Russell Wilson picked off 3 times as Seahawks’ comeback falls short in 30-24 loss to Jaguars

Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks have put together some pretty remarkable comebacks over his six-year career. Sunday was not one of them, though they had a chance.

The Seahawks fell 30-24 to the Jaguars in Jacksonville, but Wilson had touchdown passes of 61 and 74 yards in the fourth quarter that gave Seattle late life. It wasn’t enough to make up for three interceptions and key losses on defense due to injury, however, as the Seahawks dropped to 8-5 on the season.

O’Neil: Wilson can’t save Seahawks | Instant Reaction | Photos | Stats

Here’s a recap of each quarter of Seattle’s defeat.

FIRST QUARTER

Jaguars 3, Seahawks 0

Not surprisingly, defense dominated the first quarter of a game between two of the top defenses in the NFL. Jacksonville struck first, driving 73 yards over nine plays and settling for a 38-yard field goal by Josh Lambo. The Seahawks looked to be in fairly good shape at the beginning of that series as Jon Ryan’s punt was caught by Seattle teammate Jeremy Lane at the Jaguars’ 6, but a 34-yard run by Chris Ivory and a pair of first downs on Blake Bortles passes put Jacksonville in field goal territory. As for the Seahawks’ offense, it was unable to get much going on the ground, and Seattle remained scoreless after a costly flag and a 33 percent conversion rate on third down held it back.

Notable: A pair of penalties in a matter of moments added to right tackle Germain Ifedi’s lackluster sophomore season, as he was flagged for holding and then taunting a referee, putting Seattle in a third-and-24 when it could have been moving downfield thanks to a defensive pass interference call drawn by Doug Baldwin that was offset by the holding.

JAX – Josh Lambo 38 FG, 6:26 (JAX 3-0)

SECOND QUARTER

Jaguars 3, Seahawks 0

Blair Walsh found himself in the cross hairs of Seahawks fans once again. Seattle’s kicker missed a 38-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game shortly before halftime, which made him just 7 for 15 on field goals over the last six games. The Seahawks had also stumbled during a very promising drive in the middle of the frame, moving into Jacksonville territory for a first-and-10. Russell Wilson took a big shot at Baldwin, who was engaged in a one-on-one downfield with Jaguars start cornerback Jalen Ramsey, but Baldwin couldn’t stay upright as they crossed into the end zone and Ramsey was there to pick the ball off. The good news is that the Seahawks found some momentum with running back Mike Davis, who received an opportunity in the game with Eddie Lacy a healthy scratch on the inactive list. Davis rushed for gains of 21, 13, 10 and 5 yards on consecutive plays leading up to the two-minute warning, giving the Seahawks some much-needed production out of the backfield. As for Seattle’s defense, it can pat itself on the back after forcing four Jacksonville punts to keep it a three-point game at the break.

THIRD QUARTER

Jaguars 24, Seahawks 10

Wilson has put together an MVP-caliber season, but it didn’t appear that this game was helping his cause for the postseason accolade after he threw his second interception early in the third quarter. A.J. Bouye hauled in a pass intended for tight end Jimmy Graham, and to make matters worse, Graham was flagged for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. Five plays later the Jaguars were in the end zone with the first touchdown of the day, an 18-yard pass from Bortles to Dede Westbrook, and Jacksonville had a 10-0 lead that seemed pretty commanding at the time. Well, the Seahawks are a second half team, and Wilson and Baldwin showed why over the next few minutes. First, Baldwin came down with a Wilson pass for a 43-yard gain that put the Seahawks on the doorstep of their first score of the game. They had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Walsh, but it still put them back within a score of the Jags. They didn’t have to wait to get that score, either, as Tanner McEvoy recovered a fumble by Corey Grant on the ensuing kickoff, and a 26-yard strike from Wilson to Baldwin in the end zone a couple of plays later tied the game. Even quicker than Seattle evened the score, though, Jacksonville took the lead back with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Bortles to Keelan Cole on the first play of the next Jaguars possession. Jacksonville had another big play up its sleeve, a 72-yard punt return by former Washington Husky Jaydon Mickens to the Seattle 1, and Leonard Fournette punched it in with a 1-yard run to make it a 14-point lead. All of the sudden a low-scoring struggle between two of the best defensive teams in the league had turned into a shootout, one that the Seahawks were having a hard time keeping up in. Another Wilson pick – again by Bouye – ended a Seahawks drive with 2:35 left in the quarter, giving Jacksonville an opportunity to further extend its lead.

Notable: LB Bobby Wagner was announced as out for the game with a hamstring injury. LB K.J. Wright also appeared to suffer a painful shoulder injury. Davis took a shot to the head and laid on the ground for some time before going to the sidelines, just another in a long line of injuries to Seattle’s embattled backfield.

JAX – Dede Westbrook 18 pass from Blake Bortles, 12:02 (Lambo kick, JAX 10-0)
SEA – Blair Walsh 28 FG, 8:30 (JAX 10-3)
SEA – Doug Baldwin 26 pass from Russell Wilson, 7:32 (Walsh kick, 10-10)
JAX – Keelan Cole 75 pass from Bortles, 7:21 (Lambo kick, 17-10 JAX)
JAX – Leonard Fournette 1 run, 5:37 (Lambo kick, 24-10 JAX)

FOURTH QUARTER

Jaguars 30, Seahawks 24

The Jaguars moved into a three-score lead early in the fourth quarter with Lambo’s second field of the day making it 27-10. The Seahawks weren’t ready to concede, though, and a 61-yard pass from Wilson to Paul Richardson put them back within 10 points with plenty of time to make a move. But without Wagner and Wright patrolling the middle, the Seahawks couldn’t stop Jacksonville before it took 5:43 off the clock and added another three points on a 32-yard field goal by Lambo, pushing its lead out to 30-17 with just over four minutes to go. Wilson, no stranger to seemingly insurmountable deficits in the fourth quarter, hit another one of his other downfield options, Tyler Lockett, for a 74-yard touchdown pass that put the Seahawks within a touchdown of taking the lead without letting much more time tick off the clock. That’s when Seattle’s defense made its biggest stop of the day, a three-and-out that forced the Jaguars to punt for the first time in the second half. Unfortunately for Seattle, it couldn’t get a first down on its next possession, and a 13-yard run by Fournette on third-and-13 with 1:55 to go gave the Jaguars a first down that allowed them to run the clock out for the win.

Notable: Things got especially chippy when Jacksonville started kneeling down, setting off a skirmish that resulted in Seattle’s Sheldon Richardson ejected for the final 55 seconds. Quinton Jefferson was also ejected following a later play.

JAX – Lambo 51 FG, 10:04 (JAX 27-10)
SEA – Paul Richardson 61 pass from Wilson, 9:48 (Walsh kick, JAX 27-17)
JAX – Lambo 32 FG, 4:05 (JAX 30-17)
SEA – Tyler Lockett 74 pass from Wilson, 3:42 (Walsh kick, JAX 30-24)

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