JANUARY 20 — Russell Wilson had a terrible, terrible game on Sunday.

Russell Wilson is the quarterback — and therefore the most important player — for reigning NFL American Football champions Seattle Seahawks, and in Sunday’s meeting with Green Bay Packers for the right to advance to the Superbowl, he was simply dreadful.

He was a one-man walking disaster, an utter liability to his team, giving the worst performance of his career and operating a reverse Midas touch: everything he touched turned to dirt.

Wilson’s first attempted pass of the game missed its intended target, his formidable teammate Marshawn Lynch. His second throw was caught…by an opposition player, leading to Green Bay taking an early lead which they never looked like relinquishing.

The pattern continued throughout the game, and with four minutes remaining Seattle were trailing by 12 points, Wilson had only successfully completed eight passes and had seen four throws intercepted by Green Bay, the highest figure of his career (to put that into perspective, in his previous 17 games this season, only seven passes — an average of less than 0.5 per game — were intercepted).

And then he won.

He won because my opening statements are not fully accurate: in actual fact, Wilson was only terrible for 56 of the game’s 60 minutes and then…bang! The flick switched, and suddenly he was unstoppable.

With his team seemingly in a hopeless position, trailing by two touchdowns with little time remaining, Wilson led them downfield and ran in to score. A mere consolation, it seemed.

But then, after a gross error by Green Bay on the resulting kick-off, Seattle got the ball back and Wilson, the man who had done practically nothing right for the previous three hours, again marched his team onwards before Lynch powered into the end zone.

From nowhere, Seattle had forced overtime, and by now it was inevitable how that would transpire. Sure enough, Wilson duly completed the miraculous comeback by hurling the ball 40 yards downfield straight into the waiting arms of Jermaine Kearse, who caught it and rolled into the end zone.

Touchdown, game over, and Seattle are heading to the Superbowl.

How did it happen? What could possibly have occurred to turn Wilson, in the blink of an eye, from zero to hero? From a blundering disaster to an irresistible force of nature?

The man himself had a simple explanation: God.

Wilson is a devout Christian and, as he generally does, he used his emotional post-match interview to convey his deepest thanks to the Almighty for allowing him to win the game.

In any sensible analysis, that point of view is utter nonsense. Let’s be realistic: God, if He/it exists at all, did not make Seattle win.

Rather, a wide range of factors were responsible, in particular a series of tactical and technical errors by Green Bay which prevented them from killing off the game on one of their numerous opportunities to do so.

Nevertheless, Wilson’s conviction that God would allow him to prevail — ridiculous though it may have been — was highly significant simply because it allowed him to continue to believe in himself and his team. However flawed the basis of that belief might have been, the fact that he felt it made a mountain of a difference to the outcome.

Wilson had played so badly over the first 56 minutes of the game, the only rational reaction would have been one of defeatism: this isn’t going to be my day; I am playing awfully; there’s no way we can win.

With that mindset, Seattle certainly would not have won. Wilson would have — indeed, he really should have — become discouraged to the point of no return. He would not have been in the right frame of mind to launch his spectacular comeback, and the game would have drifted to its seemingly inevitable conclusion.

Mental durability is such an important aspect of sport. Even the greatest of players are bound to endure misfortune and mishaps, and the capacity to respond to seemingly irretrievable setbacks in a positive manner is an essential ingredient for any successful athlete.

Any shield, therefore, that a struggling sportsman can erect to protect himself from negative conclusions can only be a good thing.

In the final minutes on Sunday, despite the dire situation he found himself in and flying in the face of all the game’s prior evidence, Wilson’s belief in God provided him with the necessary mental strength to keep on giving it his best shot, rather than throwing his hands in the air in frustration and conceding defeat.

Cynics and non-believers might sneer at the deeply religious, who stubbornly refute all logical arguments and hold onto their faith come what may, but on occasions like this they are the ones who have the last laugh.

And perhaps, applying the example from a specific sporting event in a wider human context, this is religion’s greatest strength and attraction.

In a world of uncertainties, heartaches and suffering, belief in a benevolent omnipotent power can provide consolation and confidence, placing believers in a better position to take advantage of any opportunities that come their way.

Is Wilson correct to believe that God played a part in his team’s victory on Sunday? Almost certainly, no.

But did that belief — however mistaken it might be — help Wilson win the game? Without doubt, yes. And maybe, when all is said and done, that is all that matters.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.