Revenge of the Birds
Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar writes about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we focus on Arizona Cardinals receiver Michael Wilson, who quarterback Jacoby Brissett insisted was going to have a massive game against the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday. Wilson did just that with an epic bit of production to all areas of the field.
The Arizona Cardinals came into their Sunday game against the San Francisco 49ers without receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who was out with appendicitis. They also had journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett starting his fifth straight game, as Kyler Murray’s future with the franchise becomes ever more uncertain. And with in-game deficits of 13-0, 19-7, 35-10, and 41-17 in the game itself, the decision was made to throw the ball at an historic pace.
Which is what happened. Brissett set an NFL regular-season record with 47 completions on 57 attempts for 452 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 96.8. Ben Roethlisberger also had 47 completions against the Cleveland Browns in the 2020 Wild Card round, a game the Pittsburgh Steelers lost, 48-37, just as the Cardinals lost this game, 41-22.
Still, per Next Gen Stats, Brissett became the first player in NFL history with an 80.0+ completion percentage on 50+ pass attempts in a game. Brissett also recorded the highest completion percentage ever by a player with 450+ passing yards in a game.
Somebody had to be the primary beneficiary of Brissett’s voluminous completions, and that was third-year receiver Michael Wilson from Stanford. Coming into this game, Wilson had caught 22 passes on 37 targets for 231 yards and a touchdown, so few expected his stat line of 15 catches on 18 targets for 185 yards. That was not on anybody’s bingo card.
To his credit, though, Brissett called it to a point in the week leading up to the game.
“I think Mike is just tough,” Brissett said last Wednesday. “He does everything for us. He blocks; he clears people out. He does all of the grimy stuff, and then when you sit back and you watch him, you’re like, man, it’s his turn to get the ball. His speed and power when he runs. He creates separation. He has strong hands. He’s a guy that’s going to step up and make a lot of plays this week, and I’m excited for him and the opportunity. He’s just one of those guys where you want to see him succeed.”
Well, Brissett did his level best, and Wilson responded with a game that showed all of his positive traits. Wilson caught 10 of 10 targets on passes of 0-9 air yards, two of four targets on passes of 10-19 air yards, and three passes on four targets on passes of 20 or more air yards. Those explosive completions confirmed Brissett’s analysis regarding Wilson’s ability to create separation with speed and power while running through...
