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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grip on Sports: No matter how the Seahawks win, Russell Wilson seems to take a beating

Green Bay Packers' Mike Daniels causes Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson to fumble during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers recovered the ball. (Mike Roemer / AP)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are times when it would be great to have Russell Wilson’s life. You know, Monday through Saturday. But Sunday afternoons? I’m not sure anyone would enjoy being hit that often. Read on.

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• The Seahawks won yesterday in New Jersey. Defeated the New York Giants 24-7 in the Meadowlands. The defense dominated, only yielding a score after a Thomas Rawls fumble.

Wilson was superb. He threw three touchdown passes. Completed 27 of 39 passes for 334 yards, despite at least three first-half drops.

But he was banged around again, and not after runs. Time is not Wilson’s ally, not with this offensive line in front of him. The Giants only sacked him once, but they hit him seven times, many of those hard blows that had to hurt.

The Hawk offense is designed for quick passes as often as possible, but there are times Wilson must stand in and take a blow. He does. Down, then back up.

It can’t be a recipe for season-long health.

He’s not one of those clowns you encountered as a child, the rubber ones with the weighted bottom that were designed to be hit and rebound every time. Nope. He’s human. And the human body can’t withstand punishment forever.

It didn’t help yesterday the Hawks were without starting left guard Luke Joeckel, out for a while after a bye-week knee procedure. And then their best offensive lineman, center Justin Britt, was hurt in the first half and had to spend some time in the medical tent. He returned after missing just a few plays, but his presence on the turf, no matter how brief, must have given Wilson pause.

Wilson knows the feeling. But he’s been able to bounce back up all season. As long as that continues, the Hawks will be fine. If he ever doesn’t, watch out.

• The Seahawks defense was really good yesterday. We think. It was hard to tell considering how poor the Giants offense was. Seattle refused to let New York run the ball, forcing Eli Manning to try to connect with a group of receivers that are younger than some college teams.

It didn’t work. I’m not sure I’ve seen an NFL game with more passes hitting the ground between two or three receivers, with the quarterback obviously perplexed on why there wasn’t at least one where he threw the ball.

New York was 2-of-12 on third downs, a big reason why the Giants finished with just 177 yards of total offense. Of that, 131 came through the air, as New York averaged 3.3 yards per attempt. The Hawk defense had a role in that, of course, but much of the ineptitude was self-inflicted.

• The Cougars travel to Tucson on Saturday to face one of the Pac-12’s hottest teams. But despite having won three consecutive games, the Arizona Wildcats opened as a home underdog, as, according to VegasInsider.com, WSU is favored by 2.5 points.

That seems a bit weird.

The Wildcats have been perfect since installing Khalil Tate at quarterback, including a 45-44 double-overtime win at California last week. Considering the Cougars lost 37-7 a week early at the same venue, and considering the game is in Arizona, it would seem the Wildcats would have been favored. Not so.

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WSU: The Cougars didn’t move in the AP poll this week, remaining in the No. 15 spot. That comes despite the shutout of Colorado in less-than optimum conditions. Theo Lawson covers both of those today in stories, as well as looking at the youth movement afoot in Pullman and checking out notes from the weekend. … Because of the abbreviated nature of yesterday’s post (see below), I didn’t see Shawn Vestal’s column on WSU football. I pass it along today.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the rankings are always something to check on Sunday. … Washington returns to the field this weekend and hosts UCLA and Jim Mora. … Oregon needs a win to regain momentum. Utah could say the same thing. They meet Saturday in Eugene. … California will travel to Colorado. Both teams are coming off tough losses, but in different ways. … The biggest game of the week is in Tempe, where Arizona State will host a battered USC team. The South may be on the line, though Arizona has a say.

Gonzaga: A legendary GU player, Jerry Vermillion, died Saturday at age 85. Jim Meehan has an obituary. … Jim also has the news another European big man is headed to Gonzaga.

EWU: The 46-28 loss at Southern Utah gives Eastern some pause heading into the bye week. Jim Allen looks at what the Eagles have to work on as they get a week without a game. Next up is Weber State, a must-win contest of EWU wants to make the postseason. … The women’s soccer team remained undefeated in conference play. … Around the Big Sky, we didn’t get to the game stories from Saturday yesterday, so we pass them along today. Including Cal Poly’s seventh consecutive defeat. … A resurgent Idaho State kept Portland State winless as well. … In what may have been the best game of the weekend, Montana State edged host Northern Colorado 27-24 on a last-second field goal. … Northern Arizona is undefeated in conference and atop the Big Sky standings after its 45-31 home win over UC Davis.

Chiefs: Spokane picked up an easy 6-0 win at Edmonton.

Preps: Dave Nichols takes a look ahead toward one of the busiest prep weeks of the year.

Seahawks: We had some thoughts on the Hawks in the column today, and some other ones yesterday during the game. You can read the latter here. The former? Just scroll up. … The Hawks won, sure, but there was another incident on the sidelines. This time it was Doug Baldwin yelling and shoving Tom Cable. Baldwin apologized afterward. … Earlier in the weekend, Baldwin had met with commissioner Roger Goodell. … The defense was dominant again. … The Hawks ran a trick play and it resulted in a Paul Richardson touchdown catch. It may mean even more. … If you had C.J. Prosise staying healthy for at least three plays yesterday, you lost. … Wilson still believes in Jimmy Graham.

Sounders: Seattle may have lost Clint Dempsey to a red card, but they didn’t have much trouble with Colorado, defeating the Rapids 3-0 and clinching the second spot in the West and a bye. … Portland took the top seed and the Cascadia Cup with a 2-1 win over visiting Vancouver. … Real Salt Lake didn’t make the playoffs. Neither did the L.A. Galaxy, which is expected to make a coaching change today.

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• Hey, I just wanted to apologize for the screw up yesterday. In my tired state, I missed a button I have to click and my post wasn’t available until early afternoon. I know that must have really bothered at least 13 people. Still, I’m sorry. Until later …