Seahawks’ Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse step up with career days

Doug Baldwin joked that he didn’t catch the pass that resulted in the touchdown that sealed Seattle’s victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday.

“It caught me,” Baldwin said, referring to how late he picked up Russell Wilson’s bullet across the middle before it arrived.

“As late as I can possibly imagine,” Baldwin added. “But fortunate enough, my hands were already low so I didn’t have really far to catch it.”

Recap | Graham injured | Wilson’s huge day | Defense survives | Photos

Baldwin dodged one tackler, stiff-armed another then raced 80 yards for a touchdown that saved Seattle’s 39-30 win and put a bow on the most productive game of his career. His 145 yards were his most in any game during his five seasons, and he became the first Seahawk since Joey Galloway in 1997 with three touchdown receptions in one game. All of that overshadowed the efforts of fellow wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, who caught two touchdown passes for the first time in his career.

On the same day that the Seahawks lost their latest prized offensive acquisition with tight end Jimmy Graham suffering a season-ending knee injury, the two mainstays in their wide receiver corps stepped up in big ways.

“I think the thing about Doug and Jermaine is that they’re so consistent,” Wilson said. “And they’re clutch, and they’re clutch in the big moments, and they rise to the occasion, and that’s what you love about them.”

The Seahawks will need all of those things from Baldwin and Kearse down the stretch with Graham out of the picture.

For all the talk about Graham’s blocking and his difficulty fitting into Seattle’s offense in his first year with the team, he was on pace for the most productive season by a Seahawks tight end in franchise history. He entered Sunday’s game tied for the team lead in receptions with 44, first in targets with 65 and second in receiving yards with 530. He caught four passes for 75 yards and converted two third-and-long situations against Pittsburgh before he went down in the fourth quarter with an injury to his patellar tendon, which will require surgery.

“We’re going to miss the heck out of him the rest of the season,” coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s been a fantastic addition to us. You saw him again today doing stuff, and he was going to have a huge day today if he was able to stay out there. That’s unfortunate.”

Graham’s acquisition over the offseason was familiar as is the position the Seahawks now find themselves in without him. Two years ago, Seattle paid a similarly steep price for Percy Harvin, who needed hip surgery before he made his Seahawks debut then missed all but one regular-season game while recovering. Seattle’s other wide receivers stepped up in his absence, both in 2013 and after Harvin was jettisoned five games into the following season.

Baldwin and Kearse did the same on Sunday.

Kearse’s second touchdown came on the same drive in which Graham was injured. Baldwin had already scored twice when he came up big again with his third touchdown, which saved Seattle from what could have been another fourth-quarter collapse.

The Seahawks took over at their own 20 with 3 minutes remaining following a Steelers field goal that pulled them to within two points. Not converting on third-and-10 would have forced Seattle to punt, putting the game in the hands of a defense that had already allowed the most passing yards in franchise history.

But Baldwin stepped up – something that he, Kearse and the rest of Seattle’s pass-catchers will have to do the rest of the season with Graham on the sideline.

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