Mirror, mirror: Seahawks’ Russell Wilson bests Houston’s Deshaun Watson in QB duel
Oct 29, 2017, 4:53 PM | Updated: 7:02 pm
Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson stole the show in an instant classic. (AP)
(AP)
The Seahawks found out what it’s like to face Russell Wilson.
Then the Houston Texans found out there’s nothing quite like the original as Seattle’s quarterback had 1 minute and 39 seconds to lead the Seahawks to the game-winning touchdown.
Wilson needed only 1:18 as he completed all three passes he attempted on Seattle’s final drive, capped off by an 18-yard touchdown to a wide open Jimmy Graham, his second score of the quarter.
Seattle 41, Houston 38, and it was one of those games you had to see to believe. An instant classic.
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There were four lead changes in the final 10 minutes, two quarterbacks who threw for more than 400 yards and two teams that spent four quarters throwing absolute haymakers.
That was true for the Texans as rookie Deshaun Watson threw touchdown passes of 59 yards and 72 yards. That was true for the Seahawks, too, as Earl Thomas returned an interception 78 yards for a touchdown in the first half and Paul Richardson caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Wilson finished the game with a career-high 452 yards passing and four touchdowns. Not only that, but Wilson ran for 30 of the team’s 33 rushing yards.
The Seahawks needed every bit of it as Houston’s Deandre Hopkins had 224 yards receiving, the second-most against Seattle in franchise history, and his 72-yard touchdown catch with 4:49 left put Houston ahead 38-34.
Watson rushed for 67 yards but more importantly led Houston to two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes as the Texans twice came back from three-point deficits to beat the Seahawks in a shootout.
Seattle had the ball first and 10 at the Houston 20 with just under 3 minutes left, but Russell Wilson’s pass intended for Paul Richardson was intercepted by Marcus Williams at the Houston 7. The Seahawks forced a punt with just under 2 minutes left.
Seattle got the ball back at its own 20 with less than 2 minutes to play. Wilson completed a 48-yard pass to Richardson to start the drive. After a false-start penalty against Rees Odhiambo, Wilson threw for 18 yards to Tyler Lockett and then an 18-yard touchdown pass to Graham, his second score in the fourth quarter.
The Texans ran two plays on their final possession before Richard Sherman intercepted Watson’s final pass of the game, a desperation heave. It was Sherman’s second interception and Seattle’s third of the game.
Houston’s 38 points are the most allowed by the Seahawks in a game that they won since Carroll became coach.
The Texans scored 21 points in the first half. That was more than the Seahawks had allowed in five of their first six games this season, and it matched the third-most Seattle has allowed in the first half of any regular season game going back to the start of 2011.
The Seahawks allowed 281 yards of total offense in the first half, too. That was more than Seattle had allowed in the entirety of three of the first six games this season.
