JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ One minute Seattle had scored 10 quick points and appeared ready to steal the kind of tough road victory that would confirm that all of its highest expectations were still within reach.
The next minute not only had the game turn, but so, maybe, the season as the Jacksonville Jaguars used two big plays in the third quarter to turn a tied ballgame into an eventual 30-24 victory Sunday over the Seahawks.
The defeat for Seattle, though, didn't come until after Russell Wilson almost pulled off what would have been as inexplicable of a comeback as any he has perpetrated in his Seattle career.
Down 27-10 with 10:04 left, the Seahawks got touchdown passes from Wilson of 61 yards to Paul Richardson and 74 to Tyler Lockett to make it a game.
And when Seattle got the ball back at its own 42 with 2:39 left, a sellout crowd was as nervous as it had been celebratory just moments earlier.
After a first down drop by Jimmy Graham, Wilson hit Doug Baldwin, who picked up 9 yards on second down to set up a third-and-one as he stepped out of bounds just shy of the first down.
Wilson then was sacked by Malik Jackson, setting up a fourth-and-nine from his own 43.
Under heavy pressure Wilson lofted it down the left sideline to Baldwin, but it wasn't close and Seattle turned the ball over to the Jags with 2:17 left.
And that proved to be that as Leonard Fournette ran for 13 yards on third-and-11 on the Jags' next series to finally put the game away.
The final seconds turned ugly as the frustrated Seahawks got into it with Fournette on a kneel-down with Sheldon Richardson ejected for throwing a punch and Michael Bennett also getting a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, along with Fournette.
On the next play, Seahawk defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson was ejected and as he was being escorted to the locker room, he stopped and confronted some taunting fans. At one point, he escaped from the hold of some Seahawks personnel in an attempt to get into the front row of the stands after he had a beer thrown on him.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll also was flagged after running onto the field following the Jefferson penalty.
Seattle fell to 8-5 defeat, and for the moment out of the playoff picture in the NFC. The Seahawks are tied with Atlanta for the final spot, but the Falcons hold the tiebreaker.
And it makes the game next Sunday with the Rams a must-win not only for the division but for a wild-card berth.
Along the way, the Seahawks lost linebackers Bobby Wagner (hamstring) and K.J. Wright (concussion), leaving them playing most of the final quarter minus five defensive starters who have all been in the Pro Bowl in past years.
Still, after Jacksonville appeared to have just about put the game away on a 51-yard field goal by Josh Lambo that made it 27-10 with 10:04 left, the Seahawks kept clawing.
On Seattle's next play, Wilson evaded pressure and threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Richardson, who caught the ball at about the 16 and then juked by past Jacksonville safety Tashuan Gipson to get into end zone. That made it 27-17 with 9:48 to play.
Jacksonville came back with a nine-play, 54-yard drive that took 5:43 off the clock.
But needing just a yard to pick up a first down that might have made it almost impossible for the Seahawks to recover, Fournette was stopped for a loss of a yard by Bennett.
That set up a 32-yard field goal by Lambo that made it 30-17 with 4:09 left.
But Seattle needed just two plays to get within one score when Wilson hit Lockett for a 74-yard touchdown _ the Seahawks' longest play of the year _ that made it 30-24 with 3:52 to play.
Lockett simply broke wide open down the field and scored without a Jacksonville play within 5 yards of him.
A game that was 3-0 Jacksonville at halftime turned into a dizzying barrage of big plays in the second half.
Jacksonville took a 10-0 lead on its first possession of the third quarter, which it got after safety A.J. Bouye picked off a pass intended for Graham. Graham then pushed Bouye once he was out of bounds, which put the ball at the 42.
The Jaguars needed just five plays to score with the touchdown coming on an 18-yard pass from Blake Bortles to Dede Westbrook, who snuck behind Terence Garvin _ playing in place of Wagner _ for the score.
Corey Grant then fumbled the kickoff when hit by Garvin with rookie Tedric Thompson winning the battle for the ball under the pile.
Two plays later Wilson hit Baldwin for a 26-yard touchdown pass when Baldwin snuck behind Bouye and made a leaping catch in the end zone.
That tied it at 10 with 7:32 to play in the third quarter and gave Seattle 10 points in the span of 58 seconds after not scoring for the first 37:30 of the game.
But then came the dark turn as Bortles threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole on Jacksonville's first snap of its next drive. Cole got behind linebacker Wright and caught the ball at the Seattle 40 and then raced down the sidelines. Safety Earl Thomas caught up and pushed Cole but he tiptoed the final steps into the end zone (with the ruling upheld after a review).
Wagner had gotten hurt just prior and was not in the game on the play.
Jacksonville forced a three-and-out and Jacksonville's Jaydon Mickens _ who played at the University of Washington _ picked up a bouncing punt on and returned it 72 yards to the 1-yard-line.
Fournette then scored on the next play to make it 24-10 _ and giving the Jaguars three touchdowns on three straight offensive snaps.
Wilson threw his third interception with 2:35 left in the third quarter and his second on a play when he just tried to take a deep shot to Baldwin. This time, it was Bouye, making his second interception of the quarter, who came down with it at the 2-yard line (the play was reviewed and the call upheld.)
K.J. Wright then was hurt on the second play of Jacksonville's next series leaving Seattle without either of its Pro Bowl linebackers _ and without five defensive starters from the beginning of the season who had made a Pro Bowl in the past (the others being Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril).
Seattle trailed 3-0 at halftime, the first time this season the Seahawks had been shutout in the first half.
Seattle three times moved into Jacksonville territory but couldn't score.
One drive ended on a Wilson interception in the end zone on a first down pass from the 45 that was intended for Baldwin. Instead, Jacksonville emerging star cornerback Jalen Ramsey got inside of Baldwin to pick it off, instead.
Another drive ended on a missed 38-yard field goal by Blair Walsh with 20 seconds left in the half.
Walsh's kick from the right hashmark just tailed off wide over the right goal post and no good.
It made Walsh 19-26 for the season and was his sixth miss in his last 13 field goal attempts after he started 12-13.
The Seahawks had moved into field goal range thanks to four straight runs by Mike Davis for 49 yards _ he had just five yards on four carries prior to that outburst.
Jacksonville drove 73 yards for a 38-yard Josh Lambo field goal on its second possession, the key play a 34-yard run by Chris Ivory, who played at Washington State. It was the longest run allowed by Seattle since the third game of the season.
But as became the norm throughout the half the Seahawks made the key play on third down when they needed it to force the field goal.
Jacksonville outgained Seattle 163-133 in the first half but was just 1-6 on third downs.
