Russell Wilson is kind of like Superman — mild-mannered pocket quarterback on your typical offensive series, but man of steel nerves and determination when the game is on the line.

Wilson became the latter Sunday, leading the Seahawks 80 yards for the winning touchdown in their 26-20 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos.

Wilson is such a team player that he often subverts his physical skills in favor of getting the ball to his teammates. But make no mistake: He can carry a team when he needs to.

And he needed to Sunday.

After Peyton Manning somehow led the Broncos 80 yards (with no timeouts) to the tying touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute, Wilson coolly returned the favor in overtime.

Wilson, who played a great first half and then took the offense nowhere in the second, marched Seattle 80 yards in 13 plays for the winning score in overtime.

Along the way, he converted two third downs on 5-yard scrambles. And he ran another six yards to get the Hawks down to the 13-yard line. He also hit 4 of 6 passes for 35 yards on the drive.

“He matriculated the ball down the field,” coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s an amazing football player — he really is. He has the sense of when to get out and when to go, and also the savvy about making the first downs.

“Just to keep it alive, it’s really hard to stop us in that situation. He’s just so good at it. We went into semi-hurry-up mode right there to put him in that kind of situation. You give him those spread field opportunities, and (with) his open-field awareness he just makes something happen.  He’s very, very good with the ball; he didn’t waste a pass.”

“The key to taking advantage of those moments is still playing smart football, but also playing with an edge,” Wilson said. “Playing to the edge, but not falling off the edge. Playing with great poise and great composure.”

Wilson said he was motivated by the fact that Manning was waiting to get the ball back again.

“When it wasn’t there, I knew that I had to fight for it,” he said. “Sometimes in a game, you have to pick and choose when to stay in there a little bit longer, when to throw it and when to slide. And that’s not one of those times, I don’t believe. I’m usually pretty smart on getting down and running out of bounds or whatever, but when the game’s on the line and you have Peyton Manning over there on the other side, you know you have to make some plays.”

Wilson also showed he can catch the ball, pulling down a 17-yard pass from Jermaine Kearse on a reverse pass in the first quarter. Kearse hung it up, leaving Wilson to get blasted by Rahim Moore; if he had thrown it more on a line, Wilson might have gotten the final six yards for the touchdown. The Hawks ended up kicking a field goal instead.

“He threw it on the money,” Wilson said. “I got hit pretty good, but I can take a few hits. I’m used to taking some hits every once in a while. I thought he did a really good job on the throw.”

Wilson was great in the first half, completing 11 of 13 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Then the Broncos’ revamped defense put the clamps on the Seattle offense in the second half.

Wilson’s one big mistake was throwing into triple coverage. Aqib Talib tipped the pass and Chris Harris intercepted, setting up Manning at Seattle’s 19-yard line. The Broncos scored five plays later to cut Seattle’s lead to 17-12.

That was part of the big second-half meltdown by Seattle that included a missed 46-yard field goal and a safety.

Wilson said he recognized the coverage the Broncos were running on that interception play, but Percy Harvin beat his defender so quickly that Wilson was fooled into thinking he could fit the ball into the tight space.

“Those are things that I learn as I continue to go through my career and through the season,” the third-year quarterback said. “You play smart football. That wasn’t one of my smartest plays, but you learn from it, and you keep going.”

“Russell does not get fazed,” Carroll said. “He knew he made a mistake there. He saw the coverage and he tried to knife the ball through there; he thought he could get it in. He’ll tell you he shouldn’t have gone for it. How many times have we ever seen him do that? He so rarely puts himself in that kind of situation.”

It was Wilson’s first pick in his last seven games, including the playoffs. But he made up for it with the way he turned into Superman on the final drive.

“He was fantastic today, just an incredible effort,” Carroll said. “The finish to that day, making those first downs, just an amazing play by the quarterback.”