his passes in each of the wins and Sunday's 128.3 passer rating was his lowest during that span.

"He's taking over," Seahawks safety Earl Thomas said of Wilson in postgame remarks. "He's separating himself in this league."

Wilson also put his name alongside some of the game's all-time greats during his record-setting run, joining Tom Brady, Peyton Manning Aaron Rodgers and Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Steve Young as the only players with three scoring passes in five straight contests.

"I wouldn't be where I am today in life if I doubted myself," said Wilson, who responded in the affirmative when a reporter asked if he's in a zone. "Yeah, for sure. Beig in the zone -- I always say: laser focus."