In just 23 starts as the quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, Russell Wilson has led the team to a mark never before achieved in franchise history.
Wilson led the Seahawks to a 34-22 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night to improve to 6-1 for the first time in franchise history. Wilson threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns and the Seahawks’ defense held Arizona to just 234 yards of offense in earning the victory.
The Seahawks harassed Carson Palmer all night, sacking him seven times and forcing two interceptions and Arizona managed to run for just 30 yards on 18 carries.
Seattle jumped out quickly to a 14-0 lead as Wilson connected on touchdown passes to Sidney Rice and Zach Miller. However, Seattle allowed the Cardinals to hang around due to some critical errors.
Calais Campbell, playing just four days after being stretchered off the field in San Francisco on Sunday, blew up a quarterback sneak attempt by Wilson on a 4th and 1 at the Cardinals’ 43-yard line. It took the Cardinals everything they could muster offensively to get those points. It took an 11-play, 26-yard drive before a Jay Feely 49-yard field goal got Arizona on the board.
Wilson was then sacked by Matt Shaughnessy and fumbled deep in their own territory and Arizona recovered on the 3-yard line. Rashard Mendenhall walked in on the next play to bring the score to 14-10.
Steven Hauschka added a 51-yard field goal at the end of the half for Seattle to extend the lead to 17-10.
Wilson threw his third touchdown, a 1-yard score, to Kellen Davis to extend the lead to 24-13. Brandon Browner intercepted Palmer before falling down a the 1-yard line and Marshawn Lynch added a 2-yard touchdown to take control of the game in the third quarter. Lynch carried 21 times for 91 yards for Seattle on the night.
Arizona just couldn’t keep up against a stifling Seahawks’ defense. Palmer completed 30 of 45 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown pass to Jaron Brown with two interceptions.