After a shaky beginning, Russell Wilson got hot in the fourth quarter, Bobby Wagner and Seattle's defense stymied Aaron Rodgers and the Seahawks stayed in the middle of the NFC playoff race.
Wilson threw for 225 yards and his 15-yard touchdown pass to Ed Dickson with 5:08 left was the difference in the Seahawks' 27-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
In a key matchup in the battle for the two NFC wild-card spots, Seattle (5-5) snapped a two-game losing streak by overcoming an early 14-3 deficit. Wilson was inconsistent at times early, but was outstanding in the fourth quarter, capping the winning drive by recognizing a blitz and hitting Dickson quickly for his second TD pass of the night.
Seattle still has not lost three straight games since the middle of the 2011 season and the Seahawks finally closed out a one-score victory after consecutive close losses to the Chargers and Rams. Seattle was 1-8 in its previous nine games decided by one score.
Rodgers had a huge first half and threw for 332 yards, but the Packers (4-5-1) had just one scoring drive in the second half, helped by a 57-yard strike from Rodgers to Davante Adams. Rodgers threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half, but never got the ball back after Green Bay punted with 4:20 left. Seattle got first-down runs from Wilson and Mike Davis and finished the game kneeling three times.
Chris Carson rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown, overcoming the mistake of fumbling on the first play of the game and setting up Green Bay's opening score. Tyler Lockett had two key receptions late in the fourth quarter and Doug Baldwin had his first TD catch of the season for Seattle.
Rodgers was 21-of-30 passing with 10 of those going to Adams for 166 yards receiving. Backup tight end Robert Tonyan had the first catch of his career go for a 54-yard touchdown to give Green Bay an early 14-3 lead. The Packers led 21-17 at halftime after Aaron Jones caught a 24-yard TD pass from Rodgers in the final minute of the half, but Green Bay's offense was stymied in the second half.
Jones finished with 40 yards rushing after going for a career-high 145 a week ago. Rodgers was sacked five times, four of those in the second half. The Packers gained just 114 yards in the second half, half coming on the one throw from Rodgers to Adams. That pass set up Mason Crosby's 36-yard field goal with 8:23 left to give Green Bay a 24-20 lead.
Wilson had one more answer. Wilson hit Lockett on consecutive plays for 18 yards - to convert a third-down - and 34 yards to the Green Bay 16. Two plays later, facing another third-and-long, Wilson recognized the blitz and hit Dickson quickly over the middle to put Seattle in front.
That proved to be enough. On Green Bay's next drive, Rodgers short-hopped a pass on third-and-2.
Rather than going for it on fourth-down, Green Bay punted and never got the ball back.
