It was morning here in New York when I watched the Mariners clinch the sixth playoff berth in franchise history.

By morning I mean 7:30 a.m. or so.

Just after I got up.

Yeah. I went to bed last night. I usually stay up to watch the end of Mariner games, but after watching Seattle manage only two hits through the first seven innings, I’d read a little bit in bed before falling asleep with the plan to watch the final two innings when I got up.

It’s an approach I call “The Time Capsule” in which I shut off my phone and don’t log-on to my computer until I watch the final two innings via MLB TV.

So imagine my surprise when I sat down with a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito (we’re all out of salsa btw 😡) and watched the Mariners load the bases in the eighth inning with two HBPs sandwiched around a walk. Then the strong man Josh Naylor smashed a line-drive to left-center to bring everyone home.

While I do wish I had stayed up to experience this live, I will say that watching Cal Raleigh tell a city you love, “Might as well go win the whole fucking thing!” is a hell of a way to start a day.

The Mariners had more runs (four) than hits (three) on Tuesday night, coming back to beat the god-awful abomination that is this year’s Colorado Rockies, and if that doesn’t scream Team of Destiny then I don’t know what does.

Seattle’s victory combined with the Yankees’ win over the White Sox assures Seattle of at least a wild-card berth. Not only that, but Houston lost to the A’s on Tuesday, which means that the only way the Mariners won’t win the division is if they lose their remaining five games while the Astros win their final five.

My favorite moment from the celebration was Trent Thornton — who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon — coming in on his scooter and then conscientiously deciding to follow the basepath rather than cut across the infield.

Giants bench Russell Wilson

I wouldn’t say the writing was on the wall after Sunday night’s loss to the Chiefs.

It was, however, in the tabloids here in Gotham.

On Wednesday there will be a press conference to officially announce what was widely reported on Tuesday: Wilson will be benched, replaced by rookie Jaxson Dart.

This not surprising.

It’s not just that the Giants are 0-3. It’s that the offense has been totally non-functional in two of those three losses. It’s not just that fans were chanting “We Want Dart” on Sunday and booing Wilson at times.

The Giants’ final red-zone possession of Sunday’s loss was particularly brutal. Trailing by 13, New York got the ball to the Kansas City 4 only to have a four-play debacle in which each of the three passes Wilson threw all sailed out of the end zone, utterly uncatchable. One went up the tunnel while his fourth-down throw ricocheted off the crossbar of the goalpost.

While the Giants wound up getting another possession, I’m not sure when or if he’ll get another opportunity.

Going back to last season in Pittsburgh, Wilson’s team has lost the last eight games he has started, including the playoffs. More telling: His team has scored 20 or more points in only one of those eight games.

Will he even stick around in New York? Remember, the Giants also signed Jameis Winston, who is much better suited to be a back-up quarterback than Wilson in terms of his temprament.

Of the league’s other 31 teams, the only one I could see having an interest in Wilson now is Cincinnati. With Joe Burrow out, Wilson’s deep-ball ability could pair well with the top-flight receivers the Bengals have. However, Jake Browning has familiarity with that offense and experience filling in for Burrow so I don’t see the Bengals adding Wilson.

I’m considering writing a longer piece on what happened to Wilson’s career, which will take into account feedback that I’ve gathered over the years.

I’m not sure it’s all that complicated, though.

1. Wilson’s most exceptional skill as a quarterback has always been his ability to throw deep. When teams take that away with a soft, two-safety shell, he has struggled to find other options because he does not tend to throw over the middle of the field.

2. When Wilson was in his 20s and early 30s, his elusiveness allowed him to extend plays. He’d improvise his way to huge gains usually with his arm, but occasionally by scrambling. He can’t really do that any more.

3. Even when Wilson was at his best, there would be quarters and entire halves when he couldn’t mount sustained drives. That tendency has become more pronounced as he’s become less elusive.

4. Wilson’s tendency to hold onto the ball always made him a poor fit for the timing-based passing game that he so desperately wanted to run. When he finally got the opportunity in Denver, things ground to a halt.

I think Russell Wilson has had a tremendous football career. He is the best quarterback in Seahawks history. Watching his emergence in 2012 was one of the most exciting things I ever witnessed as a sports reporter.

He overcame an awful lot of skepticism at multiple levels of the sport to become the player he did.

But the way he regarded himself also makes it hard for me to feel all that bad for him for the direction his career has taken.

He thought he was being held back in Seattle, that he wasn’t given the opportunities and the influence that he should have been. While I never heard him say it, those close to him wondered aloud if he was appreciated the way he should have been.

Turns out the Seahawks did at least as much for Wilson as he did for the franchise, and his desire to leave will be remembered as the turning point in what once looked like a Hall of Fame career.